Del Castillo at The Live Oak Listening Room...

 I often find myself (yeah, you, self) mystified when excellent music that me (and many of my friends, yeah, you know who you are) hold in high esteem is not well known to the average Joes (yeah you know if you Joe) of the world. Last night the  Del Castillo Trio played the Live Oak Listening Room in Nacogdoches, Tx. and it was a fantastic show to a full venue.    

The Del Castillo full band played at Stephen F. Austin State University a bit over a year ago and that was my first time to see them. Last night was the first time to see the Trio format which the only difference from the big band might be a bit of electronic trickery on the guitars that adds delay, spacy ambiance and violin type sounds to blazing fast flamingo style fret work. 

In the course of audience interactions, which the band enjoyed because this is a cozy space and made fine gig encouragement on their end of the show they mentioned playing Europe, releasing music sung in Italian with musicians from that country and the age old joke of being "big in Japan." Del Castillo is an Austin, Tx based band and it seems that they stick to a circuit of clubs in Texas that I am very familiar with visiting, many of which are close enough I could attend a gig at and then drive home afterwards. Probably where that average Joe listener most likely may have encountered their music is in the movies of director Robert Rodriguez.

If you haven't been to the Live Oak Listening Room you should go. Last show they had was the Denton, Tx based polka band Brave Combo which is another band I think should be world famous along with Del Castillo and have their music blasting out of everybody's radio. The order of business the night of a concert is cook some good food to share at the pot luck which begins at 6pm. Get a comfy seat as these are civilized shows starting at 7 where you get to sit down unless you want to get up and dance and there's plenty of room for that. I might mention there is no admission ticket but you know how much a show costs so just drop your money in the tip jar or scan the handy venmo code to assist with operating expenses.

A great band, playing in your neighborhood is a treat. What if everyone went to see that? It would create some logistical problems for the venue but it might be the start of a transition from average Joe to something else and that's what's good for the world.  

         

        

Making That Internet Money...

One morning this week I woke up to this email. 

Since I made that first million with my band Drum and Tuba Christmas it looked like I was off and running to that second million. A closer examination revealed that it was not my personal facebook page making this money but another page, St. Patrick Catholic Church, Lufkin, Tx of which I one of the administrators that got this dough rolling in. I am the original administrator that created the page on Aug. 11, 2011 but for the past five years our pastor, Father Denzil Vithanage has been the main content creator. Father D loves to make photos and videos of events in the parish and lately has thrown in some of his drone footage and a bit of AI. Content creation can be tricky but I like what Father does and am in total agreement with his vision and more than happy to give him credit.

I'm not exactly sure how we make this money since the only thing we sell is sometimes after Mass groups set up with home made tacos and snow cones or enchilada plates to support various causes at the church. I guess those likes and video clicks add up and people view ads that their algorithm generates and that's a good thing for us.    

And though the money went into my bank account I am more than happy to dig in my pocket and place this extra, which looks like it will be a monthly occurrence in the collection plate. Maybe it will increase and grow bigger and better just like our parish has. 

I recall when the page first started how we stalled out with just a couple of hundred followers but now with over 3000, which is more than in attendance each Sunday I think the effort of posting current information has paid off. 

You can also check out our traditional web page. I maintain it and while probably not as entertaining and in the moment as facebook you can find out the time of services, how to register for things, links to the bulletin or how to contact people in charge of ministries. My personal philosophy as to the content here is what would a traveler or someone completely unfamiliar with our parish or possibly not a social media user need to see as that is how I use church web pages to find a parish near me when travelling. 

Just for the record most of our followers and site traffic come from Angelina county but Mexico is second place. Give us a click sometime or better yet just stop by. 

    

 

  

 

Cigar Box Guitars in Mississippi...

 I made this photo on the Crossroads Cultural Arts Center in Clarksdale, MS on our recent visit for the Jessie Mae Hemphill Festival. Lots of nice local art hanging around and those two cigar box guitars on top of the piano look like ones I might have made.

