Burleson is a different place these days. The old-town area is taking off, there are lots of cool restaurants and shops opening up, and I’m starting to hear about live music that's worth the drive. So on Saturday, when I got a text message from Nick Choate about a gig he was playing with Josh Weathers at the Spice Rack in Burleson, I decided to head south and check it out.
The Spice Rack is a tapas bar located in Burleson’s old town. They boast some fairly original culinary offerings including locally grown produce, venison steak tacos, chorizo stuffed jalapeños and grass-fed beef. Good food and Josh Weathers seemed like a great combo.
Turns out, this was the after-party for the Burleson Wine Crawl. Nick Choate had said they were going on at 9:30; my secret musician decoder ring told me that meant I should be able to catch the first note if I got there at 10. At 10:30, neither Nick nor Josh was there yet.
They had a patio with stage, a field next door for overflow, and an inside area that I didn’t even try to go into. All the areas were packed with people. I grabbed a table near the stage, and decided I would get some food and drink and wait for the music -- but I couldn’t get the wait staff’s attention.
Josh Weathers and Nick Choate have been playing these two-person shows for as long as I can remember, and the place was jumping. People were dancing and singing along to Josh’s original tunes, and his covers. They did Ain’t Too Proud to Beg by the Temptations, Glad by The Wood Brothers, Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, and Oklahoma Breakdown by Hosty Duo (even though the crowd thought it was a Stoney LaRue song). Nick Choate was playing stand-up bass, while Josh Weathers played guitar and harmonica. Their vocal harmonies, as always, were phenomenal; it’s the kind of thing you only see with people who have played together as much as these two have.
Finally I got the attention of the staff, who instead of taking my order asked me to go stand in the field next door so they could give my table to someone else. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but told him I wanted to stay put, and I asked if I could I get some food and a drink. I told him I had been waiting for over an hour, and ordered some stuffed jalapeños.
A few minutes later, they brought me some steak tacos, and told me they were on the house. OK, not what I ordered but they were tasty (and free). Josh and Nick played on; with Josh doing a solo version of the Whitney Houston song I Will Always Love You. Someone in the crowd place a rather large reptile on Josh’s shoulder, and it was entertaining to see him try to play with it crawling around on him. I know how he felt, because I had to try and ignore the drunk girl in the Spice Rack shirt who kept playing with my hair and rubbing up against me.
Eventually, the staff member who I talked to before came over and told me to leave so he could give my table to other people. As I left, the drunk girl and her friends took over my table, and I headed back to Funkytown.
Josh Weathers and Nick Choate were incredible as always, and the Spice Rack looked to be an interesting concept. To their credit, the manager did send me an apology when he found out what happened. He assured me this was not how they normally do things.
