Live: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Houston

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Texas has a boxcar full of “legendary” singer/songwriters, and folks in other parts of the country may have heard of some of them.  Ray Wylie Hubbard has been around for a while, he’s kind of an elder statesman of the Lone Star singer/songwriter contingent.  Saturday he offered a great little in-store performance at Houston’s Cactus Music and Video to showcase his latest album, A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C).

“The world’s worst album title,” he cracked, as he launched into “Drunken Poet’s Dream” from the new album.  The song, co-written with Houston singer/songwriter Hayes Carll, talks about a woman who likes “being naked and gazed upon,” before it flips down the list of writer’s “inspirations” that make for great literature (and shot livers).

Ray explained that he originally started making the album with Gurf Morlix, but Morlix had another commitment and told Hubbard to produce it himself.  Hubbard enlisted the help of Texas musician/producer George Reiff, and finished the album.   Just when Hubbard thought it was done, Reiff said “You know what this album needs?”  “Don’t tell me, it’s done, I don’t want to hear it,” Hubbard said.  “It needs a rock anthem.”

Bonus Song Of The Week: “Freeway View” by James McMurtry

Since we started our “Song Of The Week” feature on a Wednesday, we thought we’d offer a bonus – this is “Freeway View” from James McMurtry’s new live CD/DVD, Live In Europe, coming out October 9.

A document of his first tour through Europe earlier this year, both the vinyl LP and CD include a DVD with live footage.  McMurtry’s band features Texas guitarist Jon Dee Graham and former Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan … “Mac” burns a hole through the middle of the song on this clip!

Pre-order Live In Europe and get it autographed!

Welcome to Hurricane Season

 

The first day of June is the beginning of hurricane season, and once again most of us who live along the Texas Gulf Coast collectively say: “Who the hell cares?”

Oh, we realize this is serious business.  But it’s hard to take it too seriously, especially after the fiasco of Hurricane Rita in 2005.  The storm hit about 125 miles east of Houston but in the days leading up to landfall many residents of the nation’s fourth largest city jammed every highway out of town to create the biggest traffic jam and cluster fuck in this country’s history. 

Review: Roots Rockers

Don’t know if you are going to hit the road this summer, but if you do don’t forget to pack a radio.  That would be a cheap entertainment addition for any $4-a-gallon road trip and if you avoid Clear Channel-owned stations you might get lucky and hear some new stuff.  While exploring America, try and explore “Americana,” usually found on the left side of the FM radio dial. 

Review: Texas Music (Summer Edition)

Don’t know about you, but here in the Lone Star state the weather is telling us summer’s here.  Time to clean the pool, dust off the barbecue grill and pop a few tops (of Lone Star Beer, naturally).  We understand gasoline is 4 bucks a gallon so we won’t be too offended if you don’t visit over the Memorial Day weekend.  So here’s some freshly minted music from Texas, as a little holiday gift to you.