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Album Review: Austin Celtic Association • January, 2001

unhalfbaking... (2000)
Upland Records • UP001
P.O. Box 36 / Fort Collins, CO / 80522

If you are at all familiar with the Celtic scene in Austin, you should know Spot. If you don't,
here's a short list of reasons why you should: You should know him because he has played with
Crazy Jane and the Bishop and is the driving force of the DeLorean Mechanics. You should
know him because he is an accomplished sound producer who can often be found running
the board at the Cactus Cafe or at the Austin Celtic Festival. You should know him because
he has been a Master of Ceremonies at the Austin Celtic Festival. You should know him
because he is a regular at Sunday night tune-sessions wher he can be heard playing
guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, or anything else that someone has left sitting around for a
moment. You should know him because he was the first editor of the ACA Newsletter. You
should know him because he sallies around town in the Millenium Falcon (so-named because
this car is about a thousand years old and appears to be piloted by a Wookie wearing a
fedora).

But most importantly, you should know Spot because his latest CD unhalfbaking is a Masterpiece.
Composition, lyric, performance: this album has it all. Even the liner notes are worth reading
again and again.

This offering is smart. While it is perhaps too much to absorb all at one hearing, by the third
time through you will certainly be able to find references to the buyout of a local icon, cowboy
movies, the Chieftains (who are coming to Austin at the end of January, by the way!), nude
photography, police violence, Monty Python's Flying Circus, batteries, Iron Man, potatoes,
Ray Charles, the glory of starting your own new lawnmower, nursery rhymes, rock and roll,
sex, LSD, Richard Thompson, beer, wedding ritual, the Hair Club and, of course, SLO leader
Yassir Ubetcha.

But there is much more here than mere cleverness. Spot is a fantastic player
who displays formidable technique and profound musicality. These are most obvious in cuts
such as "the waltz from orsa" and "the hornpipe," both which demonstrate champion-level
fingerstyle guitar performance. But, of course, guitar is not Spot's only instrument and his
mandolin work on "minstry of funny dances" is a joy to hear. Likewise, "monk's misfortune"—
an original arrangement based on the traditional tune "Banish Misfourtune"—is a meditation
on spacially-expanded banjo (!) which can be left on repeat for hours at a time. "Moon of a
pale friendship" is a lovely fiddle tune that, according to the liner notes "was intended solely as
a quick & dirty arrangement demo"—and which the players around town should be performing
on a regular basis. Finally, "theme from a potato western" is an adaptation of "St. Anne's Reel"
as only Spot can play it (again on banjo), ably assisted by Seamus Van Blackmore on electric
guitar, Julia Austin on bass, and Dave Cameron on drums.

The original songs are also great. Spot's voice is gentle and conversational, though his
expressive range allows him to adopt a wide variety of accents and personae from wildly
different backgrounds and experience. His "countin flowers" sounds just a little like a Hank Card
love song (only perhaps a bit more whimsical), while "bastard betty blues" is a deceptively
gentle jazzy--sounding background for a lyric that is by turns sentimental, riské, satiric and
harshly critical of abuse of authority. "It's the water" is a working-man-having-a-beer song with
a twist, while "april" is a country-style, adolescent-hormone charged romp with its own distinct
vision of the American Dream. Though I am hesitant to declare any single cut a favorite,
"b-train" comes close. It features energetic guitar picking with a seriously Sid Page-like clarinet
lead by Harold Schvenkel and supporting players who sound sort of like Fairport Convention,
only more jazzy. All of this supports a lyric which is deceptively simple and powerfully evocative.

Unhalfbaking has 14 tracks for a total of 57 minutes. The liner notes in the 8 page booklet are
not always explanatory in any direct sense, but they certainly augment your listening pleasure.
Aclassy and distinctive performance, this CD successfully fuses elements of jazz, rock, folk,
blues and celtic music into a coherent, highly accessible package.

It's January and in the past month you have probably bought presents for just about everyone
you know. How be nice to yourself for a change and get unhalfbaking. You'll be glad you did.

—David Armstrong