​Today would have been country legend and pioneer Ernest Tubb's 98th birthday. Born in 1914 in Crisp, Texas near Dallas, his hometown is now designated as ghost town. For forty years, Tubb was a mainstay on the country circuit and the charts, with songs like "Walking the Floor Over You", "Waltz Across Texas", and "Thanks A Lot", in addition to versions of "Goodnight, Irene" and "The Yellow Rose Of Texas".

My first introduction to Tubb, dubbed "The Texas Troubadour" was in around 1989, sitting next to my grandfather in his swank, black Chevy Silverado on the way to elementary school in Alvin. We were listening to a cassette of what must have been a later period live show, because I remember hearing cheering and a man drawling "Hello everybody" here and there.

It was this day or maybe another that my grandfather let me know that he once met Tubb at some beer hall back "before you were even around" and that he signed his cowboy boots for him. Grandpa never pulled the boots out for me to gander at Mr. Tubb's scrawl -- and I think the boots got accidentally sold at a garage sale -- but in the back of my mind, I knew that the man was to be a big part of my relationship with Grandpa. Tubb was important to him, along with Hank Sr., Bob Wills, and Georges Strait and Jones. Being a fanboy is my DNA I guess.

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Courtesy LC Media

​I was living in Holland in 1977 when my younger brother, who had attended Wayland Baptist University on a track scholarship until booze and girls were discovered in his dorm room, came for a visit. While living in Plainview, his stomping grounds had been the gin joints of Lubbock. Upon arrival, he immediately opened his suitcase and pulled out an album he said I had to hear. It was some guy he had seen play in Lubbock who had just put out his first album.

It was what is known as Joe Ely's "white album." Self-titled, it has sometimes been referred to as the "No Loud Talk" album because of the sign on the wall behind the band on the back photo. Looking at the credits, I was amazed to see that Bob Johnston was the producer. He produced several of Bob Dylan's seminal sides.

Dropping the needle on side one of Joe Ely, my entire musical horizon changed.

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courtesy of Carolyn Farb

Little Jewford, Kinky Friedman, Ted Swindley plotting "Becoming Kinky: The World According To Kinky Friedman"

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The one-liners come out of Kinky Friedman's mouth so fast you need a protective shield.

"The only thing Rick Perry managed to do with his Presidential campaign was to make George W. look like Thomas 'Fucking' Jefferson."

"Real people don't get into politics. The only people who get into politics today are the bad people, the ones who were hall monitors in school."

"Choosing between the Democrats and the Republicans is like choosing between the Bloods and the Crips."

And on and on it goes at warp speed.

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​This morning in Sanger, Texas, country crooner Randy Travis was arrested on "suspicion of public intoxication" by local authorities. Our sister paper to the north, Dallas Observer, also picked up on the story, which is currently making the rounds on TMZ.

According to Denton County officials, Travis was "spotted in front of the First Baptist Church in Sanger with an open bottle of wine," which is pretty much a ready-made country song title. Amazing.

The singer was taken in, booked, and gone and out of the jail within hours. Drinking in front of a church is either the sign of man in deep personal turmoil, or an indication that Travis parties harder than you do, on a Sunday night no less.

Maybe he was attempting to "dig up bones" in the church's graveyard, or better yet, he lost a load of cash on the Patriots last night and was coming to the church to scream at God for making him a loser on the Sabbath. More than likely though, this is just Randy being randy -- womp -- and he is human after all. Plus, let's remember this was just wine, probably some Yellow Tail he snagged from the fridge, and not a bottle of Jim Beam.

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UPDATE -- a note from the author: We spoke to Mr. Ames again this afternoon. He informed us that he thought the conversation would not be used in our article and that it was only for background information. He also stated that he does not recall some of the statements attributed to him. Neither Mr. Ames nor the author is implying that Ms. Chorney or her radio promoter engaged in any unethical practices regarding airplay. The comments regarding such practices were general statements only, not specific to Ms. Chorney. We regret any confusion. Mr. Ames informed us that he will be interviewing Ms. Chorney on his show on Monday, January 30, at 8:20 a.m. We recommend that concerned readers tune in to hear Ms. Chorney in her own words at this link.

Gordon "Big G" Ames

​The Linda Chorney Grammy thing just won't go away. It seems now Chorney is barraging radio stations with her latest album, hoping to gain a smidgen of credibility before going to the Grammys with zero album sales, which we presume is going to be an historic first.

Former Houstonian Gordon "Big G" Ames, the program director at KOOK-FM, "Real Deal Radio," received a copy of Chorney's CD earlier this week. He was not amused. In fact, he is so not amused his Thursday show is going to be themed "Making An Example."

