Color Songwriting Challenge
Escalating songwriting challenge idea: write a song for every Crayola color in the box. (That is, the song lyrics should include the color name. This should be good for writing 120 songs.) Level 1: Blue, black, brown, green, orange, red, violet, yellow. (Move up to bigger boxes) Level 4: cadet blue, chestnut, melon, peach, sky […]
Rings on a Tree
8 songwriters, 10 musicians, 15 songs. The new album – Rings on a Tree – is released. You can hear it here. If you trace the branches of any family tree back far enough, you can see we’re all connected. Rings on a Tree is a concept album looking at our shared family histories and the way […]
25 Years in the Life of a Record Label
This week, we’re celebrating 25 years of releasing recordings through El Paisano Records. I started this record label as a sophomore at UT after spending a week at the (very rundown, pre-renovation) Hotel Paisano in Marfa. Our first products were cassette tapes(!) and CDs, and this week, our 15th and most recent release this week […]
Bull Creek Park
This is a drawing I did of a picnic table at Bull Creek Park in Austin, Texas. The table is surrounded by a crowd of 200 to 300 year-old live oak trees. Many, many, times, Walt Wilkins and I have met here – on that luckiest of days – Tuesdays. Five of the songs on […]
Hal Ketchum Singing ‘Too Many Memories’ on the Porch
Ten years ago, in August 2013, Hal Ketchum, Walt Wilkins, Jamie Wilson, Corby Schaub, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton, and I were sitting on the porch of a cabin after the first night of the Frio River Song Festival. A little after midnight, Walt and Hal started playing Stephen Bruton’s song “Too Many Memories,” and Mary Miles Temple […]
8 Songwriters, 10 Musicians, 15 Songs
8 songwriters, 10 musicians, 15 songs. The new album – Rings on a Tree – is released today. You can hear it here. If you trace the branches of any family tree back far enough, you can see we’re all connected. Rings on a Tree is a concept album looking at our shared family histories and the […]
ALBUM RELEASE SHOWS
Rings on a Tree Album Release Shows
LISTEN TO THE ALBUM GET THE ALBUM AS VINYL LP OR CD
Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, Texas
I was 18 when I heard Guy Clark play ‘Dublin Blues’ at Poor David’s Pub. At 19, I got to open for Steve Fromholtz and heard him play ‘Texas Trilogy’ and ‘I’d Have to be Crazy.’ I heard Rusty Weir tell stories and sing ‘Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance’ at Poor David’s Pub. I […]
Singles from Upcoming Album ‘Rings on a Tree’
Once a year is not often enough to celebrate your birthday. In a conversation one afternoon, Walt Wilkins and I decided that we should be celebrating being born every month, every week, every day. The song that we wrote after our conversation – ‘Days’ – has been released as a single on streaming sites today […]