After 15 years, Toni Price played her last Tuesday early evening gig at the Continental Club in April. Price has since moved to San Diego, but she left a huge hole in the SoCo venue’s schedule that left owner Steve Wertheimer scratching his head as how to fill it. What took its place is markedly different, yet retains enough of the vibe that made Hippie Hour special.
Dubbed Planet Casper, it’s anchored by Casper Rawls, longtime Price accompanist and Leroi Brother, and a rotating cast of musicians and songwriters that have included Price alums Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Warren Hood, and Rich Brotherton, as well as David Grissom, Earl P. Ball, and Steve Doerr. Set up as a writers-in-the round configuration, which allows for maximum participation, it’s a chance to hear a wide range of styles, original compositions, and surprising covers.
Rawls explains it this way: “When Toni left, the folks at the Continental Club got inundated with emails on what to do on Tuesdays. Almost everyone had the idea of some sort of configuration of myself, Scrappy Jud, and Warren Hood or somebody like Shelly King or Lee Ann Atherton completely taking over the event. But there were more of me being involved with whatever was going on. So Steve decided that might be a good idea. He said, ‘Let’s start in July; you be the anchor and you get whoever you want to come in and play. We’ll see how it goes’. It started with Scrappy and Warren and Earl and Steve. We all just had a bunch of fun and people kept on coming back. The first show, I walked in there and it was packed. I was like, ‘My goodness, who’s playing here? Man it’s me!’ It was incredible. We got encores. I was expecting just a handful of people and we got encores. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” He pauses to laugh. “I was impressed. Honored for sure.”
The setting allows for some unique moments. For example, Storyville’s hot guitarist Grissom singing his own songs with a tender touch, breaking out his version of country twang on acoustic guitar, and covering Lucinda Williams. Rawls thinks that’s part of the beauty of what he’s trying to do.
“It’s interesting to hear the songs probably the way they were written on an acoustic guitar,” he explains. “Just to hear how they were envisioned in the writer’s head. Eventually, I’d like to evolve that into getting some real singer-songwriters in there to talk about the songs and how they came to write them. The crowd is so receptive to anything we play, as long as we’re having fun. They seem to love every bit of it. Steve’s given us month to month. But as long we’re having fun it will continue. Eventually I’d like to get some of my friends from around the country to come down, like [legendary guitarists] James Burton and Albert Lee. It’s gonna happen, it’s just a scheduling deal.”
This article appears in September 7 • 2007.