When people ask me about my music I often tell them, "well the most money I ever made in the music business was making and selling cigar box guitars." Some fun times, like in the photo of going to craft fair days, setting up and playing, talking to people and usually selling enough to make what probably figured up to be a couple of bucks an hour for all the time invested. 

Time moves on. My old red barn painted workshop in the backyard has begun to lean precariously. The arthritis in my hands hurts turning the small screwdrivers required to install box corners and electronics. When I stir up a bunch of sawdust cutting and sanding I start sneezing. All this has taken out some of the fun. 

Every now and then someone says, "Hey I have a good box, want it?" It's nice they remember what I was doing but I have a bunch of boxes, carefully stored in garbage bags where I think they remain in good condition that I should probably give to someone to make their art. Actually a couple of Christmas ago I got some candy in a nice tin and being that I always liked the ones I made from tin for the banjo type sound I bought some nicer than normal pickups and planned to make me one more super instrument but have never got past the planning stage. 

It was nice to see these instruments in Mississippi and it brought to mind a story a patient told me when I worked in nursing homes and would often entertain the residents with a cigar box show. This patient was 98 years old and from Pine Bluff, AK. When he saw my guitar he said when he was a boy in Arkansas everyone black, white, all people had one of these when they didn't have anything else.  

Cigar box guitar, the great equalizer. I'm glad to have played a part in the history and culture.       

 

Lady Trucker at The Jessie Mae Hemphill Festival...

 I don't think I should write about the Jessie Mae Hemphill Festival without talking about Lady Trucker. 

Apparently there is a core group involved in many of the little festivals that take place in and around Clarksdale and Lady Trucker is at the center of this. We met her the night before the festival at Red's in downtown Clarksdale when she was selling Red's t-shirts and offering a VIP festival pass of you bought one. I bought a shirt.  

Next afternoon we arrived at the festival and Lady Trucker was everywhere. She was directing the bands where to go and between bands she would sing a song. Here's Lady Trucker on the left and that's the late R.L. Boyce's daughter laying down the groove on tambourine. R. L. played drums for Jessie Mae before his debut album in 2013. One of Lady Trucker's helpers, Jankey is on guitar on the far right.   

Later that night Lady Trucker served me a bowl of spicy gumbo and fixed Cathy a pulled pork sandwich. When I say she did everything I'm not kidding. 

When we visited the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic earlier this summer there was some restrictions on photos. Only photos during the first two songs were allowed and no videos. Sometimes in the press area some performers had asked that only certain photographers have this prime viewing spot and there were people at the stage to enforce these rules. Because of this I asked Lady Trucker if it was ok to bring my 35mm camera in. She said, "this is tourism. You can do what you want."

At the end of the evening Jankey showed me the back of his guitar which was signed by many of the Mississippi greats. 

 

  

Brave Combo at The Live Oak Listening Room....

Well it's October and in the polka world that means going to a Brave Combo gig is a good way to spend an evening which is what we did last night at the Live Oak Listening room. The show was hosted by the Texas Folklife Salon Series, pot luck was on point, the band was great, John Lomax III opened with cowboy songs, the slide show projection added much to the atmosphere, I saw lots of friends and I met an internet friend.   

Brave Combo plays a mash up of polka, cumbia, salsa, jazz, rock and more. They have contributed music to films by David Byrne of Talking Heads fame, PBS shows and appeared on the Simpsons. I probably saw Brave Combo for the first time in the 1980s. I have made it a point to see them every time I could for the last decade or so as I feel like they are a national treasure.  

I met one of my internet friends in the band the tubist Carl Kleinsteuber. He's a famous guy playing with many ensembles. I guess we became facebook friends because it's easy to be such in the tuba universe but I also note that hailing from Denton, Tx as he does we have another friend in common, Jim Hardy, who I knew from the dorm at SFASU way back in the day and who taught at University of North Texas  in Denton which would be the connection between him and Mr. Kleinsteuber.  

The photos don't do the projection show justice. Pat Casey is the man behind the art form and it really added much to the show. I hope we see more of it at performances in the future.  

