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Amy Farris’ friends to gather for tribute at Continental
Alex Jones FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Fiddler Amy Farris’ wistful fretwork effortlessly shaded Dave Alvin’s gritty narratives with clemency. No wonder they balanced naturally: Farris, a 40-year-old Austin native who was found dead of an apparent suicide Sept. 30 at her home in Los Angeles, long admired the California-based roots rocker. “Amy came up to me at one of Kelly (Willis)’s shows in L.A.,” Alvin says of their initial meeting. “She told me that she snuck into Austin’s Fast and Cool Club to see me in X when she was 15. My God! We became pals after that.” Alvin, Willis, Exene Cervenka and guests perform Wednesday at the Continental Club’s Farris memorial.
American-Statesman: When did you last play with Amy?
Dave Alvin: The last gig we did with the Guilty Women was in Houston. We did Antone’s and then Houston, and that was the end of that run. We were supposed to reunite to do Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (in San Francisco). She died in that week off.
Did you see her at all after Houston?
I didn’t, but we text messaged a couple times about car repairs because she lived in my neighborhood. That was our last communication.
How were her spirits at that last gig?
We did two shows in Houston. In the break between the shows, she was lying on the floor going, “I don’t feel too good.” But she was great onstage. She was always a pro. All the time I knew her, she never phoned it in. The whole tour had been pretty intense, and we had hit it pretty hard from June through that gig in Houston. Amy always had a sadness about her, but her greatest joys were playing music and teaching it to kids.
How did you end up producing (Farris’ 2003 solo debut) ‘Anyway’?
The budget she had kind of excluded me going to Austin to work. I said, “If you find your way to L.A., I can do it for you.” So, she packed up her bags and moved to L.A. I think she was ready for a change anyway. Before we went into the studio, we wrote three songs together, and then we picked others by Bruce Robison, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Walker. It was a pretty eclectic mix.
You eventually recruited her for the Guilty Women.
Well, when she moved out here, she played a bunch of acoustic shows with me. The whole idea behind the Guilty Women was to gather a group of musicians that maybe were known primarily as side people and make them into a band where everybody could play to their heart’s content. Amy could hit home runs onstage.
Yet you all seemed to defer the spotlight to each other at Old Settler’s in April
It’s about the best band I’ve ever been involved with. On a selfish level, one of the tragedies of Amy passing on is that this tour has been the most fun and challenging that I’ve done ever. It’s crushing to have it end with Amy’s death. But we musicians mourn and celebrate by playing music. That is my church service and how I sing my praises to the universe.
Dave Alvin, Kelly Willis, Exene Cervenka and others perform at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress Ave. Suggested donation is $10 at the door. Proceeds go to the Hungry for Music foundation.
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By Thom Valicenti
October 25, 2009 9:27 PM | Link to this
I was at the tribute at the Continental on Wednesday night, while visiting from Boston. It was so moving, and just devastating. I didn’t know Ms. Farris personally - I must confess that I barely even knew of her music. And yet I was moved to tears right along with everybody else in the house, hearing the quivering testimonials and anecdotes from her friends and peers in the music scene. As the night went on and I learned more about the mysterious woman with the sweet, sad eyes and mischievous smile featured in the slides which were looped and projected on the wall, one word kept knocking against my skull: why? Why did this woman who was so beautiful, so talented, and loved by so many people take her own life? So terribly sad!