Cha Wa Celebrates New Orleans’ Rich History

A dreamy introduction with guitar riffs and wind chimes set the ambiance for a formal announcement that it’s “time for their experience.” The hypnotizing atmosphere quickly morphs into a driving bass groove as ticket holders fill Antone’s Nightclub in Downtown Austin. Spyboy J’Wan Boudreaux and Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. lead the audience in their …

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Colter Wall Sings at Gruene Hall

As the afternoon rush hour parades down one of Austin’s busiest corridors, dozens of people fill the aisles at Waterloo Records. Colter Wall sits on the elevated stage for a special in-store performance, singing tracks from October’s release “Songs of the Plains.” Wall's deep drawl sits right at home in the Texas Hill Country. His …

John Hammond Sings Traditional American Music.

John Hammond walked out to the middle of the stage at the One World Theater Thursday. He sits atop a  wooden stool, places a rusted 1935 National Reso-Phonic guitar in his hands, an end of a socket wrench over his finger, a harmonica rack around his neck and lowers his head as the first notes …

A New Hill Country Anthem

A large-electric wand appears as I approach the front of the line at the Moody Theater. The security guard waving it like a badminton racquet is barely recognizable, a set of eyes under an Antarctic survivor suit in the bitter-cold night. As I’m shuffled around from walkie talkie to file folder I wonder whether breaking …

Dale Watson’s Chickens

I’m pushing every scarf and purse out of my way as I inch closer and closer to the ticket table. There’s a line a mile long at C-Boy’s Heart and Soul in South Austin. I stand on my tiptoes to get a glance at Dale Watson’s signature-silver pompadour as he strums along on the back …

BowiElvis Fest Captures The Magic of Two Musical Legends

My stomach aches after a long stroll downtown. I approach a window vendor for a slice of pizza after dodging various drifters demanding change. It’s too salty this time. I sigh as I toss the half eaten slice in the garbage. I’m jumping back and forth like children playing hopscotch on a warm summer day. …

Chris Knight Knows What It Takes

My fingers ache as they squeeze the steering wheel. Sweat drips from my palms and forehead as I desperately attempt to stay locked in place. Thirty-mile-an-hour winds bounce semi-trucks left and right, terrifying me as I stare at the mere inches left between my sedan and a concrete barrier. A screaming ambulance blasts past me, …

Garrett Bryan Premieres “Trinity”

Year after year on the road, songwriter Garrett Bryan struggled to keep the tragic story off his mind, a horrifying reality young women face every single day. What if he came back? What if it wasn’t just a drunken, angry phone call? She never dreamed he would be hiding in the shadows outside of her …

Larry Hooper Shines In Far West Texas

Dusty-white silos and radio towers line the landscape outside of Thurber, Texas. Once a bustling coal mining outcamp, ghost towns and a giant smokestack are all that remain. A golden-yellow flame soars out from an oil pipeline, burning chemical waste into the dark gray fog. The drizzling rain hardly seems to make an impact. Marathon, …

Heart Bones Bring Dirty Dancing To 3Ten at ACL Live

Dirty Sixth Street is still bustling with cars as I stare up at a giant plastic statue of a saddled rabbit inside the Jackalope. The jukebox struggles to drown out a plastic bucket drummer pounding away on the sidewalk. An acoustic guitar and a blues ensemble battle for the few remaining pieces of dead air …