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TEXAS PHOTOS: Live shots & bbq nibbles
TEXAS PEOPLE: : THOM THE WORLD POET . SEEMA GILL . EDWARD REILLEY . RICHARD HELEY . BRENDA READ BROWN . PJ THE COWBOY POET . TONY BLISSARD (a real cowboy & poet!) . FRAN REINGOLD & MANLY JOHNSON . CHRISTINE GILBERT

DARREN POYZER packed his acoustic guitar went off to the Lone Star State to gig, gig gig! Strangely enough, he was accosted by a long lost relative and a black widow spider ... only in America!

Texas - no, not the pop band, the state of USA. Yep, I've just completed a 3 week tour of duty, armed with my own songs and an acoustic guitar. My point of residence was the city of Austin and really, if it's live music you want, there can be very few places on Planet Earth to compare. Sixth St is the focal point, where some 25 live music venues line this one stretch alone, where live music oozes out of every pore, where at weekends the street is blocked off to traffic due to audience overspill.

Live music is alive and well in Austin - techno techno no-no NO! And here of course, a US music city like this can only have a diverse range of music radio stations. In my time here, I am awakened by free-spirited neighbours tuning into the wildest dj's and rockin' bluesy vibes, greeted by my hosts' own choice folkier dj ramblings and biographical interviews, and bombed out by the wackiest daytime jocks who are the guardians of sub-culture clothes shops, cafes and arty hotspots.

In terms of playing in such a city, you do of course have to very quickly get over the cultureshock. In my instance, I am lucky to have a performing poet friend who lives there, and he did me the honour of laying the foundations. This meant that my first day was spent at a bbq, given in honour of a handful of visiting poets and myself by a genorous hostess called Patricia Fiske. In exchange for a few songs and active participation, we met and made new friends, chatted with organisers who had set up stages and bar-room get-togethers, ate good food and were given an itinerary and tips jars.

Tips jars? Yes, tips jars. This, as my friend pointed out, is Austin Texas. There are few if any paying gigs for musicians, you just gotta get out there and play, and the law of the musical land is governed by the filling of the tip jar.

Ok . I think. Now I've played free gigs, been paid on occasions, and whatever the weather I've played and that's that. But here, my friend wants to see that tip jar full - it is as he says, a necessity if this is to become the first of many, and not the last of, my visits to Texas. Suddenly, the art of gigging for me, otherwise a mere amateur, is given a whole new reason for being - it is time for me to literally sell my soul.

Only in America .

And so, on we go. The diary reads as follows, but beware of spiders (!) .

Monday April 1st - Gini's Tea Rooms, San Antonio
Despite arriving late Saturday, the jet-lag makes the carrying of the guitar case a little heavy. What's more, a Mad Hatters Poets Tea-Party is not, on the surface, the thing to waken a cynical English songwriter - or is it? To begin with, I start the evening, playing as people are taking to their seats. It's not an easy welcome, the fragile human being in me kinda needs to be wrapped in cotton wool right now, I am a long way from home and need to talk to an audience who give me their undivided attention. Following performances by Thom The World Poet (Austin), Ted Reilley (Australia), Brenda Read-Brown (Gloucester), Richard Heley (London) and Seema Gill (Bradford), I eventually get the chance to play to a warmed-up full house crowd. This is, despite it's Mad Hatter / April 1st theme, is an attentive audience. I play a couple of ballads and love songs and it's magic! We have arrived .

Now then, there was a little twist in the tail at this event. Half way through the night, I received a phone call at the venue. No way I thought, no-one knows I am here, surely not a call from England? It was in fact a call from Alan Greenwood, ex-pat English resident now in San Antonio. "We may be related" he told me. "My mother comes from Glossop, she was called Poyzer .". And yes, it turns out that here he is, a long lost half-cousin of my Dad's! We got to meet after the gig for drinks and laughs, and I met up again with Alan and his wife Wendy on a few more occasions from there on.
Thanks to Mim Scherlock for hosting a very pleasant social after this gig.

Tuesday Apr 2nd - Ruta Maya, Austin
One of the highlights of the trip came as early as the second gig. I had been forewarned that the regular poetry and music gig at this venue was under threat and that subsequently, the performance space had been restricted to a side area that was pretty unworkable. To my joy, on arrival I found that we had been re-located to a stage in the centre of this large and very comfortable café bar / venue.
And it got better. Having sound-checked with that cracking Greg Oldfield tune 'Young Marble Giants & John Peel' I was requested by the bar owner to play beyond the advertised event. This meant that, following three short spots during the poetry part of the evening, I got to play 20 songs in all, giving a good airing to virtually the full dp playlist. Reception- brilliant! Requests for cd's and autographs and a thoroughly enjoyable gig.
Thanks to Aaron Saunders & Pablo Pacall for making this happen.

