Highlight's of Not-SXSW at Amelia's 2011

by Kimberly Caterino

If you didn’t at least peek into Amelia’s Retrovogue during 3^rd Coast Music’s not-SXSW events-- well, you missed out.  The South Austin backyard venue was a treat in itself—with potted ferns, metal sculptures, mosaic remnants, and a perfectly fitted stage (read: cozy, but not too small).  Some musical highlights, as a former and once-again 3CM FAR (Freeform American Roots) reporter (if you don't know what I mean by FAR reporter, check out an issue of 3rd Coast Music):  

Since I first spun the CD Bar of Gold in 2007, I’ve been waiting for the chance to catch Baltimore’s Arty Hill in person-- where Hank meets honky tonk meets Arty’s delivery and lyrical wit.  With stand-up bass for backup, and despite overcoming a recent cold, Arty delivered.  We heard some gems, like “Nashville Moon” and “Church on a Saturday Night”..    Arty was later in the audience for Austinite Brennen Leigh, who has the perfect vocal intonation and slight drawl for her brand of bluegrass-inflected country.  She sang of drinking, crying, and “sleeping with the devil”, backed by acoustic guitar and electric bass, and closed with the Jimmie Rodgers cover “Mule Skinner”.   A satisfying early-morning discovery one day was Houstonite Matt Harlan, whose lyrics and weathered voice completely exceed his age.  Matt is more of a folkie, with tones of country—his interesting picking pattern shaped unique and pretty melodies, with dusty and wise vocals reflecting on life—bringing me to the weep zone-- check "You're Just Drunk".   ..And radio people aren’t supposed to have favorites, but clearly Nashville’s Amanda Shires is my not-SX pick.  The fiddle is her instrument, which she alternated between picking like a ukulele and bolding stroking with the bow for stormy accents between verses— verses, might I add, that were delivered in flawlessly feminine vocals, with a slight wavering edge, and earthy poetic punch.  She basically stopped time in the growing heat of a sunny afternoon, with the power of raw, demanding emotion in her sweet voice.  Hopefully this gal will soon move back to her native Texas!