I'm here, then I'm gone, and I'm forever blue.

I drove out to Galveston yesterday to celebrate Blaze Foley's birthday. I got to experience the island in a different light and fell so in love with it. I had one destination in mind that day and that was to visit the Old Quarter Cafe where rare pictures and memorabilia of Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley hang on the wall. Walking in there felt like being a part of a private concert. The bar had just opened for the night and I wasn't expecting to walk right in while Rex Bell (Long time friend of Townes and Foley and partner of the original Old Quarter in Houston) sound checked and sung about gypsies and the blues. I never imagined I would get that lucky. After three cups of Rex's famous "Star Bock", endless laughter, and his amazing short stories and covers of Foley and Townes, I felt like this day amounted to everything. I told Rex it was Blaze's birthday and he was in such awe. He'd forgotten it and that's when he went right in with his cover of "Clay Pigeons" and "Officer Norris" and I lost it. He called us the best audience and I could tell he meant it. At one point Bell's wife Janet got onstage and sung a song for us she wrote for Townes. She didn't have a name for it but when she introduced it as "A song for Townes", it stuck. The emotion when her voice cracked almost made me choke up. Being in that bar room and witnessing their grief and love for Townes, it was too much to ever forget. After the private concert, open mic was in session. It wasn't long until Rex approached me and invited me to check out all his rare pictures of Townes and other notable musicians. We discussed everything from his bass playing with Lightnin' Hopkins, his recordings with Lucinda Williams in Happy Women Blues, and his happy memories with Townes Van Zandt. All in all it was surely a celebration to remember. I was able to take a few pictures and voice memos of Rex playing on my iphone and a few pictures in his office. I'm hoping I could share some of it on New Years Day. It would only make sense. :)