Americana Roots & Roll Rodney Crowell Above and Beyond By Richard Skanse Rhett Miller (& Mr. Record Man) on 20 grand & messed-up years of Old 97’s plus Radney Foster Lydia Loveless Adam Carroll Ray Bonneville Dawn & Hawkes & more LoneStarMusic | 1 2 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 3 4 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 5 6 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 7 NEW R H R inside this issue Where roots meet the here and now! Notes From the Editor 8 After Awhile — By Richard Skanse NEWS 10 Lone Star Music Awards Recap and Winners 12 Willie, SRV Inducted to Austin City Limits Hall of Fame 13 ACL Music Festival Lineup Announced 14 Artists Take the “RealWomenRealSongs” Challenge 16 Kent Finlay Benefit in Luckenbach 16 RIP: Steve Silbas of Casbeers 17 New & Recent Releases www.redhouserecords.com 800-695-4687 www.redhouserecords.com 18 In Profile: Adam Carroll — By Jim Beal Jr. 19 In Profile: Ray Bonneville — By Tiffany Walker Startlingly INTIMATE and powerful songs of CONSCIENCE and the 21 In Profile: Lydia Loveless — By D.C. Bloom ELIZA GILKYSON SPIRIT from the great Austin Music Hall of Famer. “One of the most 22 In Profile: Dawn & Hawkes — By D.C. Bloom THE NOCTURNE DIARIES infl uential artists on the American folk scene” - MAVERICK COLUMNS 24 Rowed Over: George Strait: The End of the Trail — By Holly Gleason 26 True Heroes of Texas Music: Rod Kennedy, 1930-2014 — By Michael Corcoran 27 My Friend Rod, the Patron Saint of Folk Music — By Terri Hendrix 28 Rod Kennedy: The Passion of a Legend — By Bob Livingston FEATUREs 30 Q&A: Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s — By Richard Skanse 48 Radney Foster Talks About “Everything” A SMOLDERING MASHUP of funk, blues, and powerful story-telling RAY BONNEVILLE from one of the most INTRIGUING and LYRICAL Americana artists — By Lynne Margolis EASY GONE working today. “a 21st century musical alchemist!” - BLUES MATTERS 52 The Wagoneers: Waiting on the Wagon Train — By Rob Patterson REVIEWS 56 Album Reviews Rodney John Fullbright, Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, Rodney Crowell, Randy Rogers Band, Josh Grider, Dave & Phil Alvin and more Crowell 66 Mr. Record Man: Old 97’s — By Richard Skanse Above and Beyond LSM Music Chart by richard skanse 79 LoneStarMusic Top 40 Albums pg 36 Staff Picks A terrifi c COLLABORATION with universal resonance by two of Austin’s VENUE SPOTLIGHT CARRIE ELKIN & great singer-songwriters exploring RELATIONSHIP and COMMITMENT! 80 River Road Ice House, New Bruanfels, TX DANNY SCHMIDT Elkin is “spellbinding!” - BBC RADIO • “In today’s underground folk — By Dale Martin FOR KEEPS world...Schmidt is spoken of in reverent tones.” - Austin Chronicle Photo by John Carrico 8 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 9 Red House LoneSt 2014 Spring.indd 1 4/17/14 10:31 AM after awhile Publisher: Zach Jennings Editor: Richard Skanse Notes from the Editor | By Richard Skanse Creative Director/Layout: Melissa Webb Cover Photo: David McClister It was four years ago this month that I finished editing my first issue of Lon- Advertising/Marketing: Kristen Townsend eStarMusic. I like to think that as a team we’ve come a long way since then, but Advertising: Erica Brown I was proud from the start to be welcomed into the LSM family and especially Artist & Label Relations: Kristen Townsend proud that the first cover story I got to write for the magazine was about the Kerrville Folk Festival. The passing of festival founder and longtime producer Rod Contributing Contributing Kennedy at age 84 on April 14 makes the anniversary of that issue bittersweet. Writers Photographers Inside this issue, Michael Corcoran pays tribute to Kennedy and his storied career Richard Skanse John Carrico in his “True Heroes of Texas Music” column, while longtime Kerrville performers and frequent LoneStarMusic contributors Terri Hendrix and Bob Livingston pay Terri Hendrix Beth Herzhaft moving respects of their own. Personally, I feel honored to have had that oppor- Lynne Margolis Dale Martin tunity back in early 2010 to spend a few hours with both Kennedy (who was al- ready retired) and his protégé/successor, Dalis Allen, talking about his legacy. For Michael Corcoran Vicki Farmer the way he took his lifelong love of music and had the vision and determination Holly Gleason Susan Roads to turn it into such a beautiful and impactful dream come true, I think Kennedy D.C. Bloom Patrick Crawford was as much of a true artist as any of the hundreds (if not thousands) that he ever booked at his festival. And even at 80 years old, he had one of the sharpest Scott Schinder Rodney Bursiel memories of anyone I’ve ever interviewed. Kennedy’s moved on now, but you can Tiffany Walker Vanessa Gavalya bet his memory will live on for as long as people continue