Galleywinter

Summer is the time of the blockbuster.  Hollywood bankrolls the other 9 months of the year based on what happens between June and August.  Without fail each summer, there is a huge tentpole film that opens up to huge numbers and smashes box office records and predictions.  Before the ink is even dry on the opening night numbers, film executives are busy cooking up ways to recreate the magic.  But, capturing the zeitgeist is a risky and difficult venture.  Rarely do the second go-rounds measure up to the original success on a creative level.  They make gobs of money, but they often trail off rather quickly and are even more quickly forgotten.

There are exceptions such as The Godfather II, The Dark Knight, Toy Story II, The Empire Strikes Back and so on.  But they are very lonely exceptions.  More often than not you’re left with a schlepped together, rushed half wit script and success coasting cast and crew.  Despite this widespread common knowledge, Hollywood markets to us with such fervor that we keep getting excited for the inevitable letdown each time it happens.  (Hangover 2 anyone?).

As consumers and fans, we take that same mentality into our music purchases.  When an artist puts out a transcendent album that we truly dig, we clamor for the follow-up while they’re still touring the record and haven’t even begun writing the next one in most cases.  But, our reactions to music’s second acts are more hasty, volatile and visceral.… Keep Reading

In the early days of the Texas Music revival, one stage was the most hallowed, Miss Joni’s Clubhouse Concerts.  An intimate listening room that first sprang up in Joni’s apartment complex clubhouse (hence the name), it blossomed into the must-see acoustic experience in a variety of venues.  Joni held fast to 3 rules for the audience:  Sit Down. Shut Up. Listen.  If you failed to adhere to those simple rules, you would be asked to leave.  Aside from providing a stage to foster talent, Miss Joni acted as a den mother of sorts for young acts off stage.  Offering home cooked meals and places to crash for guys like Ryan Bingham and Randy Rogers.  Miss Joni decided to call it quits a few years ago and support the music solely as a fan.  But, to the benefit of all of us, she has decided to host a one-off show at Magnolia Motor Lounge this Sunday featuring a spectacular cast of Clubhouse veterans including Walt Wilkins, Bobby Duncan, Owen Temple, Tommy Alverson and many more surprises.

WHAT:  Clubhouse Concerts Reunion Show
WHEN:  Sunday August 4 at 6PM
WHERE:  Magnolia Motor Lounge in Fort Worth

From the archives:  20 Questions with Miss Joni… Keep Reading

**Still adding photos and video as they arrive to us.  Photo credits thus far go to:  Jon Paul Long, John Dempsy, Brian Strickland, River Road Icehouse and Anna Sneed.

Greenfest is a labor of love that we undertake each summer.  Our goal is always to put bands that our website and community support in a cool venue, keep the costs as low as possible for the true music fans and allow everyone to have a good time.  After several years of having downsized the event, we decided to go full-throttle once again and amp things up with a line-up of six amazing bands and a return to River Road Icehouse.  We then set out to craft a Sunday acoustic line-up that would be nothing but lyrical heavyweights.  Thankfully, a bunch of you guys thought the whole idea was cool too and showed up in huge numbers to support the event.

Many months and long hours of preparation and planning went into making GF13 a reality.  With so many moving parts and three cooks in the kitchen sometimes information and communication at times became difficult to keep up to date.  However, I’m proud of the way me, JP and Tank pulled this off.  Even if one of us ended up passed out in the parking lot before the last note rang out Saturday night.

Our host for the past five years of Sunday events has been Terry Gillespie and the fantastic staff at the Lone Star Floathouse.  If the area … Keep Reading

Five years ago I wrote the following article about why Greenfest or Galleywinter or the Texas Music community in general was unique and special.  While time and age has jaded me a tad, the unparalleled passion you find in this community is staggering.  I figured I’d dust this old piece off with the Greenfest 2013 knocking on our door and remind us about that special spark that’s lit inside all of us.

As humans, we have a tendency to focus too much on the negative and this warts and all approach has been hampering enjoyment of this music scene for a while now.

I must thank Scott Matthews for the reminder…and I hope after you read this you’ll thank him too.

The day of Greenfest last year, Scott was attending a funeral in Midland. A somber occasion to say the least. Many isolated and desolate miles away from Greenfest and Austin. Late that afternoon, deciding he had grieved as much as he could in the oil fields of west Texas, he told his girlfriend….”There’s a little something going on down in Austin that I’d love to check out.” Her reply, “I’m going to pack.” When I asked him why he’d make such an insane concert run at the last minute, his poignant reply was “In Texas and with Galleywinter in particular, it’s never just a concert…it is a spiritual experience.”

You see, Scott had fond memories of Greenfest. It was the 2005 version when he was going … Keep Reading

Sturgill Simpson is a refreshing throwback of country music purity and goodness.  Whereas Jason Eady’s fantastic AM Country Heaven album was a tribute to the music of yesteryear, Simpson’s High Top Mountain sounds like something that was unearthed from  the vaults of the famed Hillbilly Central Studio in Nashville.  The energy, sound and production is all vintage without losing any modern punch.  Simpson’s voice recalls inflections and timbres of many 70′s favorites while maintaining its originality.  This is traditional country music done right.

If you have ever jammed a Gary Stewart record under the influence or let the Waylon beat rattle your truck windows, then this record’s for you.  There is nothing slick here.  There are references to booze, pills, cheating, lying and reverence for the U.S. military…all in one song (“You Can Have the Crown”).  Even on the ballads such as “The Storm”, Simpson’s intensity never wanes.  He has a double barrels blazing authenticity even at his most introspective like on “Time After All”.  But, Simpson is clearly at his best when he’s thumping along just this side of out of control such as on “Poor Rambler” and “Life Ain’t Fair and the World Is Mean”. The album closer is the most genuine sounding cover of Steve Fromholz’s “I’d Have to Be Crazy” since Willie’s; Simpson turns it into some sort of twisted Baptist hymn.  Brilliant.

There are no songs about trucks, bonfires or tractors.  Just old school country music with themes of hell-raisin’, heartbreak and redemption.  A must … Keep Reading