Lyle Lovett brought his Acoustic Group to Houston, Texas tonight to close out his touring schedule for 2011. Being a native of the Houston area and an icon of the Houston music scene since his early days playing at clubs like Anderson Fair, he was well received by the large crowd in attendance at the Verizon Wireless Theater.

Lyle was backed up by an excellent group of musicians (many veterans of Lyle's Large Band): Russ Kunkel - drums, Viktor Krauss - bass, Keith Sewell -…

Texas was treated to three dates this week on the current Jayhawks tour - November 17, 18 & 19. The stops in New Braunfels, Austin and Houston represented the final three shows on the groups fall portion of this "reunion" tour. The tour starts up again in January on the West Coast.

I was fortunate enough to catch the Friday night show at the historic Paramount Theater in Austin and the Saturday night show at The House of Blues here in…

It's been a tough week in Texas.

 I've just learned that Joe Gracey has lost his battle with cancer.  Joe was a central figure in the Austin music scene back in the 70's - he was a music writer at the Austin American-Statesman, a very popular DJ at KOKE-FM and was right in the middle of the Cosmic Cowboy / Outlaw / Redneck Rock  movements as well as the infancy of the Austin City Limits television series. 

For me, Joe's work at "Super Roper Radio" - KOKE-FM…

Sadly and quite prematurely, Doyle Bramhall passed away this past weekend at his home in Alpine, Texas.

Doyle was a fine singer, songwriter and drummer who worked with Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughn and had an impact on the blues scene in Austin back in the 70's.

Condolences to his wife Barbara Logan, his son Doyle Bramhall II and daughter Georgia.

I think it was Rosanne Cash who first introduced me (figuratively) to John Hiatt. I quickly became a fan of his writing and when he released “Bring the…