Midland’s blues festival is off to a terrific start.
Category: Music
Del Castillo
During our recent visit to Fredericksburg, Texas, we caught a performance by Del Castillo, a band that was hitherto unfamiliar to us. The group was appearing at the Crossroads Steakhouse & Saloon, which is a relatively new (opened in early 2010) restaurant on Fredericksburg’s main drag (across the street from Hondo’s, if you’re familiar with… Continue reading Del Castillo
Trip Report: Sproul Ranch, Fort Davis, Texas
On Saturday, May 12, Debbie and I drove to Fort Davis to attend the annual fundraiser for the Marfa public radio station (KRTS 93.5). This year’s event was held at the H.E. Sproul Ranch, located about seven miles northwest of Fort Davis, and included a donated artwork sale, catered dinner, and barn dance. We never… Continue reading Trip Report: Sproul Ranch, Fort Davis, Texas
Random Thursday – The Weekend Edition
Readers note: I’ll be employing hash tags after each brilliant observation. Hash tags are the hipster’s way of connoting sarcasm, or implying irony, or providing context. All the Kool Kidz are doing it. #educatingn00bs I continue to be intrigued by the new image being cultivated by J.C. Penney. But I am a little puzzled by… Continue reading Random Thursday – The Weekend Edition
Book Review: “1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die”
Note: All songs mentioned below are linked to performances on YouTube, and the links will open in new browser tabs. A few weeks ago, during a post-dessert foray through Barnes & Noble, my eye lit upon a book resting on a table, notable for its thickness and heft, entitled 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before… Continue reading Book Review: “1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die”
Hypin’ Jorge
The band had just finished a very credible version of Merle Haggard’s classic Workin’ Man Blues [which is playing in the background as I type this…the newish version featuring Willie Nelson and Merle’s son Ben] and I mentioned to friends how great it was that young musicians continued to pay tribute to the greats of country… Continue reading Hypin’ Jorge
Tony Joe White / Dave Alvin: Subsonic Vocals
One of my Christmas gifts was an iTunes gift card, and I always use such windfalls as an excuse to look for music that’s a little outside the mainstream. Coincidentally, a song on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country station caught my attention, and so I went searching for it. Although my car radio’s readout often truncates artist… Continue reading Tony Joe White / Dave Alvin: Subsonic Vocals
The Little Willies
Don’t try to read anything into the post title. It simply refers to a group of musicians who have successful careers on their own, but who enjoy getting together from time-to-time to perform, and they’re about to release a new album entitled For The Good Times. This album is essentially a cover tribute to some… Continue reading The Little Willies
Cleaning up iTunes Album Art
We went to a dance a few weeks ago and the band performed a song that we weren’t familiar with, but it was catchy enough that I looked it up when I got home. It turned out to be Forget You by a pudgy hip hop musician named Thomas Calloway; the cognoscenti will know him… Continue reading Cleaning up iTunes Album Art
Another 15 seconds of “fame”
Remember this post? No? Can’t say that I blame you; it dealt with some pretty obscure subject matter. Well, unless you’re a musician and music historian who’s writing a scholarly book about the musicians of Alabama including Gene Sullivan and who had almost despaired of finding a photograph of Mr. Sullivan…until he stumbled across this… Continue reading Another 15 seconds of “fame”