MUSIC

It's McGonigel's Mucky Duck Songwriters NIGHT! Songwriters Night featuring Mike Stinson, Tony Gilkyson, Randy Weeks.

Mike Stinson spills perfectly written honky-tonkisms like you'd expect from a top-shelf country music songwriter a half century ago — the kind of pointed, poignant and sometimes funny lyrics that are in short order these days. Stinson's twangy warble courses beautifully through his compositions. But the songs are constructed with such concision that they're unbreakable. They'd be a goldmine for any forward-thinking Nashville artist, even those more inclined toward hair gel than shot glasses.

Even if mainstream country doesn't pick up on him, Stinson's a pre-eminent narrative voice for great songs about bad times. Despite the historic undercurrent in his music, it feels of this era. The barrooms might have changed over the decades but they're populated for some of the same reasons, be it heartache, financial woes or other bad turns. “I'm all about keeping those themes alive,” Stinson says, “that's the barroom ethos, man.”

Born in Hollywood and raised in an environment of songwriters and musicians, guitarist/songwriter Tony Gilkyson originally started recording as a boy with his father, Terry Gilkyson, a composer for Walt Disney and a prominent folksinger/songwriter in his own right. Tony played guitar with the Los Angeles band X for 10 years, starting with the acclaimed album "See How We Are" and continuing through the all-acoustic live recording, "X Unclogged". Other artists he's played and recorded with include: Lone Justice, Sam Phillips, Duke McVinnie, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Peter Rowan, Larry Hosford and Dave Alvin. He's also produced recordings for Exene Cervenka, sister Eliza Gilkyson, and "Dances With Wolves" author and poet, Michael Blake.

Randy Weeks puts together a batch of consistently evocative, witty lyrics that he sings in a distinctively wry Lou Reed-meets-Willie Nelson voice. His country roots are strong enough that he’s cranked out the instant honky-tonk classic “The One Who Wore My Ring,” yet, like Peter Case, he also obviously knows his Lennon-McCartney songbook well enough to come up with the pure-pop bounce of “That’s What I’d Do.”

His recent move from L.A. to Austin led to “Going My Way” being produced by Texas Americana ace Will Sexton, and probably at least partially explains the juicy New Orleans funk they’ve brought to “I Think You Think.” That song and “I Couldn’t Make It” showcase Weeks’ love for language and his engaging wordplay. - Los Angeles Times