Brad’s Corner

Well, here we are. The COVID19 virus has caused an interruption in lifestyle like no other moment in memory. Being that this is a music blog, we will only focus on the musical side of all this. That is not to trivialize or minimize the severity and alarming nature of all that is coming our way. It is a monumental and historic moment. Seemingly every hour brings bleaker news and more restrictions. The days after 9/11 comes closest in scope within my memory, but that was a different time and different threat. We were still able to congregate and revel

The traditional New Year falls on January 1.  But, for Texas Music the calendar doesn’t really reset until MusicFest in Steamboat Springs, CO.  Much like The Super Bowl which once sold tickets for $5 and was a television afterthought before growing into the biggest show of the year; MusicFest has grown over the past 35 years from John Dickson’s super cool excuse to get a few of his favorite songwriters together in one of his favorite towns into a multi-day, 100 artist extravaganza.  Every square inch of Steamboat is populated by sponsored content. There insn’t a stage, ballroom or condo

Had a conversation at a show the other night where the opening act was underwhelming.  The conversation went something sort of like this. Me: (jokingly) Either I’m getting old or I just don’t know what good music is anymore. Friend:  (laughing)  Nah man, your ears as good as it ever was.  We all evolve as listeners and by now we definitely know good from bad. His sentiment is true.  But, we are the outliers.  Taste is subjective. Appeal is massive. We are the quality over quantity types.  The ones who’d like something to hit the cineplexs or streaming services that

Perspective.  It’s what just about everything is based on in this life.  What’s new. What’s good. What’s old. What’s bad. It’s all a matter of opinion…and perspective.  Sometimes things can shade our perspective and we can be tricked. In Sociology, they talk about the different selves that human beings showcase depending on the circumstances surrounding them at that time.  This is especially true in the music business where it has not been uncommon over the years for people to do whatever it took to become famous, disregarding their more pure artistic desires. There’s a trade off that only the person

Grief.  It’s a part of life.  It’s the part that reminds us how good the living part truly is.   I first encountered grief on a major scale when the Cruella DeVille that lived in the biggest house on our block left antifreeze out in dishes scattered throughout her yard to poison any stray cats or dogs (or whatever) that meandered into her property.  One warm autumn evening, we returned from a high school football game where I’d been proudly providing ball boy services to find our gate open. My beloved basset hound George was missing. Soon enough we heard braying