by Phil Houseal | Dec 13, 2018 | All Articles, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Dec 13, 2018 “Go outside and get the stink blown off of you.” This is the greatest piece of advice I’ve ever gotten. And it came from my mom. There is a rich vein of ore to be mined in this one simple sentence. At the basic level it means “get out from underfoot.” Mom...
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...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 10, 2018 | All Articles, History, People of the Hill Country, Venue
Oct 10, 2018–G-g-g-g-g-ghosts? In Fredericksburg? Afraid so. “Every building on Main Street has a ghost story,” said Derek Spence, head wraith wrangler for his new endeavor, Fredericksburg Ghost Tours. “The hardest part has been narrowing the scope to keep the...
by Phil Houseal | Jul 19, 2018 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country
SPECIAL: PRE-LAUNCH BOOK REVIEW July 18, 2018–Like many who grew up in the 1960s, I was a NASA nut. I followed every launch, and have vivid memories of the Mercury flights, the Gemini rendezvous, the Apollo moon landings, and the shuttle saga. I memorized the names of...
