Kris Kristofferson’s passing this week prompted an outpouring of thoughtful articles about what made this man and his art so special. We had the pleasure of interviewing Kristofferson about two decades ago about songs that challenge and sometimes offend an audience. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kent Blazy celebrates “My Life So Far” with new release, concert
By Ken Paulson – Kent Blazy’s new album My Life So Far is that rare album founded in truth and fueled by gratitude. Blazy has had plenty of success, writing seven number one country songs and earning induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. But this musical autobiography is not about personal achievement. Instead, it’s a reflective acknowledgement of…
Todd Rundgren’s show at the Ryman in Nashville 2024
Todd Rundgren’s show at the Ryman was impressive and challenging in equal measure. It’s the rare artist who chooses to do an entire set of deep cuts largely drawn from his least successful albums, completely forgoing the reliable crowd-pleasers. Not until the encore and a 5-minute medley combining “I Saw the Light,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” and “Hello…
8 decades on, Bruce Cockburn spans past, present
By Paul T. Mueller – Showcasing most of the songs on one’s latest release while also providing a career retrospective spanning decades is quite an achievement for pretty much any performer. Doing so less than a month before one’s 79th birthday, as Bruce Cockburn did at Houston’s Heights Theater on May 3, falls somewhere between impressive and phenomenal. With his…
Buddy Mondlock’s rich and bright “Filament”
By Ken Paulson Buddy Mondlock is part of a rich singer-songwriter tradition. His songs – like those of Nanci Griffith, Steve Goodman and Guy Clark – tell stories and create characters in a truly compelling and realistic way. By the end of a Buddy Mondlock album, you feel as though you’ve met a half-dozen new people. Filmanent, produced by Brad…
Hayes Carll holiday-flavored set makes for a great time
By Paul T. Mueller Singer-songwriter and Texas native Hayes Carll launched his Grateful for Christmas Tour with a couple of sold-out shows at Houston’s Heights Theater. The second, on Dec. 2, was a great time for all concerned. Carll, in fine voice and fine humor, performed only a couple of actual holiday songs (his own “Grateful for Christmas” and Buck…
Thirty years on, Ellis Paul’s songs and stories delight audiences
By Ken Paulson – Singer-songwriters are plentiful these days. Have a guitar, smartphone and social media account? Suddenly you’re giving concerts. There was a time, though, when anyone stepping on stage at a coffeehouse had to truly engage an audience with songs, stories and a sense of humor. If you wanted to work, you had to entertain. Ellis Paul is…
Perfect pairing: James McMurtry and BettySoo in concert
It might sound like an unlikely pairing for a singer-songwriter show – a famously curmudgeonly Anglo man in his early 60s and a Korean-American woman in her mid-40s.
A brilliant showcase from Lori McKenna and Brandy Clark
By Paul T. Mueller – There’s a belief in some quarters that everything coming out of Nashville these days is formulaic dross, but Lori McKenna and Brandy Clark put that idea to rest in their Sept. 28 co-headlining appearance at Houston’s Heights Theater. The 90-minute show, the first on an 11-date tour, amounted to a two-person guitar pull that drew…
Kent Blazy Meets the Beatles
By Ken Paulson – It’s always a joy when an artist and songwriter is an unabashed music fan like the rest of us. That’s certainly the case with Kent Blazy, whose new album From The Beatles to the Bluebird, is fueled by a love of John, Paul, George and Ringo. Blazy, a 2020 inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of…
Time Traveler: Jason Wilber’s engaging musical journey
By Ken Paulson — Jason Wilber was among friends and family as he took the stage in Fort Myers, Florida on June 24. There was his wife Michelle in the second row. Sitting next to her was Jason’s father. On the left side of the room were friends from Bloomington, Indiana. And pretty much everywhere there were fans who loved…
Gretchen Peters’ graceful exit from touring
By Paul T. Mueller — Gretchen Peters, wrapping up a long touring career, gave her fans in Houston a fine show to remember her by. The prolific singer-songwriter and her husband and musical partner, Barry Walsh, performed for a nearly full house at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on June 22, the final show in the church’s Coffee House Live spring…
Michelle Malone spans decades in Houston show
By Paul T. Mueller – Georgia-based singer-songwriter Michelle Malone brought decades’ worth of songs and showmanship to her May 13 show in Houston. The show at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, featuring Malone on acoustic guitars and Doug Kees on electric, included a career-spanning 14 songs. All were fueled by Malone’s powerful vocals, ranging from a delicate croon to an all-out roar.…
Mastersons’ folk with a rock ‘n’ roll heart
By Paul T. Mueller The Mastersons – guitarist/singer Chris Masterson and multi-instrumentalist/singer Eleanor Whitmore – finished up their current tour March 12 with a matinee show at the Old Quarter Acoustic Café in Galveston, Texas. The duo, longtime – and now former – members of Steve Earle’s band, The Dukes, got rhythmic support from Eleanor’s sister Bonnie on bass and…
Cayamo 2023 soars with diverse sounds
By Paul T. Mueller – Like any established music festival, Cayamo – the festival-at-sea that just wrapped up its 15th edition – faces the challenge of attracting new attendees while keeping returning guests interested. Sixthman, the Norwegian Cruise Line subsidiary that produces Cayamo, was up to the task this year, putting together a lineup that combined well-known veterans of the…
Review: RB Morris in rare concert in Nacogdoches
By Paul T. Mueller – RB Morris, a singer-songwriter, poet and playwright based in Knoxville, doesn’t tend to venture too far west from his Tennessee base. So it was something of a rare treat for his Texas fans when Morris played a Jan. 21 show at Live Oak Listening Room, a former church turned intimate concert venue in the East…
Remembering Townes: 26th annual “wake”
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…