After months of speculation, XM and Sirius officially announced their merger plans this afternoon. It's being called a merger of equals, but Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin will head the new company, and XM shares will be exchanged for Sirius stock. The name of the united company has yet to be determined, and a number of programming decisions lie ahead, but the combination certainly seems to make sense for both subscribers and investors.

One certainly doesn't expect Texas music references in The Economist. But in the Feb. 8 issue, Britain's venerable weekly magazine praises Bandera's Robert Earl Keen for helping his musicians plan for retirement:

Austin, the capital of Texas, proclaims itself the "Live Music Capital of the World". Bands blast cowboy and blues songs each evening along Sixth Street, the town's answer to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. As morning dawns, musicians stumble home to financial drear. Many live below the poverty line. Few have health insurance. Some still hope they will die before they get old. For the rest, pensions are mostly a dream.
 
One Texan band is aiming for change. Robert Earl Keen, whose eponymous country band played at George Bush's inauguration, decided it was time to "run a business just by having good manners". Some years ago he created a pension plan for the self-employed, known as a SEP-IRA, for his band members, and began to pay into it. His latest addition is a health-care plan. These have helped keep his band together.

Read the full article, "When They're 64"

Austin singer/songwriter Nakia is releasing his first solo album on Saturday. The Playing the Cards EP features 4 originals, the never-before-recorded "Making It Up to My Baby" from Monte Warden, and a great cover of Billy Preston's "That's the Way God Planned It." You can listen to the full album at nakia.net or catch Nakia over the airwaves and at venues throughout Austin this week:

• Wed. 2/14 - KUT - Music with Jay Trachtenburg - 12:00PM
• Thu. 2/15 - FOX 7 - Morning News Show - 7:30AM
• Thu. 2/15 - KGSR - Sound Of Our Town with Bryan Beck - 9:20AM
• Thu. 2/15 - City Hall - Mayor Will Wynn proclaims "Nakia Day" - 5:30PM
• Thu. 2/15 - ME TV - Almost Late Show with Bobby Bones - 9:00PM
• Fri. 2/16 - KLBJ - Dudley & Bob Show - 8:20AM
• Fri. 2/16 - Flipnotics - Solo songwriter set with Andrew Walker
• Sat. 2/17 - Lamberts - Official CD release party and 32nd birthday bash - 10PM

Nakia was formerly Vic Odin in the Small Stars, who also have a new album this month, Tijuana Dreams.

See the full list of more than 1,000 bands.

Texas will be well represented at the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis Feb. 21-25, with 19 of the 250 official showcase artists:

• Danny Schmidt, Austin
• Gordy Quist, Austin
• Guy Forsyth, Austin
• Jimmy LaFave, Austin
• Jon Dee Graham, Austin
• Rex Moroux, Austin
• Seth Walker, Austin
• Sidehill Gougers, Austin
• The Hudsons, Austin
• The Warrior Gospel Band, Austin
• Les Amis Creole, Beaumont
• The Quebe Sisters Band, Burleson
• Brad Davis, Commerce
• Ken Gaines, Conroe
• Mando Saenz, Houston
• Los Texmaniacs, San Antonio
• Mariachi Las Alteñas, San Antonio
• Adam Carroll, San Marcos
• The Gimbles, Waco

I had the chance to attend last year's festival here in Austin. Good luck to those Texans making the trek to Memphis this year.

Today marks the national release date for Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track. Written by friend and flat track goddess Melissa Joulwan (aka Melicious), it provides a snapshot of roller derby life in and out of the rink.

From the cover description:

With her mouthy, tough-as-nails style, Melicious recounts her best tales from the track: her fierce rivalries with The Wrench and Ivanna S. Pankin, the scene at the annual national tournament, the thrill of a bout, and the infractions that so often bring her to the penalty box. From the minute she first laced up her skates and wrapped herself in her alter ego, Roller Derby has given her a confidence boost, and she shares the positive impact the sport has also had on girls -- young and not-so-young -- who tack posters of her on their bedroom walls and lace up their own skates.
 
Complete with photos and suggestions on how to develop a Rollergirl name and persona, this unprecedented tell-all comes from the woman who's watched the sport evolve from an underground Friday-night event to a bona fide national phenomenon.

Buy the book or go meet Mel at an event near you.

(By the way, my Rollergirl name is Peach E. Keen.)

Cindy Chaffin of the Fine Line (and formerly Texas Gigs, her online home for 3+ years) is morphing from blogger to vlogger with her first video post yesterday. It's a welcome development that's sure to be the beginning of a fun transformation, paired with Cindy and family's move along I-35 from Dallas to San Antonio. It's also a big change from a year ago, when the camera-shy Cindy substituted a paper alter ego in photographs from SXSW.
 

Mayor Will Wynn will proclaim February "Love Austin Music" month in a special presentation at City Hall this evening. Spearheaded by the Austin Music Foundation, the initiative is aimed at boosting support for live music and local musicians. Featured events include the Austin Music Mixer and Music Industry Boot Camp.

This latest effort to improve the living conditions of area musicians follows last fall's successful fundraising drive benefiting the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM). The first HAAM Benefit Day in October raised a reported $56,000, as local businesses chipped in a portion of their day's proceeds to help the nonprofit. Matching grants brought the total to more than $100,000. A second HAAM Benefit Day is scheduled for this fall.