2.5.2010, ftw

a wish fulfillment gig of sorts was the carey wolff-reggie rueffer extravaganza at the grotto, sponsored by the ftw music co-op. the ex-woodeye frontman and hochimen mastermind are two of our favorite songwriters of all time, and the confluence of their talents in a congenial spot close to home proved irresistible, even tho my sweetie's been feeling a little under the weather (thank goodness for corticosteroids).

taylor craig mills, who used to play bass with promising younguns voigt a few years ago, opened and showed admirable grace under pressure when some yayhoos by the video golf game down at the end of the bar decided to provide us with the audio equivalent of a rugby party. (big neil schnell, who's had to contend with a few rowdy bar crowds in his days with velvet love box, commented, "once in our history we had an age of enlightenment. now it's like an age of entitlement.") when i saw goodwin/good show/ftw music co-op mover 'n' shaker tony diaz reaching for his phone, i thought he was gonna use the "dematerialize" app on 'em. but it was no. (hey cody: you oughtta move that thing over to the other side, with the door that closes.)

rumors of a woodeye reunion have been flying around, subject to hayes carll (scott davis' current employer)'s gig sked. nothing would make me happier. carey wolff, cantankerous curmudgeon that he's always been, has still written more songs that can bring a tear to my eye than anybody else, and woodeye's swansong cd such sweet sorrow was surely one of my faves of the oh-oh's. carey played a brace of songs from thatun, his more recent i'm still the darkness e.p., and some from even farther back, performing with great energy and feeling, along with the usual amount of self-deprecating horseshit. el lobo is a true original. bless him.

same could be said of reggie rueffer, who's fallen in love and looked happier than i've ever seen him. his brother chad (who showed up along with their c&w music-makin' buds derek spigener and randy brown) sez they've been getting together weekly to write new material, and reg was fairly bursting out of himself as he played a set of newies and old faves from the hcm's tierra del gato album. towards the end of the set, reg essayed "horse's head" from spot daze before inviting chad up to play guitar on their mtv hit "moon june spoon." chad stayed up to sing "crumbling heart," an ace tune that reg penned for his brother's be where you are now country cd. reg finished off the night with "blue spanish eyes," the song i always used to yell for at their country gigs. the rueffer boys, who've been turning people's heads since their time in mildred back in deep ellum's heyday, are making the music of their lives right now. wish fulfillment indeed.