Arlington Hosts 50th ACM AwardsMiranda Lam-bert won four awards, includ-ing album and song of the year, but lost the night’s top prize, entertain-er of the year, to Luke Bryan at the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards April 19 at AT&T Stadi-um in Arlington. It was a repeat of the Country Music Associa-

tion Awards in November, where Lambert won multiple prizes but lost the big award to Bryan. Lambert was the sole female nominated for en-tertainer of the year; other nominees included Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean and Florida Geor-gia Line. Though she lost the top prize — again — Lambert was the queen of the night. She was on a red-hot winning streak — and even rocked a red-hot bustier when she performed “Little Red Wagon.” Lambert won her fourth album of the year (for Platinum), her sixth female vocal-ist of the year and her third single record of the year (for “Automatic.”) “I don’t even real-ize what’s happening tonight,” Lambert said. “I love my job so much. I will never not love my job.” Lambert, a fashion favorite in the last year, wowed again in a flowing, plunging

dress on the red carpet. Inside the venue, she wore white pants and a white top with a black sheer center. She also accepted one of seven 50th Anniversary Milestone Awards, given to her by Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara.

(Lambert wrote a song for their new film, Hot Pursuit). Other recipients of the anniversa-ry honor include George Strait, who received the first honor of the live broadcast — a Mile-stone Award af-ter performing his new single, “Let It Go,” and his classic “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” Later, Kelly Clarkson took the sage to present mother-in-law Reba McEntire with a Milestone Award. “When I was at the ACMs nine years ago, I yelled across the crowded backstage to Reba, ‘I want to be you when I grow up!’ Clarkson, who is married to McEntire’s stepson, Brandon Blackstock, joked as she took to the stage. “So basically, what I’m saying here, people, is that I have the coolest mother-in-law, and you all can suck it.” Not only was this the ACMs biggest audi-ence ever, but the 2015 ACM Awards brought in the biggest audience for a live TV awards show ever.

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May ‘15extra

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Miranda Lambert

George Strait

AT&T Stadium employed innovative lighting for the event.

Kelly Clarkson (left) honors Reba McEntire.

Kacey Musgraves

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Dave’s Musical Contribution When David Letterman retires this month from CBS’s Late Show, musicians everywhere will

be singing the blues. But the popular host’s departure is a particular loss for one genre: A m e r i c a n a . “Dave was c e l e b r a t i n g A m e r i c a n a artists before we knew what we were called,” says Emmylou Harris, who first performed on Letterman’s show in 1989.

Steve Earle, who’s performed several times, says Letterman “has been loyal to us. It really is the end of an era. The two most important [network] shows for music have been Letterman and Saturday Night Live. We really don’t have anything else.”

Amanda Shires (right) and Jason Isbell performed in April.

Willie Nelson has appeared on Letterman’s show 25 times.

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later, the Civil A e r o n a u t i c s Board blamed the accident primarily on the pilot’s lack of qualification and secondarily on an inade-quate weather

briefing. Now, the National Trans-portation Safety Board, the suc-cessor to the aeronautics board, may be taking another look. The NTSB received a letter from aviation enthusiast L.J. Coon, a self-described retired pilot and aircraft dispatcher, asking it to look at other possible contrib-uting factors to the crash. They include the aircraft’s weight and balance calculations (for passen-gers, baggage and fuel), possible issues with rudder panels and possible carburetor induction ic-ing, Coon claims. “You have got-ten our attention,” the NTSB has written, saying it would examine the information he provided. The agency has a few months to review the petition and decide whether there’s new information that would make it revisit the

case. In 1959, Holly, Valens and Richard-son were part of the Winter Dance Party, a tour that had started in Milwaukee and traveled to small cities in Minnesota and Iowa. The m u s i c i a n s

