LOOSENOTES - Like the Olympics, August's live music SCENE was pretty much gold wherever we stopped. Makes sense as we find our stops, just like you, by reading the SCENE. Cheers to the musicians who gave it their all, playing for all and better too - to those who got a chance to enjoy it all. Leading the fast start off the blocks this month was a solid dose of...

STOUT IRISH ROCK - And Union Tavern was the place to catch Blaggards (pronounced BLA’ GUARDS or BLA’ GHERDS, depending on where you’re from). Played at a tempo akin to a Mama Tried or Come See My Dead Person show, Blaggards plays traditional Irish music mixed with rock n’ roll, flavored with everything from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath. Joining the original quartet of vocalists Patrick Devlin (guitar), Chad Smalley (bass), plus fiddler Brandi Belle Clarke, and drummer Michael McAloon was their new guitarist and mandolinist Bryce Clarke. These dedicated full time musicians maintain a rigorous schedule, playing constantly throughout Texas, touring nationally, plus annual trips to Ireland. We like this band in the lead off position. Shifting gears...

CENTER OF GRAVITY - Which would be Mainly Drinks for their 1st year anniversary celebrations. This former 1930's ice cream parlor gathering spot comes to life again with "Great music and great food". On this anniversary month, we caught the Moondog Duet of David Hargrave and Danny Douglass for an evening of the obscure classic covers (that would be Americana Classic Pop Rock and a splash of Spaghetti Western) with a classical flamenco twist for good measure -The tasty stuff that nobody else is able to play. If that weren't enough, this month brought the return of local music hero, Freddy Krc to a packed standing room house (see the August SCENE for the skinny on this gracious musical giant.) In terms of musical geography, we all know all along the Texas Gulf of Mexico comes a music of gritty integrity and at the center of this origin is LaPorte-Mark that on your map. And while you've got your marker out...

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - For September 17th at Signature Bistro. Their head Chef Brent has recently undergone emergency open heart surgery which has kept him away from preparing delicious meals at Signature Bistro-A benefit is going down we'll be there along with musicians David Schwope, Dalton Wheeler, Roger Wayne Bailey, Christine Kelly Gietzen and many others. Be well, be generous, and be there! While on the topic of music and Signature Bistro, we dropped by this month for followups with Cerebelus and Hank Wolff & Friends. The last time we caught Cerebelus was our first time and we were taken with their soulful (with a punchy edge) R&B. The duo of Armando Vazquez Jr. and Rachel Naomi Walker has a distinct way of making music and the Signature Bistro is perhaps the perfect place to hear "their sound". Local SCENE music lovers have been catching more of Hank Wolff this year. We find Hank's ability to interpret Classics into something new very refreshing. Try out Hank Wolff and Cerebelus when you get the chance - Your ears will love you!

ALL ROUND GOLD - Hauling in the gold medals this summer has to include Jackie's Brickhouse. Ever tweaking the dials for best all round local entertainment, these folks pulled off their usual including their 2nd MidSummer Luau complete with limbo, hula, and fire last month. Never the bashful one, Jackie and the staff packed the house even tighter, dressed the theme, and pulled off a doozie with the International Men of Steel coming to town-the likes of which falls into the "never before" in this neck of the woods. This was *clearly* Ladies night at the Brickhouse to the level we'll have to research the record books for in the maximum moxie entertainment category. Folks, I've simply no idea how the folks at Jackie's will ever top what they've pulled off this summer but then, we said the same thing last year. London had the opening and closing ceremonies at their all 'round venue this month-And we have Jackie's Brickhouse!

PRESEASON PICKS - Ever notice how champs are often amongst those consistently in the hunt? We've been following live music at the Cockeyed Seagull awhile as well as female lead guitarist Starr Jernigan and this month caught Starr's own band for the first time at the Seagull. Holy Moly! Folks, there's lots of good live music happening out there these days as usual- For now, Starr's band (with Myrna Sanders riding bass, Jason Padilla from La Porte on drums, Clint Glaze on the keys, and a vocal mic in front of each), has to be the bestest crispest sharpest local Rock and Roll band on The SCENE. Watch for them! In the same league of consistently good, we stopped by T-Bone Tom's and an evening with Sheila Marshall. Watching Sheila at T-Bone's is interesting - During breaks, she's mingles with the audience as most musicians should but then often ducks away for a few minutes scribbling out lyrics in her spiral notebook to some new song you'll hear in the next set. And if *fresh* isn't good enough, her band is tight enough get these new ditties, breaks and turnarounds included. Need proof? Watch the dancers-They never loose step. Throw down like this isn't often seen and perhaps the last area band best at it was the Cow Blues Brothers and that was at least a couple years ago. These days, the Sheila Marshall group has it...

THE COOLEST DRINK ON THE PLANET AND THE GROOVE - We've found it this summer, La Brisa has it, and it's their frozen Mojito. There.... Our secret is out... This fine concoction is mighty fine on a hot summer day and was even better when we caught up with Slide Effect, no doubt one of the busiest bands in the area. This evening, brought on another cool treat with Benny Brasket on vocals/bass emerging from the Bacliff scene and joining up with the core of Patrick Henry Beadles, Lynn Raggio & C.J. Philpot (harp, lead & drums). It's no secret amongst club owners that Slide Effect brings the fine hot ladies out to the dance floor with ease. More telling is how smooth and effortlessly Slide Effect connects with the most discriminating of music critics, the after dinner stream of younger tots shorter than forty inches. You've seen who we're talking about. Next time out, watch them and see if they're simply burning off their desert or into the music the way they do at a Slide Effect show. Short of giving children music lessons, perhaps this is how music *should* be passed along from old to young? Whatever it be, Slide Effect does it for music lovers of all ages. Just mentioning...

NEW TIME & NEW WEBSITE - For the Bay Area Bluegrass Association now getting together on the 3rd Saturday of each month. While they still call themselves BABA, they've a new url (www.bayareabluegrass.org) for all their latest. We caught up with them as they were hosting their association's annual Texas State Mandolin championships. Bluegrass lovers tend to have lots of common sense and taking it inside the comfortable Johnnie Arolfo Civic Center during the dogs days of summer is a cool idea. Typical attendance at these gatherings consistently averages in the several of hundreds confirming bluegrass as a community pillar stone musical event. Makes sense reckoning how long bluegrass has been around. Come to your senses and take in a Bay Area Bluegrass evening as a listener or a jammer-It's a free show and your senses will thank you!

TOUR STOP CLEAR LAKE - It seems like yesterday when we caught Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" tour and the hit song was "School's Out". Fast forward and we are at the Hank 3 show at Scout Bar only this time, school's in... And WOW, does Hank get it across. The packed house this evening was equally split between the nations of country, rock and alternative and only a place like Scout Bar can pull off this kind of show. Sing-alongs during the country set had full participation, mosh pit action was therapeutic, and *then* came the video/jam lessons... Hank's videos run for entire set and are the most comprehensive massive assault on the brain on this planet. In the fewest words possible, they are rarely seen clips of cold war history, western hemisphere dogma, science (actual and fiction), marketing fads & spoofs, industrial-military complexity, backfired public affairs, trivial values, pivotal global events, religion, hoodoo, and cartoons - Not your typical dinner conversation. We may not have gotten it when when Alice let us out of class but we got it this time with Hank on the stage. And just to be sure we got it, next time Hank 3 comes to the area, we'll be there. And *that* folks is Tour Stop Clear Lake...