On a Sunday in November, musicians in Austin, Texas will gather together to play songs they all know. That’s certainly not unusual. But this group will represent a wide array of musical circles; many will not have met before. They’ll come together to honor and enjoy what it’s progenitor called “cosmic American music”. They’ll play the music of Gram Parsons.
Arguably one of the most influential artists of what we now label Americana, Gram Parsons inspired musicians as disparate as Roger McGuinn of the Byrds and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Though his work was never more than marginally successful from a commercial point of view, his fingerprint can be found on much of the work of singers and songwriters popular then and now.
If you’re in or near Austin on the evening of November 6th, you owe it to yourself to find your way to Threadgill’s World Headquaters (a destination that is alone worth the trip) to witness this phenomenon as it’s played out on a local level, with an impressive number of artists displaying their shared love of Gram Parsons music. Backed by a crack house band (that sounds so wrong, I’m going to leave it) led by host Patterson Barrett, artists scheduled to appear include:
Sahara Smith
Dallas Wayne (Heybale)
Barbara K
Will Sexton
Bill Carter
Bob Livingston
Patterson Barrett
Earl P. Ball
Owen Temple
Micky Braun (Micky & the Motorcars)
Freddie Steady Krc w/Emily Grace Berry
Ted Roddy
Leeann Atherton
Jed Zimmerman
Karen Abrahams
Phil Hurley (Stonehoney)
Noelle Hampton
Mike Stinson
Matt Brooks
Charlie Faye
Halleyanna
Brian Pounds
Amanda Cevallos
Gerry Burns
Dana McBride
Cam King
Steve Carter
Julieann Banks
Tom Pittman
Chojo Jacques
Doc Simons
Daniel Simons
Rob Bollinger
Jon Hahn
Mike Rieman
The show’s proceeds will benefit the Americana Music Association, an organization dedicated to promoting the genre of music Parsons helped define.
More details are available at the Facebook event page.