John Lomax III is the grandson of the great folklorist John Lomax who recorded obscure American folk music for the Library of Congress before the encroachment of modern life disappeared those cultures. He sang Acapella and you should catch his Lomax on Lomax show if you treasure folk music. Cathy sang along with all his songs as they were the tunes her mother sang to her when during her childhood and when she was learning guitar. You will know them also. 

Thanks again to the Live Oak for hosting a wonderful show. 

 

Lufkin High School Class of 1975 50th Reunion...

 This weekend I had a great time with my oldest friends, (some I went to kindergarten with) from the Lufkin High School Class of 1975 celebrating the 50th anniversary of our graduation. The weekend began Friday with a meet and greet at Crown Colony Country Club, a football game, (Panthers won) a lunch Saturday at Napoli's for the Panther Band Alumni and back to Crown Colony for dinner, dancing and a program to celebrate the the reunion of all these people that shared such a formative time of their lives. 

Here's a group photo Cathy took of the class of 75. Maybe when the official one is posted I'll get it uploaded here. 

The Panther Band Lunch Plan started out with several of us trying to pull together remembrances to be read at the dinner Saturday night and from there it blossomed into the question of do we want to get together separately from the main reunion plans which took about 15 minutes for everyone to decide "yes." That decision then turned into a group of about 20 people including spouses who all shared their memories and memorabilia of the band years to the sound of digitalized recordings of the music we played.

It was great to see all the classmates that came out of LHS in 75 and I remember them fondly but as my friend Jay commented, "Band was my safe space...support the arts in public schools." I felt so comfortable seeing these people again that I could have shared all the ups and downs that the graph of life has dealt us in these intervening years without any reservations.     

I miss the old Hoo-Hoo Band mural that was in the downtown square, and sure the high school memories are dear but I'm generally not a nostalgic type guy and I think this new mural was a great backdrop for a good looking group of people that I will always hold dear.  

This photo is actually the class of 73 but all the folks present yesterday would be in it. 

Good times, again! 

Here's an old photo from Peter Pan Kindergarten which was on Schuler St. in Lufkin, Texas and within walking distance of most of these kid's homes. I probably saw half a dozen of these people last night.  

In memory of the classmates who are no longer with us. 

It was a great time. Word on the street is don't plan anything for 2030 and we will do this again. 

 

      

     

KwannyKash...

One thing I really liked about the Jessie Mae Hemphill Festival we attended in Clarksdale, Mississippi was how accessible the performers were. If you didn't introduce yourself to them they usually came and introduced themselves to you. It was that relaxed and casual of an atmosphere. Cathy even got her photo on the facebook page of Spit Cup and the Jukes hanging out with the band. One artist I met and talked to was Kwandarius Anton "KwannyKash" Perry.  

KwannyKash was not a performer but was introduced and had his folk art instruments on display. I was naturally interested because of the cigar box guitars I used to make so I introduced myself and we had a visit.  

KwannyKash told me that he was making instruments, music and writing poems and enjoying himself when one day someone saw him and said, "hey this is folk art." He said, "I did not know this. I was just doing me." His next scheduled gig was an appearance at the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation Homecoming in Avalon, Ms. 

KwannyKash was a nice guy and he gave me a drawing with a story he had written. I am going to use his comment, I was just doing me as inspiration to myself as I seem to have hit some road blocks in  consistent production of my on music. I will aspire to do me more.     

 

 Last night I was at our St. Vincent de Paul meeting and a member brought a mattress as a donation. That's valuable because we consider it a dignity issue to get beds for people clawing the way out of poverty. We made our way to the back of the church property to unload to our storage and in the dark we startled someone from the open air shed beside the locked storage. I called out to the person and they stopped. To appear nonthreatening in the dark (I'm a big hairy guy) I asked if we could help in anyway. The young man stopped and walked back. There has been an old piano stored in the open shed.  It belonged to a parishioner in the neighborhood who moved and supposedly the family was going to take it for restoration. The young man said, "I come by every night and play." I asked him to play for me.

 

 He tinkled the keys in the dark of the open shed. Not a concert pianist by any means but I thought about what KwannyKash said. 

I was just doing me.