by Phil Houseal | Jan 3, 2019 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy, PR Tips
Jan 2, 2019–My current reading throne book is called Poking a Dead Frog. Now what do you imagine that is about? I’ll wait. Ok, wrong. It’s subtitled “Conversations With Today’s Top Comedy Writers.” Author Mike Sacks conducted in-depth and freewheeling interviews with...
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 | 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 15, 2018 | All Articles, Education, Music, Philosophy
“No baby ever learns to talk from taking a class.” Mike Reiss, writer for The Simpsons 11/14/2018–We try too hard to “teach” rather than let people “learn.” While interviewing a renowned guitarist about how he was going to lead a string workshop, I was...
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...
