Thusly, with nigh overpowering nostalgia fueling me, I took in the recent Lou Barlow (of said bands) show on the Cowgirl patio. First off, I was feeling pretty impressed that Barlow was playing such a small venue, but it seems that Santa Fe is getting bigger shows like this more often. Plus, I’m willing to bet Barlow is one of those super-cool and down to earth musicians who subtly rules the land while keeping his head.

I arrived a tad early to check out Sarah Jaffe (myspace.com/sjaffe) open the show. In the days leading up to the concert, I’d heard nothing but good things about the Texas singer-songwriter, and Jaffe started strong with a beautiful voice and a quiet and subtly sad sound. Instantly, I realized there was something familiar about her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Sarah Jaffe folkin' it up

Jaffe’s cellist and keyboardist added complexity to the simple guitar work, but I was going mad trying to figure out where I had heard this before. Then it hit me: I’ve sat in my room listening to Cat Power and Feist too ,and whether or not she realizes it, Jaffe emulates these musicians quite closely. Though Jaffe’s voice is solid, it sounds almost exactly like Leslie Fesit, a fact that kind of pissed me off. Now, I’m not saying that she was bad or anything, but it was just nothing I haven’t heard before. Jaffe’s strength is in her voice and not guitar playing. At times, this seemed to put undue pressure on her band, and a cursory glance at the crowd proved that I was pretty much the only person bored by the performance. It makes sense, though. Those unfamiliar with indie folk/country are bound to be impressed by an artist with such obvious-and worthy-influences. I suppose Jaffe makes a good transition for those interested in getting into these types of music, but I don’t see her having much lasting power in a genre already jam-packed with too many faceless acts that sound exactly the same.

Jaffe wound up her set, and you could feel the excitement in the crowd; a real live rock ‘n’ roll legend was about to play! Lou Barlow set up, and played a goofy song about getting punched in the nose for his soundcheck. Even the soundcheck was awesome.  ”Just go ahead and shout out what you wanna hear, and I’ll probably play it,” He announced. Song titles started flying around the patio, including one lady who yelled, “Play Natural One! Could you play that?” Barlow kind of laughed and replied, “Well, I can, just not right now.”

Everyone was paying super-close attention to Barlow

After a few solo acoustic tunes from 2009’s Goodnight Unkown, the crowd belonged to Barlow. His guitar work seems so natural, but is actually fairly complex and interesting. I was surprised at how much I liked his voice. Not because I thought he sucked or anything, but I don’t think I had ever noted how good it was before. It was soft and restrained, yet powerful and beautiful. Every now and then he seemed to summon an almost Nick Drake-like quality.

The acoustic stuff was great and all, but the show really got moving when Barlow called his band, the missingmen, up to perform. “These guys are Mike Watt’s band,” He told us. This resulted in a “HOLY SHIT!” moment for me. Mike Watt is punk rock royalty, so I figured these dudes must be for real.

the missingmen ruled it

I’ve seen a handful of shows on the Cowgirl patio, but by far, this was the loudest. Barlow and crew rocked so hard and so loud, that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t shut down. Word on the street is that the patio is utilized so infrequently because of noise ordinance bullshit, but for those who were there, you know that this showwouldn’t have worked inside.

Barlow switched back and forth from guitar and bass duty, and even the songs without bass sounded remarkably full. the missingmen proved to be real pros, never missing a note but appearing totally relaxed and effortless. Everyone was freaking out, myself included. I made a mental note to pick up Goodnight Unknown the very next chance I got. I am not even exaggerating when I say that Lou Barlow and the missingmen was one of the top five best shows I’ve ever seen in Santa Fe. The perfect weather on the patio helped with what I can only describe as a magical (gross) evening. Every song in Barlow’s canon was good. Every song. Think about that for a second-how many times have you seen a show in which every single song was good? I’d bet almost never.  It was just past midnight when Barlow switched back to his acoustic guitar for a few more solo tunes and I made my way home. It becomes more and more clear that Santa Fe is finally getting the shows we’ve deserved for years. The show renewed my faith and love of music, and i slipped into a deep sleep with my ears still ringing.

There are tons of chances to catch SXSW artists in Santa Fe this week; Corazón, for one, is holding the first (annual?) SXSF Transit Music Festival from March 11-15, bringing in tons of stellar acts on their way to Texas. Cowgirl has a bunch of shows this week as well, some of which we were able to feature in this week’s paper, but one of which slipped through the cracks (it got confirmed past our press deadlines): Anamieke Quinn will play the Girl this Friday, March 12, along with ABQ rockers Ants Have Voices.

Quinn is pretty much totally badass. She’s presently based in Phoenix, so she’s really coming out of her way to play for us, and we here at SFR are quite chuffed that she’s making the trip. While she’s played in bands since college and may perhaps be best known as the yodeling cowgirl that played with Phish for the band’s Vegas ‘96 show, Quinn is now a decidedly solo act. Lady-led bands are all well and good, but there are few things hotter than a girl onstage with an acoustic guitar (this, coming from a nothing-but-straight female), and that’s precisely what Quinn is.

Go below the jump for more about Quinn, plus a rundown of a slew of acts that are on their way to the Motherland.

Her voice, while strong, is not overpowering. She retains that slight throaty cry that speaks to an often-overrun innocence; while her words may come forcefully from the diaphragm or dissolve into a heady vibrato, Quinn keeps it down to earth. In songs like “Float Away,” she gives the listener the what-for with no bullshit but still could pass for an abnormally talented 12-year-old if she really tried. Between an infectious piano swing and Quinn’s voice going into a disarmingly low register, “Robin Has Rhythm” shows a different side of the pensive girl of the slow “The  Beaten Path.” (All these songs are available streaming on Quinn’s website, by the way.)

