Archive 2010
You can always dance 12/29/2010
Psssst. If you haven’t made your New Year’s resolutions yet, here is something fun and healthy to do, and the best bargain in town.
Have a Happy Hippo Christmas 12/22/2010
Just as “fruitcake” is an affront to both fruit and cake, “Christmas music” often insults both the season and the sound.
On His Own 12/15/2010
Richy Rhyne was tuning a piano when he had an epiphany about his original songs. “I realized that no one else is gonna sing ‘em, so I might as well go out and do it myself.
Playing Musick 12/8/2010
Kent Musick is torn twixt two musical worlds.
Texas Music takes Iowa 12/1/2010
You know Texas country music is popular when you hear it played in a hand-built cabin on a freezing moonless night in Iowa.
The Deuce's Dueling Duo 11/24/2010
JD Rose signed off and grinned at his co-host, Calamity Jane - better known as CJ - who scowled back.
Tradition & Treachery: Part II 11/17/2010
So what happened when Lisa Bohnert’s choreography met Mark Hierholzer’s music?
Tradition & Treachery: Part I 11/10/2010
Something very special is about to take place behind the wardrobe, in a land of weird and wonderful creatures, where children enter the battle between good and evil.
Pulling Strings 11/03/2010
Theresa Britt was teaching a violin lesson to a student who also happened to be a dancer. She took the bow and showed how the ballet terms plié and jeté would apply to the fingers on the bowstick. She giggled. “It’s finger dancing!”
It goes something like this... 10/27/2010
I hate cliches.
Homegrown worldwide 10/20/10
Fredericksburg native Erin Frantzen remembers those postcards titled “The Night Life in Fredericksburg.” It was just a black postcard.
Digital or Analog? 10/13/2010
Are you digital or analog?
Learning Music Rules 10/6/2010
Did your music teacher ever rap your knuckles with a ruler to teach you proper form? Hill country resident Cathy Learoyd has invented a ruler that will help you learn music, but it is made out of paper and won’t leave a scar.
People love bagels 9/29/2010
What!? Y’all don’t recognize that Elvis hit song? Oh, right. Some people insist the lyrics really are Viva Las Vegas. Welcome to the world of misheard lyrics.
The Moonlites: Music That Still Glows 9/22/2010
You may not be a teenager; you may not be in love; but chances are you recognize those lyrics and are still moved by the classic doo-wop sound of the 1950s and ‘60s.
Barry Whitfill: On a Musical Odyssey 9/15/2010
At the age when many finally find time to sit back and listen to the music, Barry Whitfill decided it was time to record his first CD.
Hardship and Hope: The Diary of Anne Frank 9/8/2010
Why should you see The Diary of Anne Frank? Julie Voorhees has an answer: “To be charged with never being a bystander.”
Das Ist Alles 9/1/2010
Fredericksburg has another traditional German festival most folks don’t know about. It’s called Das Ist Alles and happens this Sunday at Bankersmith, Texas.
Showdown at the Showdown 8/25/2010
The audience at the Colgate Country Music Showdown this Thursday will witness lots of stress, anxiety, fretting, and downright terror during the popular amateur talent contest. And most of it will happen at the judges table.
Back to cowboy days 8/18/2010
Little brother Gerald is “a little A.D.D.” Brother Ray gets the big head that keeps him from pulling on his Stetson. And big brother Wesley is accused of not having enough horse sense to saddle up and ride. Together, they are The English Brothers.
Big names on a small stage 8/11/2010
Hill Country residents yearning to relive small-town Texas good times can find them right up the road in Mason at the Odeon Theater. There every Friday through Monday you can watch a recently released movie for $4. Throw in a bag of popcorn and a tall Coke and you’ll still get enough change from your ten-dollar bill to buy a gallon of gas.
Rats in the Rafters (and other hillbilly hits) 8/4/2010
I tried not to write about weird song titles again, but that magazine was just lying there, teasing me with its promise of 25 dulcimer tunes.
Walt Perryman: Riding his words 7/28/2010
Though he grew up in West Texas, worked on a ranch, wears a cowboy hat, and speaks with a drawl, don’t call Walt Perryman a cowboy poet.
Flamenco 7/21/2010
Most American teenage guitar players want to grow up to be rock stars. Randy Cordero wanted to play flamenco.
Pat Friday 7/14/2010
She is where movie star Lynn Bari found her voice and how the star of TV's Dragnet got his name. She is Fredericksburg resident Pat Friday, a delightful wisp of a woman who at the age of 15 hobnobbed with stars of film, stage and radio.
Musician discovers new note 7/7/2010
A professor at MIT has announced startling news. Researchers at the prestigious school have confirmed the discovery of a new musical note.
Dances with ancestors 6/30/2010
While growing up in South Dakota, TaCha Eagle Horse endured a lot of teasing. He is Lakota, and his classmates made fun of his long hair, braided with a red cloth, and his Native ways.
