Hey now! Hope this finds you and yours well and happy

I’ve been busy the last couple weeks working on records by Chicago Farmer and Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis.  In short these sessions were really great: great people, great songs, great musicians, great vibes.  Or as my good buddy Freedog likes to say, “awesome shit with awesome people”.

Last month I was very fortunate to again be part of the house band for the annual Texas Songwriter Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the beautiful Paramount Theater in Austin. This was the third year I’ve been asked to do it and it is truly a great honor to share the stage with so many legends of Texas music. This year’s inductees were Steve Earle, Billy Gibbons, Bob McDill, and Christopher Cross. The lifetime achievement award went to Bobby Nelson, Willie’s older sister and piano player for nearly five decades (Side note: she is the most stunning 88 year old woman I have ever seen…she looks absolutely fantastic! She was very sweet to take time to visit with me during soundcheck and after the show). The evening was full of highlights. Playing the piano-heavy ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes” with Lee Ann Womack…man, hearing her voice in the Paramount is a religious experience. Ripping through a three-song set with Steve Earle that included classic tunes like “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road”. Ronnie Dunn (from Brooks and Dunn, already inducted several years back) emceed the event and treated the audience to a couple of his hits, one in particular “Neon Moon” is a pretty iconic tune and it really brought the house down. Working with Rodney Crowell (who was there to perform a beautiful song of Bob McDill’s) is always a huge honor. He is one of the coolest cats, just a badass, and my wife and I are huge fans of his records. Probably the biggest highlight of the evening though came at the very end as I was starting to load out…who else strolls backstage but Willie Nelson! No entourage, hands in his pockets, totally affable. He was very gracious in greeting the band and crew who were there breaking down. I said hello and got to chat for a minute. He was there to see his sister get recognized and sat in the third row for the entire show. What a cool dude.

In other news, the ascent of the Black Pumas is nigh. They just released a much anticipated second single and announced the release of their debut album on ATO records. They also cleaned up at the Austin Music Awards a few weeks ago, winning Best New Band and finishing as the runner up in the Best Band category. The future is looking very bright for these dudes and it was awesome to play on their record. Check out the new single here.

Some BOH news: we were recently featured on eTown, a weekly radio show/podcast that has been running since 1991. It is nationally syndicated by over 300 radio stations. We performed in front of a sold out crowd at their venue (a beautifully restored church in downtown Boulder). The program was started and is still hosted by the wonderful Nick and Helen Forster. Nick is also an ace musician—he founded Hot Rize bluegrass band in 1975 and really shreds on guitar, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel…you name it. It was a treat getting to play with him at the end of the program. He also really impressed me with his thoughtful and succinct questions during the interview portion of the evening. What a cool dude. For those interested, here is a link to the show.

Take it easy y’all

TN

“What comes from the heart, reaches the heart.” -Melvin Seals