A versatile and undeniably awesome vocalist and musician, Anamieke Quinn is yet another face in the string of performers ushered into Santa Fe via SXSW. Let’s show them a good time in hopes that they’ll come back before next March, no?

Quinn, in addition to playing at Cowgirl, also will be on Radio Free Santa Fe (98.1 FM) with Honey Harris for an in-studio session around 10:30 am on Thursday, March 11. Ants Have Voices AHV members Eleanor Carbett and Danny Trujillo will be in the studio as well.

ANAMIEKE QUINN

5-7 pm
Friday, March 12

Cowgirl
319 S. Gualadupe St.
982-2565

(Click the flier to enlarge)

If you haven’t yet heard about Corazón’s SXSF Transit Music Fest (other than earlier in this post, that is), you should damn well know that the folks at the Zón are bringing in acts from far and wide to provide the best week March in Santa Fe has pretty much ever seen, ever. Here’s the lowdown:

LA JUNTA, SAPPHIRE, RE-FLEX, DJ WILLIE K
Hip-hop from Santa Fe—plus local promoter Felix Cordova’s birthday party!
9 pm
Thursday, March 11
$7

DAEDALUS, RAY CHARLES IVES, DJ BACON
Experimental electronica from Los Angeles (Daedalus) and Santa Fe (RCI, Bacon)
9 pm
Friday, March 12
$10-$13

ABE VIGODA, LOWERS, DJ MAYNARD DEL MAR
Alternative rock and post-pop-punk from LA, the UK and Santa Fe, respectively
9 pm
Saturday, March 13
$7

BROKEN WATER, RAINBOW ARABIA, LOW ON HIGH, VENUS BOGARDUS
Post-punk etherial experimental electronic post-modern goodness
8 pm
Sunday, March 14
$5

NICE NICE, TV GHOST, NOBUNNY
Electro art-rock, psychedelic post-punk and pop-punk, respectively
9 pm
Monday, March 15
$7

Corazón
401 S. Guadalupe
983-4559

Santa Fe’s catching a few other acts that will be at SXSW this month; here’s the short (short short) list:

TAWNY ELLIS

8 pm
Thursday, March 11

$3

Cowgirl
319 S. Gualadupe St.
982-2565

THE TEXAS SAPPHIRES

9 pm
Saturday, March 14

$5

Cowgirl
319 S. Gualadupe St.
982-2565

And again for Beats on the Basin…

Noon-3 pm
Saturday, March 14

No cover

Totemoff’s Mid-Mountain Lodge
Ski Santa Fe, Hyde Park Road
955-9858

We followed Calvert to Cowgirl for ribs and booze and, yes, the District 1 results.

He won!

Questions for the re-elected: In our endorsements we say you could use a “little less patience and a little more gumption.” What do you think of that?

Chris Calvert: “I think it’s easy to say when someone hasn’t done that job. You learn that you have to get five votes; you can’t just snap your fingers.” He adds that he felt the Reporter “put some thought into its endorsements as opposed to some others I saw.” He would not name those publications.

First thing you’re gonna do?

CC: “Relax.”

Have you thought of a second thing yet?

“No.”

Advice for Doug Nava and Simon Russell:

CC: “Maybe get a little more experience under their belts.”

Happy:

CC: “Yeah. Relieved I think is the word.”

Happy Hour for Haiti

5 pm
Wednesday, Jan. 20

No cover; donations accepted

Cowgirl
319 S. Guadalupe St.
982-2565

This week, in a last-minute fundraiser thrown together by some particularly charitable Santa Feans, a whole slew of local musicians will rock Cowgirl for a good cause. All donations from the cover-free evening are set to benefit Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross in the organizations’ efforts to help Haiti in the wake of a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.

The lineup is set to include individuals Lydia Clark, CB McCarty, Cozy Ralston, Joe West, Matthew Andrae, Bill Hearne, David Manzanares, Josh Martin, Margaret Burke, Jim Almond, Felicia Quintana, John Kersweg, Susan Holmes and Michael Kott, plus bands The Rattlers, Venus Bogardus and Zenobia & Friends. According to event organizer CB McCarty, more are signing on every day, so by the time Wednesday rolls around, we’ll have quite a billing!

And yes, the evening does take place during Cowgirl’s award-winning happy hour, so if ever there was a reason to down a few margaritas, this would be it.

Tonight is the big night for Albuquerque’s Felix y Gatos. The band is one of the most solid acts that plays around town, the kind of group I never go out my way to see live but have stopped dead in my tracks to listen to as they rocked their funky zydeco, Americana, polka-tinges swing. But tonight at the Cowgirl the dance party will be even more hoppin’ as the band releases its demo CD into the world and is joined by Sharon Gilchrist.

The show starts around 8 and costs a well-worth it $5!

The demo is a solid effort from a band that has managed to capture its fun improvisational style without losing an ounce of spontenaety. Felix y Gatos will have you dancing and purring into the night.

Before I get started here on the Santa Fe tip, wtf? is up with this couples costume? Quick Google search for “matador” and I find the most kinky S&M related furry costume ever!

Anyhow. The point is that it’s Tuesday and any reasonable human being would say, “I’m going to bed early tonight, because it’s Tuesday.” But, apparently, not I. I’ve been invited to both the Matador (hence the photo) and a pre-Cowgirl dance party, tea party. I think I shall take a disco nap and hit all three. Since it is Tuesday the lovely DJ Prairie Dog is on the decks at Matador and, of course it’s Feathericci and Bacon at the ‘girl. I think I’m going to have to rename Tuesday “Mata’girl Night.”