Hello from Our Hometown
Big fun in our hometown over the weekend: we went to the annual Art Car parade, which I’ve attended with my son for who knows how many years. Just the other day the New York Times did a story where they spent 36 hours in our hometown, and needless to say they missed a lot of the good stuff. How can you spend any time in our hometown and not mention the music?
Our little town is an American cradle of blues, country, folk, jazz and hip-hop, all seasoned by our neighbors to the south (Mexico), the east (Louisiana) and the west (Austin). You can look up some of the cool musicians who have called our little town home, and the many more who recorded their hits here. Of course the NY Times mentioned an art museum, some swanky restaurants and hotels and – naturally – a gay bar.
Screw the New York Times. We still run that damn space program from here, and there’s still no better place to get your damn heart fixed. And did I mention we have a lot of great music here: guess who was here over the weekend? Elwood Blues. Ha ha ha ha!
MP3: “Telephone Road” by Rodney Crowell
MP3: “Struggle Here In Houston” by Lowell Fulsom
MP3: “Orphan Of The Storm” by Mudcrutch
MP3: “Fannin Street” (live) by Tom Waits
MP3: “Houston Is Hot Tonight” by Iggy Pop
MP3: “Seeds” (live) by Bruce Springsteen
MP3: “Houston” by the Deadstring Brothers
MP3: “Houston, TX” by Deer Tick
MP3: “Houston” by Bun B, Slim Thug, Mike Jones, Paul Wall & Chamillionaire
MP3: “If You Ever Go To Houston” by Bob Dylan
MP3: “Home To Houston” (live) by Steve Earle
MP3: “Heaven, Hell or Houston” by ZZ Top
The Houston Press‘ take on the New York Times article. Nice photo!
30 Days Out 
May 9, 2010 at 11:33 am
Here, have another! From Graham Parker’s old backing band.
[audio src="http://www.filefactory.com/file/b19522e/n/The_Rumour_17_Houston.mp3" /]
May 9, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Thanks! Forgot about that one!
May 9, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Steve Earle also has a good song about Telephone Road:
http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684663716245506
There’s also a Doug Sahm song or cover where he sings about Houston, but the name escapes me.
May 9, 2010 at 6:09 pm
The Doug Sahm song is called “Houston Chicks,” from his Groover’s Paradise album.
May 10, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Yeah I thought about including that Steve Earle “Telephone Road” but opted for the rare live version of “Home to Houston,” which was recorded for Austin’s KGSR radio back in 2005.