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
"Took a stroll down 6th Street in Austin last night ... it's a quiet Tuesday but there's still an endless stream of 'old' Witchwood styled blues bars and live music venues, with live bands pumping it out from all directions ... unreal, surreal, and essential therapy to help precious artistes to get real ... I caught a really fine blues band playing for a tip jar to an audience of about 12 people - sounds sad, but the vibe and the music is cool, and just two doors away it was all sweaty jump jive and double bass ... you could play a tour of just this street and fill 3 weeks!"

Wednesday April 3rd - Cafe Mundi, Austin
The legendary Café Mundi. It's funny how some of the most talked about gigs turn out to be, cosmetically anyway, a lot smaller than you imagined. Situated on a back street side street, literally right next to a disused railway line, in a less than glamorous run-down part of the city is Café Mundi. There's a small stage inside, a rumour that gigs also take place outside, a small pa and at this time of day, 5pm, I am wondering why Thom The Poet wants to entertain the half a dozen people who are sat enjoying chill-time and coffee. "Where's your tips jar?" "It's just a sound check Thom" "Keep playing - they love you!" And so, it just goes from there and it's kinda magic. Poets arrive and recite, a couple more take to the stage with acoustic guitars, and by 7pm this charismatic little place is full house. Tonight the spirit of just getting up there and doing your thing is strong and so very addictive. Tonight I realise just how precious and intense we English can be about our art. Tonight I am like a yo-yo . up for a song, sit down and listen, up to play again, and again, and again!

Bedtime. I settle down in my Austin suburb floorspace, the patio door is slightly ajar to allow a little cool air to circulate. I start to feel cold . colder . I need a coat, a jumper, a hat . I am bloody freezing so violently I start to fit and cry . I am thinking that this is a panic attack and bury myself under the sheets, nauseous and in great discomfort. I awake a thousand times. By daybreak I am in sweats and cannot stand without losing balance. I am aching as if every muscle in my body has been pulled and contorted. I inform my friends that this is just a nasty panic attack and I will be ok.

Thursday Apr 4th - Georgetown International Poetry Festival
Thom is so determined, and at times such as this I wish he wasn't. He has arrived at my hosts apartment and insists that I come to the gig - it's a short set and yes, I can sleep in the van, drink lots of fruit juice. I have a fever and nothing more. I've not eaten, I remain nauseous, I am still in a state of great discomfort and yet, when it comes to playing, the adrenalin kicks in and accompanying cellist Katie Saul makes the actual gig quite enjoyable. I can report little else for whilst we then went on to an art gallery to do some poetry and music, I yearned simply for sleep.
Thanks to Pablo Pascall for this gig, sorry I was a little 'out of it'.

As I arrived back at HQ, the undressing process was to leave me in shock - there on my lower right leg was a 4 inch diameter area of infection, sore to touch, bright red. Tomorrow I must go to see a doctor ...


Friday April 5th - Cancelled
Yep, on this occasion I refused Thom's wishes to attend. Bless his soul though, for as well as being a top chap, ace writer and quality performer, he's a dude for taking me to the doctors. $250 worth of medical opinion and antibiotics and still I am none the wiser, although it looks like I have actually been bitten. The doc just wants to get rid of the infection, which by now covers my entire lower leg, from the knee to the ankle, and it is bloody sore, swollen and not looking too good.

Saturday April 6th - Expressions @ Bahai Faith Centre, Austin
I've eaten today and whilst the leg is a mess, I feel a little more like it tonight, Still bogged down with fever, I play a reasonable if not brilliant set to a somewhat disappointing turn-out. There are people here and it's a quality night, but the number of empty sites in venue of this size can be a little off-putting - or is that just the English intensity kicking in again? I decide that I am after all, sick and tired in a poorly sense, but just when I start to feel sorry for myself, a 10 year old girl reads a poem about losing her Dad. My Dad died when I was aged 10, so we make a point of chatting and I can re-align myself with the important things in life.

