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  If the first rule in making
an accurate and detailed review is for the reviewer to actually
attend the entire show, this review is in trouble. Sunday Feb.
4th, 2001 was a BIG day for Our Kind of Music. There was an all
day affair at the Main Street Theatre in Mansfield, a benefit
concert for Ann and Joe Parsons. More good music than one man
or woman really has the right to expect to hear in a year, much
less a Sunday afternoon. Happily I was able to attend for a while
in the company of my son, Chance, who was so thrilled at the
prospect that he promptly fell sound asleep on my shoulder. When
I took him home to Mama and left him sleeping peacefully, I turned
and high-tailed it to Texana to hear two of Texas music's legends
pick and sing and share their wisdom, insight and bullshit. And
as Hondo Crouch would have told you, it was tough to tell which
was which.
Let's start off with telling you a little about Texana Grill.
I-20 and Cooper in Arlington, TX. Big stone building, looks like
it could have been a barracks on the Texas frontier when Jim
Bowie was picking fights. The place is a pure Texas experience
that any fan of Lone Star food, history, beer and music should
make it a point to visit. The menu is all over the Texas map,
and the food is some of the best you'll find in the metroplex.
Sunday nights there is a regular concert series in the loft upstairs.
Prices vary, but figure around $35 a head for dinner at 7pm,
then stay for a show from 8 til midnight or so. The staff will
serve up five or so courses that'll definitely take care of business.
And there is a bar located upstairs, so no tricky maneuvering
is required for tequila runs on a very full stomach. This series
runs the gamut of Texas music; you'll hear everybody from Tommy
Alverson to Tom Russell, live and pickin' on a stool at the front
of the room. You can expect to have a hundred or so neighbors,
all of whom love the music like you do, which makes for an unforgettable
experience. The waitstaff as a whole seemed on the money, but
Shanna in particular kept me in Jack Daniel's and cold Lone Star.
I promised her I'd put her name in because any woman who can
do that job well deserves some praise. The acoustics in the room
are good, the atmosphere is warm and intimate, and if you don't
enjoy yourself most folks would have to speculate on your longings
for I-35 North.
That said, Gary P and Brian played a heck of a set Sunday
night. You already know Gary P Nunn is a legend. You should already
know that Brian Burns is a legend in the making. The two have
been friends for years and it shows when they play together,
trading songs like the rest of us used to do with baseball cards.
Their familiarity and comfort bled straight to the audience,
and the music called out Texas' best spirits to dance on the
tables. As accomplished songwriters and performers, each man
is at ease doing his own library side by side with cuts from
Larry Joe Taylor, David Allen Coe, Jerry Jeff and anonymous cowboys
who wrote lyrics around campfires in 1844. Not an ego in sight,
just solid picking and singing and banter. From Gary P singing
"What I Like About Texas"-truly moving in its simplicity
when played acoustically and solo-to Brian Burns with "Goodnight
Angelina," the song selection could not have been better.
Crowd participation? Yeah, that was there too. Gary P asked the
audience if anybody knew the words to the perfect country song,
and some drunk named Brian made a beeline for the mic-which led
us all to believe momentarily that he knew what he was doing.
Points to Brian for attempting to sing the song; more points
to Gary P for pointing out to the air-guitar mad Brian that he
didn't necessarily have to provide the instrumentation! But the
guy tried, Gary P and Brian Burns backed him when his voice wasn't
up to par, and truth be told by mid-song the whole audience thought
we could sing too. Worked out fairly well, all things considered.
There is no way to say adequately what kind of magic our kind
of music can perform. Gary P Nunn and Brian Burns put on an exhibition
for just what Texas music was, is and will be. In spite of a
generous consumption of Homer Formby's Furniture Polish by both
artists, songs and notes and chords were nailed sharply all night
long. More importantly, each song carried a vitality that only
comes from experience and love for the material-we all know by
now that both men believe firmly in both. The bottom line? For
four hours on a Sunday night in Texas two extremely talented
men played world class music that most of our world doesn't have
the class to listen to. But then that's what Gary P Nunn and
Brian Burns have always been about.
www.garypnunn.com
www.brianburnsmusic.com
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