Howdy, Folks!
Austin, man. Fucking Austin. Love it.
Before I get into it just a heads-up that there are shows coming up in Bolder and Denver this weekend and Portland the weekend after that and then the Midwest run culminating with my special that I’m shooting in Minneapolis on April 29th. Then there’s a night in Philly and one in DC after that. All the links for all of the shows are at wtfpod.com/tour. Dig it.
I had some serendipitous good times in Texas. I got to Austin a day early so I could hang a bit. I like it there. It was the first time I played the Paramount without being part of the Moontower Fest so I wasn’t sure how it was going to sell but we just about sold the place out. I had the whole day before the show to wrestle with the idea of going out to Opie’s BBQ for some meat. I hadn’t eaten any in months and after some power rationalizations I realized, again, life is short, why not make it shorter if it’s worth it. It was worth it.
I drove out Spicewood and the owner Kristin set me up with a few slices of brisket, a few pork ribs, some spicy corn, the free butter beans and the fucking pecan cobbler. What? Yes. Pecan cobbler. Nuts. I told her I’d set her up with some seats at the show because she thought it was sold out. Then she told me she was going with a friend and that friend was Chuck Woolery. The retired game show host and a vocal conservative. I told her that I’m doing some material on the scoundrel at the helm of the country and she said Chuck has a good sense of humor. I said fine. In my mind, Chuck Woolery storming out of my show isn’t the worst thing that could happen. In fact, it would’ve been hilarious. He didn’t. Apparently he loved it. I’m getting ahead of myself.
After my meat coma nap I was having some coffee at Jo’s, hanging around, and I see Jimmy Vivino walking down the street. He’s the guitar player from Conan’s show and a friend of mine. I ask him what he was doing in Austin and he told me he was just there to hang out with Jimmy Vaughn and sit in with him at C Boys Heart and Soul up the street. I was like, I fucking love Jimmy Vaughn. He is honestly one of my favorite guitar players. Jimmy told me to come up. I told him to come to my show. He did, for a while.
I was on stage and it was a great show. There are great audiences in Austin. I did an hour and half and bolted out to watch the Jimmies jam. It was amazing. It’s a little place. There were like 100 people there, maybe. Just seeing Vaughn play was awesome. I hadn’t seen him live since I saw The Fabulous Thunderbirds when I was in high school. I asked him if he remembered playing the Golden Inn in Golden, NM. He didn’t even pretend to remember. I respected that. It was great meeting him. I was there for three hours. Closed the place at 1:30 (haven’t done that in years) and walked back down to the hotel with Vivino who was staying across the street. We talked tone, groove, phrasing, guitar shit. Great night. Thanks Austin.
Today on the show I talk to Hank Azaria for a bit and then the New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman for good long one. He just wrote a book about David Letterman called The Last Giant of Late Night. Good read. Good talk. On Thursday for our 800th episode I talk to our very first guest Jeff Ross who has actually never had a full hour treatment. Should be good.
Enjoy!
Boomer lives!
Love,
Maron