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I’ve been hearing Gurf Morlix singing ‘Baby can I crawl back to you’ on OUTLAAAW COUNTRY Sirius 63. Good to see him getting airplay!
DANG!!! I wish I had heard of this Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah screening & Gurf Morlix concert just south of Birmingham ahead of time – I’d have been willing to make the 3-hour drive to see it, but it is tonight & we already have tickets to see Caroline Herring at Eddie’s Attic this evening.
Also, there’s a nice video at the bottom of the article of Blaze & Townes Van Zandt performing together from Austin Pickers 1984…
Tom
Also, here are links to Gurf’s new album, Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream, for those interested:
Amazon (CD – $14.32)
Amazon (Digital Download – $8.99)
iTunes (Digital Download – $9.99)Tom
WOW! Well, it seems I won’t be missing this screening of Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah & Gurf’s performance of Blaze’s songs from Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream after all. It will just be delayed until next Friday night, and it will be here in Atlanta! This all thanks to an incredible coincidence that occurred last night at the Caroline Herring show at Eddie’s Attic.
Opening the show for Caroline was a wonderful roots & alt-country performer from Vancouver, BC (eh, Canada LWJ!) who now lives in Nashville by the name of Linda McRae. She played a wonderful opening set, the first half with her playing the banjo & singing, the second half acoustic guitar and singing. She sang some delightful original material, much of it with a humorous edge.
In introducing one of her songs, she mentioned “an old friend”, Gurf Morlix! At the mention of his name, I clapped a couple of times – the only person in the audience of about 100 people to do so – which she acknowledged with a smile & nod of her head. She said she first met Gurf in 1989 at the Vacouver Folk Festival, and they had been friends ever since and he was, in fact, currently staying with her & her husband at their home.
After her set & before Caroline took stage, I introduced myself to Linda as “the lone clapper”, and explained to her that while I did not know Gurf personally, I was very aware of him due to my being a “huge fan” of Lucinda Williams. And, I told her that I was sorry to be missing his show near Birmingham that same night w/ the screening of “Duct Tape Messiah”. Well, her husband was standing there, and they both, nearly in unison, told me that Gurf was going to be doing the same gig next week in Atlanta at Smith’s Olde Bar! They were not sure of the actual date, and, after looking it up once I got home, it turns out it is next Friday night, and I immediately bought tickets.
It is amazing how the “connecting the dots” continues, often in surprising ways!
Tom
Sounds like a wonderful night of music and “connecting the dots,” Tom. I always love those “connecting the dots” stories of artists we love and admire.
Wonderful radio interview with Gurf on Blaze and the Duct Tape, 113th Wet Dream.
The show is called Highway Woman Radio Show with Brigitte London
There is a brief Lu mention along with samples of Gurf’s music.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5p2VnMuc-8
lwj
p.s Brigitte is quite the singer too.
Visit her web site.
Just for fun try her video game called Honkytonk Highways=Get me to the gig on timehttp://www.brigittelondon.com/
@tntracy wrote:
WOW! Well, it seems I won’t be missing this screening of Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah & Gurf’s performance of Blaze’s songs from Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream after all. It will just be delayed until next Friday night, and it will be here in Atlanta! This all thanks to an incredible coincidence that occurred last night at the Caroline Herring show at Eddie’s Attic.
Opening the show for Caroline was a wonderful roots & alt-country performer from Vancouver, BC (eh, Canada LWJ!) who now lives in Nashville by the name of Linda McRae. She played a wonderful opening set, the first half with her playing the banjo & singing, the second half acoustic guitar and singing. She sang some delightful original material, much of it with a humorous edge.
In introducing one of her songs, she mentioned “an old friend”, Gurf Morlix! At the mention of his name, I clapped a couple of times – the only person in the audience of about 100 people to do so – which she acknowledged with a smile & nod of her head. She said she first met Gurf in 1989 at the Vacouver Folk Festival, and they had been friends ever since and he was, in fact, currently staying with her & her husband at their home.
After her set & before Caroline took stage, I introduced myself to Linda as “the lone clapper”, and explained to her that while I did not know Gurf personally, I was very aware of him due to my being a “huge fan” of Lucinda Williams. And, I told her that I was sorry to be missing his show near Birmingham that same night w/ the screening of “Duct Tape Messiah”. Well, her husband was standing there, and they both, nearly in unison, told me that Gurf was going to be doing the same gig next week in Atlanta at Smith’s Olde Bar! They were not sure of the actual date, and, after looking it up once I got home, it turns out it is next Friday night, and I immediately bought tickets.
