Tim Easton and Megan Palmer delight fans in Houston

 By Paul T. Mueller

Tim Easton’s in-store performance at Cactus Music in Houston on Sept. 13 delighted fans who got considerably more than is typical of such gigs. Easton, accompanied by fiddler and musical partner Megan Palmer, didn’t stop at the four or five songs that are more or less standard for promotional appearances. Instead the duo stuck around for more than a dozen, throwing in some oldies, a cover and even a brand-new song, along with seven selections from Easton’s newest CD, Not Cool. From the look of it, they might have kept going had they not been scheduled to play a house concert later in the evening.

From Not Cool, Easton and Palmer played, not necessarily in this order, “Little Doggie (1962),” “Don’t Lie,” “Gallatin Pike Blues,” “Troubled Times,” “Four Queens,” “They Will Bury You” and one we’ll call, for the sake of delicacy, “Crazy MF from Shelby, Ohio.” Without full-band backup, the tunes got a folkier treatment than the rockabilly/Memphis versions on the CD, but Easton’s excellent guitar, harmonica and kick drum, plus Palmer’s lovely fiddle and vocals, proved more than adequate.

Megan Palmer and Tim Easton (Paul T. Mueller)

Easton also reached back into his extensive catalog for fine renditions of “Don’t Walk Alone” and “Carry Me” (the latter by audience request), as well as the more recent “California Bars,” “Dear Old Song and Dance” and “Burgundy Red” (Easton introduced the latter as an example of what he called “pre-hab music”). At one point he threw in a traveling song called “On My Way,” which he said he has not yet recorded. Palmer got a turn at lead vocal on John Hartford’s “In Tall Buildings,” also by request.

If fine songwriting and outstanding musicianship aren’t enough, give Easton and Palmer points for their work ethic as well. Earlier in the day, the two visited a local radio station for a fairly lengthy interview, including playing a few songs on the air, and all of it came less than 24 hours after opening for Billy Joe Shaver in Austin, a few hours’ drive from Houston. That kind of roadwork isn’t easy, but from the buzz Not Cool has been getting, it seems to be paying off.

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