Killin' Time in Texas

last night i went up to the Cactus Cafe which is part of the University of Texas Union so it's on campus. it's been around since the 70s and the likes of Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan have played there. some names you might actually recognise! it has a capacity of around 150 so it's an intimate venue. last night there were about 50 people there to see old longhairs Gurf Morlix and Sam Baker. I'm not all that familiar with Sam but I have one of Gurf's CDs. he's a producer as well as musician and has produced records for loads of musicians that i like including Lucinda Williams who he played with for 11 years. he toured with her to Auckland about 15 years ago where they played the Gluepot. i think he fell out with her but i didn't broach the subject when i spoke to him. he and Sam were great together. Sam's a little mischievous whereas Gurf's songs are quite dark, but they do have some humor. like the one about murdered atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair who was responsible for ending daily prayer in US schools, called Madalyn's Bones. a little way through the first set they mentioned that bloody Australian guy with the heavily autographed stetson. he was there too! during the break I got talking to a woman who was also there by herself. i think her name was Jenny. she's from Austin originally but now lives halfway between it and Houston, a 90 minute drive she said. she stays at home with 2 boys so i guess she had the night off. she got my email as she might be coming out to New Zealand as a friend of hers is married to a New Zealander. anyway, i also spoke to Sam and Gurf during the break and then they mentioned me too during the second set. after the show i met Matthew the Australian who is mayor of some small (pop. 1200) western NSW town, the name of which i can't remember. he's pretty much doing the same thing as me here. he took the pics of me and Gurf and Sam below. and the one of me outside the nearby Texas Chili Parlor. fans of Quentin Tarantino may like to know that he filmed some of 'Grindhouse' there.