One of my favorite little south downtown Dallas spots has changed! That’s right, the rumors are correct; Standard and Pours coffee shop is no more. STOP THE PRESSES!!! Man that’s fun to say 
. The South Side Lamar coffee shop (with beer!) has recently changed its name (same owner, the lovely Pascale) to Opening Bell. Last week was my first chance to get down to the old Sears building and check out Opening Bell with a camera, Guiness and a smile. The bill for the night: Emily Elbert followed by Kristy Kruger.
I first saw Emily several months ago at S&P. Pascal told me that I had to come and see this 17 year old wonder girl play and sing. Pascal’s characterization of Emily was accurate. This girl blew me away with the maturity and tone of her voice as she played alone with her guitar, barefoot on a small stool. Her jazzy sound simply shouldn’t be possible from someone so young. I have to admit it’s dangerous to go to a show with high expectations when you have already been been impressed by your first experience. When your baseline experience is really high, even a good show can be disappointing. I knew this when I showed up to hear Emily play, and I’m not exaggerating when I say the show she played was significantly better than the first time I watched her play and was blow away. Emily seemed to now be completely comfortable on the stage. Her voice and sound were even more refined and mature then they were before. I guess that makes sense, she has reached the ripe old age of 18 now . She had new twists on older songs and put together some fun and light hearted medleys of songs like Pascal’s favorite request of everyone who plays her venue : Crazy by G. Barkley. Her show was really something nice, and I’m confident that if you heavn’et heard her yet, you probably will in the future.
Next came Kristy Kruger. I’ve heard about Kristy for a long time and listened to a lot of her music online. That might be the best way for you to get an idea of her style because it is difficult for me to characterize. Take one part folk, one part country, one part early classic recording (say 1930’s-40’s?), combine and blend until smooth. Her recordings online even have an electronic flare on a few of the files. What you can’t hear by listening to her music on Myspace or her web page, is her personality. Wow!!! This girls is a firecracker with a wit and sense of humor that is a strong electric attraction with the audiance. Her music was fantastic; so different and yet oddly familiar, but her comments and discussion betweens songs created a show of their own. My understanding is that Kristy is planning on doing a show in every state in the country (more on that in just a sec.) , so the good news is there is a good chance that she will be playing near you sometime soon. Go check her out, you won’t be disappointed! The music is fun, well executed and very refined.
The tour of the US for her brother Lt. Col. Eric Kruger, who died in Iraq. During the show she said that her brother died for the country that he loved, and she wanted to do the tour as a memorial for him and to give her the opportunity to see all of what he loved. I think that’s a pretty cool idea, and something I’m sure she will never forget. I doubt Kristy will ever read this, but if you do: Average Joe American’s like me will always be in debt to people like your brother, and families like yours who risk and sacrifice everything to protect this great nation of ours. I’m not sure if a thank you is the right or appropriate phrase for this situation, but thank you.
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