GALVESTON — There’s a black cowboy hat full of lessons to be learned about life, love and wagtail dogs. And if the teacher is an offbeat Jewish singer and philosopher who wears Waylon Jennings’ vest and smokes cigars, then you better pay attention.
The “Legends and Puppies 2008” tour, starring former gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman and Texas poet laureate Steven Fromholz, will be coming to Galveston to the Big Easy Nightclub on Friday.
Friedman and Fromholz fully intend to aggravate audiences’ ears by playing the kazoo, goad them with satirical poetry and raise money for Friedman’s favorite cause — the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch — which finds homes for abandoned or abused animals.
“Steve and I are a great match,” Friedman said. “Steve is priceless. Just tuning his guitar is a show. We’ve never played together before, but doing this tour now has really been a financial pleasure.”
Despite having had a stroke not long ago, Fromholz has gone from not being able to move or speak to performing better than ever, Friedman said.
Friedman describes the show as completely free form and not at all slick.
“There’ll be a lot of old Kinky songs,” he said.
“There’s ‘Get your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed,’ which is my tribute to women’s lib.
“And then there’s ‘Ride ’Em, Jewboy’ and then there’s the one I wrote when I was 11, called ‘Old Ben Lucas.’
“It goes, ‘Old Ben Lucas, he had a lot of mucous…’”
Friedman said his longtime friend, Little Jewford, would be there, too.
“Little Jewford drives a Ford, plays the keyboard and the most irritating instrument in the world — the kazoo. The show takes on a life of its own.”
There will be an auction at the show. One item up for bid is a guitar autographed by Willie Nelson.
“There’ll also be some Kinky childhood items,” he said.
Although Friedman’s profile has been raised nationally by appearing every Monday night on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” to talk politics with Bill O’Reilly, what remains closest to Friedman’s heart are the animals he has spent the last 10 years trying to rescue.
Friedman describes Utopia as a “no kill ever” animal sanctuary that takes in any animal at all, including burros, pigs and any other suffering animal.
Friedman said he believed the gates of heaven would be opened wider for anyone who bid at the auction and helped raise money for Utopia.
“Money may buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail,” he said.
Richard Jackson, owner of The Big Easy Nightclub, said Friedman and Fromholz’s performance would be quite a bash.
“I think Galveston really needs this,” he said. “People just need to have a night to not take themselves seriously and have some fun.”
He said The Big Easy has done shows for animal causes in the past and if the weather is good, the patio will be open for the audience to enjoy the music.
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At A Glance
WHAT: Legends and Puppies 2008 with Kinky Friedman and Steven Fromholz
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday
WHERE: The Big Easy Nightclub (formerly Cocktails), 2411 Mechanic, Galveston
