You wake up humming, even if you’ve never been there. Luckenbach. Waylon and Willie and the…Well, you know. Bandera. Stocky horses, green country, open spaces. Marfa and Big Bend and Canyon—they’re too harsh. Beautiful, but vaguely threatening. Better to dream about Pecan Springs. Wait, that’s where China Bayles lives. It’s Dripping Springs. Or Gruene. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Texas Heart Beat' Category
Are You A Real Cowboy?
As we sat around a picnic table one beautiful, starry night, eating homemade chili, singing Gospel songs, blending harmonies with a gifted group of musicians, half a dozen cowboys rode up on horseback to join us and one of my Bandera buddies said, ‘This truly is ‘Fantasy Island,’ isn’t it?” I wrote that twelve years […]
Read the rest of this entry »New Folk Competition – Part 2
This is a series about the competition at the Festival and its rich history of songwriters that have become a part of the festival during the past four decades. The list includes names like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, Lynn Langham whose song ‘Old Yellow Moon’ just won a Grammy for Emmylou […]
Read the rest of this entry »Be Safe. Be Sure.Just Say No.
“Just say no” is a phrase and a slogan popularized by the government’s anti-drug programs. It is catchy, short, and to the point. It is aimed primarily at young people, but it is a phrase that should apply equally to other situations, as well. “No,” is a very good and very protective word. The only […]
Read the rest of this entry »What Would You Do with $1,000,000?
I imagine most of us have thought how very nice it would be to find a hidden treasure or a sack of money with no strings attached. When I was a kid on vacation, I used to search the beach at Padre Island for gold and Spanish coins that might have washed up from some […]
Read the rest of this entry »Allyce’s Attic – Spring Edition
I love language. It’s a good trait to have if you want to be a writer. Words are fun. Words are magical. Words can be excruciatingly beautiful and unholy ugly. Words can sting like a whiplash. Words manipulate, persuade and inform. Some words just feel good in your mouth and look even better written on […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Heartbeat of Life
The cardiovascular system and our “heart-beat” is the center of the interwoven fabric of our physiological, emotional and spiritual existence. It is the pump and complex conduits through which the blood of our life flows carrying sustenance via the blood to our cells. Our heartbeat is so central to our perception of “being alive” it […]
Read the rest of this entry »Kerrville’s New Folk Competition Origins
This is a series about the competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival and its rich history of songwriters that has become a part of the festival during the past four decades. The list includes names like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams, Lynn Langham — whose song ‘Old Yellow Moon’ just won a Grammy for […]
Read the rest of this entry »That Dog Will Hunt
“I believe that a man’s life is never complete without the companionship of a dog, purebred or cur, large or small…” — Ed Fletcher, Flower Mound, Texas (friend and long-time hunter/hunting dog owner) Certain canine breeds, such as setters, Labrador retrievers and pointers, have been bred for centuries to flush and retrieve hunters’ game birds. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Deep In The Heart of Spring Bandera
For a small town of less than 900 folks, the one thing you can say about Bandera is we are never bored! Being a fifth generation resident, I can tell you that Bandera has always had a way of entertaining and folks that visit seem to like it! Starting March 15th and every Saturday after […]
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