Ray Wylie Hubbard on the Late Show

If I could eat dinner with any person in the world right now, it would be Ray Wylie Hubbard. I would love to sit and pick his brain and I have a feeling I would walk away with a whole new outlook on life.

The Texas legend/Wylie Llama/Forgotten Outlaw was on the Late Show with David Letterman last night and his performance was incredible. Of course. Hell, it was enough to make me come out of a nearly month-long blog hibernation due slightly to Christmas break laziness and majorly to my pouting spell that ensued after seeing the 10,437 million posts the last few days on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by Music Fest attendees in Steamboat making me 50 shades of jealous. I'm back! Thank you, RWH for the inspiration.


"The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days."
(The second I heard that I knew I never wanted to forget it so I jumped up and scribbled it on my bedroom mirror with a marker. My daily affirmation now comes in the form of a Wylie Llama quote.)

Song of the Day - Down Home Country Blues

"Now she ain't much for the bluegrass fiddle, she likes that bottleneck slide, a little kick with a lot of bottom and let the resonator take the ride..."

I sometimes get stuck in a rut of listening to only new songs on my iTunes, but this weekend I kept it on shuffle and found lots of hidden treasures like this. Ray Wylie Hubbard is one of the original Red Dirt badasses that I don't ever listen to enough. I love music about music and if you listen close or look up the lyrics you might can learn a little. And this ain't your typical name-dropping song either.

JAB Fest

*Originally posted June 20, 2011*

In September of 2007, I attended the first of many concerts at Lubbock's Lone Star Amphitheater. Headlining that night was one of my favorite bands at the time, the Randy Rogers band. I remember going with my sister, parents and two cousins. We snuck into the VIP section which had a vacant table so we could sit down and watch the performers. Opening for Rogers was Cory Morrow and before him, another guy that we had never heard of.

Somehow, my sister heard that this new kid was from Idalou, a small town outside Lubbock. When I was in high school, I hated Idalou because they beat us at every sport and usually when our best coaches left my high school, they went to coach in Idalou. However, it was exciting that a small town boy was performing on a stage with acts like Morrow and Rogers, so we sat back and enjoyed the show. I didn't know any of the songs, but little did I know, that was all about to change.

Fast-forward a few years. This past Saturday night, I watched that exact same boy sing a song called Idalou, about his hometown (that this past school year got State championships in both football and basketball). In his song, he described his town perfectly. I have driven through Idalou thousands of times on my way back and forth from my small town to Lubbock for groceries, shopping, doctor's appointments, and now, for school and work. I know exactly what he was talking about when he mentions his dad's shop, the cotton gin where farmers meet for coffee, and the "yellow flashing light that says proceed with caution because if you leave you may be forgotten."

When Lubbock radio stations first started playing "Taste," it was exciting and this new local artist, Josh Abbott, was often referred to as "that boy from Idalou." Now, he just wrapped up his first-annual JAB Fest here in Lubbock on that very stage where I saw him sing for the first time. Saturday night I watched favorite acts like southern rockers Whiskey Myers, legend Ray Wylie Hubbard, Americana icon Hayes Carll and finally, headliner the Josh Abbott Band. I am so proud of Abbott for bringing something like this back to Lubbock. West Texas doesn't really attract musicians like other areas of Texas do. This festival was something we have been needing for a while, and Mr. Josh Abbott was the perfect person to provide us with that.

Thanks to Josh Abbott so much for sticking to his roots and congratulations on the successful event (over 3,500 people went). I can't wait for the Second (and third, fourth, fifth, and 43rd) Annual JAB Fest.