It is amazing how the “connecting the dots” continues, often in surprising ways!
Tom
Re: Linda McRae
Linda is a Canadian singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who earned 2 Platinum and 3 Gold records during her tenure as bassist/accordionist with former Canadian Celtic/Roots group Spirit of the West. Linda left the band to resume her solo career and has since released three critically acclaimed recordings. Flying Jenny produced by Colin Linden (Bruce Cockburn, Emmy Lou Harris), Cryin’ Out Loud produced by Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams, Mary Gauthier) and Linda’s current release Carve It To The Heart produced by Linda and Marc L’Esperance (Po’ Girl, Be Good Tanyas) have all received the highest praise from reviewers world-wide.I checked out some of Linda’s music and really like it.(especially the banjo)
She has an extensive tour to England coming up and I see from her tour list not one but three gigs coming up in early September in my area (two in Toronto and one in Buffalo), so I’m marking this on my calendar.
lwjHere’s an article from the Douglas County Sentinel about Gurf’s “Blaze Foley tour” that also mentions Blaze’s Georgia connection (he lived in Carroll County in the mid-1970’s – Carroll County is due west of Atlanta, on the Georgia / Alabama line; Douglas County is just east of Carroll County).
I’m really looking forward to the film screening & Gurf’s performance tomorrow night at Smith’s Olde Bar…
Tom
P.S. I highly recommend you go see Linda McRae, LWJ – I think you’ll really enjoy it. If you chat with her after the show, tell her “Tom from Eddie’s Attic” says, “Hi’… 😉
WOW. This turned out to be a really, REALLY special evening for both Sarah & me last night!
First of all, every show we have ever been to in the past at Smith’s Olde Bar (at least a dozen) have always been in the upstairs main music room, save for one. This is the “big” room at Smith’s, but is small by most venue standards – maybe room for 250 or so people, mostly standing (there are a few tables on the side of the room). The one other show we saw there was the fabulous Shannon McNally solo / acoustic about 3 years ago – she played in the much smaller “Atlanta room” downstairs off of the main bar. This room can hold no more than 50 people tops, and usually has about 10 four-top bar tables plus a little standing room & a big, old leather sofa in the back. Well, we went to the show last night assuming it would be upstairs, but were pleasantly surprised to find it was in the much cozier & more intimate Atlanta room downstairs.
When we got there 30 minutes early, only four folks were there – one guy sitting at a table right in front of the stage, working on a Macbook Air. And, at another table in the back of the room, there were three people sitting & chatting, one of them Gurf Morlix. We sat at the table next to the guy up front. Shortly after we sat down, he turned around & introduced himself – he was the filmmaker who directed & produced the documentary we were there to see, Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah! His name is Kevin Triplett & he is from Austin. He has been working on this project for 12 years, and is very excited about it. He is a really nice, cool guy & we had a great chat with him for about 20 minutes before the show.
I was surprised to learn from Kevin that Blaze’s former girlfriend / common-law wife (they literally “jumped the broom” together in front of friends) from Carroll County, Georgia, was going to be there. Her name is Sybil Rosen, and she has written a book about Blaze titled, Living in the Woods in a Tree (also the title of a song Blaze wrote). She & Blaze lived in a treehouse in the woods in Carroll County for about a year in the mid 70’s. Well, not only did she write this book, but it turned out she was featured very prominently in the documentary film.
We got to meet Sybil before the show & she is an awesome, sweet, beautiful woman. Although I had wanted to order a copy of her book from Amazon.com a couple of days ago, luckily I didn’t get around to it, because she had copies with her for sale, and she autographed one for me (picture below) after the screening of the documentary and before Gurf’s performance. I am going to start reading it tomorrow – I can’t wait!
The documentary itself is wonderful. Kevin screened a slightly shorter version of it than what will be released later this year on DVD. It was very, VERY entertaining, while also being, of course, sad & tragic when it touched on the hardships Blaze faced in his life as well as his untimely, senseless death. I know it is a cliché, but literally, “we laughed, we cried”. It was at times laugh-out-loud hysterical, while at other times heartbreaking. It included many first-hand accounts from folks who knew & loved Blaze, including Gurf & Sybil. I recommend seeing it very, very much (more on opportunities to do that in a minute).
