I’m sitting here in sunny Austin where Big Kev is hosting a line up of popular Texas and Americana acts during SXSW, out on the patio of the cool, breezy little coffee/wine bar called Opa! on South Lamar, just down the way from the Saxon Pub and the Broken Spoke and right next door to the old Horseshoe Lounge. John Evans kicked it off around noon today with a really strong solo acoustic set, ending with a song from his new album, Lolligagin’ which just hit the top thirty on the Americana Music Association chart out of Nashville. John is officially an Austinite now, having made the big move from Houston a couple of months ago, and we’ve spent the last couple of days recording three songs here in Austin at Congress House studio, which completed my album that I’ve been telling you about for a while now: Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love, and Murder. John brought in the standup bass player, drummer, and lap steel player who’ve been touring with him and Hayes Carll. We rocked the house, got out of there about midnight with three GREAT takes of two originals and one cover tune, Honky Tonk Man, which was the theme song to the Clint Eastwood movie by the same name, according to Bob Mitchell of Smith Entertainment Group who stopped by the studio to visit with Big Kev. Wow, can those Austin boys play! I can hardly wait for you to hear the songs!! I’ll be keeping you posted on the release date, which will be very soon . . . In the meantime, I’m performing here at Opa! on Friday at 1:30 p.m. just before Two Tons of Steel hits the stage at 2:30. Coincidentally, I went on just before them at the Continental Club last month during the Johnny Cash Bash—brought back memories of the old days at “Cosmos Café” in Houston . . . RIP. I’m looking forward to hearing more of the acts while I’m here at Opa! this week, including the Derailers, Hayes Carll, Elizabeth Cook, Carrie Rodriguez, the Tejas Brothers, Jimmy Pizzitola, and one of my long-time favorites, Tommy Shannon of Double Trouble—Stevie Ray Vaughn’s band. The event is sponsored by Homegrown Americana Radio Consulting, Inc. in Fredericksburg, Bill Wence Promotions in Nolensville, TN, The Alternate Root e-zine, Airplay Direct in Nashville, Gerrico Promotions in Dallas, and Sound Station Studio in Kerrville. It’s free and open to the public, and they’re recording and videoing performances all day every day for radio broadcast in Texas and on the East Coast and for the Texas Tech archives in Lubbock. What a perfect way to see a bunch of the same acts that will be showcasing on the SXSW stages this week in an intimate, up-close setting with no cover charge and no way-overpriced SXSW wristband required. The venue location and further details are posted on my Web site at http://www.glennabell.com Y’all come!