by Phil Houseal | Apr 19, 2017 | All Articles, Events, Music
April 19, 2017–Just out of high school, a group of my buddies and I were so anxious to see Crystal Gayle in person that we got a speeding ticket driving to her concert. The year was 1975 and Gayle, with her trademark long, dark hair, had just released her first album...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 13, 2017 | All Articles, Events, People of the Hill Country
April 12, 2017–While the world bubbles over with international conflict, one Hill Country enterprise is quietly working diplomacy using currency that is truly bubbly–beer. “We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary with a new beer–Pedernales/Albur Chico Temido–the...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 30, 2017 | All Articles, Events, Music, People of the Hill Country
Mar 29, 2017–She’ll be singing Gedenken-vergessen, a lieder composed by Frank Valentine Van der Stucken in 1892. But truth be told, mezzo-soprano September van der Stoel would feel just as comfortable singing jazz. “Jazz is my first love. I absolutely love...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 22, 2017 | All Articles, Events, Music, Venue
Mar 22, 2017–Cause that’s what makes her happy. That is the top reason Sloan Ruth gives for creating The Backyard behind Fritztown Cinema. The new outdoor music venue will open April 7 with its first of many regular concerts. “I’m not musical, though I took piano for...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 16, 2017 | All Articles, Events, Music, Venue
Mar 15, 2017–Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson calls them the “Carnegie Halls of western swing.” But if you are old enough to have waltzed across Texas, you know them as dance halls. When I wrote about these two-stepping temples in 2013, Stephen Dean of Texas Dancehall...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 25, 2017 | Education, Events, People of the Hill Country
Jan 25, 2017–Not to alarm readers, but the Hill Country is being invaded by marauding hordes, intent upon establishing a sovereign country ruled by medieval laws and customs. And food and fun. The invaders march under the flag of the Kerrville Renaissance Festival, a...