Then, after a brief question & answer session with Kevin (during which time a man in the audience from Carroll County said that he remembered Blaze babysitting the “kids across the street” when he himself was a boy) & some remarks from Sybil, there was a brief intermission. During it, I went over to the merch table, introduced myself to Gurf & purchased a copy of his Blaze Foley tribute album, Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream, which he signed for me (picture below). Gurf turned out to be a very nice, open guy.
After the intermission, Gurf took the stage, just he & his smallish Canadian acoustic guitar (someone asked him for the brand name, which he shared, but I have forgotten it), and a couple of electronic percussion pedals. He performed about a dozen or so of Blaze’s songs, most of them from his tribute album. It was wonderful!
All in all, it was a night I’ll always remember. At most, there were 30 people there – it was very warm, open & intimate. Getting to meet Kevin, Gurf & Sybil was just amazing. All of them are so warm, so genuine & open, and were obviously so much in love with Blaze Foley (in Kevin’s case, with the memory of Blaze, as he never had the opportunity to meet him). I thank them so much for sharing their (and others’) memories of & feelings for Blaze in film, music & the written word.
Finally, I wanted to tell everyone here about other opportunities to experience this great evening yourselves, as Kevin & Gurf are taking this gig on a nationwide tour (eh, and Canada as well, LWJ!) Check out their Web site blazefoleymovie.com for a schedule. I cannot recommend this event more highly – please try to go if you get an opportunity!
Tom
My autographed copy of Gurf’s CD, Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream
Cover of Sybil Rosen’s book, Living in the Woods in a Tree
Autographed title page in my copy of Sybil’s book
Tom, After reading your outstanding and very comprehensive report on Gurf and Sybil from Smith’s Olde Bar, I’ve got to block my calendar to see this.
You have painted a picture of Friday night that we forum music fans are very envious of, a very special night indeed.
OK, here’s the scoop on Gurf’s smallish Canadian acoustic guitar.Gurf Morlix
Gurf Morlix has been touring in support of his latest album entitled “Diamonds to Dust” released in February 2007. On stage he loves the sound of his A&L Ami steel string. Besides playing live, Gurf is a busy musician performing, recording and producing for the likes of Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Warren Zevon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Michael Penn…and the list goes on.Made in Canada. Being able to say these words and truthfully mean it, is something we are very proud of in this day and age. Handcrafted in Canada using 95% Canadian wood…is a statement we are even more proud of!
Every Art & Lutherie acoustic guitar is handcrafted in the small town of Princeville, Québec in a positive and safe environment beneficial to producing exceptional acoustic guitars. Each model is made with the same attention to tone, detail and authentic craftsmanship as our other renowned acoustic lines such as Seagull and Simon & Patrick.
Art & Lutherie guitars are made with 95% Canadian woods that meet strict criteria in terms of their tone as well as their impact on the environment. The eco-friendly method in which the wood is gathered, takes place when previously fallen trees are found in the forests of Eastern Canada. No clear cutting is involved. This not only benefits Canadian forests but also gives rain forests the world over a well-deserved break. The Canadian tone woods used in the Art & Lutherie line possess excellent tonal qualities. Wild Cherry has a sound somewhere between the mellow tone of mahogany and the bright sound of maple. Another tone wood of choice is Silver Leaf Maple, whose characteristics for sound, weight and density are incredibly similar to that of mahogany. All A&L’s feature back & sides made from a 3-layer lamination of Wild Cherry and Silver leaf maple necks.
http://www.artandlutherieguitars.com/news.htmThanks to your link on the tour of Blaze’s documentary, I am definitely crossing the Peace Bridge on June 24th to see Gurf at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Centre in downtown Buffalo.
The moment tickets go on sale, I’m jumping at a ticket especially since Gurf’s home town is in the Buffalo environs. and may sell out fast.
His tour across Western Canada prior to Buffalo is most interesting including a small bar at Crow’s Nest Pass deep in the Rockies. Smaller venues really can be very appealing like Smith’s.
Gurf goes after the unusual venues including one that I reported on earlier. -A musical train ride to Hudson’s Bay to see the polar bears in Churchill, MB.I had read a little bit of Sybil’s tree house living with Blaze before and we have recently discussed Blaze’s sister operating a restaurant in Texas called “Yelof” (a backwards Foley)
Again, thanks for your report. Great writing.
Love the duct tape on the CD.(gotta buy it in Buffalo)
lwjI’ve read the Living in a Tree book – it was really good – at some points almost unbelievable, but you knew it was true. Blaze was a wild man!
