Hot Off The Press—Bucko Reacts To Glenna Bell in Manhattan in Cowboylands! A Must Read: http://cowboylands.net/blog/2011/06/sex-love-and-murder-or-glenna-bells-perfectly-legal-tale/ . . .
Hey, Everybody! I’ve been to New York and back since the last time I wrote you, played shows at five distinctive venues over Memorial Day weekend—the sold-out Music On 4 house concert in an artsy Manhattan brownstone, a collegiate Triple A radio station in pastoral Connecticut, a vibrant coffee house scene in the quaint town of Peekskill, NY, a convivial afternoon concert in a hidden knoll shaded by a canopy of centuries-old trees in Mt. Kisco, NY, and a classic, four-star candle lit supper club in Pawling, NY. I’ve been home for a couple of weeks now, enjoying playing my regular gigs in Houston—the Saturday lunches at historic Pizzitola’s BBQ and the Honky Tonk Happy Hour Wednesdays at the old church turned juke joint called the Hideaway on Dunvale. I’ve been reading some good books, too, mostly about the history of folk music, and I’ve been spending time with my dogs while working here at my old house near the edge of downtown Houston and listening online to my favorite non-commercial radio shows from coast to coast. It's been one of the hottest summers in Houston's history with temperatures topping 100 degrees and wildfires breaking out in the rural areas due to drought.
The other day, when I was cleaning house, I came across some pictures that I posted at www.glennabell.com. I’d forgotten about them, and they date back a few years, so it was nice to stop and relive those moments for a few minutes. There’s me with producer John Evans and engineer Steve Christensen at Sugar Hill Studios in 2007 when I recorded Willie Nelson’s “Family Bible” for the studio’s House of Hits compilation (UT Press, 2010). Me with my family, receiving the House Resolution honoring my music from State Representative, Jessica Farrar, at the Capitol in Austin in 2007. Me at Bolivar Peninsula for the “Hurricane Shoot” with photographer, Amy Morris, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in 2008. (The devastation was leveling.) “Hunkering down” on the front porch of my hundred-year-old-wood frame house with my dogs, Elmer Brave Heart, Princess Lilly, Lord Gleason, and Little Joe before Hurricane Ike ravaged the Gulf Coast. Playing the Johnny Cash Bash in 2010 at the Continental Club in Houston with Nick Gaitan on upright bass and playing Houston’s landmark roots music venue, Cosmos Café, in 2005 with Brad Jones on standup bass. Posing in the KPFT 90.1 FM studios with Wide Open Spaces morning show host Roark Smith here in Houston last November. And facing Big Kev’s camera with Carlene Carter on a cold day in NY two years ago. Memories old and new . . . Click on the first photo, which is the album cover for Perfectly Legal: Songs of Sex, Love and Murder, and they will unfold for you as a short slide show set to music. I also posted a few more songs and recent reviews of Perfectly Legal from American Songwriter, the AllMusic Guide, BlogCritics.org, and USA Today, plus Q&A’s from The BluegrassSpecial.com and Songfacts, so I hope that you will take a look/listen at www.glennabell.com when you have a few minutes.
I’m flying to Newark on Thursday for a month-long stay in Manhattan and shows scheduled through early August. As always, I’d certainly appreciate your help in getting the word out by forwarding these dates along to anybody you might know who enjoys live performance in the NY area:
- Friday, June 24 from 9-10 pm: Gizzi’s, 16 W. 8th St. in Greenwich Village
- Sunday, July 10 from 3-5 pm: Starving Artist Café, 249 City Island Ave. in the Bronx
- Friday, July 15 from 8-8:30 pm: Godfrey Daniels Theater, 7 E. 4th St. in Bethlehem, PA
- Friday, July 29 from 10-11 pm: Banjo Jim’s, 700 E. 9th St. in NYC
- Friday, August 5 from 7:15-8:45 pm: Hill Country BBQ, 30 W. 26th St. in NYC
Spread the news. Oh, happy day . . . Y’all come!