Hey, I didn’t know he sang too??

The other day when I went to the Ned Van Go in-store gig at Bill’s in the Southside area of Dallas, I first stopped for a cup of joe at Opening Bell Coffee. Opening Bell is a cool, comfy little place that not only serves hot java, but mixes up adult beverages along with hosting many a performer to groove acoustically on their stage in the corner of the homey, dimly-lit neighborhood hang-out.  As my all-ages beverage was being crafted, I wandered around and noticed a “listening station” in the corner opposite of the stage.  It’s one of those older ones that you would see in the middle of a record store that you could check out a few pre-selected discs and listen to them track by track, in their entirety (not like the bogus 30 second samples you get at most places these days).  Even better was that the station was up and running and stocked with artists and bands that I had seen on the fliers posted around the room and front doors announcing their recent or upcoming performances at the shop.  Many names were unfamiliar to me, however, one specific name and album cover caught my eye.  The name on the tip of my memory was none other than the great Charlie Robison’s lead guitar virtuoso, Kevin Carroll.  Carroll has long been the man of flowing mane that turned Robison’s live gigs into more of a rock show versus the Country show many fans would typically expect.  As wild as his hair and as soaring as his solos can be, his personality on-stage has always deferred to Robison’s charisma and histrionic story-telling, so it was a tad foreign to me to think of the seemingly demure wall-flower jumping off the side of the stage and standing front and center for all the world to see.  After listening to some of his tracks from the over-sized headphones and then giving many of them another listen once I got home on his myspace page, I could totally understand why someone like him would relish the chance to switch microphone stand positions (I am delving into some choppy “assumption territory” here, paddle at your own risk).  The tracks from Carroll’s latest offering, Tourmaline, are cut from a very distinct cloth that is strictly singer-songwriter kind of fabric, and not the rustic, roughly sewn leather or burlap of the twangy Texas Country set.  There are many threads in this organic and eclectic material.  Strands of mid-tempo Tom Petty and laid back Van Morrison are intertwined with the ringing of a sweetly melodic Hammond being tickled on many of the tracks.  The cuts “Make it Feel Good” and “Give it Away” are prime representations of this departure from his main “night job” while the title track displays a little funk and groove that would be intriguing to see live with an acoustic guitar on a small coffee house stage with no Fender or plug-in around.  Seeing him live may be an option for me as he is playing several weekly gigs in Austin and I will be making a trip there soon to catch some shows myself.  From now on, when you go catch Charlie Robison, as any good Texas Music fan should do often, please try and catch a spot on the left side of the stage and yell requests for “Tourmaline,” maybe you’ll get lucky….