What's in your iPod? 6/23/2010
There’s a game people play called “What’s on your iPod.” You simply reveal what bands and tunes you are listening to on your portable music players.
Denny Hardy: Still blowin' 6/16/2010
Denny Hardy played saxophone in Tex Beneke’s band, jammed with Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, battled head to head with Boots Randolph, and recorded a hit record with David Lee Roth. Not bad for a farm boy from Missouri who honed his licks in an outhouse.
Katherine Dawn & the Texas Ladybugs 6/9/2010
She got her artistic roots from the Texas Hill Country; her stage experience from her neighbor; her musical influence from Delbert McClinton, Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson, and Leon Russell. But the name for her all-girl band came from country music legend Big Bill Lister.
TJ Smith 6/2/2010
When he was a lad, TJ Smith wanted to be a Beatle. But his older brother got first pick. “My brother always got to be Paul, so I was George or John.” These days he can be any Beatle he wants to be.
From the alley to the porch 5/26/2010
Driving back from WalMart on Friendship Lane one Sunday morning, I noticed a young man and woman walking down that long sidewalk, singing and playing guitar.
If it's too loud, you're too old 5/19/2010
If being in a fog-shrouded 7800-square-foot metal building with 200 teenagers dancing to foundation-pounding hip hop music under pulsing laser lights does not seem like the ideal way to spend a Friday evening, then chances are you are over 25. Dwayne and Ellen Fowler are hoping it sounds like heaven for hill country teenagers.
Neon Addiction 5/12/2010
You just can’t ignore them - the colorful neon signs glistening at the corner of Grapetown Road and US 290 West of Fredericksburg. The vibrant display looks like a tavern turned inside out. More than 100 designs glow with snappy, happy, and sometimes saucy messages.
Savoring Memories 5/5/2010
When families and friends get together, they always seem to gather in the kitchen - even when that kitchen happens to be the back of a wagon rolling across the prairie.
Resurrection Concerts 4/28/2010
You could say the concerts at Resurrection Lutheran Church are the ultimate in house concerts - after all, they are held in the House of the Lord.
Hollywood goes Hill Country 4/21/2010
The glamour and glitz of Hollywood are coming to the Hill Country (Hillywood?) next week for the first ever Hill Country Film Festival.
All Hat 4/14/2010
Luckenbach is going to be home to a whole passel of hat-wearing, ten gallon-tossing Texans and tourists this Saturday as the tiny town with the big reputation hosts the Texas Hat Festival 2010.
Burger dreams 4/7/2010
Who knew the lowly “hamburger” could elevate a restaurant to cult status, causing burgermeisters to literally beat a path to your door? Especially when you have “done everything wrong?”
Get Beeped 4/1/2010
Are you noticing how our appliances are nagging us more lately? Like an animatronic piano teacher, everything from our microwave to our car is beeping, ringing, and buzzing - reminding us to sit up straight, fasten our seatbelts, and rotate our pizzas.
Soweto Choir comes to town 3/24/2010
Thanks to a quirk of scheduling, instead of traveling to the heart of Africa to listen to a Grammy Award winning gospel group, you can just stroll down the street around the corner.
The Verniers: A family of music 3/17/2010
Searching for a fiddle duo or a piano trio for a wedding or funeral? Need a classical string quartet to add ambience? How about a country band at your next barbecue? Or, for something different, a Celtic Ceili? Call the Verniers.
Music & Food at the Crossroads 3/10/2010
Fredericksburg’s newest club rises at the intersection of music and food, comfort and opulence, a wine cellar and a sports bar.
Sounds & Silence 3/3/2010
Bob Bailey’s sound effects business has taken him from a hillside in a thunderstorm to a closed room with friends sitting around a pot of beans.
Vic & Sade: The original show about "nothing" 2/24/2010
Decades before Seinfeld there was another “show about nothing.” I can’t believe I had never heard nor heard of this radio show.
Thrust onto the stage 2/17/2010
I wanted to be in the Fredericksburg Theater Company’s production of Man of La Mancha. I really did. I just couldn’t. But I was, anyway. Sort of. And you can be, too.
If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me (and other love songs) 2/10/2010
It’s Valentine’s Day! That time of year when you are either depressed because you have no special someone, or stressed because you do.
The Art of the Corn 2/3/2010
With Super Bowl weekend looming, I thought I would plunge into the lore of party snacks and discuss the art of popping corn.
Face in the Guitar 1/27/2010
You’ve heard of Jesus in a tortilla, and a crucifix in a baked potato. If you hurry to Hill Country Music store, you will see a demon in a guitar.
Magnolia Thunder Blossom 1/20/2010
Magnolia Thunder Blossom was just destined to be part of Luckenbach.
Psalom 1/13/2010
For 500 years, the hymns of Martin Luther have been good enough for worship services in western religions. How many of us grew up singing A Mighty Fortress?
High Valley 1/6/2010
You really should make an effort to go hear the band High Valley at the Rockbox Theater this weekend. After all, they traveled 2,852 miles to get here.
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