By Kathleen Hudson
I had two great nights of music in the Texas Hill Country, back to back. I first attended the Hill Top House Concert Series (Paula and Marty Reynolds) with featured guest Bonnie Bishop. I had heard Bonne first at the White Elephant in Ft. Worth, later at the Inn Pub in Kerrville, hosting a Monday night songwriters showcase. The house concert was the perfect venue to hear the amazing progress this stunning young woman has made. She controls her voice, delivering songs that both tell a story and get you moving.
The next day, Sunday, I stopped by Luckenbach, Texas, to join The Texana Dames in an anniversary celebration. This family, once from Lubbock, have been playing music in some form for over 50 years. Connie on keyboard smiling at her two daughers, Conni and Traci, are a mainstay in the Austin music scene. And Tommy Hancock, a gypsy dance man, has been in and out of the band for years, depending on where the wind was blowing him. I did have a dance with him on that wooden Luckenbach floor.
I met two brothers that Sunday afternoon as well. My book on women in Texas music comes out in September with UT Press/Austin, and the interviews with these women tell many a story. I once traveled to Frutigen, Switzerland, with them to a songwriting festival produced by Aschi Maurer. I then followed them around Europe for ten days, documenting their tales and trails. What fun! My biggest thrill was to be called an honorary “Dame.” Each member of the family speaks highly of the others, and the Texana Dames, once the Supernatual Family Band, play all genres of music, including a wonderful album by Traci sung in Spanish. Yes, she plays a mean accordion.
I headed out to San Marcos on April 24 to the annual showcase of Texas songwriters. This eclectic evening, emceed by non other than Freda herself…Marcia Ball, was a gem in my musician crown for 2007! She reminded us, “Music teaches, inspires and motivates.” Celebrating a five-year anniversary, the Center for Texas Music History has a list of successful projects that help preserve all aspects of Texas music. My own Texas Heritage Music Foundation is celebrating a 20-year anniversary, and Gary Hartman, director for the Center, acknowledged that from the stage. I look forward to collaborating on more projects with the Center one day. We have a similar mission.
Other highlights include Ruben Ramos singing, with Oscar Garcia Manual playing a lively accordion lead, while I danced some salsa in the corner; Barbara Lynn singing “If You Should Lose Me, You’ll Lose A Good Thing,” a song I mentally dedicated to a man I know! Randy Rogers, playing “Lost And Found,” showing us why the room was packed with college students; Brady Black, a real fiddler on the roof; Collin Brooks playing some slide on a tough song with words, “Blood on the water, blood on my hands….blood in the water, and it ain’t the blood of the lamb. His band, Band of Heathens, won best new band at the recent Austin Music Awards. Everyone on stage was tapping a foot or nodding a head to the haunting rhythm of this dark and dire melody. I was moved by Ruben Ramos playing “One Day At A Time,” by the late Texas schoolteacher, Marijon Wilkins, and singing it in Spanish! “Un Dia de un vez.”
Yes, I had planned on staying home in April, and I still went out! May takes me to San Miguel de Allende for two weeks, then, upon returning, an 18-day run with the Kerrville Folk Festival. Patrice Pike, a woman who ran off with all the Austin Music Awards this year, is one of the featured performers. I’m sure she is going to be my next hero. Her skin decoration inspires the gypsy in my soul. www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com My suggestion is to go as often as you can, whether or not you know the performers. Count on everything to be heartwarming and excellent!
June 2 is a new workshop with PIP at Schreiner University. Laurie Roberts, the daughter of the woman who wrote down this oral history of the Iroquois, will be leading this experiential workshop on change and transformation with a focus on families. See both the Schreiner website and www.learningpeople.org for more information. Or call me at 792-1945. The THMF number. Since my own mission statement is that stories and songs make a difference in the world, I also work as vice-president of this non-profit dedicated to the possibilities of the Native American learning story.
Hal Robinson, a friend and teacher, has started the Dancing Bear Teaching Lodge. See www.dancingbearteachinglodge.com for more information on this Hill Country treasure. He is one of the participants in the THMF in-school programming, funded by a generous grant from the Peterson Foundation in Kerrville, a grant to send musicians into the Hill Country school based on the power of stories and songs to transform lives! See www.texasheritagemusic.org for more information or to apply for programming.
I have a stack of new music and new performers to share with you….next month. Ils sont partis and happy trails. KH
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Schreiner University
