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by Mike Sheahan
 There
is plenty going on this week, but whatever happens, do not forget
that Sunday is Mother’s Day. Even though it is almost
an entire week away, and I’m thinking and writing about
it now, I will still forget until the last minute. In an attempt
to please all the mothers in my life, I will scramble around
pathetically only to present my child’s mother with some
tulips from my neighbor’s yard and a hand-written coupon
good for “one free back rub.” Rational minds know
that Mother’s Day is just another Hallmark holiday, but
this does not matter, don’t forget, guys. Payback lasts
all year.
Your weekend of fun begins tonight at Haggard’s Black
Dog Tavern, where a collective known as Acoustic Durango will
host a singer/songwriter showcase starting at 8 p.m. Songwriters
Tracy Brenner, Pete Gulliani and a favorite of mine, Sand Sheff,
will perform, and as far as I can tell, there is no cover. It’s
nice to see the folks at Haggard’s stepping it up in the
live music area. Especially in the summertime; it’s a
great place to hang out and see a show. Just figure out who’s
driving home before you get there.
On Monday, May 12, the DSCPA is bringing autoharpist Brian
Bowers to the Durango Arts Center. Autoharpists are the exact
opposite of guitar players in that everybody plays guitar. In
fact, the Autoharp Hall of Fame only has four members (Bowers
is one), and two of them are related. I guess what I’m
driving at is, you don’t get the chance to see a guy do
what Bowers does every day. He has played with members of the
Dillards, the Seldom Scene and New Grass Revival, and should
bring a show full of old-time mountain tunes with a bluegrass
feel. If you don’t know, an autoharp is like a regular
harp but much smaller and played in one’s lap. Depending
on how it’s played, it can sound like a harp or even sound
similar to a banjo or mandolin. Either way, this should be an
interesting night of music.
If all this talk of songwriters and autoharps strikes you as
a little too high society, then I have found just the thing.
The Avalanche Off-Road-Vehicle Ranch is playing  host
to Cal Roc’s Rock Crawling championship on Friday, Saturday
and Sunday. Here’s your chance to gather with your fellow
outdoor enthusiasts and show your love for the outdoors by repeatedly
driving huge 4x4s over a small part of it. If you don’t
have a 4x4 with cartoonishly huge tires but do want to drink
beer and watch people try to drive up cliffs, then this is for
you. I’m fuzzy on the details, but you can go to www.avalancheohvranch.com
for them and some boss pictures.
How to cap off a weekend full of Bud and exhaust fumes? Just
drive to Albuquerque on Wednesday, May 14, for a concert by
1980s rock legends RATT. I used to laugh whenever I heard about
another of these hair bands brushing the dust off the ol’
 flying
Vs and rotating drum kits, but now it just makes me sad. Really,
RATT only had one mildly successful album and song (anyone remember
“Round and Round?”), and that was nearly 20 years
ago. The only reason for anyone to go to this show is if they
have an incredibly developed sense of irony and $30 they don’t
care about. If, somehow, I’ve just convinced you to go,
RATT will be performing at (I swear) The Midnight Rodeo. Have
fun.
This week’s sign that the end is near: I don’t
see how it is reasonable to expect college athletes to live
up to some higher moral standard when even their coaches don’t
live up to the same high standard. Alabama football coaches
are gettin’ jiggy in strip clubs, and Iowa State basketball
coaches are drinking Natty Light and posing for pictures at
sorority parties. Even Roy Williams (Kansas) dumping his school
and recruits for a huge payday at another school is despicable
when the NCAA frowns upon kids leaving school early for the
exact same reason.
This week’s weekly album review of the week: When the
alt-country poster band, Whiskytown, broke up several years
ago, everyone, with the unfortunate exception of Ryan Adams,
rode off into the sunset. Whiskeytown fiddle player and vocalist
Caitlin Cary is back with her second record in two years, “I’m
Staying Out.” It is a solid collection of songs that finds
her straying away from her punk-country past but keeping a firm
eye on country music’s history. A song like “Sleeping
in on Sunday” could find a home on commercial country
radio, but its four-minute running time will probably prevent
that. Cary is at her best, though, when she mixes it up a little.
“Please break my heart” is driven by a piano straight
from a Patsy Cline single, and Cary gives a vocal delivery to
match. “Cello girl,” written with Whiskytown cohort
Mike Daly, would’ve fit nicely on either of the last two
Whiskytown records. Many people are calling Cary the most interesting
musician to come out of Whiskeytown’s rubble. If she keeps
making records like “I’m Staying Out” people
will start reviewing her without mentioning that other band.
My jeep has fatter tires than yours: mpsheahan@yahoo.com
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