Just 324 days until the 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival, which is now set for September 14-17.

Or if you're more into reliving this year's event, check out the newly released Best of Fest picks. Congratulations to Austin's much buzzed-about Ghostland Observatory for capturing the "Favorite Discovery" honors.

posted by Patrick  # 10/25/2006 0 comments

The Stones are rolling through Austin this weekend. I won't be there to soak in the pageantry, and neither will thousands of others show organizers had planned for. Around 10,000 of the 50,000 lawn tickets are still available, with many more floating on the secondary market.

All the hype surrounding the show since its announcement this summer just hasn't been enough to garner a sellout. A few reasons why:

1. High ticket prices ($95 and up, with a $20 discount for students) in a town where music is readily available and tickets/cover typically run below the market norm
2. Zilker just hosted ACL Fest a month ago, with passes for the 130-band lineup priced comparably to the Rolling Stones show
3. Opening acts Ian McLagan & the Bump Band and Los Lonely Boys are more or less locals, and therefore aren't likely to boost the draw like some of the other openers on this leg of the tour (e.g. Dave Matthews, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Kanye West)
4. Austin just isn't that big — a sellout crowd would represent nearly 10 percent of the city's population

So come Sunday, my wife and I will be home watching football instead of fighting the (lessened) crowd. We live near Zilker, so we're likely to notice increased traffic and other evidence that the caravan has arrived. But for us there will be no Bigger Bang, and we're OK with that.

Baldemar Huerta, better known as Freddy Fender, died at his Corpus Christi home yesterday following a year-long battle with lung cancer.

The bilingual country crooner and Texas native is best known for the 1970s hits "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and "Wasted Days Wasted Nights," as well as his role in the supergroups Texas Tornados and, more recently, Los Super Seven.

Three new reviews:

Wayne Hancock, Tulsa (Bloodshot Records)

Why the Hell Not: The Songs of Kinky Friedman, featuring Kevin Fowler, Willie Nelson, Todd Snider, Reckless Kelly, and more (Sustain Records)

Calhoun, Calhoun (self-released)

On Tuesday more than 100 local businesses donated at least 5 percent of proceeds to help raise money for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM). Organizers hoped to raise $50,000 on the first HAAM Benefit Day, an amount two charitable foundations have pledged to match.

To show their support, artists like Guy Forsyth, Wade Bowen, and Carolyn Wonderland played public gigs at places like Whole Foods, HEB, and City Hall. Waterloo Ice House also is raising money for HAAM through a month-long concert series commemorating its 30th anniversary.

Now in its second year, HAAM provides health, dental, and mental health benefits to uninsured, low-income musicians. More than 500 artists have received care through the program so far.

The city of Austin is home to an estimated 8,000 musicians. As a friend pointed out last night, with an official population of just over 650,000 that means roughly 1 in 80 Austinites is a working musician. If you could assume an equal distribution of musicians throughout the city (which you logically cannot, but I will anyway), then there's a musician living on every block. Amazing.

With a new election season upon us and the same old GOP still controlling national politics, James McMurtry is hoping to make a difference.

Following the same pattern as 2004's hugely successful "We Can't Make It Here" (recently named Song of the Year by the Americana Music Association), he today released a new protest song you can download for free. "God Bless America" blasts our SUV driving, corporate graft abiding, consumerist culture.

Download James McMurtry's "God Bless America" now.

Lyrics

Look yonder comin', mercy me
Three wise men in a SUV
Corporate logo on the side
Air-conditioned quiet ride

That thing don't run on french fry grease
That thing don't run on love and peace
Takes gasoline make that thing go
Now bring your hands up nice and slow

Take us to the land of milk and honey
Sing and dance all night long
Whatcha gonna do with all that money
Whatcha gonna do when that money's all gone

Negotiation's just no fun
And it don't serve our interests none
Gonna turn up the heat till it comes to a boil
So we can go get that Arab oil

And we'll suck it all up through the barrel of a gun
Everyday’s the end of days for some
Republicans don't cut and run
Tell me ain't you proud of what we've done

Take us to the land of milk and honey
Sing and dance all night long
Whatcha gonna do with all that money
Whatcha gonna do when that money's all gone

You keep talking that shit like I never heard
Hush, little President, don't say a word
When the rapture comes and the angels sing
God's gonna buy you a diamond ring

Take us to the land of milk and honey
Sing and dance all night long
Whatcha gonna do with all that money
Whatcha gonna do when that money's all gone

©James McMurtry, 2006