Whats Happening around Here?
Chat City
Arts & Music Events Board

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Toni Price was among the many who showed up for a sombre birthday party.

On Friday, August 16, 2002,

Champ Hood would have had his 50th birthday and many of
his friends got together to celebrate the occasion. There was an
in-formal re-dedication at Town Lake around 8 p.m. of a little bench
almost across from the old City Coliseum between the South First
& Lamar bridges (Austin, Texas.)

Sitting on the bench, you have a great view of the lake, and get to see
a fantastic sunset while having time to think about all the great music
that must be heard in heaven. The bench is now known Champ’s & Walter’s
Bench, named after Champ Hood & Walter Hyatt founding members of
Uncle Walt’s Band.

To mark the spot of the bench there is a stone engraved on both sides.
Walter’s side facing East, Champ’s side facing West. Flowers were around
the stone, alongside a Shiner bottle. Candles were lighted once the sun
started coming down, and people sang ‘Happy Birthday’ knowing that Champ
was there in spirit. The legacy he left to his friends & his son
Warren who is a very talented fiddler, just as his dad, will live on forever.

When asked about Champ’s favorite flowers, Elizabeth responded the
Hops & Barley were definitely on top of his list, and many in the
crowd agreed with a laugh.

Champ will always be loved & remembered by friends, family & the many
people he still touches with his sense of humor & wonderful music. If you are in
Austin, visit Champ’s & Walter’s bench.

One of the shining lights in Austin';s music scene has been and still is KLBJ's Local Licks Live Music Series. Loris Lowe has had her heart in the right place for well over a decade on the air! Every year Loris hosts a series of shows performed live on the air and also recorded for the production of a KILLER LOCAL CD that will be very collectable to the true Austinite and the proceeds to the sales of the album go to local charities. Local Licks Live Series

Jake Andrews records a set live on the air at KLBJ 93.7-FM to benefit "The Victims of Domestic Violence" the songs will be released on the 13th Local Licks Live CD.

ARTS & MUSIC LINK

Smokey Wilson Hosts Texas Music "Party in the Pasture" Brightest Stars To Shine on the Wilson Ranch Cuero TX - Some of the brightest stars in South Texas are joining together to provide a special Texas Music event on the Wilson Ranch in DeWitt County. Several popular South Texas Bands are donating their talents to show their appreciation to their fans who have supported them during the past year. This event scheduled for Saturday, August 24th, 12 Noon to 12 Midnight is absolutely FREE and everyone is welcome to attend. Festivities begin with an "Open Mic" scheduled between 12:00 NOON and 6:00 PM on a stage in a shaded area. Anyone interested in performing is asked to contact Carol Arrington via email < arington@txcr.net > to reserve a spot. Those already scheduled to perform include TJ Haynie, Lucky Boyd, John Reeves, Bonnie Bishop. Bob `Rose, "Bear" Mugford, Bill McNeal, Bob Curry, Russell Carbanara, David Houck and Jody Cummins, Scooter Pearce, Jack Motley, Mike Willey, Ashlee Rose, Wayne Sirmon, PT and Bonnie Riley, Roy Rohan, Carol Arrington, Jennings Steen, and Steve Brooks. Performances on the Main Stage are scheduled to begin with the Eric "G" Band at 6:15 PM; followed by Gordon Barth and The Concrete Coalition at 7:15 PM, Bill Pekar and the Rainey Brothers Band at 8:15 PM, the Smokey Wilson Band featuring Leon Vines and his Slide Guitar at 9:15 PM, The Jarrod Birmingham Band at 10:15 PM and a "Guitar and Harmonica Jam Session" Featuring Leon Vines, Eric "G", Scotty Foyt, Smokey Wilson and Special Guests beginning at 11:15 PM. Informal "pickin' around campfires" will continue throughout the night. Food vendors, arts and crafts booths, and MyTexasMusic.com will also be at this event. The "Steel Magnolias" owned by Lisa Serrata, Anna Longoria and Nancy Cantu; as well as "Eddie's Catering" owned by Eddie Threadgill; and" Chef Charlie's Cooking" owned by Chef Charles Laura will have food available for purchase. Lucky and Jinelle Boyd, owners of MyTexasMusic.com also plan to make the event even more festive by celebrating MTM's second anniversary. MTM recently announced that they are expanding their services to include not only Texas music CDs, but also the works of Texas authors and visual artists. FREE camping is also available both Friday and Saturday nights on a first come first serve basis. All spots have access to the shade of the pecan trees at the creek bottom. Smokey reminds anyone planning to camp to "Bring what you need and haul out your trash, please!" Whether camping on not, everyone is asked to bring their lawn chairs plus whatever they wish to drink. This FREE Texas Music event is being held at the Smokey Wilson Ranch which is located seven miles North West of Cuero, Texas on FM 953. Directions, including maps can be found at http://www.mytexasmusic.com/pasture