The Day the Music Died — RevisitedIn the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 1959, a small aircraft carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson crashed a few miles from Mason City Munici-pal Airport, near Clear Lake, Iowa. The voice of the hit songs “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day” was silenced forever. A few months

had traveled in subfreezing temperatures in unheated buses, and people were getting sick. Holly booked the four-seat aircraft to fly to Fargo, N.D., where he planned to fi-

nally do laundry and rest in advance of the group’s next concert in nearby Moorhead, Minn. Coun-try legend Waylon Jen-nings, then Holly’s bass player, gave up his seat to a sick Richardson that night. Jennings, who died in 2002 at age 64, was haunted by his decision for years to come. Dion

and the Belmonts were also on the tour, but Dion (DiMucci) gave up his seat on the plane after hearing the $36-per-person price tag. He was the only headliner not on the plane. The crash has inspired genera-

tions of artists. Gary Busey played Holly in the 1978 movie The Buddy Holly Story, while Lou Diamond Phillips played Ritchie Valens (originally Valenzuela) in the 1987 hit movie La Bamba. Don McLean, who was inspired by Holly’s music, memorialized that day as “the day the music died” in his legendary 1971 song “American Pie.”

Buddy Holly

Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts

Ritchie Valens

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Bill Arhos: 1934–2015

Bill Arhos, a frustrated guitarist whose Aus-tin City Limits introduced much of America to the sound of progressive country — and prompted Austin to proclaim itself the “Live Music Capital of the World” — died April 11 at age 80. Armed with a pilot featuring Willie Nelson that he produced for $7,000, Arhos convinced public broadcasting stations in 1975 that the rest of the nation was ready for the emerging home-brewed regional mix of rock and counterculture lyrics by coun-try singer-songwriters, a marked contrast

to mainstream Nashville mu-sic. By 2010, ACL had be-come the lon-gest-running live music show on televi-sion, surpass-ing the Boston Pops’ 34-year record. “Bill got it launched as a series, Bill kept it go-ing as a series for 25 or more years,” says Terry Lickona, the show’s cur-

rent producer and Arhos’ for-mer colleague. “That was an important part of Bill’s lega-cy.” Introduced with Gary P. Nunn’s “Lon-

don Homesick Blues,” ACL went on to feature performances by country stars like Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks and Lyle Lovett, as well as rock and blues acts including Roy Or-bison, Ray Charles, Pearl Jam, Townes Van Zandt and, of course, Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 2002 the show spawned the popular Aus-tin City Limits Music Festival. “What was the most visible cultural product of Austin? Music,” Arhos was quoted in the 2010 book Weird City by Joshua Long. “It was obvious. It would be like ignoring a rhinoceros in your bathtub.” In 1995, Arhos told the Univer-sity of Texas alumni magazine: “There were probably more blues and jazz musicians here than country musicians, but the only money-making gigs were in country. So they played jazz and blues inside the country music, and that developed a new art form.” Arhos was

inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame (above) at its first induction ceremony in 2014. “If there’s a single person to which the phrase ‘without whom’ could be applied, it’s Bill Arhos,” read his induction bio.

Against All OddsTexas lawmakers have named pop star Phil Col-lins an honorary Texan, saluting his donation of hundreds of Alamo arti-facts back to the historic outpost — while offering numerous quips referenc-ing his song lyrics. The former Genesis singer-drummer appeared in the Texas Senate and House on March 11. He didn’t give a speech, but greeted lawmakers who crowded to shake hands.

The 63-year-old Briton is an Alamo buff and spent decades collecting artifacts related to the 1836 battle, where 1,500 Mexican troops

laid siege to 200 Texans. Last year, he gave 200-plus pieces of his collection to the Ala-mo. Collins grinned as many lawmakers took to the floor to joke about “feeling it in the air tonight,” ”one more night” and Texas having a “groovy kind of love” for its newest honor-ary citizen.

Arhos (l) with ACL producer Terry Lickona in 1988.

Collins (r) with Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

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22–24Fredericksburg Crawfish FestivalMarktplatzFredericksburgwww.fbgcrawfish.com

Neon Desert Music FestivalCleveland Square parkEl pasowww.neondesertmusicfestival.com

29–31Dallas International Guitar FestivalFair parkdallaswww.guitarshow.com

5–6T-Bone Walker Blues FestMaude Cobb Covention CenterLongviewwww.tbonewalkerbluesfest.com

6–7Free Press Summer FestEleanor Tinsley parkHoustonwww.fpsf.com

13–14Texas Folklife FestivalHemisFair parkSan Antoniowww.texancultures.com

18–20Legends of Western Swing Music FestivalRay Clymer Exhibit HallWichita Fallswww.wfmpec.com

maY

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Kerrville Folk FestivalMay 21—June 7 • Quiet Valley Ranch • Kerrvillewww.kerrville-music.com

