by Phil Houseal | Jan 10, 2019 | All Articles, Events, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
January 9, 2019– What would you be doing if you didn’t have to make a living? For Linda Morgan, the answer is easy. “Whether anyone was listening or not, I would be singing in a field looking at what God created. I would be singing for that connection.” Fortunately,...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 28, 2018 | All Articles, Events, People of the Hill Country
Dec 26, 2018–I have a theory that life is a yearning for mobility. It begins in infancy, when we first swivel our heads, opening up our world 180 degrees. Then on to crawling, walking, and running. Finally, emulating humankind, we discover the wheel. It might...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 5, 2018 | All Articles, Events, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Dec 5, 2018–When I mentioned I was going to interview Ranger Doug of Riders In The Sky, everyone claimed to be a personal friend. So that’s the first question I asked him. Ranger Doug chuckled. “When we meet fans, someone will say, ‘We saw you in 1982,’” he...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 21, 2018 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, Philosophy, Venue
“America is the most Christmas-loving country in the history of the world.” An audacious statement by Michael Martin Murphey, but one he can back up. After all, he’s been performing his Cowboy Christmas Show for 25 years, and the singer/songwriter is bringing it to...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 7, 2018 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Nov 7, 2018–My first exposure to “fine art” growing up was the work of Charlie Russell. My dad, who raised horses, loved the way Russell rendered them in his paintings, as well as the unadorned representation of the life of the cowboy that ironically emphasized the...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 31, 2018 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Nov 1, 2018–Confession: When I first played in a Texas dance hall, I didn’t get it. Everyone ignored the band. I was used to being on stage in clubs and bars where the band was the show; the dancing was incidental. This was the opposite. Ray Benson, founder of the...