Tim Barry at the Prophet Bar

The night Tim Barry came to town...

Tuesday night headline billing - the Prophet Bar in Deep Ellum

Longtime followers of the east coast punk scene might recall Avail, a Richmond-based punk band whose frontman was Tim Barry. I'd missed out on their work, having lost most of my interest in punk after the 1980s. Thanks to testimonials from a couple of friends, however, I am no longer oblivious to Barry's solo career. One listen to his songs "Avoiding Catatonic Surrender" and "Church of Level Track" (both of which are available on his Myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/timbarryrva ) told me immediately that I'd been missing out on something GOOD. I found his sound to be a natural fit with a lot of the alt-country, folk, and roots-rock stuff I've been listening to during the past few years. Barry's stuff goes well with the likes of James McMurtry, the Old 97s, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Chris Knight.

The lyrics to some of Barry's songs express a sense of cynicism and bitterness -- perfect anthems for the morose, the forgotten, the disenchanted. Others feature a more optimistic counterpoint as Barry, a part-time hobo, celebrates the freedom and adventure of life on the road and rails. Some of his songs condemn materialism and consumerism, and instead extol the virtues and value of friendship and family.

It wasn't just Barry's music and freight-hopping experiences that attracted my interest. The cover and sleeves of his cd's feature railroad-themed photos and art, including stencil artwork by buZ blurr. Barry pays tribute to the "Colossus of Roads" freight car moniker on his album "Rivanna Junction"; the title of each song is named for a Colossus icon caption.

Song title inspiration - the Colossus caption which inspired the title for one of my favorite Tim Barry songs

Barry's friendship with the late Travis Conner (of "Conrail Twitty" moniker fame) intrigued me further, as did the knowledge that another well-known moniker -- one I've been seeing for several years -- is drawn by none other than Mr. Barry himself. So when I found out that a bar in Deep Ellum had booked Barry for a Tuesday evening performance in March, I knew I had to be there...

Miss L was ready for her initiation...

We arrived in Deep Ellum early enough for dinner, and got to the Prophet Bar just as the doors were opening. First on stage was a local act, the Driftin' Outlaw Band. Their brand of high-octane, high-velocity country reminded me of Speedtrucker. The Driftin' Outlaws knocked out a mix of original songs and cover tunes, the highlight of which was "Ghost Riders in the Sky".

Driftin' Outlaw Band

Up next was Ninja Gun, an alt-rock act from Valdosta, Georgia. Their sound reminded me of the Connells, For Squirrels, or maybe the Gin Blossoms -- listener-friendly, mostly up-tempo alt-rock with a slight blend of punk and country elements, nothing too heavy. I liked them enough to buy one of their cd's after the show.

Ninja Gun

Finally, Tim Barry took the stage, wearing a black "Conrail Twitty" tribute t-shirt. Surveying the sparse crowd, he quickly deduced that the audience would benefit from a more intimate performance. He unplugged and climbed down from the stage to perform his first song, "Idle Idyllist", on the floor, as the crowd formed a circle around him. In 20-plus years of seeing live music, this was one of the coolest concert experiences I've ever witnessed.

Tim Barry on stage - Prophet Bar in Deep Ellum

Barry returned to the stage for the remainder of his performance, except for "Church of Level Track", when he again joined the crowd on the floor....


Joining the crowd for an up-close performance. The small crowd brought to mind a concert t-shirt slogan I remember from long ago: "Did you miss ______ (fill-in-the-blank)? Then you f*cked up!" Miss L and I were proud to say that we did NOT miss Tim Barry.

Barry's voice wasn't in great shape, and he apologized profusely for the hand injury which hindered his guitar-playing abilities (he had injured it in a fight a few weeks earlier). We thought we might even get an opportunity to see his fighting skills for ourselves; a tense moment developed when an obnoxious member of the crowd yelled an obscene remark between songs. Barry put him in his place, though, and the guy shut the hell up.

Barry merch

But overall, it was one of the more enjoyable shows I've been to in a while. It was great to hear live performances of some of my favorite songs of his -- and we even had a few minutes to talk before he started his set. On stage or off, Barry came across as one of the most honest and genuine people you could ever hope to meet. Like me, you might have missed out on Avail. But you don't have to miss out on his solo stuff.

Coming next: beginning another road trip...

