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American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is coming to Houston for a show with our own Houston Symphony . The show isn't until July but ticket sales went crazy on Monday when the Symphony held a pre-sale limited to Symphony subscribers and Clay Aiken fan club members. Today tickets were made available to the general public and while sales have slowed some, they are still steady. Chances are Aiken's show will be sold-out, a rarety for the Houston Symphony. The only other shows that have sold out this season are Yo-Yo Ma and the Chieftains.

Think of it Clay Aiken singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" backed by a full orchestra - what a spectacle.

Before you ask why the Houston Symphony is so quick to pimp themselves out as the biggest (and most well educated) back -up band in the universe, we already did. Here's what a symphony spokesman told us:

"We consider ourselves to be Houston's orchestra, and that means across the entire breadth of music. We're proud on an artistic level to be able to present a wide spectrum of repertoire thereby making the Houston Symphony approachable to a broad and diverse audience.

"(You can hardly be a "back-up band" for an artist like Elvis Costello or Ben Folds or k.d. lang, all of who have written specifically for the power of a full orchestra.) And, by the way, all the artists who appear with us have invested substantially large sums of money to have symphony arrangements of their material written so they can perform their shows with symphony orchestras all across the country."

Welcome to the inaugural installment of Catfish Reef, Houstoned Rocks's ongoing exploration of Houston's rich musical history. Once a week, we'll rifle through the crates in the Bayou City's collective trash can and dust off a record you really ought to hear and why you ought to hear it.

We'll begin with a collection of neglected Albert Collins instrumentals from the mid-'60s.

Albert Collins Truckin' With Albert Collins Blue Thumb Records

If you think of Albert Collins was just another axe-wielding Alligator Records blues genericist, this album is a key part of the antidote to that misconception. Originally recorded in 1965 — when Collins was fresh off a day job washing dishes at a River Oaks soda fountain -- for Bill Hall's TCF Hall label in Beaumont, this collection was re-released after Collins's rediscovery in 1969 by Canned Heat's Bob Hite. Truckin' finds Collins doing just that through ten instrumentals and one slow blues vocal. Most of the tunes here have "cool" titles and they all live up that description. There's "Frosty" and "Don't Lose Your Cool," both of the show-stopping shuffles he played right up to the end of his days, but there's also so much more here.

We know, we know, you're sick of reading trend pieces about iPods. We are too. But it remains true that the potential of these little gizmos remains largely untapped. For instance, we just thought of a new use for ours — as an oracular, all-knowing sage to be consulted on all matters of import great and small. Here's what I do. I set the iPod to shuffle. I ask it a question. I hit the shuffle button. And then I interpret the answer as I see fit. Yep, I now use my iPod the same way others consult Magic 8-Balls.Why should mass-produced black plastic orbs be deemed wiser and more clairvoyant than a high-tech gadget like an iPod? Anyway, here's what mine had to say about a few matters of general interest.

What kind of year can we expect from the Astros?
Song: "Fine and Mellow Baby," by Willie Nix
Outlook: Wildly optimistic. Look out '27 Yankees...

What are the Rockets chances looking like?
Song: "The End of the Innocence," by Don Henley.
Interpretation: Ominous. Remember the Lew Lloyd/Mitch Wiggins Rockets, the guys who used to go all Tony Montana between games? The Magic iPod says those days are coming back.

Christmas Day 2006 and auditorium #19 at Sugar Land's First Colony Mall was packed for the 11:40 a.m. showing of Dreamgirls. Every seat had been sold and ushers had to enforce some last minute re-arranging so everyone could sit (although one guy waited till they left and then resumed standing in the aisle for the entire 130-minute movie).

Halfway through the film was the big moment that has already become legend. Jennifer Hudson, cast out from American Idol, but victorious in the film role of Effie that she fought so hard to get, does her big show stopper number "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going." And like reports of other audiences across America, this Houston-area audience cheered. They clapped, whistled, hollered; they did everything you do at a concert, at a one-in-a-lifetime live performance except stand up (can't lose those seats).

Hometown girl Beyonce Knowles got a round of applause for her song that followed a little while later. It was nice. It was pleasant. But the passion and the fire, that was Jennifer Hudson. And it made for a memorable Christmas, not only for those folks, but the long line of people snaking out of the building waiting for the next show. - Margaret Downing

Things are looking really good for blind people these days. First, South Korea enacts a law that qualifies only the legally blind to be registered masseuses. Then, Republican Representative Edmund Kuempel of Seguin (near Austin), proposes a law that would allow legally blind Texans to go hunting. With laser sights. And the help of sighted chaperone. It's just one of those things that screams "God, this just makes total common sense!" However, much less publicized is the companion bill, also known as the "Ass or a Hole in the Ground?" bill, which unfortunately doesn't stand nearly as good a chance at passing. -- Craig Malisow

There are still four more days to vote in our Favorite Houston Band poll so get your ballot in. Remember the winning band gets a profile in the Houston Press. So show some support for your local faves and help get them a little press coverage. There are over 400 votes in already, and it seems to be a showdown between Paris Green and Medicine Show, but get your vote in and that might change.

Here's how to vote:

1. Click HERE to go to our Vote for Your Favorite Band posting.

2. Cast your vote in the comment section.

It's that easy, and for one lucky band, it will mean a profile in the Houston Press.

Okay Houston, here's your chance to help your favorite band get some attention. You tell us what local band or artist you would like to see profiled in the Houston Press and we'll do it! Vote in the comment section of this post between now and December 15 and the band or artist that gets the most votes will get a profile in HouStoned Rocks. It's that easy.

So, is it someone new? An old favorite? You tell us and we'll do it!

Start voting -