The Viper Room and Atlantic Records supplied the Open Bar and luncheon – however – it didn’t matter how drunk they got the guests, the music was phenomenal. By the first song, enough honest sweat was flowing out of his pores to mean he would not be letting up anytime soon – he’d done this before. Paolo has got the same Johnny Lang elated, scathing, rasp and quiver, mixed with Jeff Buckley moans and lingering “ooo’s” during the sultry ballads that were to die for. The timelessness of his music would throw a smile across anyone’s face and a chill down their spine as his boyish sincerity dabbled in motown and blues, reggae and barbershop bebop. As he picked up what appeared to be a watered down whiskey, smiling, he says “It’s the first one I’ve done of these things where everybody’s listening.” Not because he’s not extraordinary, but because he can be seen most often playing at big music halls, bigger concert venues, and music festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. And his giddy Scottish accent would sometimes sound more like a thick island one. It was adorable. In fact, all but one of the 6 piece band is from Scotland, and his 2007 record went platinum in the UK, and sold about 2 million copies. He played the single off of his last record, “New Shoes”, which Paolo is most notably known for. Keeping an eye on Paolo and awating the release of his next record out in June, he showed no deficit of talent Tuesday, no elevated ego.

Paolo Nutini @ Viper Room showcase (photo: anna webber)

[03:45] the prowl-dan auerbach

[06:18] Dan Auerbach live at SXSW 2009

(photos: anna webber)

Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys Live at SXSW’s Mojo Magazine Party at The Mean Eyed Cat

Danny boy Auerbach kills it again, slapping out the mean-eyed blues in the hot sun at Austin’s cherished Johnny Cash tribute bar. Hungover as we can so become after playing through a secret show till 5:00 the same morning, Auerbach still manages to thread together a thick dose of blues loud enough to stain any olfactory lobe within convincing reason. Chugging bottles of ice water, the globs of beard gum dripped quickly loose, hung, and at a moments notice landed if not on the high register, on one of us. He looses the tie fettered round his neck, and like mad, amounts to greatness. Though the delirium tremens clearly awoke the spins, he manages still to make good use of his loving arms (see below:)

It was an intimate gathering of saints, sinners, filthy blues and little or no upset. Backed by the San Antonio band Hacienda, Auerbach gave it as beautiful as always, his love for country and blues hardly unsurpassed. The girls were coming around serving ice cold Coronas, as if we looked like were lacking. They were happily accepted as we choked on our twelve bars of country twang, surely a day I had already concocted somewhere in dreams. It was the abrasions left on my psyche, applied by the unusual thing that is young Auerbach that convince me to remember it wasn’t just that.

Like a gentleman he took one of my photography postcards and stuffed it in between a few spent papers in his Moleskin. For a moment he had it rough and posed during a few photographs with the very tactile version of me, and, unsatisfied as they so become, he, along with Hacienda, had to bolt immediately for some tacos.

(Here are some photographs of the day. Click, they will become larger)

Looking forward now to Patrick Carney’s solo debut (drummer of The Black Keys duo), titled: Drummer. It  features Carney (on bass), Jon Finley from Beaten Awake (guitar/vox), Steve Clements from Houseguest (keys), Jamie Stillman from Party of Helicopters (guitar) and Greg Boyd from Ghostman and Sandman (drums). They are working on an album to be released in the fall on Carney’s label, Audio Eagle.

