There's an excellent new Americana-themed Christmas album out now on Western Beat Records, To Kate: A Benefit for Kate's Sake. The album features contributions from Steve Earle with Allison Moorer, Joe Ely, Buddy & Julie Miller, Raul Malo, Jason & the Scorchers, and more. I'll have the review up later this week.

The "Kate" in the title is Kate Kirk, a 3-year-old little girl from Nashville with a rare and typically fatal genetic disorder, Niemann-Pick Disease. But Kate has a glimmer of hope in the form of a bone-marrow transplant. She had the transplant this summer at Duke University, but the procedure and related expenses are expected to run up to $150,000. Her older sister, 6-year-old Caroline, also shares the disease, but her condition is beyond treatment.

It's a great album for a great cause. And after all, isn't the holiday spirit all about helping others?

Buy To Kate, make a donation, and learn more about Kate and Caroline, their disease, and their family at www.forkatessake.org. If you'd prefer to make a donation offline, you can do that too at any Bank of America branch.

This isn't a phrase I toss around lightly, but may God bless the Kirk family and their two beautiful little girls.

After two weeks of tinkering, our first audio interview is ready at last. Earlier this month Hayes Carll sat down with This Is Texas Music to talk about Little Rock (review), his struggles with radio airplay, and more on his life and career to date.

Listen to the Hayes Carll interview (mp3, 13.25 MB).

Just over a month after announcing a break from touring to enter rehab, Jason Boland and the Stragglers will return to the stage Thanksgiving week. And there's no easing back into things, either, as the band resumes its usual 3+-nights-a-week schedule.

San Angelo police dropped drug charges against Los Lonely Boys drummer Ringo Garza this week, adding that there are no plans to pursue sexual assault charges stemming from a January party some say got out of control.

While Garza steadfastly professed his innocence against whispers of alleged rape and general excess, many public critics assumed his guilt. The band was even dropped from performing at an official Super Bowl party.

Los Lonely Boys are touring actively through the end of the year. No official word yet on the release date for the band's much-anticipated and much-delayed second album. Amazon.com pegs the release date as December 31, 2025, but hopefully it's available a little before then.

Hayes Carll closed a 2-night stint at the cozy Cactus Cafe in grand style last night. Tuesday was solo acoustic night, opening for Laura Cantrell. Last night the two switched roles, and Carll and his Gulf Coast Orchestra rewarded those who stayed after Cantrell's traditional country opening set with 90 minutes of full-throttle Americana.

Upon entering the Texas Union and hearing a rehearsing group's Christmas carols echoing through the hallowed halls, one just knew it would be an entertaining evening. And Carll definitely did not disappoint.

After a modest self-introduction, the black-clad band launched into a rollicking tour through Little Rock (review) and Flowers and Liquor. High points included the Guy Clark co-write "Rivertown," the audience-requested "Sit in with the Band," and the closing "Live Free or Die."

But as always, Carll's dry, understated wit outshone even the most sparkling musical numbers. He regaled the 100 or so in attendance with stories of wayward Oklahoma partiers crashing a recent private concert, the heckling he took from David Allen Coe at the Americana Music Association conference, and other quippy anecdotes from a life on the road.

Carll is surely one of the most entertaining showmen on the circuit today. And it comes off as an honest humor, not a tightly-rehearsed script, that works to connect the audience with the singer and draw them into his tales of the lovelorn, lost, low-down, and lonely.

I got a chance to spend some time with Hayes Carll prior to last night's show. Look for an interview within the week, and maybe even a live concert recording.

(Photos courtesy of Ron Baker. Thanks, Ron!)

posted by Patrick Nichols  11/10/2005 0 comments

Ian Moore kicked off his acoustic mini-tour at the Saxon Pub last night, playing nearly 2 hours to an appreciative Tuesday night crowd eager to welcome the blues-rock singer/songwriter back to his former Austin stomping grounds. As Moore noted four songs into the set, "It's been a long time."

Moore's 2004 Yep Roc release Luminaria (review) figured heavily throughout the set, from the opening "What I've Done" to the penultimate "Cinnamon." But Moore and multi-instrumentalist Kullen Fuchs also worked in a range of career-spanning songs as well as a few covers, including a gorgeous take on Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos."

The highlight was the closing 15-minute medley of "Today" melting into a haunting "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Moore's hands simply flew across the strings and fretboard, and with Fuchs magically bouncing between instruments one would walk away swearing there were more than two people on stage. Simply magical.

Moore promised an Austin return at the Cactus Cafe in December, then a full-band show sometime early next year.

Black Water Gospel gets a well-deserved turn in the spotlight thanks to David Brown's wonderful "Texas Music Matters" program at KUT, Austin's NPR affiliate.

Download the mp3 archive of Black Water Gospel on "Texas Music Matters."

If you're in Austin, be sure to come celebrate with Black Water Gospel tomorrow night at Jovita's, 10pm-midnight.

And thanks to David for inviting me into the studio to help spread the gospel about one of Austin's finest young bands.

Someone took advantage of the White Ghost Shivers at their annual Halloween ball last night … and I think they're a little angry:

First off, thank you to everyone who came out and/or made tonight possible, it was a great time!
 
Secondly, someone fucking stole a projector and a DVD/VCR combo from us!!! No shit!!! The projector was lent to us by a dear friend who borrowed it from her work and asked us to take extra care of it. I don't give a shit about the DVD player, we just want the projector back. It's smallish and boxey and folds out at the front and the cord plugs in from the front. 'Carnival Of Souls' was the movie that was in the DVD player when it was stolen, so if you see that around along with someone who has a projector, chances are, they stole that shit.
 
We used all of our own money, did everything ourselves, promoted it ourselves, put our trust in people who came, EVERYTHING! And somebody stole our fucking shit. If you stole it and you're reading this, just give it back to us and we won't care. BUT, if we will find out who stole it and you didn't fess up, we will burn your fucking house down. So it's your choice. Return it and nothing will happen, or we'll find out who you are through our very large amount of friends, and we'll have a fucking BBQ on the ruins of your house motherfucker. No shit.
 
I'm sorry this is such a negative post, I was planning on just saying thank you in the morning to everyone. But we do thank everyone who showed up, helped, didn't steal, and did anyting else positive for us. We hope you had a great time.
 
AND PLEASE REPOST THIS SO WE CAN GET OUR PROJECTOR BACK!
 
THANKS
White Ghost Shivers