Concert review: Jimmy Lafave & Twilight Hotel at Jefferson Freedom Café (May 3)

by Ron Dempesmeier

The charitable Jefferson Freedom Café hosted Austin-based artist Jimmy Lafave and the opening act, an up-and-coming folk/blues duo called Twilight Hotel from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The show took place on a nearly Canadian May night in Fort Worth. The weather may have been unseasonably cool, but the sanctuary of the church was kept warm with the sound of authentic roots music.

Twilight Hotel consists of two blond, wholesome looking, yet tattooed, young musicians: Brandy Zdan (vocals, guitars, and accordion) and Dave Quanbury (vocals, guitars). Both switched playing acoustic and electric guitars with Quanbury playing left-handed so that he had to flip both over as they switched. Zdan played some excellent slide licks and will probably be compared to Bonnie Raitt too many times just for being a female player. Their songs had plenty of spunky attitude, bluesy vocals and solid playing.

Zdan switched to accordion when they played a moving song about a brother and sister who came to America illegally from Mexico and their travails called “The Ballad of Salvador and Isabelle”. They also performed a song about a female who was trying to make a career as a coal miner in “No Place for a Woman”. One of Twilight Hotel’s best songs of the evening was their salute to old-fashioned records called “Viva La Vinyl”. Quanbury took their beat up looking acoustic with its single pickup and coaxed out controlled, moaning feedback from his 1950’s vintage Gibson amplifier. It was very neatly done and capped off a very nice opening set.

Headliner Jimmy Lafave was a very inspired performer with a uniquely raspy voice. Actually, when he spoke, he sounded a lot like the character Red Green on PBS! And like Red Green, Lafave had some rambling, funny stories between songs. His crack band of Austin musicians consisted of Bryan Peterson – keyboards, John Inmon – guitar, and Glenn Schuetz – bass (who looks eerily like the bald headed drummer from the band Spirit).

Lafave played a number of his originals mixed in with selections by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Big Bill Bronzy, The Band, The Left Bank (!) and a legendary Oklahoman songwriter named Bob Childers. Childers was a friend of Jimmy Lafave’s who just passed away (April 22 of emphysema) so Lafave waxed on a couple times about his best friend before performing his songs. One of these songs was the lovely “Restless Spirits” which dealt with the issue of mortality in a very beautiful way and Lafave’s band segued directly into a lovely rendition of the old spiritual “I’ll Fly Away”. A number of folks in the audience joined in singing this uplifting gospel song. Very appropriate for the venue even considering the place was filled with “heathens” (what Lafave called the audience after asking if anyone actually attended the Jefferson Unitarian Church and nobody raised their hands).

Lafave’s music ranged from gutsy blues (“Deep South 61 Delta Highway Blues”), rollicking rockabilly (“That’s the Way It Goes”), to lovely ballads like “Home Once Again”. According to Lafave, his most requested song of the evening was the beautiful “River Road”. His capable band handled all styles excellently and Lafave’s audience was very appreciative of their skills and the quality of the lyrics.

Keyboardist Bryan Peterson played several Jerry Lee Lewis styled boogie solos that got the crowd very enthused. Guitarist John Inmon (formerly of Omar and the Howlers) played fluid, effortless lines that complemented all the styles of “Americana music” Lafave sang. When they played Bronzy’s “Key to the Highway”, Eric Clapton would’ve given Inmon a “Slowhand” clap! Probably the best playing of the evening was a long, elegiac coda given to Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman”. Lafave did what Dylan does in concert – reinterpret the song with a different vocal melody or rhythm so it takes just a bit to catch which song it is.

Another interesting song performed by Lafave was the 1966 symphonic pop classic “Walk Away Renee”. The Left Bank’s version had harmony vocals, strings and a faster tempo – but Lafave’s lonesome voice and the delicate backing of his band made the song sound like a wonderful folk tune! It’s the sort of interpretive singing that Rod Stewart and Tom Rush used to be the masters of doing.

To top off the evening, the final song of his second encore was a great rendition of The Band’s “The Weight”. He made up for the lack of the original’s rough-hewn three-part harmonies with a drawn out, quavering vocals – again changing the version to one uniquely his own.

Both acts are promoting recent recordings (Lafave’s Cimarron Manifesto and Twilight Hotel’s Highway Prayer) and will be touring these parts of Texas over the next few weeks. You can catch Lafave in Austin and at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Twilight Hotel will be playing several “coffee house” gigs in Dallas and Arlington (May 9 with Amy Speace & the Tearjerks at Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse; May 10 with the Quebe Sisters Band at The Open Door Coffee House; May 14 with Tania Cordobes at Opening Bell Coffee) before heading to Kerrville themselves. They are both well worth catching if you have the time!

This article was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community.