Review of Kyle Turley’s Bass Player’s Hair

March 17th, 2010

Perfect hair is an unattainable goal for many Americans. Forget about genetics for a moment, and just think about the wide varying humidity and barometric pressure that we can experience here in the United States. It can wreak havoc on even the most ideal head of God given locks. And then all those hair products, [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Heading to South by Southwest

March 16th, 2010

It will probably be easier to name of the bands and artists that WON’T be at South by Southwest in Austin, TX this week than to even begin trying to make a list of the ones I’m hoping to see. In fact I’m learning before I even get there that the most maddening thing about [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Review - Johnny Cash Bash 2010

March 1st, 2010

With all the hubbub last week with new releases and news, I had little time to talk about Big John Cash, who had a birthday, and a posthumous release of American VI: Ain’t No Grave. But when Friday came, I got to leave the laptop behind, and head down to Austin to focus on The [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Free Song and Full Concert from Justin Townes Earle

February 8th, 2010

A couple of free goodies just because available from one of my favorite emerging artists, Justin Townes Earle. The first is a free download of an acoustic version of the title track from Midnight at the Movies (which I just discovered you can buy on limited edition vinyl HERE). It is just him an his [...]

Filled Under: News

Ray Wylie Hubbard Live @ Waterloo Records

January 29th, 2010

Fortune would find that on my way down to Mexico, I was in Austin, TX the same day that Ray Wylie Hubbard’s new CD A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C), was being released, and he was making a short, low-fi appearance at the famed Waterloo Records. So I grabbed savingcountrymusic.com’s most [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Live Review - Dale Watson @ The Continental Club

January 14th, 2010

If you want to see Jerry Jeff Walker, the best place to see him is at Luckenbach, TX. If you want to see BR549, you should see them at Robert’s Western World in Nashville. A Dwight Yoakam concert is probably a good bet anywhere, but if you ever get the chance, Bakersfield, CA is [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Saving Country Music is Moving to Texas

January 2nd, 2010

Well, at least for the Winter . . . or at least part of the Winter. But maybe for longer. Actually I really have no idea what the hell is going on.

I try to talk as little about myself around here as I can, because it is about the music, not about me. But since [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Austin City Limits - 35 Years - Willie Nelson

October 17th, 2009

It was 35 years ago today, or tonight, that Austin City Limits, inspired by Jan Reid’s book The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock and the exploding Outlaw country music scene in Austin, aired their first episode. And who better to book for the first show than the Improbable Willie Nelson.

It was 1974; two years before [...]

Filled Under: Outlaw History

Wayne Hancock Breaks Camp w/ Matt Thomas

August 31st, 2009

Wayne “The Train” Hancock has announced that he has a new lead guitar player, and his name is Matt Thomas. Matt replaces James Hunnicutt who toured with Wayne for a stint, and will be playing with the Hard Money Saints on the West Coast in September.

Matt Thomas is from Austin, and the word from the [...]

Filled Under: News

Forgotten Outlaw - Willis Alan Ramsey

August 24th, 2009

Back in the mid 70’s-the first time country music was saved- The Outlaws of country like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings found a home and harbor from Nashville’s ill ways in the Austin, TX singer-songwriter scene. People like Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphy, Townes Van Zandt, and Ray Wylie Hubbard had made Austin a [...]

Filled Under: Outlaw History

Live from Luckenbach, TX

July 19th, 2009

This blog is coming to you LIVE from none other than Luckenbach, TEXAS! Beer is flowing, brats are cooking, and this place was about everything I was expecting and more. Real deal Texas!

The first part of the Luckenback experience is actually finding Luckenbach. There’s only ten or so permanent residents here, and it is out [...]

Filled Under: Random Notes

Vintage Album Review - Geronimo’s Cadillac

July 3rd, 2009

Before Willie Nelson moved down to Austin, TX to ignite the Outlaw country movement in earnest, there were two guys in the early 70’s, each with three names, that had made the Austin music scene something worth moving to: Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphey. Sure there were a lot of other great acts [...]

Filled Under: Reviews

Hank III Heads East w/ Lucky Tubb

March 28th, 2009

According to Hank3.com, III is going to be hitting the road on an east coast leg sometime around mid-June, and opening will be the greatness of Lucky Tubb. According to Lucky’s MyWaste the tour is going to start on June 16th in Kentucky, but I’d caution on believing any dates until they are posted [...]

Filled Under: News

Hank Williams III On The Road

February 19th, 2009

Well Hank III is finally on the road again- you can check tour dates HERE. According to the reviews coming in the band sounds great!

houstonpress.com has a 25 picture slideshow of his show at the Meridian on Tue 2/17 that you can view HERE. Here’s a couple gooduns:

“Read savingcountrymusic.com or I’ll come out there and [...]

Filled Under: News

The Obligatory Christmas Blog

December 24th, 2008

Well.
My plan for the Holidays was to be back home in Texas, but after foul weather and flight cancellations, it looks like I’ll be celebrating the birth of baby Jeebus in the not-so-festive Free Hank III hideout, and hoping the sweet and sour pork in the steam plate at the China Panda is fresh.
Fa [...]

Filled Under: Free Hank III, News, Random Notes

Kinky Friedman Interview on Big ’G’s Roadshow!

September 19th, 2008

If you don’t know who Kinky Friedman is, then holy shit. Aside from being a writer, columnist, humorist, governor of Texas candidate, this dude was one of the ORIGINAL country artists down in Austin, TX with Ray Wylie Hubbard, Michael Murphy, Jerry Jeff Walker, and the others, when Austin music and The [...]

Filled Under: News, Outlaw History, Podcasting/Radio

Hank III & Texas

August 6th, 2008

First:
–The good news came down yesterday that Restless in Amsterdam finally has had her number cruncher rescued from spybot virus hell, and is now back on the warpath for the Hank & Hank movements. Great news for us, bad news for the Nashville mob bosses.
–The release of the Hank III Collector’s Tin [...]

Filled Under: Free Hank III

Podcasting & Hellraising (some reviews & light reading)

May 15th, 2008

If you have found your way to this dark corner of the internet, then you probably hate how homogenized radio has become. And if you were asked what you would like to hear on the radio, you would probably say you wanted to hear the great old stuff from Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash, [...]

Filled Under: Outlaw History, Podcasting/Radio, Reviews

Nashville vs. Austin vs. Bakersfield CA (The Hank Williams Influence)

April 15th, 2008

“After World War II, country music grew into a big business, and exciting new stars such as Lefty Frizzell and Kitty Wells burst forth. But the artist who made the most dramatic impact was the great Hank Williams.”
–Nolan Porterfield, Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
If you have made it to this dark corner of the [...]

Filled Under: Causes, Outlaw History