The LBC Blues Festival is no place for the mainstream teens and twenty-somethings in search of the last killer all-day summer festival. You won’t (or you shouldn’t) be laying out those hot dance moves you’d learned watching youtube and perfecting all summer long, they would confound the soul man next to you (his reaction however, would have been quite the expressive one and would have made it worth trying), you won’t be asking for healthy vegetarian food options (but the stunning bewilderment behind Rayband Wayfarers would have made it equally worth your effort), you won’t be battling for front and center (they’ll just let you have it), and if you’re a cute girl used to the attention, you’re last on the list to get called up on stage to get a guitar solo rubbed on your torso. But you will most definitely be paying $8 a beer, perhaps falling asleep after your second beverage since you’ve now spent all your cash, relaxed after having flossed out the Kettle Corn from your teeth using world class down-home Texas BBQ, and sweating out your malt liquor in 90 degree weather.
What could be fun about this, you ask?
You would have effectively stumbled on a piece of Blues history, and in no way past its characteristic class and caliber in terms of energy and adept execution. Countless songs started here with blues legends like Chuck Berry, Booker T. Jones, Taj Mahal, British Bluesman John Mayall, 95 year-old keyboard player Pinetop Perkins, Eddie Floyd, Charlie Musselwhite; songs you’ve heard innumerable times, brought to you either by the source or by qualified performers channeling the greats. The quality and texture of which, never compromised.
One of the greatest pleasures of this 29th annual blues voodoo experience was the discovering of 20 year-old blues slide guitarist Robert Francis. Learned at age 13 by great blues shaman Ry Cooder, the killer performance by he and his band made plain that blues still has a future, yet.
Absolutely.

-Anna Webber

jessie baylin plays at the hotel cafe 2006 (photos: anna webber)

jessie baylin plays live at the roxy 2008 (photo: anna webber)

Local artist feature: Reviewing Songstress Jessie Baylin

Singer and poet, Jessie Baylin’s style is organic and pure, uncontaminated by industry regime, mainstream artists, vocal lessons or theory. Her singing transcends all words and categories. Her luck is uncanny.
Baylin, 21, has been performing and recording less than a year, already signed a publishing contract with Sony, befriended big talent in the industry and enamored thousands of listeners across the world. Many of these aficionados have formed, by themselves, a street team to spread her music.
“She’s an unsigned artist, only been playing for the last year or so, but has managed to capture the elusive ‘industry buzz’,” said singer/songwriter Zack Hexum.
Her music is timeless, leaving a glimmer of hope in the fate of jazz, soul, blues and rock n’roll.
“It’s like Joni Mitchell meets Billie Holiday meets Stevie Nicks,” Baylin said. “It brings people together, bridges generation gaps.”
Baylin is a deep breath of fresh air from the trifling mainstream pop singers. She offers insight into her beautifully constructed reality, one of pleasure spiked with pain.
“I had a rough summer, but if I could have done it over again, I would have spent the whole year black and blue,” she said at a recent Hotel Café performance in Hollywood on January 16. Her friend John Mayer was there in support. “John said that this year, my music was the soundtrack to his life, it painted the year. Regardless of who it is, it’s a gift to hear that,” Baylin said.
Her powerful spirit rings true through her songs, naturally deterring her extraordinary looks with her soft, yet hypnotizing, voice.
“I write my songs so deep in me. It’s almost like I’m completely disconnected…the song just flows through me,” she said.
Her performances are a warm blend of rootsy sass, aching uncertainty with an after-hours jazz club atmosphere. She has a captivating lyrical bite, evoking heartfelt melodies, and sings of enduring values.
Her unique approach is like none other. It offers a rare intensity, emotionally connecting her audience to her soul.
“If you know how to feel, you can enjoy this. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what music you like, if you can feel,” Baylin said. “Many artists let their ego drive their music. I don’t want people listening to that.”
Though heavily influenced by the classic women of American roots music like Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, Jessie has a very fresh sound and is totally one-of-a-kind.
Live performances are rarely the same set. She is backed by a trio of seasoned musicians: upright bassist Paul Eckman, electric guitarist Pete Snell, and the brilliant female percussionist, Debra Dobkin.
“I can trust these people. I can stand up there, just me and my voice, and feel safe,” Baylin said.
Born and raised in New Jersey, coming to California was a move of independence and finding, or creating, herself.
“I came out to California with my parents in a U-haul when I was 18. They brought me here, set me up, and let me go,” Baylin said. “It was the best soul searching experience in my life.”
Initially a poet, Baylin always had something to say, but no idea how to say it. “I had to express myself. I was waiting for something to smack be between the eyes,” she said. “I love poetry, but it wasn’t enough. I needed people to hear my voice coming through on it, with my expression attached to it.”
Her eyes tell the whole story. One look, one song, one smile, and it’s love.

anna webber