Galleywinter

It was my granddad’s record collection that introduced me to Hank Williams.  The car radio of my youth instilled a joy and passion for modern country music.  A burnout in my 9th grade homeroom taught me about Pantera.   A childhood friend’s older brother blasted my head with hair metal and AC/DC.   Life and several musician friends made me really dig into the blues.

And, a busted old cassette tape made me fall in love with Texas Music.

Texas Music is unique in the broad spectrum of musical genres for a number of reasons.  But, one of the strongest has to be the manner with which people turn each other onto new bands.  That’s one of the reasons this website even exists!  It’s a community of like-minded individuals who decided to find a place (pre-Facebook/Twitter etc) to get together and enjoy music.  There is a continual domino effect among Texas Music fans.  They discover a new band that they really dig and they pass it on to their friends and it continues down the line until a whole wave of people are aware of some new band ripping things up.… Keep Reading

(photograph courtesy: Red Rocks Amphitheater)

Red Rocks is the mecca of music venues.  This amphitheater near Morrison, CO is often ranked as the best setting in the world to take in a show alongside places like The Gorge, Hollywood Bowl, The Greek, Slane Castle, and Royal Albert Hall among others.   The list of acts that have performed on the hallowed Red Rocks stage reads like a Who’s Who of music history:  The Beatles, U2, The Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix just to name a few.

In 2013, some performers from our little music scene were invited to join the talented roster of acts to take the Red Rocks stage.  I was unable to make it the inaugural concert that featured Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue and Casey Donahew.  So, as soon as plans were announced for a 2014 version of the show, my plans were set in motion.  I had to be there.  And I was.

What began with a 4AM alarm and hurried trip to DFW airport would end in a remote cabin in Evergreen, CO.

Red Rocks is majestic and magical.  You could really run out of adjectives to describe it.  What Wrigley is to baseball, Pebble Beach to golf, Madison Square Garden to basketball…that’s what Red Rocks is to music.  It is the venue. It’s nestled outside of Denver in the mountainside.  It’s literally carved from the earth.  There is no bad sightline and the vistas are breathtaking.  The sound can be spotty depending on … Keep Reading

I first encountered Allan Goodman about six years ago, not long after he’d moved to Texas from California.  I was managing and booking Kristen Kelly, and the Modern Day Drifter project was in a period of transition after the departure of Joe Churchill.  We were seeking a guy that could play guitar, sing backing and lead vocals and write songs.  We put the call out and I was immediately inundated with referrals.  Of the dozens of name that poured in, the one that came  most often and with the most clout due to the backing of Shannon Canada and Wade Bowen was one Allan Goodman.  I reached out to him and we set up a jam/rehearsal in San Marcos.

The moment I met Allan I felt like I’d already known him a lifetime.  He had bright blue eyes and a big, warm smile.  Even though I’d only corresponded with him via email, he didn’t reach out for a handshake upon us first meeting.  He opened his arms and went in for a hug.  Not a bro hug, but a legitimate hug like you’d lay on your grandmother.  Conversation flowed as easily in the first five minutes with AG as it often does with your closest friends.  That’s just how he was.

After the jam, we all decided that Allan was great, but probably too good for what we were looking for.  I encouraged him to keep doing his solo thing and filling in with other groups until he found … Keep Reading

Every few years an artist comes along that is regarded as a country music savior, or in other words, an artist that resets the genre back to its roots while simultaneously pushing it forward.  Acts such as Randy Travis, Keith Whitley and Dwight Yoakam did this in the 80′s in response to the Urban Cowboy fad.  Most recently, Jamey Johnson was rightfully lauded as the real deal in a sea of Ride a Horse Bro-Country crap.  Last year Sturgill Simpson burst on the scene with his fantastic record High Top Mountain.  It ended up on many year end best of lists and was regarded as a triumph of true artistic authenticity.  Simpson is not putting on any airs.  He’s as real as it gets.

Simpson’s new collection, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, picks up where High Top Mountain left off and climbs to new heights.  This is an artist and songwriter at his creative apex.  Singing about heartaches, booze, pills, Appalachain life and telling stories in a voice that echoes both Waylon Jennings and Vern Gosdin at times, Simpson delivers a collection that is everything great about country music.  Each track is an homage to the best influences in country music, without pandering or sounding like a carbon copy.  This is a fresh take on familiar (and fresh) subjects that is produced in a very cool way.

It’s an album of deja vu.  You feel like you’ve heard it before, yet you can’t place your finger on it … Keep Reading

My first memories of having an actual summer revolve around my post-kindergarten summer.  Prior to that, as a toddler, every day is like summer.  But, after actually putting in the grind of a schoolyear for the first time, I was actually loving this thing called summer break.  I mean coloring within the lines and cutting out new shapes can be stressful for a 5 year old.

Both of my parents worked, so that left my summer itinerary up to my older sister.  This meant plopping me in front of MTV for hours on end and plying me with health foods like Dr. Pepper and pop tarts. Or running up to West Pool for some mischief.  If I wasn’t outside running amok, I was inside mesmerized by music on television.  My eardrums were slammed and eyeballs were crammed with tunes from Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, Huey Lewis, David Lee Roth, Twisted Sister and Prince.  Even if they were songs I’d heard previously in a different setting, something about summer made them resonate harder.

This was my first exposure to the summer song phenomenon.… Keep Reading