Just last week, a friend and I were wondering what happened to Collin Herring. When I spoke with Collin at last year's SXSW, he was putting finishing touches on a new album produced by Ken Coomer. In fact, he included the first completed song on a compilation CD handed out at the Sin City Social Club day party. Then a couple months later a note on his site mentioned he'd re-entered the recording studio, this time with Colin Cripps. Only a small handful of live shows followed in 2006, with none I know of so far in 2007.

With such infrequent updates to his website, it finally dawned on me to check Collin's MySpace page. And sure enough, there's an update pointing to a spring release of the new album, Past Life Crashing.

After appearing at Paste Magazine's SXSW '06 showcase, Collin Herring resumed work on his upcoming 3rd record, "Past Life Crashing", set for release in Spring '07. Always anxious to get into the studio and unleash mayhem, Collin started the project in Nashville last year with producer Ken Coomer (Uncle Tupelo/Wilco). Next stop was Austin, where Colin Cripps (Kathleen Edwards) produced additional tracks. Another veteran from the Collin Herring trail, Stuart Sikes (Modest Mouse/ Loretta Lynn) also contributes his skills during mixdown and final production. … Helping Collin on the upcoming "Past Life Crashing" cd are musicians from Wilco, Son Volt, Alejandro Escovedo, Fastball and Americana heroine Kathleen Edwards, whose vocal and violin can be heard on "Punches", Collin's mp3 @sxsw.com. And, of course, Collin's dad, Ben Roi Herring, again adds the pedal steel swag to the mix. Collin Herring's band, in addition to his dad, Ben Roi (pedal steel/keyboards/harmony vocals), include Austinites Alan Durham (lead guitar), Joey Shuffield (drums) and Harmoni Kelley (bass guitar).

Collin's The Other Side of Kindness is perhaps my favorite CD in the three years I've had this site. It's an understatement to say I'm eagerly awaiting Past Life Crashing.

The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop is among the first in the chain to feature a location-specific music feed as well as digital downloads for hotel guests.

Built with Audiosuite and programmed by Music Styling, the first wave of music collections includes:

• Lost Pines Texas: "Uncle Walt's Band lead the way to the new genre of Progressive Texas Folk Music, with artists such as Seth Walker, Shelley King and The Band of Heathens."
• Sheller's Barrelhouse Blues: "Delbert McClinton heads up this toe tapping collection which also features Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli, Brian Keane and Ed Jurdi."
• Wolfdancer Swing Tunes: "Featuring Grammy winner Johnny Gimble, Asleep at the Wheel who also won many Grammys for their western swing music, and newcomers The Greencards, Hot Club of Cowtown and the Tea Merchants."
• Spa Django Gypsy Jazz: "Django's Moustache and Rumbullion capture the spirit of Django Reinhardt, while Jim Stringer lends an air of mellow country guitar pickin, Tres brings you a mellow blend of Latin jazz, and Traci Lamar's remarkable deep throaty voice brings visions of a 1940s smoky cabaret."

Congratulations to our friends at Fat Caddy Records for winning best local label honors at last night's Austin Music Awards. Also, Fat Caddy artist Band of Heathens won the best new band category and finished second in overall band of the year voting.

You can help Fat Caddy celebrate at the label's spring showcase tomorrow afternoon at Molotov, with performances from the Band of Heathens, Macon Greyson, Black Water Gospel, Austin Collins, Brian Keane, and more.

Every once in a while I log into musicSUBMIT to sample some of the musicians seeking reviews or promotional support. Most of my queue consists of artists lacking either Texas connections or … well … talent. There are occasional new-to-me gems, and today I found one: Hurt Street, a rock quintet out of Stephenville.

And, as usual, I noticed Cindy Chaffin knew about Hurt Street well before me. *Sigh.* You can sample Hurt Street's "Ravenous" at the fine line.

Hurt Street will be playing at Aussie's this Saturday as part of the SXSW-themed Rock the Sandbox festival.

Recently I traveled out of Austin's airport. Since I'm the type of traveler that can't sleep the night before a flight (I've never overslept, but one can never be too careful…), I arrived a good hour-and-a-half before boarding. So I had ample time to sit back and enjoy some Austin music.

If you've ever passed through ABIA, chances are you've heard a little local flavor. A permanent stage hosts regular live performances to reinforce the city's boast as "live music capital of the world." The stage is empty on early weekend mornings, so I had to make do with the fall-back: a custom radio feed played through the PA system.

I heard songs from the likes of Robyn Ludwick, the Small Stars, Guy Clark, the Greencards, Kevin Fowler, Lucky Tomblin, Asleep at the Wheel, Eliza Gilkyson, and Jimmy LaFave. Kasey Chambers too, but I'm not quite sure how she slipped in there.

As an Americana fan and local music aficionado, I'd say I recognized at least three-quarters of the artists played. But to the average traveler, the music provides little more than pleasant-enough background music. And that's fine. But it could be so much more.

The airport should have display boards showing the artist and song title currently playing. Or better yet, the feed should include 5-second DJ snippets or artist self-introductions to provide some context to the sounds.

As a condition of acceptance into the radio feed, the artists should be asked to provide CDs to sell on consignment in a dedicated airport kiosk or vending machine. There's already some music for sale in the Austin City Limits-themed store, but it's generally overpriced and not representative of the radio feed.

I know some artists who have had the opportunity to play on the airport stage, and they report brisk on-site CD sales just by virtue of the opportunity to play in front of captive audiences looking to pass the time with something new and different. Plus, many people carry extra cash when traveling, and music makes a perfect impulse purchase.

The radio feed may boost city officials' egos, but giving our artists a chance to sell more CDs — especially at a time when the same officials are trying to raise awareness of musicians' economic struggles and subsequent healthcare crises — can provide something much more valuable.