David Ramirez
Cactus Café
Austin, Texas

The show was sold out, and the small stage had a single acoustic guitar: a black stool with water and a glass of Jameson. A red velvet curtain and, bluish-white light adorned the empty stage. And a soft murmur filled the air from the crowd as they waited for the intimate Americana music of David Ramirez.

Dave Geracci, a fan in the audience who proposed to his fiancé Zoey to Ramirez’s “I Think I Like You,” noted the raw intensity of Ramirez’s voice and the honesty of his lyrics as fundamental factors that separated Ramirez from other artists. As noted by many of his fans in the audience. It was Ramirez’s voice that soared with a brawn that captivated all who were in attendance. From older songs from his 2012 album Apologies, such as moving solo performances of “Goodbye,” and “An Introduction,” to deeper, older cuts from his 2009 album American Soil “Good To Be Bad,” Ramirez’s thematic exploration of reveling in life’s more decadent vices while aspiring to rise above them through virtuous love enveloped Ramirez’s performance in enthralling candor. On stage, Ramirez, who was dressed in a blue plaid shirt, black jeans and light brown boots, went from a somber, downcast croon to a vigorous, whiskey-soaked husk that seemed to channel Leonard Cohen’s ardent baritone.

Ramirez also performed new songs from his recent album Fables, such as “Harder to Lie” and “On Your Side.” And between affable and genuine exchanges between himself and audience members, such as when he jokingly told a member to “get the fuck out” after he saw a photography flash, and, later, disarmingly commented that his audience “was killing it” with their enthusiasm, Ramirez seemed to have mastered the balancing act of enjoying life but also sharing in its joy with others. As he puts it in his song “Fire of Time,” from his 2013 EP The Rooster, his performance reminded all of us “that though he’s not whole, he’s not empty.”

by Andrew Chauvin