SXSW pt.6

January 15th, 2010

Duke Special at the Irish Breakfast in ‘06.

I wasn’t at this show with Ryan, but I vividly remember him talking about it when he got home from SXSW that year.  He hadn’t seen Duke Special in eight years, and the last time Ryan had seen him, he was just your average looking Irish man and had pretty short hair.

As you can see, his look had changed quite a bit since then!  But what struck Ryan even more than his long dreadlocks was Duke’s amazing performance that morning.  It left a huge impression on Ryan, and I can only imagine the rest of the crowd at the Irish Breakfast.  Just hearing Ryan describe it, made me feel like I’d been there too.

I’ve been lucky enough to see Duke Special perform several times since then, and he’s easily one of my favorite artists.  He’s so incredibly talented that it really is a true pleasure to see him in action.  And every time I watch him perform, especially when he plays “Salvation Tambourine”, I remember standing in the kitchen of our old apartment and listening to Ryan describe the dreadlocked frenzy of Duke pounding the piano as he chanted “I could go to London…” at that special show in Austin.

- Kim

Entry Filed under: Bands, Duke Special, Pic of the Day, SXSW