Great recap, Tom, really made the reader feel like they were there. thx, ww
Thanks for the kind words, y’all, and for the info on that fine Canadian steel-string guitar, LWJ. I can attest to the wonderful “rootsy” sound it lent to Gurf’s playing of Blaze’s songs.
LWJ, I specifically asked Gurf & Kevin after the show if their tour was going to take them to Toronto, and they replied “maybe”, but that they would definitely be in Buffalo, NY. Hearing that, and knowing your willingness to “drive across the Peace Bridge” for good music, I went out on a limb & told them I knew a certain Canadian gentleman who would almost assuredly be seeing them there. 😆 Please do go if you can – again, I cannot recommend this gig too highly.
And there is a couple more pieces of memorabilia we left Smith’s Olde Bar with Friday night that I neglected to mention. On our way out the door, Kevin gave Sarah and me the two below-pictured stickers of two psychedelic drawings of Blaze’s… 😉
Tom
Tom, thanks for your discussion with Gurf about a certain Canadian gentleman and a possible Toronto screening/ show.
That would be great although if that doesn’t happen Buffalo is only a 45 minute drive for me.
Certainly, if I get to meet him I’ll certainly discuss Smith’s Olde Bar.
It took quite a bit of Googling to find Canadian made guitars, but than I modified my search to add Gurf Morlix eh! and it came right up. 😆
Not only does Gurf play this guitar, but I found out he also has a strong Summertime connection with cottage country in Ontario.
Quote”
Between his cabin, staying at Whitford’s cabin in Magnetawan, Ontario, for a few weeks and working with the likes of McRae, Morlix seems to connect well with Canada: “I like Canada a lot; they’ve got nice people and a real nice place. I consider myself part Canadian; I spend about a quarter of a year up there and I consider myself an honorary Canadian. (For his summer 2004 Canada months) I’ll be on vacation except for backing Mary Gauthier up at Mariposa; otherwise, I’m chopping wood, drinking beer and laying around. It is somewhat reserved up at the cabin; we don’t have neighbors, but we have boat traffic, and I go into town about once a week to check e-mail at the library. And I get to Western New York every year; I love it here in the summertime. I have family here and it is important for me to be here.”
Gurf noted that he had “a couple of projects worked up that will take me through the holidays,” and he was asked to think of an ideal collaboration: “I always thought I wanted to make a Bob Dylan record, but I don’t know if I do now. And there is Neil Young; usually, I say it’s the song I chose, but sometimes it’s a guitar or other sound, something I can connect with.”
Blue Corn Music can be contacted at http://www.bluecornmusic.com.
End, Quote”And the Linda McRae connection (Gurf produced one of her records)
Here they are performing at SXSW 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKOzmwki1xwSure looking forward to meeting him and perhaps Sybil.
Great souvenir stickers you got. There a lot more to see on the Yelof BBQ wbsite.
lwjhttp://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/05/gurf-morlix-salutes-the-rootsy-music-of-his-late/
The news he was dreading, the news he knew one day would come, was waiting on Gurf Morlix’s answering machine one night in 1989. The call was from Lucinda Williams, who Morlix toured with and produced. She didn’t say what she was calling about — but she didn’t have to.
“I put the phone down and started crying,” Morlix has said. “I knew it was Blaze. I didn’t know what had happened but I knew it was Blaze. I’d been expecting that call for a long time.”
Blaze Foley was a straight-talking, hard-living musician who wrote honest, heartfelt songs. He and Morlix were tight, which is why Morlix took it so hard that night when he found out Foley had been shot to death. “Blaze could cut right through the bull—-, or he could be the cause of it,” Morlix said. “He was the funniest person I ever met, and also the most tragic.”
To salute his pal, Morlix this year recorded and released “Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream,” a 15-song set of Foley-penned tunes like “Big Cheeseburgers and Good french fries,” “No Goodwill Stores In Waikiki” and “Cold Cold World.” Morlix, a respected roots musician who has worked with the likes of Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson and Mary Gauthier, will perform some of those songs Monday at Zoey’s, 185 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura.
The evening will start at 7:30 with a screening of Kevin Triplett’s new documentary, “Blaze Foley — The Duct Tape Messiah.” Tickets are $15-$20. Call 652-1137 or visit zoeyscafe.com. Morlix’s website is gurfmorlix.com. For information on the film, visit blazefoleymovie.com.
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