Each May and June, tens of thousands of Austinites and visitors from all over the world converge at Quiet Valley Ranch in Kerrville for 18 consecutive days of traditional folk, bluegrass, acoustic rock, blues, country, jazz and Americana music. Founded by Rod Kennedy, the Kerrville Folk Festival has run annually since 1972 and is the longest continuously running music festival of its kind in North America. Many visitors camp at the ranch during the festival and almost all the staff are volunteers. One of the most unique aspects of the festival happens after the official shows when fans, volunteers and performers play music by the campfires, sometimes till dawn. This year’s lineup includes Texans Jimmy LaFave, Elizabeth McQueen, Gurf Morlix, Sam Baker, Joe King Carrasco, Wood & Wire, Ruthie Foster, the Chubby Knuckle Choir, and Rodney Crowell (with Emmylou Harris). In addition to the live music, the festival features special concerts and activities for children, songwriting schools and the annual New Folk Competition.

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CROWN PRINCE: Joe King Carrasco closes the show on Friday, June 5.

Apr 21 Randy Rogers & Wade Bown Hold My Beer Vol. 1 Lil’ Buddy Toons

Apr 21 The Happen-Ins Glamour Shots Fuzz

Apr 21 William Clark Green Ringling Road Grease

Apr 21 Chubby Knuckle Choir Reveille Smith

Apr 21 Carolyn Wonderland Live Texas Trio Bismeaux

May 4 Paula Maya Iluminar Yellow House

May 5 The Sideshow Tragedy Capital Gods and Devils

May 5 White Label Analog A Little More Time S/R

May 5 Granger Smith 4x4 Pioneer

May 12 The Lonesome Band Running Alone Ice House

May 12 Sour Bridges Sour Bridges S/R

May 12 Rhett Miller The Traveler ATO

May 12 Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris The Traveling Kind Nonesuch

May 12 Pake Rossi Twisted in the Vine S/R

May 19 Jamie Lin Wilson Holidays & Wedding Rings S/R

May 19 Jason Cassidy 717 S/R

May 26 LEV (aka Holly Peyton) Fear No Evil Vintage Lion

May 26 The Wheel Workers Citizens S/R

Jun 2 Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard Django and Jimmie Legacy

Jun 2 Callahan Divide Come About S/R

Jun 9 Courtney Patton So This Is Life S/R

Jun 9 Dale Watson Call Me Insane Red House

Jun 9 Uncle Lucius The Light Boo Clap

Jun 16 Cory Morrow The Good Fight Write On

Jun 23 Kacey Musgraves Pageant Material Mercury Nashville

Jun 23 Leon Bridges Coming Home Columbia

Jul 17 Iron and Wine &Ben Bridwell Sing Into My Mouth Black Cricket

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Abram ShookLandscape DreamWestern Vinyl

The cover of Landscape Dream is a psychedelic swirl of colors and textures that evoke everything from sandy deserts to starry night skies and distant galaxies. It’s both a sign of

things to come and an invitation: though it’s pleasant upon first listen, this is an album that expects more than just a passive ear. In the same way the best psychotherapists ask questions rather than supply answers, the true joy of this record comes after a few more spins, as each hypnotic track creates a distinct emotional atmosphere. “Beach Glass” is warm and comforting, layering airy synths over simmering drums, while “5 AM Tribute” is suddenly punchy, with its crisp guitar and delightfully bouncy surfer grooves. The heavier-sounding “Find It” offers more obvious evidence of Shook’s ’70s psych-rock influences, only for Abram to throw off your sense of space and time once again with the infectiously catchy “Get Gone.” This standout track features a rare example of Shook crooning in his lovely lower register atop plunky staccato chords and a jagged-sounding drum beat. Lyrics are less the focus than the dreamy arrangements and off-kilter collages of sound. The overall journey is both hazy, mystifying and enchanting — a mental escape sure to intrigue and inspire. — ALLIE EISSLER

