I am out at Rice Fest in Fischer, TX this week.  It’s an annual pilgrimage for me.  The event spotlights Americana music with a bent for songwriters and bluegrass–this year’s line up includes Kevin Welch, the Band of Heathens, Darrell Scott, and the Hudsons..

Watched Hays County Burn Band last night. Billy Bright on mandolin, Matt Downing on banjo, Tom Ellis on bass, Elliot Rogers on guitar, and Mike Montgomery on fiddle.  Everybody sings.  They play into one mike, and it is magic to watch them weave in and out, so someone can come forward to sing or solo.

I was glad to be out in Fischer, but I was disappointed I had to miss Split Lip Rayfield’s show at the Continental.  To atone for my inability to be in two places at one time, I met up with Jeff Eaton, Eric Mardis and Wayne Gottstine at 8:00 am this morning to talk for a few minutes and get some pics. SLR drove 12 hours yesterday to get to the Continental Club, and were up early to drive 8 hours up to Oklahoma for another gig tonight. They stayed at a hotel at South First and Barton Springs. In the early seventies the property along the south bank of Bouldin Creek was the dirt driveway providing access back to the Armadillo World Headquarters. Seemed appropriate, somehow, to be standing there talking to musicians. Read the rest of this entry »

[fa:p:a=72157594270496732,id=235357944,j=r,s=s,l=p]I had a run in with Jon Dee Graham about seven years ago that is permanently etched in my memory. We were neighbors and one fine day I lost control of a reverse and backed into a mutual neighbor’s yard, decapitating most of the gnomes standing guard of the garden. Mr. Graham came running over to where I was and checked to see if I was ok and then said a hysterical comment that I did not really grasp until later because I was flustered. The story has grown into a larger and furrier animal each time it is passed on. Read the rest of this entry »