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
" The Poyzer Texas Tour has took an unlikely and potentially disastrous turn ... it seems that some insect or spider of sorts has decided to bite me and pain, discomfort and the cancellation of gigs has been the order of the day It started with a manic attack of shivers and shakes with severe body temperature drop just after I'd bedded down on Wednesday night ... the rest of the night and subsequent day was feverish, poorly balanced, hazy and nauseous, and the second night led to the discovery of a 4" diameter red raw infection in my lower leg
So how can I turn all this whingeing into a positive entertaining e-mail? Well, one of the major topics of conversation and controversy in the UK is of course the Health Service, and here I have had first hand an encounter with the US system. I was taken to a clinic where just to sign in cost $68 (47 quid) and following a blood test and shot of penicillin I was charged another $68. OK I thought, I'll take it, I need it, there goes my car hire and sight-seeing for the weekend, and so on to the chemists for my antibiotics ... another $126 (88 quid) ... and whilst waiting I am pinned by an enthusistic and well knowledged mid-aged female chemist who caringly pushes me for an extra $12 sale of strawberry capsules to assist with the bowel probs I am sure to get from these anti-biotics Welcome to America, shitty spiders and the big sell ..."

Sunday April 7th - Celebration Circle, San Antonio
It's a very early start for this one, and Thom is in command mode - "You gotta be fast, no messing about, the show is restricted to just over an hour and there's lots of brilliant and very talented people involved". Just when I am getting used to Cultureshock, I gotta be rock'n'roll on a Sunday morning? Yeh right .

Turns out that this is another of the high points of the trip. Celebration Circle is a community motivation gathering, and let me point out here that by community we are talking about an urban American community, multi-racial, family based, and in this instance non-religious but open minded and spiritually enlightened. We have food, donated by circle participants, we have music, a resident band, and we are the guests. Thom, Brenda, Ted, Seema, Richard and I are all invited to participate, take to the stage with the option of band participation, and indulge in playing to an audience the like I have never before had the pleasure. Indeed, with the band busking along on drums, bass and acoustic lead, I can play songs simply by feel and with a sense of relaxation I have never experienced when performing at a live event.

Rudi Harst is the main reason this very popular and well attended event takes place, and it is he who leads the gathering with motivational messages and songs. He plays and sings with a charisma that would be in itself, a major blessing to 90% of the songwriters I've seen touting their way around the UK. I am most priviliged to be asked to play the final song of the session, and the band and I play 'Someone For Me', a simple 4 chord tune of mine that is in itself a song about faith. A wise choice indeed Rudi, for it is during this song that I reach out to my audience in ways I have never reached out before, and they in return seem to reach out to me. It is a truly uplifting and reassuring experience.

Reality check: this chap Rudi Harst, motivator and inspiration extraordinaire, had apparently had his family house ransacked and burgled - literally hours before this event. How strong is faith compared to material possessions - either that or he is well insured!

Following the gig, we go to Chris Cookson's BBQ, an outdoor venture where we eat splendid food and drink as we wish. I however have antibiotics kicking in and half a leg bathed in swollen red rawness. I am also here in the company of ranch-folk who know too well the symptoms of a black widow spider bite. Yep, that's the diagnosis I need, and at the insistence of all present, I am on completion deliver to South Austin Hospital.
Big thanks to Chris and family, and all those who donated food and entertainment.

SOUTH AUSTIN HOSPITAL - SUNDAY APRIL 7th to TUESDAY APRIL 9th
No messing, I am straight in and with an hour have been seen by two doctors. This is probably because they are worried about the state my leg is in. Temperature steady at 101, I still have fever and despite the fact that I wanna gig and bbq, I am told that I am not well and must stay the night. Turns into two nights and eventually, having been dripped up to the eyeballs with antibiotics, the leg has shown a little improvement and I am released.

Tuesday April 9th - Ruta Maya, Austin
Takin' it easy. Thought I might as well pop in and do some tunes . Ted Reilley is special guest poet and I am getting to enjoy his work more and more.

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
"Music and arts wise, to compare Austin to Manchester would be silly, you just can't ... they recently had a three day music fest here, some 50 live music venues with at least 5 live bands each per night, some with 6 or 7 a night .... it's no wonder that Matt Hill tells me he saw the finest guitar player he's ever seen, playing for a tips jar on 6th St in Austin. And yet I sense the same jealousies and rivalries, bitterness and seediness, all wrapped up in the magic of beatin'rhythm and wordplay expression ... yes, this could be Manchester for there's culture aplenty and more than enough passion to make the music last forever.
And Austin has it's very own version of Victor Brox ... well, this guy may not be from from Austin, but he was featured in the Music Chronicle here when he played the city recently - his name's T-MODEL FORD ... aged 6 he worked in the field behind a mule, and as a boy was beaten so badly he lost a testicle ... he left home at 22, spent two years on a chain gang for knifing a man, drove a log truck in the Missisippi Delta on his return, and to this day he's been married 5 times and has 26 children oh yeh, and it was on one occasion when an ex-wife was driving away with the kids, left with nothing more than guitar, he picked it up and taught himself to play the blues ... he was aged 58 years old ... today, aged 80, he makes records and plays it live.
... a little word for Manchester band ELBOW ... I had just come off stage at Ruta Maya on Tuesday when I was grabbed by a lad who had seen Elbow play in Austin, and he was absolutely buzzing on their stuff - Elbow big in the US? remember where you heard it first(!) ... shame about Starsailor though, a review of theirs I read was non-too complimentary and very patronising"

