Shady Grove has closed, and we are heartbroken. I’m so proud to have had the honor of helping host our Unplugged At The Grove series from the Jimmy LaFave stage over the last four years, during which I was treated far better than I deserved by the staff, and enjoyed so very much getting to know a bunch of the regular attendees, some of whom had been coming to the show regularly for upwards of 20 years. We’re so very sad. All the best to Rusty and his entire staff.
An article in Vanity Fair that caught my attention over the weekend serves as a source of both great hope, and great frustration. It details a UC Berkeley study that concludes that we could cut COVID infections to one-twelfth the current rate if 80% of us would commit to wearing a face covering any time we go out in public. That’s 4 out of 5 of us, and could mean the effective end of the pandemic – if not crushing the virus outright, it could be reduced to a much easier level to pinpoint, manage and mitigate outbreaks. At this point, I really cannot understand the reluctance to make such a minor personal adjustment, considering the huge impact possible for ALL of us. That it’s become such a polarized and political topic truly baffles me, and makes me wonder how far off an actual mandate and punitive enforcement can possibly be. If you’re still not covering your mug – and an amazingly huge number of Texans are not – please read the piece, and consider the possibilities. I’m apparently not the only one who finds the very existence of this debate surprising: Matthew McConaughey weighed in with a similar position yesterday on CNN.
A bunch of my old bros from the Texas Red Dirt Music crowd are putting on a series of “Concert In Your Car” gigs at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field in Arlington early next month. You pull up in your car and stay in your car, watching the show through your windshield and listening on a short-range FM signal over the radio. This model has been done on a smaller scale here in Austin recently – will it take off?
Must-read today: an op-ed by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters on why live music is important enough to our cultural identity for us to take great pains to see it return. Dave’s piece in The Atlantic reads in part: “I myself have been pressed against the cold front rail of an arena rock show. I have air-drummed along to my favorite songs in the rafters, and been crushed in the crowd, dancing to dangerous decibel levels while lost in the rhythm. I’ve been lifted and carried to the stage by total strangers for a glorious swan dive back into their sweaty embrace. Arm in arm, I have sung at the top of my lungs with people I may never see again. All to celebrate and share the tangible, communal power of music.” Great stuff.
Still a little mad at the Dixie Chicks for delaying their new album Gaslighter, but not mad enough not to notice a really cool move by the band on behalf of a group of girls in the Bastrop area very much deserving of support. The ladies at the Refuge Ranch, a rehabilitation facility for victims of sex trafficking, enjoyed a Zoom meeting with the Chicks recently, amongst an impressive crew of luminaries as part of a supportive hangout series. Kudos beyond kudos.
After displays over Dallas and Houston by the Navy’s Blue Angels team late last week, Austin and San Antonio are due for similar visits by the Air Force’s Thunderbirds on Wednesday the 13th. Great memories as a kid growing up in Lubbock near the old Reese Air Force Base, where regular airshows featuring the Thunderbirds put them permanently in league with KISS, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Von Erichs in my wide-eyed ten-year-old opinion. So, while I do understand the moral and fiscal arguments against this use of tax dollars in a time of great need, I can’t help but be jazzed to see them. The Austin flyover is expected to begin at 2:40 PM on Wednesday…here’s the flight plan.
When I saw that Daniel Johnston is the inspiration for a new fashion line, I struggled a moment to recall exactly what his fashion tendencies were, and why they’d be attractive to emulate – then, I actually read past the headline to discover that the Supreme clothing line, based in New York, has emblazoned Johnston’s art on a bunch of clothes, including at least one piece featuring Jeremiah the Innocent. I understand now. The new line is to be released on Thursday.
The concert promotion giant Live Nation is out with a plan to return to full-scale concert production by 2021, with the gradual scaling-up of live shows in the meanwhile, from grander stage productions from established venues being shared out virtually, to acts one might expect to see in an arena playing a smaller theater, at a higher ticket price most likely. A lot of the future of live music will be built by the major promotional players, who certainly have a minefield to navigate – here’s hoping concerts don’t evolve into something only the wealthy can afford to enjoy, any more than they already had.
A treasure trove of mostly Gen-X-centric live alternative performances is up now for your time-killing convenience, in the form of newly-catalogued editions of the John Peel Sessions, including sets from New Order, The Cure, The Smiths, The Kinks, Nick Drake and extending as far forward as Jack White.
I’m a huge fan of all things Colorado – in fact I’m sending one of my kids to college there in the fall, God willing – so I found an online concert to benefit Colorado’s music and restaurant professionals this last Friday night super engaging. Hosted by The Lumineers, it also features Nathaniel Rateliff, Jewel, One Direction, members of String Cheese Incident, “Big Head” Todd of Monsters fame, and a bunch more mountain hippie musical types. I don’t think the Centennial State is looking for visitors from Texas just now, but I’m very much looking forward to my next chance to be there, whenever that is.
Take care and COVER THAT MUG SPARKY.
Chris
