I GOT YOUR BLUES RIGHT HERE

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   In what now seems like a lifetime ago, I went to The Getty on September 8 to see the debut of Nic Harcourt’s Unsigned Indies series. A security guard told me (unofficially) that 6,600 people showed up, the largest single day crowd the museum had ever had.
   The audience was a cross between loyal public radio fans who drive Volvos, people who go the L.A. Times Book Fair, Melrose hipsters who’ve moved to Silverlake and college guys who have goatees but don’t have girlfriends. The show is worth mentioning at this late date because the KCRW-sponsored concert got little coverage due to what’s become politely known as “the events of September 11.” Harcourt’s really onto something and I imagine this event will be a local cultural staple for years to come —- if they can avoid turning Sepulveda into a parking lot.
   Ramsay Midwood, whose Shoot Out At The OK Chinese Restaurant was my favorite album from last year, headlined and put on a heck of a show. Before his band performed, I chatted with Mike Stinson, Midwood’s skilled new drummer, who’s also a powerful singer and bears an uncanny resemblance to Gram Parsons, the Jackie Robinson of country-rock. We agreed that the music we most often responded to had a raw feel to it.
   I told him about bluesman RC Banks who’s from Lubbock but now lives in Austin. On his fourth album, Conway’s Corner, he plays organ, harmonica, guitar and his first instrument, accordion. “Great Scott’s BBQ,” Banks’ juicy salute to a favorite restaurant, is so finger-licking good, it should come with a rib bib. On another track, a lovesick guy laments, “If I had the courage, I’d knock on your door/But your pit bull is loose in the yard.” These are the kinds of folks who regularly appear on tabloid shows like Jenny Jones. Oddly enough, “Jenny Jones” is exactly what this song is called and the poor son of a bitch can’t lure the girl of his low rent dreams away from the damn show to get her attention. This is great, greasy blues from a ragged Lone Star maverick.
   Another blues artist with talent to burn is Tony Joe White, who had a big hit in 1969 with “Polk Salad Annie” which Elvis also recorded. In addition, the Louisiana native also wrote “Rainy Night In Georgia” which has been recorded more times than Michael Jackson has had rhinoplasty.
   White is thankfully making albums again and his new one, The Beginning, is about as raw (and simple) as you can get. One man, one guitar, one harmonica, one tapping foot. “More To This Than That” opens with these sad but lovely lines: “Times are moving kind of fast/I’ve been hanging out in the past/Living in a world of hi-tech/With an ol’ guitar around my neck.” In “Wonder Why I Feel So Bad,” White takes things one step further: “I was dreaming about a ship/But I don’t think it’s ever coming in/I don’t know where I’m going/But I hope it ain’t where I’ve been.” It’s perfect music to play when it’s late at night, you’re all alone but wish you weren’t.
   When I first heard about Midwood a few years ago in England’s Mojo Magazine, one of the guys they compared him to was … Tony Joe White. Small world, ain’t it?
Y   ou can find Conway’s Corner at texasmusicroundup.com for $13.00 and CDNow has The Beginning for $13.50.
   *Ace guitarist Jimmie Vaughn will be at the House Of Blues on November 9. This gig is particularly worth noting because his opening act is the aforementioned Ramsay Midwood.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Nevada Moon Landing.