Paula MayaIluminarYellow House

A u s t i n - b a s e d Paula Maya is originally from Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of bossa nova and, a century earlier, choro, a Brazilian be-bop-like music. Both musical styles,

as well as Brazilian dance music like samba and baião, are represented on Iluminar, where the jazzy, South American styles incorporate Brazilian melodies with folk, roots, electronica and pop. The soft ballads and Brazilian percussion reveal an intimate side of Maya’s music, steeped in swirling melodies and rhythms of South America. Sung predominately in Portuguese, Iluminar is distinguished from Maya’s previous releases, which featured a mix of pop, rock, classical music, avant grade instrumentals and electronica. lluminar, which means “to shine” in Portuguese, features eight songs — seven originals and one traditional bossa nova. The album title is taken from the opener, “Iluminar Você,” written in Portuguese about flying to Rio de Janeiro to see her old friends and family. Though Iluminar is inspired by Brazil, it’s also Maya’s first album completely recorded, mixed and mastered in Austin. Rolling by as gently as a samba-filled breeze, it’s all rolled together so seamlessly that it makes for a captivating whole. — BRIAN MCGRATH

Daniel MarkhamPretty Bitchin’Self-Released

Denton rocker Daniel Markham has been making a lot of noise in North Texas with his rocking blend of jangling guitars, dense rhythms and Jay Farrar-ish voice. The follow

up to 2013’s Ruined My Life, which featured the popular alt-country twanger “Favorite Band,” Pretty Bitchin’ crashes and bangs and spews barely veiled venom like an audio advice column for the lonely, uncertain insomniac rock-and-roller. Markham actually goes a long way toward explaining the whole record as opener “Make Believe“ fades with a final piece of advice: “So don‘t let it get you down tonight.” Twangy and dark, tunes like “Night (Just One More),” “Ennio” and the appropriately smoldering “Burn Away” have a deep Son Volt patina that works well with Markham’s earnest lyrics and vocal delivery. It’s all relationship trouble here — the sun comes out occasionally but never shines long enough to part the uncertainty and doubt between the psychological combatants. Markham isn’t certain whether it’s frustration or desperation that’s causing the trouble, and he doesn’t much care, so when he proposes “Open up your heart and lay your love on me / Cut me up, hide the body” and begins to take out his frustration on his guitar, motives no longer matter. Markham’s just going to keep on rocking and let the chips fall. — WILLIAM MICHAEL SMITH

Jamie Lin WilsonHolidays & Wedding Rings Self-Released

It’s a little hard to believe this is the first full-length solo album from Jamie Wilson, she of the distinctively soothing twang who just seems like a fixture (if a slightly under-the-radar one) on

the Texas/Americana music axis over the last decade or so. Tenures with critic-friendly bands like the Gougers and, more recently, the Trishas (as well as collaborations with folks like the Turnpike Troubadours and Jason Eady) have kept her at the forefront of conversations about who the Lone Star State’s most vital young female singer-songwriter might be: with the release of Holidays & Wedding Rings, she seems unlikely to lose her place. Her default point of view is that of a small-town wife and mother — it’s hard to name a contemporary artist who nails it better — but she can tackle darker tales with aplomb, too. Always solid and frequently transcendent, that aforementioned singular instrument of a voice flows around the corners of emotions both sublimely tender (“Here Tonight,” “Whisper On My Skin”) and more desperate (“Seven Year Drought,” “Just Like Heartache”). There’s a spine-tingling duet with Wade Bowen (“Just Some Things”), and though it’s certainly Wilson in the spotlight, a spirit of collaboration pervades, with a small army of stalwart co-writers and backup musicians bringing this particularly fulfilling vision to life. — MIKE MESSICK

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If Texas music has a songwriter on a par with novelist Cormac McCarthy, it’s fellow El Pasoan Tom Russell. Russell’s latest project, Rose of Roscrae, is a mammoth, cast-of-thousands, 52-track double-disc endeavor recorded over numerous sessions in Dripping Springs and Nashville. Russell has drawn, in part, on Texas greats Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Eliza Gilkyson, Gurf Morlix and Jimmy LaFave. The Nashville cast includes part-time Shakespearean thespian Dave Olney as well as Gretchen Peters, and Russell plays some wild cards with the likes of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Augie Meyers and Kevin “Blackie” Farrell. Billed as a folk opera, the album reprises a few Russell classics like “Sky Above, Mud Below” as well as strong new tunes like “He Wasn’t A Bad Kid When He Was Sober” and “Hair Trigger Heart” that contain Russell’s usual Western themes and cowboy gravitas. We caught up with him on tour in Columbus, Ohio.