to make the pilgrimage Jim Beal Jr. David McClister out to Quiet Valley Ranch year after year to “Heal in the Wisdom” of song. Fittingly, our cover story in this issue is on another “Rod” who is very much Rob Patterson Eric Ryan Anderson a legend in his own time: Rodney Crowell. I’ve interviewed Crowell a number of Kelly Dearmore times since the release of his 2001 masterpiece, The Houston Kid, and I always Bob Livingston come away from the experience with renewed respect for the man and his work. If you haven’t picked up his latest album, Tarpaper Sky, I can’t recommend it Dale Martin highly enough. And the same goes for his 2011 memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, which is every bit as eloquently written as any one of his songs. I spent the bet- ter part of the last two months happily revisiting Crowell’s entire catalog, and I probably spent just as much time cranking 20-years-worth of Old 97’s albums (especially their most excellent new one, Most Messed Up) in prep for our “Mr. Subscriber Service: Record Man” column and our Q&A with frontman Rhett Miller. Adam Carroll, To subscribe, email us at readers@lonestarmusic. Ray Bonneville, Radney Foster, and Lydia Loveless also got plenty of play, along com. For address changes, email readers@ with the terrific new albums from John Fullbright and Kelly Willis and Bruce Ro- lonestarmusic.com with a subject line of “address bison — all of which you’ll find profiled or reviewed inside. change” or write to: 202-C University Drive San Finally, on behalf of all of us here in the LSM family, I’d like to thank every- Marcos, TX 78666, Attn: Subscriber Services one who participated in our sixth annual Lone Star Music Awards, held April 27 in San Marcos. Cheers to all of the nominated artists who performed (all of Advertising: them winners in our book), the many guest presenters (from MC Mattson Rain- For rates, ad specs or advertising information, er of KNBT to the infamous Gill Webb to the one and only Robert Earl Keen), email Kristen Townsend at Kristen@lonestarmusic. and of course all of our generous sponsors: Rebecca Creek, Red Dirt Hurricane, com or call 1-800-TXMUSIC. KNBT, KOKE, 36 D, Red House Records, Southern Thread, Strait Music, the Zone, Texas Music Scene, Barefoot Athletics, Dickson Productions, Live at Billy Bob’s Reviews: Texas, and Cooper’s BBQ. And especially, thanks to every fan who made it out To be considered for a review, please submit CD to the Marc for the and/or press kit to: LoneStarMusic, Attn: Richard show or who took Skanse at LSMMag Reviews, 202 University Drive the time to vote on- San Marcos, TX 78666. line for the winners. We couldn’t have LoneStarMusic Magazine is published bimonthly pulled it off without by Superfly Music LLC. 202-C University Drive, San y’all. And next year, Marcos, TX 78666. Copyright © 2014 by Superfly let’s all get togeth- Music LLC and/or individual contributors. All er and do it again. rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part Who’s in? without written permission is prohibited. Views expressed herein are those of the author exclusively. Typographic, photographic and printing errors are THE PARTY NEVER ENDS: OK, maybe not everybody “got hammered” at the Lone Star Music Awards; some of us unintentional and subject to correction. Artists waited until the official after party at Cheatham Street Warehouse (which ended with the Beaumonts blasting through a rip-roaring cover of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” so loud, you couldn’t even hear the passing train). themselves contribute much of the content of this But hammered or not, a good time was had by all the whole night long. I can’t remember what had us laughing magazine. Think of the magazine as being rated PG- so hard when this shot was snapped backstage at the Marc, but odds are it was something REK said. From left: 13, occasionally R. Willy Braun of Reckless Kelly, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Richard Skanse, and Zach Jennings. (Photo by John Carrico) 10 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 11 pleasing “Texas Love Song,” another nominee for Song of the Year), Emerging Artist lsm news winners Thieving Birds (whose frontman, Ace Crayton, had also been in the running for Male Vocalist), Country Album winners Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, and, just before the Hall of Fame inductions, William Clark Green, whose full-band set naturally included his winning “She Likes the Beatles.” First introduced at last year’s awards show, the Lone Star Music Hall of Fame was started to recognize artists whose music and careers have come to exemplify Texas and Americana music at its finest — and who have played an undeniable role in inspiring M u sta n otta g otta l otta and even guiding countless others in their wake.