Kevin from the bands Steamroller and The Quitters

Texas Arts & Music Group Membership

T-MODEL FORD RELEASES BAD MAN SEPT. 10. TOURDATES SET WITH BUDDY GUY. T-MODEL'S STATURE AS ONE OF THE LAST - AND BEST - TRUE MISSISSIPPI BLUESMEN ALIVE While his few living contemporaries mill around nursing homes awaiting death, the 78 year-old James "T-Model" Ford, no stranger to adversity, has been working like a fiend for years now. From the moment his heart-stopping debut, Pee-Wee Get My Gun, came out in 1997, Ford has been recording, touring, and giving interviews with the energy of two men half his age. Now Ford prepares to release his latest album, the appropriately titled Bad Man. Recorded in Memphis by the legendary Jim Dickinson (Big Star, Replacements, Ry Cooder), Bad Man is the ultimate T-Model Ford record, and therefore as authentic of a set of hill-country juke joint music that you're going to come across in this century. Jim Dickinson's subtle production plays up T-Model's stripped-down style, while still bringing new sounds to the mix. The Tate County Singers add a woman's touch to "Let The Church Roll On" and Jojo Hermann of Widespread Panic adds some fine organ playing on "The Duke." Since his last album on Fat Possum, T-Model Ford has toured America and Europe extensively, appeared in a Page One story in the New York Times, been featured in a massive story in the New Yorker, and had his songs covered by Buddy Guy on his critically acclaimed album Sweet Tea. Not one to rest, T-Model hits the road in September opening for Buddy Guy (dates below). It isn't everyday that an artist as popular and respected as Buddy Guy demonstrates such good taste. Ford will continue on the road through the fall including dates with Johnny Winter. Jim Dickinson on T-Model Ford: Rhythmically joined at the hip with drummer Spam, he plays the north Mississippi hill country hypnotic boogie-groove like nobody else on earth. His music is not a complaint of self-pity, but a celebration of life. He moves you to rejoice with him, not sympathize with some pitiful condition of lost love or injustice. Not a relic of the past or a remnant of vanishing culture, T-Model Ford and Spam are in the moment like few other blues artists. Out on the edge of the cliff where most fall to the rocks below, T-Model Ford takes off and flies - the existential hero. He drops beats. He adds phrases - unfettered by twelve bars or AAB. He pays tribute to the greats - Muddy, Hooker, Lightnin', and Wolf, but beyond pure tradition he has been influenced by what he hears in the chaos of today, as if the great Jimmy Reed were playing with Ornette Coleman. Photographer captures Sept. 11 confusion in the eyes of children The images in this piece were taken at a playground just days after the fateful day, with children asking questions and trying to grasp the significance of what they were seeing over and over on television (I work as a school counselor). http://www.sheilaeb.com/id20.htm Sheila Ernst-Bifano

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Six more performers have signed on to play at the first Austin City Limits
Music Festival to be held September 28 and 29 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in
Zilker Park, Austin, TX

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HYDE PARK THEATRE PRESENTS
VIGIL
by Morris Panych

FEATURING Ken Webster and Lana Dieterich
DIRECTED BY Peck Phillips

Hyde Park Theatre will present the Southwest premiere of Vigil, a darkly comic play by Canadian playwright Morris Panych. Directed by Peck Phillips, Vigil will open on Thursday, September 5 and run through Saturday, September 28.

"I spoke to a funeral director today. You don't mind recorded music, do you? Of course not. I don't mean this in a cruel way, but practically speaking, you're the only one who won't have to listen to it." Vigil's Kemp has come to attend to his dying aunt. But as the play proceeds, it becomes less and less clear what he is doing there, or whether she will ever actually die. The Globe and Mail called this black comedy "a small masterpiece." Maclean's called it "a devilishly funny play that laughs in death's face."

Two of Austin's favorite actors, Ken Webster (House, Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll) and Lana Dieterich (Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Celebrity Crush) portray Kemp and Grace in this wickedly funny dark comedy.

Performances of Vigil are as follows: September 5 through September 28 on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 P.M. Tickets are $15 on Fridays and Saturdays ($13 student, seniors, and ACOT members); Thursdays are pay-what-you-can. Hyde Park Theatre is located at 511 W. 43rd. For more information or reservations, call 479-PLAY.

On Friday, September 6, the audience is invited to a post-performance party celebrating Ken Webster's first year as artistic director at Hyde Park Theatre.

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Bob Marley Festival Tour, stopping at Waterloo Park in
Austin, TX on September 7th and 8th.

Vibewize (Berkshire Hills, MA.; Roots Reggae) will still be performing on Sunday the 8th at 4 PM,
however, due to an urgent legal matter their name has been changed back to "The Jordan Loder Ensemble (Berkshire Hills, Mass.; Roots Reggae). The name 'Vibewize' is already in use by another group in Boston, MA.

Sincerely,
Jordan Loder
email: JordanLoderMusic@yahoo.com

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LONELY HIGHWAY
RETURNS TO HYDE PARK THEATRE LATE NIGHTS
September 7-27

Hyde Park Theatre is proud to present the return of FronteraFest 2002 BEST OF THE FEST'S Lonely Highway by Hans Frank. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30 P.M. , following performances of Vigil . The show opens Saturday, September 7 and runs Fridays and Saturdays through Friday, September 27. All performances are at 10:30 PM.

He's a little bit country, a little bit rock-n-roll . . . and all things in between. Part Dr. Faustus, part Li'l Abner, Sloppy Sean engages in yarn spinning, obscure trivia, political theory, and songs and stories in this production that some have called a cross between Pee Wee's Playhouse and The Porter Waggoner Show.

Lonely Highway features Hans Frank, Rebecca Robinson, and John Ortiz.

Tickets are $10. For reservations, call 479-PLAY.