So who’s touring with you these days?Thad Beckman is on guitar and there’s me, and that’s it as far as the shows go.

So you don’t necessarily need a van.[Laughs] Nah, I’m a one rent-a-car, two guitars kind of guy. On this trip, my wife is also along, and I’ve got an Irish fellow who’s a glutton for punishment handling the driving and the merchandise.

Regarding the new record, did you envision 52 tracks that play out over two discs and two-and-a-half hours, or did this just get out of hand?I had a concept, but I really didn’t know how sprawling this thing would become. This was written in a piecemeal fashion over several years. I just originally had the idea of this story of an Irish kid who runs away and ends up in the Old West and becomes part cowboy, part outlaw. My goal was to make a landscape about this kid looking back on his life, sort of the way True Grit or Little Big Man were written ... old man looks back. And I wanted to use more authentic language than say the language in Oklahoma, which was written by an Easterner. But another impetus for this was wanting to honor my former sister-in-law, who ranched by herself in California for decades after she and my brother divorced. This is a woman who lived alone and did everything on her ranch herself. She even had two bears come in her kitchen and surprise her once, and she had to deal with running them out. I’ve always wanted to do something that acknowledged her.

It’s not an easy listening experience. Did you give length any consideration?The short answer is no. I realize the album takes probably above-average concentration, and some time has to be blocked out to listen and digest the whole thing. I’d like to think that people familiar with my music will do that and

will like the experience. I’ve also had people tell me they didn’t get it until they listened to it on a trip with no distractions. But beyond all those considerations and angles, I’m hoping someone may come along and actually stage this, adapt it for theater. One thing that was quickly apparent — it’s not necessarily just Western or cowboy or folk music.That was in the back of my mind as I was conceiving how to do this and writing the various parts ... that the music of the West isn’t just cowboy tunes, per se. You’ve got French music in the mix, the whole Mexican and Tex-Mex border influence, the German polka influences ... it’s not as simple as just campfire songs made up by white people. That’s why I wanted to get a Leadbelly clip in the script, because more cowboys than we sometimes want to admit were black. I wanted the musical mix to be a true reflection rather than one-sided.

Dave Olney plays a major role in the spoken word parts of the album. What made you select him for the role?Dave has considerable acting experience. and he has an ideal voice for his role, kind of a surly, devious rounder’s voice, a tough guy’s voice. There’s some danger in it. I like

to work conceptually, and that was part of the overall vision of this thing ... to have voices around the campfire, if you will, and to use those snatches of conversation as segues to advance the narrative. I like that we were able to get permission to use Johnny Cash’s voice, to use Leadbelly, to use Walt Whitman’s voice on “Home on the Range,” and there’s a great clip of Tex Ritter. Blackie Farrell, who wrote “Sonora’s Death Row,” was another true, authentic voice we used. I also liked the spoken parts by Augie Meyers and Joe Ely ... just very convincing Old West voices.

How do you feel about the term or genre Americana being applied to the album? [Laughs] It’s really just a radio bag. If country radio won’t play you, you start hollering you’re Americana. Actually, they flung that term at what Dave Alvin and I were doing 10, 15 years ago. I don’t mind it too much other than I think what people who use the term are referring to is something much more than just the kind of folk music Dave and I were doing then. But it should incorporate all these ethnicities and communities that have contributed to American music. If you really know your history, that term goes back to classical guys like Aaron Copeland using folk to create classical works long before the term was commandeered for this other purpose.

You were pretty positive about El Paso and that artistic community when you migrated there over a decade ago. Is that still in effect? Nah, we’re getting ready to move to a little place we found outside Santa Fe. El Paso has sprawled so much the past decade, we can’t live there anymore. We used to be out in the country, but now we’re surrounded by crackerbox suburbs and new strip centers. It’s time to move on. — WILLIAM MICHAEL SMITH

Q&A Tom Russell