October 2006
In September we lost a great friend and talent, an original, Don Walser. I was fortunate to have gigged and recorded with Don and his Pure Texas Band. Over the years we played places as diverse as the Grand Ole Opry, the Kennedy and Lincoln Centers,the Atlanta Olympics, and the Washington Monument on July 4th. Don brought us along for the ride when he was honored as a Heritage Fellow in 2000 by the National Endowment of the Arts. Don lit up any room he was in and illuminated a stage without need of any spotlight. We''ll never see another quite like him. Happy Trails.
July 2006
I recently played Billy Mata Day in Floresville, TX. Billy Mata is a great talent and friend. His band really swings, and we recorded his new CD, The Domino Effect, at BGM Studio with the master, Bill Green, at the board. Hope I'm back next year for BIlly Mata Day 2007. Coolest Man On The Planet, Del C. Pushert, who played with Elvis (serious), sat in. Barbara Martin, publisher of Western Swing Monthly, was on hand, to report the happenings. So, here's to the band- Rocco, Jim, Chaney, and Roger-- and Billy! Pick up a copy of The Domino Effect at your local record store.
June 2006
Every May I get to play a concert in San Marcos, Texas, with a lot of great Western Swing musicians. The show is sponsored by the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame. This year one of my heroes, Moon Mullican, was inducted. Moon was called king of the hillbilly piano players, but he was a lot more than that. He and Count Basie are absolutely the swingin'-est musicians I ever heard. There is a good write-up of the concert in the May 25 Wall Street Journal.
June 2005
At this time, our thoughts are with the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Many New Orleans musicians are in Austin. On Tuesday night, August 30, Marcia Ball, Johnny Nicholas, Riley Osbourn, Red Young and I played a Pianorama for Eldercare. We raffled off the old Armadillo World Headquarters piano. Irma Thomas was in town and sang. She would have raised the roof, but we were outdoors. Marcia sang Randy Newman's 'Louisiana.' Did anyone resemble that "little fat man with a notebook in his hand" lyric?
May's News
I was honored to play on Dale Watson's upcoming CD. It is another masterpiece from Dale. He is a great talent. Dale has one of those voices that people do a cross between a doubletake and a Linda Blair exorcist turnaround when they hear him for the first time. Put him up there with Lefty and Merle.
April's News
Lately I have had the opportunity to play on some great recording projects. Merle Haggard recently released a CD of standards, titled Unforgettable, produced by Freddy Powers. I played on most of the album and had a lot of freedom to play. The great ones always give musicians room to invent, i.e., enough rope to hang ourselves. Also, I was thrilled to play on an album by Floyd Tillman, called The Influence. Floyd Tillman was a huge star in the 40s and had a major impact on country music, and Willie Nelson in particular. I won't describe his songs, because I'd rather be a piano player than a music critic. The album was produced by Justin Trevino, the young Texas prodigy. The Merle Haggard and Floyd Tillman CDs are enough to make me feel pretty fortunate for the next ten years. Go out and buy them and if you don't like them, then we probably don't agree on anything else either. Also, I have recently recorded with Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, on a Christmas CD and I just like mentioning them in a sentence on the website, because they are writing, singing and performing talents, nice people, and they have a great family. Also, watch for Jaymee Graves, a young singer and writer that everyone should soon become fans of, and my friend Reid Wells's beautiful Hill Country instrumental, Tinkerbell's Waltz. And, of course, monster writers Michael Ballew and Steve Carter and their upcoming projects. And my pal Johnny Nicholas, who wears us all out with his talent and energy. This is all what just comes to mind right now! It's what makes it all so much fun.