Monday nights have been pretty rad at Lola’s over the past month. Bartender (and sax-man extraordinaire) Jeff Dazey started booking free shows on the allegedly slowest party night of the week, beginning with a full-on set by Quaker City Night Hawks. The Hanna Barbarians played the following Monday, and last week, Quaker City’s Sam Anderson and Foxtrot Uniform’s Kenny Uptain jammed. Not too shabby, especially since it’s free and even more especially since the crowds have been thin. (Imagine: a Quaker City show where you don’t have to wait two hours behind a million people at the bar for a beer.)
Joining Anderson and Uptain onstage were fellow Night Hawk Matt Mabe on percussion and fellow Foxtrotter Katie Robertson on organ.
Oh, yeah. And Lost Child.
Tall, slender, and super-youthful-looking –– like, barely old enough to drink alcohol legally –– Lost Child, a.k.a. Leon Bridges, stood stage left (with Anderson stage right and Uptain in the center) and rocked a huge acoustic slung high across his chest while singing like a G.D. angel, his voice smoky and sweet and with just the right amount of power. Listening to him was like being punched in the soul with a silken hammer. All I had the pleasure of catching before my witching hour were a couple of Sam Cooke covers, but from what I witnessed, Lost Child more than held his own against the giants around him (including Robertson, who’s got some mighty fine, mighty soulful pipes on her).
The first time I saw Bridges was about a year ago at Fred’s, also as part of an Anderson/Uptain acoustic gig, and I’ve got to tell you, one part of his Lola’s set that was almost as cool as his performances was his backing playing and singing on Anderson’s and Uptain’s originals. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wish the Fort Worth music scene were a little more diverse –– not only because Bridges is an African-American in a predominantly white microverse but because he’s young and, apparently, devoutly Christian. More ingredients equals more flavor and all that jazz. Thanks to Anderson and Uptain for doing their part and to Lola’s for having them.
This Monday will once again belong to Lost Child, Anderson, Uptain, Mabe, and Robertson, this time with Kris Luther from the Barbs and The Longshots on guitar.
13th Floor Music Comes West
13th Floor Music, a year-old Dallas-based booking, management, and production company, recently created a Fort Worth branch that will be headed by Chris Evans, former bassist for The Hanna Barbarians. Created by Ken Welker, 13th Floor wants to be a one-stop shop for musicians, “so that they look solely to us for all things that lie outside of actually creating the music,” Evans said. The roster of bands that the company books and manages exclusively includes J Charles and the Trainrobbers, The Roomsounds, PVC Street Gang, Shotgun Friday, and Drug Animal. 13th Floor Music, Evans said, will leverage its contacts in North Texas and beyond to “grow the local music scene.” Next year, Evans said, 13th Floor will organize national tours for its bands and also get into the festival business.
This story has been updated with a correction at 11:42 a.m., Wed, Dec 4.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
Great article, this guy is legit. His name is Todd by the way, Todd Bridges.
Great article kudos to the writer! Listening to him was like being punch in the soul with a silken hammer” Love it!!!
And to this young aspiring artist, you have a very unique style. You will go far. Keep it up!