The West Texas Exiles were back at Viva Big Bend this year with two shows. Railroad Blues in Alpine at 11pm Thursday and The Gage Hotel in Marathon at 2:15pm the following day (A bloody mary gig there ever was one, the Gage is posh.) I was angling for an interview, these words don't write themselves, besides, I had questions about Charlie, appleseeds, and counting days after their banging 1st show. Due to streaming their collection of music the previous few days, I was familiar, in the know, and curious.
Friday morning came quick, even for a spectating observer, I wondered how the band felt, this is not easy work. The Gage was packed. This was gonna be tight, this was going to require a different version of the band. The Railroad Blues show was what you would expect, the Exiles are experts at late night enders. They did 3 encores, including Not Fade Away with the lead singer of Two Tons If Steel featuring Trinidad, the drummer, literally vibrating the place, using perfect technique and leaning into his booms.
To my luck and surprise and good fortune, my aversion to crowds paid off prior to their Gage gig. The Exiles were out front, inconspicuously loading gear or unloading gear or both, either way, I had my interviews, I talked to them all, interrogations of the highest degree. I got the story--Charlie was a good dude, appleseeds make for harsh tokes, and time and space move together, those 8000 days were always in a different location. I decided Trinidad was the heartbeat and sorta leader of the band after he indicated they were all all in, the boats were burned, there was no plan B for the West Texas Exiles. The Gage Hotel show was delicious.