WSC

np: BaD Radio on KTCK 1310 "the Ticket"

Deep Ellum murals & street scenes

A final batch of photos from Dallas' Deep Ellum district...

west wall of Trees

flag mural

Home Concepts

Periodic Table of Dallas

Save Deep Ellum

Commerce Street - looking west toward downtown Dallas

B Cool Gallery

alley and railroad tracks

Tile street name - 200 block of North Crowdus

Stay tuned for a final set of photos from Dallas.

Half a Lifetime Ago - update

Check out a new entry on my "Half a Lifetime Ago" blog...

http://halfalifetimeago.blogspot.com/

WSC

np: Bruce Robison - "Red Letter Day" from KNON's Texas Renegade Radio, Vol. 2

Deep Ellum blues - 2

More from Dallas' Deep Ellum area on January 10...

Brian shoots the T&P mural on Elm St.

Texas & Pacific diamond logo

Machine shop

Santa Fe Paint

Suits AND guns available under one roof!

Apartments

Stay tuned for more...

WSC

np: Guy Clark - "New cut road"

Deep Ellum blues - 1

Here today, gone tomorrow. Those four words pretty well sum up the bar and nightclub scene in the once-thriving Deep Ellum area east of downtown Dallas. From the mid-1980s through the 1990s, dozens of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, art galleries, tattoo parlors, trendy furniture stores, and other business lined the streets of Elm, Main, and Commerce in the aging warehouse district east of downtown. Located at or near the locations of prohibition-era blues and jazz clubs, bars like Clearview, Dada, 2826, and Trees were staples of Dallas nightlife, especially for those interested in the local music scene. Crowded sidewalks and gridlocked streets were the norm, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Even on weeknights, something was always happening somewhere. And then things began to die down...

Deep Ellum welcome sign

With the resurgence of the bar scene on Lower Greenville and the growing popularity of the South Lamar area, Deep Ellum has begun to empty out. Early last year, the Gypsy Tea Room, one of the last of the "big name" music venues, padlocked its doors and quietly shut down. I'll fondly remember the shows I saw there, like Hagfish (a Dallas-based punk outfit) and local alt-country favorites the Old 97s. Trees, a club I began visiting during my freshman year of college (in 1990), has been closed since the end of 2005. I couldn't begin to guess the number of shows I saw at Trees over the years -- acts ranging from Tripping Daisy to Deep Blue Something to the Lemonheads... and an especially memorable "KISS cover night" on Valentines Day of '91 when various local bands, some donning KISS makeup, performed nothing but covers of songs by Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace. And Trees and the Gypsy only begin to scratch the surface of the long list of Deep Ellum's late 80s / early 90s hotspots that are no longer around.

Trees night club / bar - closed since 2005

As if the closure of many of the area's premier attractions wasn't bad enough, recent acts of violence and other criminal activity have worsened the situation, tarnishing the neighborhood's reputation and scaring potential visitors away. Some business owners interviewed by the Dallas Observer attribute the trouble to the opening of a handful of 18-and-up dance clubs which attract a lower scale of clientele -- "thugs and gangsters", as described by some of the longtime locals. ( Click here for full article)

Still, there seems to be at least a small amount of hope for the neighborhood's future. The Blind Lemon, a favorite spot during my senior year of college (1993-94) is still going, stubbornly refusing to close up shop. Club Dada still features live music three or four nights per week. A handful of smaller bars and restaurants are still around, as is the venerable Sons of Hermann Hall. And DART is extending one of its light rail lines into Deep Ellum from the downtown area. Maybe someday those sleek yellow and white trains will carry a new generation of club-goers to some of the city's most popular night spots.

Those repeated boom-and-bust cycles of economic activity have helped make Deep Ellum an especially rich target for photography. Plenty of remnants of the neighborhood's industrial and pre-industrial past still exist; along with the occasional rusty smokestack, you'll find brick store fronts whose decades-old fading letters still advertise "Machine Shop", "Paint Co.", "Suits", or "Guns". The more recent exodus of bars, shops, and galleries has left a new generation of ghost signs -- that is, the ones that the landlords didn't paint over or take down when the tenants left. Last Thursday, my friend Brian joined me for a brief walking tour of the area, documenting ghost signs, fading ads, and other topics of interest.

The Arrangement Southwest Furniture

Boyd Hotel

Bell Paint Co.

Jones-Blair Paint

Hope you enjoyed this first set of photos; stay tuned for more...

WSC

np: Hank Williams - "Long gone lonesome blues"