Monday, Oct. 11. Houston. Notsuoh.

We drove past more oil refineries on the way to Houston. We had already discovered in Louisiana that these can be quite beautiful at night, lights and towers rambling on and on like enormous Seussian cities. I like the names of these Louisiana towns, Sulphur, and Industries.

Ah, Houston, where all little baby strip malls go to be hatched. The downtown, however, is impressive, imposing square buildings looming over the grid, and a new light rail.

We got to play again tonight with the Chiara String Quartet! They happened to be in Houston at the same time as we were, preparing to play for the Houston Friends of Chamber Music the next night.

I have to say Notsuoh’s is the most eccentric venue I’ve ever played. All the people who work there are incredibly quirky. The place has a thrift store vibe; it’s not unlike Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn, but it’s seedier. Hundreds of old shoes sit on tall shelves along one wall, their shoeboxes decaying around them. Bicycles, ballcaps, and snaggles of wood clothes hangers are suspended from the ceiling. The paintings are a bit obscene, a human skeleton peeps out from a tall window to the upstairs, and a headless male mannequin in a suit guards a dark doorway near the bar. A tall plexiglass cube full of mannequin limbs and heads, with an ancient chainsaw on top, sits in front of the stage. A loud punk band, unfortunately, blared from the bar next door through the wall during our performance. Donations for the band were collected in a red colander.

Papaya

The night after our concert at Notsuoh’s, we got to go see the quartet perform for the Houston Friends of Chamber Music series at Stude Concert Hall at Rice University. The Chiara Quartet have a motto, “Chamber music in any chamber.” I’d wager that these two nights in Houston were the consecutive shows that most proved their commitment to this promise. This performance was a world premiere of “Milagros” by Gabriela Lena Frank. They also played string quartets by Beethoven and Brahms. Their performance was fantastic. We got to meet Frank, the composer, after the concert; I loved the new piece. We were so happy to be there and so proud of our friends.

In Houston, I got to meet another long-lost aunt. In Houston, my birth father’s sister Kim put us up for two nights and filled me in on a fascinating dose of family history.

I also happen to have a song called “Houston” that I recorded for Office Park, a collaborative project with Bryan. You can listen to this early version on Soundcloud.

And I should show you this silly menu from a Houston Thai restaurant.

Ember and Bryan recommend Broccoli is a Push not Bush.