by Phil Houseal | Jan 5, 2014 | All Articles, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
by Phil Houseal
Jan 15, 2014 NOTE: Thanks to an invitation from Clifton Fifer, retired history teacher, and popular re-enactor, and Paula Reynolds, who is working on a book about Esther, I was able to spend an afternoon interviewing Esther Lehmann, 90-year-old niece...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 20, 2013 | All Articles, Education, History, Venue
Nov 20, 2013–Little Free Library is one of those ideas you wish you had thought of. The concept is simple: You set out a cute box full of books, and invite anyone to stop by and “take a book, return a book.” The execution, however, has turned into a national...
by Phil Houseal | Jul 31, 2013 | All Articles, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Venue
July 31, 2013–So the Pastor was doing a sermon on the life of Jesus, and he asked what was the biggest festival of year. One youngster raised his hand, and said, “The Schuetzenfest.” “This actually happened at our church way back,” said Charles Feller, Secretary of...
by Phil Houseal | Jul 3, 2013 | All Articles, Events, History, Music
July 3, 2013–When promoter Gene Wolf asked if I wanted to interview Larry Gatlin before his upcoming Hill Country show, I said yes. I had a question I’d been waiting 30 years to ask him. So when the phone rang and I heard, “Phil, this is Larry Gatlin. How are...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 12, 2013 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
June 12, 2013–All we wanted was to play classical music in a bar. We didn’t know we were part of a revolution. It started one cold, dark night back in February when our local string quartet–Theresa Britt, John Reeve, Tammy Widener, and I–stepped on stage at Hondo’s,...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 5, 2013 | All Articles, History, Music, Philosophy
June 5, 2013–Everyone should dance. I’m not in the habit of handing out advice to my children. First, I don’t have any advice. Second, if I did, they wouldn’t take it. I never did. But when my oldest son set off for college, I felt I should say something profound. So...
