By Paul T. Mueller A wake can be a mournful affair, but the mood at the Old Quarter Acoustic Café on the first day of 2023 was anything but. As they have every January 1 since 1998, talented musicians and appreciative fans gathered at the small listening room in downtown Galveston, Texas, for the annual wake to celebrate the songs…
Concert review: The Arc Angels in Houston
By Paul T. Mueller – For a band that made only one studio album – 30 years ago – Arc Angels has quite a devoted fan base. That loyalty was clear at Houston’s Heights Theater on November 16, when the band drew an enthusiastic near-capacity crowd for its third Houston show of 2022. Arc Angels – named for the Austin…
Outlaw Country West cruise: A wide net of rocking, raucous music
By Paul T. Mueller – Despite its name, the inaugural Outlaw Country West music cruise wasn’t just about country music. Producers Sixthman and Renegade Circus cast a wider net, including a couple of Southern California punk bands as well as several purveyors of West Coast country and rock. The floating festival departed Los Angeles on November 3 aboard the Norwegian…
Despite illness, Rodney Crowell shines in hometown show at Heights Theater
By Paul T. Mueller – Sometimes seeing what a performer is overcoming to deliver a performance is as impressive as the performance itself. Early in his Oct. 18 show at Houston’s Heights Theater, singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell announced that he was battling “the mother of all colds.” But despite a voice that often sounded hoarse and strained, and taking an occasional…
Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Whitley and Joe Galante enter the Country Music Hall of Fame
By Ken Paulson – It would be difficult to imagine a more unlikely group of inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame than the class of 2022, honored Sunday night in the hall’s annual Medallion ceremony. One had his career disappear after marrying a 13-year-old girl, who also happened to be a relative. Another’s life was cut short by…
Cimarron 615: A new band with Poco roots
By Ken Paulson – A tribute to the late Rusty Young of Poco has paid a welcome dividend: the birth of a new band. Five artists, all with significant ties to Young and Poco, teamed up late last year for My Friend: A Tribute to Rusty Young on Blue Elan Records. The quintet, dubbed Cimarron 615 for the recording, contributed…
Review: John Egan’s musical twists and turns
By Paul T. Mueller – You never know quite what you’re going to get at a show by Texas singer-songwriter and bluesman John Egan. A song title might be familiar, but most likely Egan will throw in some twists that make it sound different from what you’ve heard before – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. This dynamic was on…
Steve Earle in concert, with a nod to Jerry Jeff
By Paul T. Mueller – Steve Earle’s August 31 show at Houston’s Heights Theater began with a seven-song tribute to one of Earle’s musical heroes, Jerry Jeff Walker. Fittingly, Earle opened with “Gettin’ By,” which happens to be the opening track of his latest album, Jerry Jeff, featuring 10 Walker songs, and also the first track on Walker’s iconic 1973…
James McMurtry taps into his rich body of work
By Paul T. Mueller – Singer-songwriter James McMurtry released his first CD in 1989, so it’s pretty much inevitable that his shows these days resemble career retrospectives. At an August 26 solo acoustic show at Houston’s McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, McMurtry led off with “Melinda,” from his 1995 album Where’d You Hide the Body. Next came the title track of 2002’s…
New in print – Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble
By John W. Barry – Mention the late Levon Helm to a fan of Americana music and you’re likely to get a very strong response. The quick comeback could focus on The Band, for which Levon played drums and mandolin, and sang. And there are, of course, those iconic Band songs that Levon sang, “Up On Cripple Creek,” “Ophelia” and…
15th Cayamo Cruise opens booking to the public
Americana One – We’ve spent a lot of time on music-based cruises over the past decade, but the Cayamo cruise remains one of the most consistent and adventurous. They’ve just opened reservations to the general public with a line-up that includes Jeff Tweedy, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Neko Case, Shovels & Rope Andrew Bird and Trampled By Turtles, This year’s…
BettySoo celebrates release of “Insomnia Waking Dream”
By Paul T. Mueller – Texas singer-songwriter BettySoo’s July 7 show at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston celebrated the release of Insomnia Waking Dream, a CD-only collection of 15 demos recorded over more than a decade and assembled with the help of fellow singer-songwriter Curtis McMurtry. BettySoo was the sole performer on the album, but for this show and others…
Robert Earl Keen’s joyous last go-round
By Paul T. Mueller – Robert Earl Keen, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire from touring after more than four decades, probably could have phoned in his farewell tour. His legions of fans likely would have eaten it up in any event. Instead, the beloved Texas singer-songwriter seems to be taking his last go-round very seriously, while…
Steve Forbert is “Moving Through America” with stop in Nashville
By Ken Paulson – Words never spoken after a Steve Forbert concert: “I’m just so tired of him playing the same set on every tour.” Forbert, a former Nashville resident, returned to the town’s City Winery tonight with a performance that promoted his new album Moving Through America, but seemed to be largely fueled by whim. I was just telling…
In wake of Judds’ tragedy, Country Music Hall induction celebrates life, love, music
By Ken Paulson – What could have been an evening of mourning instead became a celebration of life and music as the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted its class of 2022. The sudden death of honoree Naomi Judd might have cast a pall over the event honoring the Judds, Ray Charles, pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake and session drummer…
Cayamo 2022’s exuberant rebound
By Paul T. Mueller – After a year lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cayamo cruise returned in mid-March, rewarding passengers and artists alike with nearly a week’s worth of floating music festival. The chartered cruise, produced by Norwegian Cruise Lines subsidiary Sixthman and held aboard the NCL Pearl, featured more than 40 bands and solo artists and around 2,000…
Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and Dean Dillon inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame
By Ken Paulson Tonight’s COVID-delayed Country Music Hall of Fame induction honored three free spirits – Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and songwriter Dean Dillon – in a ceremony marked both by celebration of their special talents and gratitude that the country music community could finally convene to recognize the class of 2020. Each of the honorees followed a unique…
John McEuen melds past, present in Franklin Theater show
John McEuen, a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, revisited songs spanning decades in a nostalgia-rich show at the Franklin Theatre in Franklin, TN tonight. It was an informal and entertaining evening that began with a singalong to “The Ballad Of Jed Clampett” and featured McEuen’ and his band’s rendition of big Dirt Band hits, including “Dance Little…
Happy 80th Birthday to Steve Cropper
There was a nice event honoring guitar legend Steve Cropper on his 80th birthday last week. He sat at stage right for the entire first half of the show and then took the stage to play with folks like Felix Cavaliere, 84-year-old Eddie Floyd and Billy Gibbons. “Knock on Wood,” “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” “Green Onions” and…
Tonight from WMOT: Rodney Crowell, Carlene Carter and Shannon McNally
By Ken Paulson WMOT Roots Radio celebrates its 5th anniversary tonight with a fundraiser at the City Winery featuring Rodney Crowell, Carlene Carter and Shannon McNally. That’s quite the line-up, fitting for a still-young station that has emerged as one of America’s most influential Americana stations. Tickets are still available for tonight’s Nashville show. If you don’t live in Nashville,…