It may have been something their agent Keith Case cooked up, but judging by the smiles on stage at Hat Factory last Friday, it appeared that Larry Keel and his band Natural Bridge from up Rockbridge County had been longtime friends and musical associates of the man, the myth, the master...Tony Rice. My first live experience with Larry proved more than positive as his flatpick
ing prowess produced more than one raised eyebrow and broad grin on Mr. Rice's face. Along with wife Jenny on bass, Mark Schimick on mandolin and Jason Flournoy on banjo, the Natural Bridge kept the nice-sized crowd pumped with a juicy set of roots-based power grass, before the legend even left the green room. During the break, this former Stauntonian played "do you know" with the band as we passed a nice bottle of Jameson around. My old compadre Charlie Reilly (who was our blog ticket winner-correct answer: Magraw Gap) shared the observation that he'd seen Marty Stuart at Toad's Place, the venue's previous moniker, playing the other iconic Clarence White guitar...his 1954 B-bender Fender Telecaster. So with the 1935 big hole D-28 now in the house in Tony
's gifted hands, Clarence had come full circle. Tony seemed pleased at that notion. And he proved as he has so many times before that he can fit slip into any musical setting and turn it to gold. Look for a new Tony Rice Unit studio project early in 2010. Good news.
Lone star statesman Robert Earl Keen's back for his annual autumnal stop in River City this coming Tuesday, this time, for the first time at the National, which should prove to be his perfect local launch pad. And thanks to a National sense of compassion, we'll put you and yours on the guest list if you can answer this query: What does Robert Earl call the one-room shack fifteen miles from his Kerrville home out on the prairie where he goes to be alone and write his story songs? I'll do a drawing on Saturday from correct responses to mail@timtimberlake.com. 
He'll no doubt be doing a bunch of tunes from his latest album The Rose Hotel along with the growing list of songs his devoted fan base loudly demands every time. And no doubt Christmas will arrive early again this year. Fran and Rita will again drive from Harlingen. Will you at least drive downtown?
Don't forget about Chris Smither and Jesse Winchester playing AC&T this Thursday and Saturday respectively. Kay and the Parmeles won't be able to keep bringing artists 
of this caliber here unless we show our gratitude by showing up. And we hope you'll grace us with your presence and something tasty to eat as JAMinc presents its final In Your Ear Studio concert of the season on Thursday, the 19th. You don't want to miss those sweet Sibley harmonies from the foot of the 
Tetons. We're filling up fast to hear Anne & Pete so grab your seats here. And a grateful nod to Julie Geen for the piece on JAMinc in this week's Style Weekly. Pick up a free copy anywhere or read it online here. (Sibleys photo from their Website)
"How high's the water Mama? Six feet high and rising." True story, with the James running maybe ten more feet by Friday night. The blog Tobacco Avenue reports evidence of an ark being built at Maymont. At least get the flying squirrels on there.
TT
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