"I've been around a long time and I know how things work," says Ames from his home outside Kerrville. "You and I both know that if you put a thousand dollars in a few hands you can get your album on someone's quote unquote chart. You know it, I know it. And that makes me mad. It's sad and pathetic what the Americana syndicate chooses to accept payment for."

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​After several weeks of semi-classical, jazz, and folk music, Leon's Lounge takes a major swerve tonight with spiky haired Hans Frank. The front man of cow-thrash punkers Glambilly, Frank looks like he just stepped out of a bad Roxy Music video, and it's just possible that Bryan Ferry may be a major influence on the Appalachian born wild man.

One doesn't have to dig too deeply into Frank's musical career to see the connection with some of the original glambillys, the Hickoids and San Antonio musical mover-and-shaker Jeff Smith. When we asked Smith what's the deal with Hans Frank, he let fly with his usual lack of reserve.

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​When Chris Gray rolled back into town after 10+ years in Austin to work at Houston Press, my colleague, frequent co-conspirator, and editor John Nova Lomax called and asked if I'd take Gray out and show him the local ropes. It was Gray's first night in town, July 7, 2007.

So I saddled up, drove down to the Press offices and picked up my young charge/soon-to-be boss. I've got to admit, the skinny punk with the mohawk doesn't always make the best first impression and he did not look like any vision of a newspaper executive I'd ever come across. The main thing I noticed as we headed toward West Alabama Ice House is that this guy smokes. A lot.

My faith was braced when I realized he drank Lone Star. And he wasn't doing it for hipster cred, he was doing it because he likes Lone Star. If you didn't like Lone Star or think it was cool to be drinking it, you could kiss his ass. He didn't have to say it, I could just tell. An admirable trait in a guy, in my book. I felt better about the transition.

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Photo By Jim Bricker

ZZ Top onstage in 2010.

​The Houston Livestock And Rodeo continues it's march it's non-country waters with today's musical announcement, with Houston's own ZZ Top (March 8), Train (March 16), Kid Rock (February 29), John Legend (March 2), and Enrique Iglesias (March 6) topping the pop and rock segment of this year's bill.

On the country side of things, RodeoHouston favorites Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum returning to Reliant Stadium as well. McEntire's March 9th show is especially cool, since it's also Paint The Rodeo Pink Day, benefiting breast cancer awareness. She played the rodeo last in 2009, turning in a set that blew the roof off, and had us singing along for the entirety of the show.

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Photo by Jason Wolter

Dayton performing as Friedman at the Mucky Duck last year.

​Over the weekend we learned of at least one high profile 2012 recording project that involves Houston at least peripherally: local arts patron and charity fundraiser Carolyn Farb will be the executive producer of a Jesse Dayton album of Kinky Friedman covers tentatively titled Sold American.

Farb was part of a group who staged last year's theatrical event, Becoming Kinky: The World According To Kinky Friedman, which premiered at McGonigel's Mucky Duck. Dayton was one of a group of four actors on the stage, playing the part of Friedman in his singer-songwriter heyday. Accompanied by longtime Friedman sideman/sidekick Little Jewford on keyboards, Dayton handled most of the musical part of the production.

Dayton explains that while working on the play, he was forced to revisit Friedman's catalog and it came to him what a great songwriter Friedman was during the height of his career as a traveling troubadour beginning in the early Seventies.

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Robert Earl Keen
House of Blues
December 28, 2011

Photos by Barry Sigman

​It sucks when your college roommate is more successful than you. Heaven knows Rocks Off was pleased as punch to hear ours had ended up blowing merchant marines for salvia in Vladivostok (just kidding, Doug!), but Robert Earl Keen's old front porch pal from Texas A&M has always been the critical darling. Maybe it's bad form to bring Lyle Lovett up in an REK review, but the two are inextricably entwined in Texas music history. Both have brought it upon themselves, invoking each other in early songs and making it annoyingly difficult to make the argument that nothing of musical quality ever came out of College Station.

But while Lovett was an early darling of pre-Garth Brooks Nashville, Keen has been a songwriter's songwriter for decades, covered by everyone from Willie to George Strait. His influence, often ignored, is undeniable.

Admittedly, this might have something to do with the kind of crowds his shows attract. Keen continues to enjoy huge popularity within the Lone Star State. Lyle may have played the Kennedy Center, but no one is that sea of black-tied amiability were howling along to "If I Had a Boat." Keen's audiences are rowdy and fiercely loyal, testimony to both the man's enduring appeal and his skill at storytelling, both of which were on display last night at the House of Blues.

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