Time: 8 p.m.

Cover: $25.00 Members*, $27.50 Non-members, $30.00 Door

http://www.gurfmorlix.com

Gurf Morlix will be starting with a showing of a new hour long  documentary about old friend, songwriter and character Blaze Foley, followe dby a set of Blaze Foley music from Morlix’s new CD.

Tempting as it may be, don't just judge Gurf Morlix by the company he
keeps, even if it does provide a fine starting point: eminent musical
artists like Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Warren Zevon, Ian
McLagan, Patty Griffin, Robert Earl Keen, Michael Penn, Buddy Miller,
Mary Gauthier, Tom Russell, Jim Lauderdale and Slaid Cleaves, to name
but a few. Instead, listen to Last Exit to Happyland, his fifth solo
album, and understand why his blue-ribbon associations as a producer,
guitarist and multi-instrumentalist have led Morlix to a similar level
of excellence as a singer, songwriter and artist in his own right.
As critic Henry Cabot Beck notes on Amazon.com, "If anybody is still
looking for a candidate to replace Robbie Robertson in The Band, look
no further. Morlix can write, sing, produce, and play nearly every
instrument (mostly stringed) and has a bottomless (albeit muddy) range
of American musical idioms from which to draw." Through more than four
decades of professional music endeavors, Morlix has distinguished
himself with his innate musicality, exquisite taste, keen creative
instincts, and well-honed ear for not only songwriting but also the
elements that bring songs to their fullest fruition.
And now, on Last Exit to Happyland, "I've found my voice, and my
albums just keep getting better and better all the time," Morlix says.
"I'm really proud of these songs and this album."
The album is a showcase for Morlix's gifts as a musician and producer
as well as his finest moment yet as a writer and singer. He plays
everything on it but the drums, which are ably handled by Rick
Richards, who has manned the kit on many of Morlix's productions in
recent years. Icing the cake are Patty Griffin, Barbara K (of Timbuk 3
fame) and rising Texas singing sensation Ruthie Foster, who contribute
harmony vocals to a number of tracks. As with all that Morlix has
produced and played over the years, every note and creative touch
ultimately serves the songs. And his trademark grit, soulfulness and
authenticity suffuse the album, representing the "muddy," as Morlix
calls the junction where the varied strains of American roots music
meet and mingle, at its truest and finest.
Last Exit to Happyland is peopled with characters "headed to reckoning
day," as Morlix sings in the propulsive opener, "One More Second." The
swampy bomp of "Walkin' to New Orleans" finds a Crescent City resident
heading home into the deadly wind and rain of Hurricane Katrina, while
the haunting country-blues "Crossroads" reveals new wrinkles in Robert
Johnson's fateful meeting with the devil. Whether it's longtime lovers
at the "End of the Line," a traveler on a "Hard Road" or an outcast
who laments "I Got Nothin'," Morlix captures their emotional essence.
"Drums From New Orleans" takes listeners back to the radio signals
that inspired Morlix as a youngster, and he pays tribute to his late
friend and musical cohort Blaze Foley — also the subject of Williams'
"Drunken Angel" — on "Music You Mighta Made," which echoes Foley's
musical and songwriting style. On "She's a River," a beloved woman
becomes a wonder of nature. And the stark "Voice of Midnight" examines
life's final moments in a perfect grace note to a collection of songs
that compares favorably to any other created by the many artists who
have called on Morlix to help them make the most of the their music.
Prior to embarking on his own career, Morlix was likely best-known for
his 11-year creative partnership with Lucinda Williams as her
guitarist, band leader and backing vocalist as well as the producer of
two of her classic, critically-acclaimed albums: her 1988 breakthrough
Lucinda Williams and 1992's Sweet Old World. His work with Williams
led him to produce multiple recordings for Hubbard (four albums),
Cleaves (three albums and an EP with a fourth album soon to be
released) and two albums each with Keen and Gauthier, as well as discs
by Russell, McLagan, Butch Hancock, Hot Club of Cowtown, The Setters
(Alejandro Escovedo, Michael Hall and Walter Salas-Humara) and others.
Morlix's varied musical activities include touring with Zevon, Penn
and B.W. Stevenson, playing guitar in McLagan's Bump Band, and
singing, playing and producing an album with the Imperial Golden Crown
Harmonizers, a gospel collaborative of noted Austin talents. Among the
many artists he has performed and recorded with are Eliza Gilkyson,
Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Michelle Shocked, Robert Plant, Jimmy La
Fave, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Mojo Nixon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Peter Case,
Bob Neuwirth, Don Walser, Jon Langford, Steve Earle, Harry Dean
Stanton, Syd Straw, Billy Swan, Charlie Sexton, Victoria Williams,
James McMurtry, Sonny Landreth, Doyle Bramhall, Flaco Jimenez, Steve
Forbert, Bill Kirchen, Lazy Lester, Rosanne Cash, David Byrne, Kevin
Welch, C.C. Adcock, John Prine, Dave Alvin, to name some but hardly
all.
Music captured Morlix's imagination from a very early age growing up
in Buffalo, New York, as he soaked up the many sounds to be found on
the airwaves. On hearing the Everly Brothers singing "Cathy's Clown"
for the first time, Morlix found his mission in life. "It was like,
'That's what I want to do!' It was earth-shattering music to me,
really amazing." After seeing the Beatles make their U.S. debut on
"The Ed Sullivan Show," his fate was sealed.