Wednesday April 10th - Cafe Mundi, Austin
Again, merely a case of joining the localised festivities whilst recovering. Tonight, following an earlier busking session during bbq, Texas songwriter STEVE BROOKS & I perform some songs together. A quality time indeed .

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
"On Sunday morning I played at a CELEBRATION CIRCLE in San Antonio ... this was a non-religious spiritual faith kinda gathering of music, inspirational speech, a little chant styled cameo and a resident band who make the gig rock. If you've ever seen the highly charged guru led religious services on TV, it was kinda like one of those, except here the guru was called called Rudi and he's a really genuine and very likeable guy ...
SA is built right on the Water Table level and the slighest rain brings potential floods ... English weather would wash this place away in a day, no kidding!
In the afternoon I attended a bbq that was set up in outdoor concert mode ... amongst the artistes was a true Cowboy poet, a guy who reered horses and cattle by day, and read poems at live events by night .... his moving tribute to a dying horse was again a most powerful thing to witness. And so onwards then to a six day trip out, taking in Houston (where there are people who work at NASA who love my cd so much they've been taking in to work with them and playing it to their colleagues!!), to Lubbock (birthplace of Buddy Holly) and then on to Tulsa (no comment) ... the best bit, or worst I suppose, will be coming off stage in Houston, starting the car and hopefully arriving in Lubbock (11 hours away) for a midday appearance there. And so on we go ... however, no matter where you are in the World, you can't help thinking of the poor Palestinian and Israeli people who are in the firing line of some bloody and truly pointless warfair and conflict right now ... roll on peace and common sense

Thursday April 11th - Sportsbox, Houston International Poetry Festival
The first of 6 days on the road. Ted and I have hired a car and first up is a gathering with Richard, Seema and Thom in Houston. We arrive at a bar / venue, 250 capacity, and early doors it's a little quiet but we are made very welcome indeed. Ok, so we go, performance is fine and that is the first half of the show. What show? Then at 9pm, in they come . this is a black neighbourhood, the place is packed and the vibe is electric. We are invited to perform as part of the local poets show. And what's more, every poet is very very talented . this, another one of the tour high spots, is a thoroughly enjoyable occasion, merely watching, listening and enjoying as the dj and mc's introduce the acts to a rousing reception. My 'Have A Nice Day' rap tune goes down a storm and I'm chuffed to bits

Friday April 12th - Diverse Works, Houston International Poetry Festival
The second of the Houston events was, on a personal note a little disappointing. The event was supposed to take place with a main stage and an outdoor patio stage, but the patio turns out to be nothing with no-one from the venue particularly interested in the concept of providing outdoor entertainment. After some 4-5 hours of poetry (flip me, hard work) I finish the evening off . the only positive I take is the fact that the audience of 30 or so I am left with, are big on the songs, these being very intense versions of 'Beautiful Addiction' and 'Beaches Of Ibiza'.

Saturday April 13th - Forest Fest, Lamesa
Ted and I have driven through the night. Far from being tired, I am buzzing now on adrenalin and the excitement of the open roads and Texas sunrise. Arriving in Lamesa, a small community West Texas way, I sit down with a crowd for the afternoon picnic / bbq session of poetry and song. It's great, again being made so welcome when so far from home is a buzz. The evening is made up of performance on an outdoor stage and again I finish the event, but this time I am so much more alive as the sun sets whilst I am on stage, and it's great to be here. I have to say that the hospitality and welcome here was second to none.
Thanks to Connie Williams and Jim & Shawn in particular.

Sunday Apr 14th - University of Texas, Lubbock
A bit of a gatecrash this one . Ted and I are kicking about pre-Tulsa with nothing to do so we zip up the road and gatecrash a poetry reading event at the University. It's nice . in fact, compared to the fast food it's bloody brilliant!

