It’s tricky business recommending brown bagging in a space so close to the Variations section. There’s always a chance for some sort of bizarre misinterpretation. Not everyone reads to the end of a sentence – much less to the end of a paragraph or page and certainly not those inclined to take an innocent phrase and carry it to an unintended extreme. Nonetheless, if you’re the perseverant type who believes there’s a pot of gold at the end of this syntactic rainbow, here it is: You may want to brown bag it this Friday. Why? Because Heybale! is playing at noon down at Austin City Hall. That’s right, just outside the climate-controlled seat of our city government is a thoughtfully designed amphitheatre/staircase – or a sun-fired brick oven, depending on your take – where every Friday at noon local bands give it up for the city. To be fair, seating in the amphitheatre is shaded by a mercifully placed canopy of architecturally ingenious solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into something that might power … say … a Fender Twin. Awesome in theory, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t work up some impressive armpit sweat crescents before returning to your office. After all, it’s still July, and this ain’t Phoenix. Fortunately, it’s also Casual Friday, so you could kick it sleeveless and roll in to work sporting some sort of Daisy Mae/Dale Earnhardt getup. It’s very likely that management hasn’t read to the end of that section of the employee manual anyway. Nonetheless, if you have to endure a few salt rings to get your culture on, Heybale! is well worth the shvitz. Normally you would have to pony up $6 and endure the chilly climes of the Continental Club to witness greatness on this scale. Each member of Heybale! deserves his own exclamation point. Redd Volkaert is a veteran guitarist who has recorded with Merle Haggard and Dale Watson. Sure he’s country, but his skill on the fretboard is regarded with drop-jawed awe by guitarists of all genres. Earl Poole Ball spent 20 years playing piano with Johnny Cash, but he’s also worked with folks like Gram Parsons, Buck Owens, and the Byrds. Tom Lewis played drums for Junior Brown, the Wagoneers, and Johnny Bush. Kevin Smith’s bass can be heard on all the High Noon CDs as well as some by Brian Setzer and Ronnie Dawson, and Gary Claxton is an accomplished singer/songwriter with more than 100 tunes to his credit. In any other city you’d have to empty out your wallet for talent like this, but in Austin it’ll only cost you a couple pints of sweat. Of course, if you’re still a little uneasy about the brown bagging thing, you can purchase a lunch from the local food vendor on site. This week’s selection: brisket sandwich. Price? Six dollars. Otherwise you’re free to brown bag it with all the other hotties.
This article appears in July 22 • 2005.
