Thursday, November 11, 2010

Austin City Limits: Lost and Found

I was so excited to visit Austin last week.  I’d heard so many great things about the music scene there and had only gotten the chance to visit once.  It was for a wedding and I didn’t really even get to go downtown.  South Congress and 6th Street: now I know why they say “Keep Austin Weird.”  Loved it though.

I had a jam packed week.  I had all the different kinds of venues covered and knew I was going to get a musical experience there that I had never had the chance to get anywhere else.  I mean, Nashville has a lot of music but people really seemed to enjoy the music in Austin more.  Is it because music is in so many more places than just honky tonks?  Is it because it’s not quite the same mainstream cover music, it sort of lilts in the air and hangs there longer instead.  Whatever the reason, I had a great time except for the unexpected vortex of missing things that seemed to hang over my head while there.  As I go through some of the venues, I’ll explain this mystery.

It started off well in New Braunfels.  What an adorable little town.  Not only is famous Gruene Hall there, there little wine tastings, antique shops and probably one of the best independent music stores I’d ever been in: Lone Star Music.  The instore was pretty sad but I did find my EP on the shelves though and it was right next to The Courtyard Hounds (one of my new favs).  That was enough to allow me to sleep well in Lakeway that night.  When I woke up in the morning, I realized I didn’t have my entire bag of jewelry, including my Grandmother’s famous ring I always talk about.  I felt sick.  I called the record store, called Lee, looked in every bag and I had and it was nowhere.  Little did I realize, the vortex was just opening up.

On Thursday we played at Botticelli’s on South Congress.  It’s a great little restaurant next to the Continental Lounge but what really got me was the back courtyard.  There was a stage and an open sky.  The sound was great.  We plugged in and played for an hour.  For a one hour show, we got more tips than I had ever gotten at a show in Nashville and people listened while the met with friends, ordered drinks and ate the outstanding food.  It was also First Thursday which means all the art galleries and shops were open late and people were milling around everywhere.  It felt so alive.  I however did not.  My throat was killing me and I still hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

Friday we had Collings Guitar tour. I was able to see how guitars were picked from single slats of wood and finished into beauty.  They were working on a special guitar for Conan O’Brien and I got to see it before he did.  That night we played a house concert and the room was packed.  The cello sounds amazing in a small room full of people. I had a blast.  House concerts are an entirely different subject that I’ll tackle next time I suppose. 

Saturday=Vortex.  After rehearsal, it was lunchtime with friends. I dropped off the car and jumped into theirs.  At the restaurant we put my wallet, phone and rental car keys into Donna’s purse.  After the meal, she handed what could have been everything back to me.  We don’t remember the keys.  We left the restaurant and before we got to our destination were in a frantic search.  We called the restaurant, emptied the purse, searched the car and found NOTHING.  Then we walked along the river and while on our walk, Melissa’s ID fell out of her pocket.  Luckily the other two were right behind us and noticed an ID lying in the grass.  They picked it up and to their surprise, Melissa was smiling back.  At least that was one thing saved from the vortex.  After driving back to the restaurant and checking back at the house, I gave up hope.  The keys were gone.  The show must go on though so Donna had to drive me to my second house concert at the Tulkoff House.  It was another successful night and while I was playing I wasn’t thinking about my jewelry or keys so I didn’t want to stop. 

Thank God Saturday was over.  There weren’t many more things to lose, at least that’s what I thought.  We got up to meet our friend Mike for lunch at the marina, another person from our Iraq trip. It was a gorgeous day and that sounded relaxing.  I love the water.  The lunch was pretty good too.  I enjoyed seeing Lakeway from the water side.  I would love to live there but don’t think I can afford it.  Anyway, we got back to the house and started getting ready for the show that night.  It was a military tribute being taped for Veteran’s Day to be played in Afghanistan, etc.  Mike came back to the house to pick us up and asked if we’d seen his wallet.  I thought, “Are you kidding me, you too?”  It got a good laugh because now I wasn’t the only one who’d actually lost anything.  The show was great.  It was in a church and the acoustics were incomparable and simply amazing.  After the show my friends were trying to help get us moving quickly since none of us had eaten and all the restaurants closed in 30 min.  What John didn’t realize was that my phone was in the side mesh pocket, easily dislodged.  So, you guessed it, when I checked my belongings an hour later, the phone was gone.  We drove back to the church, checked the parking lot, and looked through the car.  This was becoming an all too familiar feeling. 

The worst part was that I was leaving at 6 am the next morning.  That is far too early to locate any belongings or take care of the rental car which was still parked out front because no one at ACE could get to the extra keys or could be of any assistant in a moment of crisis of the weekend.  If you rent a car, make sure something bad happens during the week because you’re on your own over the weekend.  Or, just don’t rent from ACE. 

The funny thing: I still had an amazing week of shows and hanging with friends.  I felt incredulous that all of my belongings were being sucked into this missing world.  I just needed to leave and leave soon.  While packing Sunday night, I decided to look in the night stand just in case…My jewelry.  Was I really that delirious?  I never put any of my belongings away while traveling.  Mike was able to search his boat again and located his wallet.  Much later in the day, someone finally answered my phone and it’s currently on its way back to me.  The only thing still floating out there in nowhere land are those damn keys.  Of course, they were the most expensive thing to lose.  Oh Austin.  How I loved and hated you. 

Beyond the music, I’d heard that traffic in Nashville was worse and boy was whoever said that WRONG.  

2 comments:

  1. This is hard to believe...Donna just sent me an email and she found the ACE key. Seriously? What a crazy weekend. All was lost and now is found. AHAHAHHAHAHAH

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  2. Donna got a full refund on the replacement key cost so in the end though ACE couldn't help us during the weekend, they were very customer friendly once someone who knew what they were doing got back on board.

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