Casbeers is one of those classic Texas bar/restaurant gigs. The walls are lined with photos of all the usual well known and not so well known texan folkies and honky tonkers. The bar is lined with drinkers who just look like they belong. If it were an English pub they'd probably have their personal pint pot hanging above their favourite bar stool. They seem to know everyone who walks through the door. One of the regulars is remarkably well dressed in suit and tie and it turns out he is my hosts lawyer.
My host is Claude Butch Morgan. Butch has been running a gig here for 7 years, normally with his band, but once a month he shares the stage with a visiting songwriter and tonight it is me.
There is lots of friendly banter between Butch and the regulars. Lots of jibes at the lawyer: Q: "Does anyone know a good lawyer?" A: "No but I know Ben." and so on. Ben takes it very well along with copious amounts of beer.
The other thing Casbeers is famous for is its burgers. I have one before the show and it's easily the best thing about the place. The gig itself is what you'd expect in a noisy bar style restaurant. me and Butch swop songs and 10 or 15 people pay attention. Other tables tune in every now and then when something distracts them from their own conversation. I test the water with a song of mine about The Pilgrim Fathers called "William Brewster Dreams of America" but I am obviously expecting too much. After that I stick with the simpler, more rhythmic and up numbers.
Butch is an excellent songwriter. His song about Ed, a local man from his hometown of Devine, is very moving. He tells me it was this song which has one him a finals place in this years Kerrville New Folk Competition. Good luck with that Butch !
I enjoyed playing with Butch. He has a lovely easy way, a very good guitar player and a top notch songwriter. Unfortunately I didn't fancy Casbeers much. The real clincher was a couple of young women who kept applauding inexplicably mid song. I ignored it a couple of times but when they did it during one of Butch's songs I looked over and noticed they were concentrating on something else. They were watching a baseball game on the huge flat screen tv with the sound turned down !
