Mohawk Place
September 23, 2004
By Kevin J. Hosey
Gurf Morlix shows here are always a treat for Val and me for several reasons; besides the obvious that we enjoy his music a lot, Morlix is a native Western New Yorker who visits here yearly with his partner Brende Fuller, often staying at the home of Jim Whitford, a fine singer, songwriter, guitarist and childhood friend of Morlix (Gurf produced the first album by Whitford’s former band, the Pine Dogs, as well as Whitford’s solo CD, “Poison in the Well”), who also happens to be our next-door neighbor.
So, of course, this most recent show here had a conflict that Val and I could not avoid. Val has been a Democratic Committeeperson in Buffalo for several years, and now that I am no longer a full-time journalist, I was elected as a Democratic committee person in the same district with Val last year, and we had our annual Erie County Democratic Committee reorganization meeting that same night.After attending the meeting and doing the necessary talking with friends and officials (and yes, eating some quick dinner), we headed off to the Mohawk Place to catch as much of the show as possible.
We heard the end of a Merle Haggard cover, then a real nice version of “Were You Lyin’ Down?” from his newest CD, “Cut ‘N Shoot,” including a very cool, simple solo. Next up was the stark, mournful “Falling off the Face of the World,” which Morlix smartly kept bare. He then noted that “I’ve just got to sing this song every time I get the chance” before playing a slow, spare cover of Bob Dylan’s “With God on Our Side,” a song he has been covering since before the second Gulf War; his rough vocals scraped every emotion available from the song, noting the times in which “we’re invading countries that don’t deserve it.”
Whitford joined Morlix on stage as Gurf wryly noted, “I’m from Texas, the capital punishment capital of the world,” before the pair played “Killing Time in Texas,” followed by “At the Center of the Universe.” Morlix and Whitford has some fun playing Tom Waits’ “Come on Up to the House,” with Whitford’s solo particularly good and twangy. Morlix turned things to a more humorous feel with his “Chicken Song” (think of every word that rhymes with chicken and add a few profane close rhymes), but followed it up with “Cold, Cold World” by the late legendary singer/songwriter Blaze Foley.
Morlix and Whitford continued their duet on Whitford’s playful old timey/bluesy “Mr. Moneyman,” with Whitford’s singing accompanied by a fluid guitar solo from Morlix that sounded more like a Dobro. They then played an energetic, fun version of the title song from Morlix’s “Fishin’ in the Muddy” CD.
After the applause ended, Morlix looked at the audience with a sly grin and said, “imagine that Jim and I have left the stage and come back to applause, because I hate the whole encore thing.” Morlix and Whitford played a couple more covers, including the Beatles’ “From Me to You,” as Morlix noted, “my voice is like a crazy old dog; you don’t know if it will bite or not.”
Yep, Val and I are hoping that Gurf’s visit next year will produce another Morlix/Whitford show, and maybe even a full-band hootenanny.