Monday April 15th - Tulsa, Oklahoma (no gig)
Ted and I have driven overnight again, no gig, but a lovely welcome courtesy of Fran Reingold and Manly Johnson. And a bed for the night . zzzzzzzzz.

Tuesday April 16th - Borders, courtesy of Nimrod Press / The University Of Tulsa
This was another of the high spots. Fran is the editor-in-chief of Nimrod Publishing, resident within The University Of Tulsa, a journal based publishing outlet that is high class without being high brow. It is she who has put together a reading of International Poetry and therefore invited Ted to be a special guest. I am a surprise visitor but again, am made so very welcome. Performing at this event is again a wonder buzz. There are some 30 readers tonight, but in this instance they all read one poem and, some ready in different languages and add translations. We get to here Flemish, Italian, Chinese and more! It's a truly International enlightening event, and it's nice to know that here in America, I am nearing the end of my tour and the calls for World Peace and common sense are coming from all directions, as loud and clear as the day. Special thanks to Fran & Manly.

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
" Just got back from 6 days travelling and playing (2,000 miles plus) to find e-mail news that has left a little lump in the throat - Matt Hill, a mere boy at 32, Manchester songwriter of great quality, has had a heart attack ... his mail suggests he is in good spirit and moving on ok, but what can you say, other than to offer him a speedy recovery and lots of love :-)
Here in the US, recent gigs have included The Forest Fest in the small Texas town of Lamesa, a poetry / music event at Lubbock University, and a University Of Tulsa promoted event that was a quite breathtaking collage of multi-lingual poetry (Chinese / Italian / Flemish etc), percussion and music ... it was one of those special occasions when you could come 'off the mic' and pin them to the ceiling. And, my travelling partner, Ted Reilly from Australia, and I visited Paris, Athens and Palestine today ... all strangely named places that lined our journey back to Austin.
Have met some wonderful people, one of whom is Professor Manly Johnson from Tulsa University who spoke of a poem that inspired him by my 'old' mate Henry Normal, who now of course works with Steve Coogan as scriptwriter and TV / film creator - small world Still to come then, a night off(!) and a peace festival in Houston that I may make the long trip out for .... still catching up with the medic bill so we'll see ....
When I get the website back online I'll have plenty to write about so will be posting more news then ... for instance, I have learned never again to slag off America - this is a most fascinating nation of many truly inspired people of many nations, backgrounds, ideas and wonderment, let-down only by their idiotic disgusting politicians and high society clowns ... now what other countries do we know of with a similar fate? The freight trains here are the longest you've ever seen, and when you get chance to eat in the roadside cafes, you truly get to appreciate great food and see what a crock of rubbish Macdonalds is.
And finally, whilst doing a little surfing the BBC news, I've noticed a vast difference in the way the Middle East crisis is being reported here and abroad ... the US media appears so pro-Israel in this, it is frightening ... meanwhile, e-mails sent from Palestinians sympathisers to individuals out here tell of hideous war crimes and mass murder of civilians .... it appears that once more, the first casualty of war is truth, even here in America, free speech and all that ..."

Thursday April 18th - Maria's Taco Express, Austin
After a days rest I join PJ The Cowboy Poet and perform at his regular Thursday night gathering of bands and poets. This is great, a real cool vibe of impro and performance, well attended and with the best plate of free food I've had all tour!
Thanks to PJ . a big hearted man with his heart and soul in the right place.

. followed by 'Word Jazz' impro @ Cafe Mundi
Thom has talked me into doubling up and we jump across time for a Word Jazz event. This is outdoors at Mundi on the patio, and the gig is based around a bunch of cool jazzers and impro musicians who play whilst poets and singers jump up and recite. It's my first time doing impro of this nature, both vocal and on guitar. It's a teamwork thing and it's great .

Saturday Apr 20th - BB Rovers, Austin
The last gig. Tonight, Steve Brooks has invited me to perform at one of his gigs, and I join Jeff Teveras and Steve for a brill evening of original tunes. Again, we are outside doing the patio thing, and again the evening warmth greets us and sets a cool vibe. We get to jam on each others songs and basically have a ball.
Thanks to Steve & Jeff, and bar owner / top songwriter David Dunn.

Special thanks go to all who made it happen, especially of course THOM THE WORLD POET, CYNTHIA GOOD, WAYNE HUNT, and all those who hosted bbq's, gigs, cheered, offered kind respectful words, exchanged and bought cd's! ... as for those who requested autographs, my gratitude, thank you :-)