Almost 3 years

Yes it has been almost three years since I posted here. What brought me back? A friend's new blog. And the show I saw last night at Greune Hall.

The Mystiqueros played for a small group that grew to a decent sized crowd.

As always Walt and the boys did not disappoint in their performance, with a nice mixture of some of Walt's  songs from his "solo" years, Bill Small's songs, as well as some of their new songs coming out on a new album due this coming spring 2012.

They also had a few guests, Drew Kennedy came up and played a song with them before heading over to Cheatham Street Warehouse to play his own show. What a powerful singer, with the one song I was ready to look for more of his music. http://www.drewkennedymusic.com/free-music/, you can't beat free.

Scott Boddicker had about a five or six song set as well. He sounded pretty good also. His net presence can be found here, http://scottboddicker.com/ . Walt really likes Scott and I can see why. He has a very laid back feel to him but and is pretty good guitar player.

Last was Josh Grider. I really like his music. So much so I bought one of his albums at the show. Million Miles to Go is really good and has a great line up including Poorer Days and Crazy Like You. In fact Crazy Like You was recorded with the Mystiqueros. The entire album was produced by Walt and Tim Lorsch and has a great quality that one has come to expect from albums produced by Walt.

When the Mystiqueros came back up after Scott had played is set they started back with Wrapped. This is such a special song for my wife and I and Walt and the boys didn't disappoint.

All in all it was a great night and I enjoyed spending it with my dad and step-mom.

Not getting to see as much as I'd like to

As the title says, I have not been able to see as many shows as I would like to. I missed out on the Walt Wilkins show in Luckenbach and I don't see anything coming up that I can attend until St. Mary's University hosts Fiesta Oyster Bake in April. That should be a good time with Brandon Ryder and Jason Boland finishing out the night on Saturday.

I will keep you up to date with what ever shows I do see though.

The Tejas Brothers - 1 January 2009

Wow what a way to start the year. My wife and I met my Dad and step-mom at the world famous Gruene Hall in historic Gruene Texas and was thoroughly impressed and entertained by this 4 member band from the DFW area. 

The Tejas Brothers is Tex-Mex at its best. If you like the Texas Tornadoes, you will love the Tejas Brothers!

The band is lead by Dave Perez and is about the best accordion player I have ever seen perform. He truly enjoys being on stage and letting the crowd see his love for the music. The bass player, John Garza is top notch and can really go to town on his big stand up bass. He did use an electric bass every now and again, but most of his time was spent on the standup. Chris Zalez, can keep up with Dave and his accordion note for note and fills out the sound beautifully. Chris also picks up lead vocals on several songs to give Dave a much needed break. Danny Cochran puts down a driving beat that not only gets your toes tapping but your feet stomping and your hands clapping.

Some of the highlights from the show were Dave's excellent rendition of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", he even had the wiping his face with the towel down. The only thing different was he was holding an accordion and not a trumpet. Dave also really got into it when the band transitioned from "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" to the "Orange Blossom Special". Dave jumped down off the stage and started dancing around the crowd and going to town on his accordion. He was spinning and twirling and jumping around like a man possessed. He was having fun like few other performers I have ever seen.

But the Tejas Brothers aren't just a great cover band, they are awesome song writers in their own right. "I Can't Sleep", "Sweet Lolita", and "Boogie Woogie Mamacita" are just three of the great songs on their self titled first album Tejas Brothers. It is well worth the $9.99 your going to pay to get this album. The songs a fresh and catchy, and really bring to life the memories of my childhood growing up in San Antonio, TX.

Finally these guys really care about their fans. At each intermission they spent most if not all of their time either in front of the stage talking with the audience or back at the merch table signing autographs and getting pictures taken. On a personal note, my wife bought their CD at the show and asked them to autograph it for my brother, who is serving in Afghanistan for the next 10 months or so. Not only did they sign it, they also wrote four simple words that mean the world to me. They wrote "To Jay, Thank You!!"

These guys are the best, I hope to see them again when they come back through the Texas Hill Country.

Howdy all

Howdy Texas music lovers,

I will be putting up short little thoughts, snippets and reviews of the different Texas Music artists I will see over the coming months. Hope you enjoy reading this and come back to see updates.

Chris

-Austin