Back in the late 1970’s my parents, Pat and George Childress, opened a club here in College Station called Grin’s. At the time it was one of the only music venues in the entire Brazos Valley, and we had some wonderful artists perform there. One of those artists was a very young, shy Lyle Lovett, who was a classmate of mine at Texas A&M.
Ken and I both worked at the club in a variety of positions. Ken mostly ran sound, and I cooked, cleaned, and tended bar.
One night Eric Taylor was performing, and right at the end of the night, as he was finishing up his last set, I started closing down the bar by filling the beer coolers. I confess, I was not paying any attention to Eric even though I love his music. The plain old fact was–I just wanted to go home, so I was hurrying to get things set up for the next day so that I could leave. After all, I had been there for many hours and I still had homework to do. Could you blame me? Anyways, while Eric was singing, Lyle came over and asked me to please stop so that the noise from the bottles wouldn’t be so obtrusive. But instead of pausing to listen to Eric’s beautiful voice, I just brushed Lyle off and kept on keeping on.
I didn’t realize how upset Lyle was until he wrote “Closing Time,” and so there you have it. It’s not one of my proudest moments, even though I’m happy that Lyle got a powerful, provocative song out of it.
I learned something important that night. I learned that hearts need songs and songs need hearts. Ever since then, I stop for music. It’s more important than whether or not the beer is cooled down.
So, on November 11, 2010, when Lyle performed at Texas A&M, and invited Ken and his best friend Kevin Duff onto the stage to sing with him, it was a mighty sweet reunion. I managed to catch it on my iphone video, and while the video is bleached out, I think you can hear the friendship in all three voices, a friendship that has lasted for over thirty years.
Wasn’t that lovely?
And here are some photos from that night:
The person on the left is my mom, Pat Childress. Winnie Garner is on the right. And a member of the Large Band is in the middle.
Here I am with cellist John Hagen, who met Lyle at Grin’s when John was playing with a band called Eaglebone Whistle.
And here I am with Lyle.
Yes, he seems to have forgiven me for all those noisy beer bottles. And like I said, the song has lived on, and so has our friendship. How sweet is that?
Calloo Callay!
Kathi, I love your story and the wonderful song that goes with it. I was moved watching and listening to the three old friends ~ and yes, their affection does come through in their voices.
We all (including Mabel) missed you in Taos last summer. It would be lovely if you’d come back for a relaxing retreat week.
Sending all best wishes,
Pam
I hope that my message to you came through.
warm wishes,
Pam
Hi Pam–it did come through, and thank you! I missed all of you in Taos too. I promise to come back soon.
xoK
I never knew all of this history of your folks and Grins. Maybe I did when we were at A&M and the years have scattered my memories into the cobwebby parts of my brain. Great story, though. I believe you were meant to inspire that song . . .
Kathi – What a great story! “So stack those chairs upon those tables…and stack those empties on that bar….” Gad, I hear the lyrics now, and there you are – Kenny and Kathi (“…”…and Kathi’s laughing, Kathi’s always laughing….”) Amazing. I really do think Lyle Lovett is one of those performers who give people their money’s worth – he gets up there on the stage with his Big Band and just doesn’t stop, doesn’t take a break, just keeps going, singing those songs. How cool you’ve got all this history.
You’re the Kathi who’s always laughing? Holy cow.
I saw Lyle in concert when I was pregnant with my first. She was DANCING in there!
Shoot, it’s hard not to dance when Lyle’s playing, especially with the Large Band–those guys cook!
xoK
I’m sorry Marc and I did not make the concert last week, would love to have seen those three together again. We will never forget your and Ken’s wedding at Grin’s. Remember, Lanicia was just a baby and Michele a toddler? Good memories….
love,
B
Brenda–such good times, and plenty more since then. And now all our chicks have grown up!
WOW! Beautifully said, beautifully sung, and beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing!
[...] that song did have a bit of a pout to it. You can read Kathi’s explanation of what happened here, and then read the verses of the song in question [...]
Oh kathi…
What a lovely story to be told just as I am drifting off to sleep. Now the song has another layer of story as it gets passed on and on and on…
g’nite, sweet laughing kathi,
Linds’
So YOU’RE the laughing Kathy! Aching song, love the backstory. thanks for sharing!
What a great story, Kathi. Sounds like it could be turned into a book somehow – Maybe a YA? Those are the best kind of memories that get to be relived again and again. I’m a little late to reading this – Hope you had a great Christmas and a successful tour. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2011.
Cheryl Phillips
Peachland School
Thanks Cheryl. Maybe it could be a bigger story? Who knows. Maybe it just needs to stay the story it is. One of the highlights of my year was meeting you in Peachland.
xoK
Oh My gosh Kathi – this is Jann Rhodes – Suzanne Rhodes’s little sister. Don’t know if you remember me or not but I worked at Grins with you just after it opened. We lived next door to Ken, Brian, and Duff (Ten Minutes Late) in the late 70’s. I ran around with Kevin most of the time. I live in Michigan now and frequently come back to Texas and College Station. I have followed Lyle and his music through the years – thanks for posting the history behind Closing Time – it’s such a great song. Lyle will actually be here in Ann Arbor next week with John Hyatt. I’ve always thought about trying to reconnect with him but didn’t know if he would remember me or not. You guys look great – say hi to your Mom and Ken for me. Take care!
Hey Jann–so great to hear from you. Please stop by when you’re in TX. We’d love to see you!
xoK
Kathi,
I was a student at A&M starting in 1977. I graduated in 1981 and lived there until 1983. I performed at Grins several times (as well as the Basement Coffee House on campus, Rosewood Junction, Backstage – i think i’m remembering the names of the places). I was an opening act for Steve Fromholz and Eagle Bone Whistle at Grins. I was known for a song I wrote called “College Station Blues”. I played it all accoustically then. All of my music is on last.fm – so check it out. I played several times on the same bill with Lyle Lovett and used to hang around with Shake Russell and Dana Cooper. Of course, it was a blast and I appreciated the opportunity at Grins. I’ll never forget the phone call I got from you guys offering me $75 to open for Fromholz. I am now an attorney in Houston. I do some music production as well. I could not believe it when I saw this blog pertaining to Grins. What ending up happening to it?
Here is link to my last.fm page and believe it or not, the picture was taken at one of my performances at Grins circa 1979/1980:
http://www.last.fm/music/jeffrey+william+clark
All the best to you and yours. Gig’em!
Jeff