Inaugural Smithville, Texas Music Festival (11/7/09)

About an hour east of Austin, just past Bastrop, is the town of Smithville. Across from town is Riverbend Park, with huge oak trees, a classic Texas stage with dance floor, and the nearby Colorado River. Some of us are lucky enough to own a bit of land in the county, and we were real happy to join the long-time residents for a truly great day in the park.

Not only did we have the Jones Family Singers, and classic Texas talent with Dale Watson and Jimmie Vaughn, but the real surprises were the local musicians. Specifically, I would like to write about both the Peterson Brothers and Hannibal Lokumbe. I was not familiar with either. I will always remember both.

Glen Peterson, Junior on guitar is 13 years old. His brother Alex, on bass and violin, is 10. A couple “older” musicians helped out, Collin Guerra and Bryan Hoff, 24 and 23 respectively. I believe we will be hearing a whole lot about them in these parts. Hannibal Lokumbe is not only a famous jazz and symphony musician, but a composer, author, actor, and more. And before him I never heard anyone do what he did on the trumpet in quite that way.

Besides the music, there was much, much more to this event. The people were great. The town was totally involved. There was sadness too, as a special tribute was given to three hometown soldiers who have recently been lost. It was a first class tribute.

There was food and drink, dominoes and chili, book sales of Texas blues artists from the area, and a special letter from the Governor recognizing the musical roots of the region. And I would say this region obviously has much to offer.