Brad Houser, celebrated Texas musician and founding member of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, died on July 24 in Austin after being hospitalized due to a stroke a week prior. He was 62. In the early Eighties, Houser formed New Bohemians in his hometown of Dallas. His melodic bassline on 1988’s “What I Am” helped propel the Geffen Records song into the Top 10. The jazz-influenced bassist/baritone saxophonist later went on to found Critters Buggin and the Dead Kenny G’s, alongside performances with a list of Austin acts including Suzanna Choffel, David Garza, Greezy Wheels, Golden Dawn Arkestra, and the Mingtones (at Ming’s Cafe on the Drag). On social media, Garza remembers Houser as “the Godfather of Deep Ellum soul & funk.” He was celebrated with a service on Tuesday at All Saints Presbyterian Church. Friends started a GoFundMe to support Houser’s wife, Kirilola Onokoro, who plans to relocate to her native Japan with their beloved dog, Riga.
Mala Fama has opened at 422 E. Sixth, formerly home to Buckshot, marking siblings Gabriela and Arturo Bucio’s second nightclub on Sixth Street. Following the soft opening on July 28, Mala Fama will be open Friday and Saturday from 9pm to 2am the next few weekends. The space plans to host DJs “spinning reggaeton, perreo, hip-hop and other Latin music every weekend as well as live bandas.” Mala Fama is the latest club from the Bucios’ Gabriela’s Group, which runs Mala Vida – just a few blocks west of Mala Fama – and East Austin’s Mala Santa on Burleson Road. Find the full story on our Daily Music Blog.
Golden Hornet, the Austin-based contemporary classical music incubators behind a variety of interesting efforts, have opened applications for their eighth annual Young Composers Concert. In the free program, students 18 and younger will learn how to write music and produce a concert. Applications are due on August 7, 11:59pm, at goldenhornet.org. Co-founded by composers Graham Reynolds and Peter Stopschinski, Golden Hornet “[reimagines] classical music through collaborative creations and adventurous programming with commitments to justice and innovation.”
Pueblos Blancos Music Festival, a four-day cultural exchange founded by Austin’s Phil Plata, brought 12 Texas bands along for a tour of Andalusian mountain villages in southern Spain last weekend. Having previously invited acts like Joe King Carrasco and Riders Against the Storm, this year’s sixth annual edition hosted Austinites Donovan Keith, Cowboy Diplomacy, Kev Bev, Deann René, Brock Bushong, and Colin Clark – alongside Spanish flamenco legend Enrique Heredia “Negri.”
Kenny Loggins‘ local stop in his This Is It final tour, Aug. 5 at the Moody Amphitheater, will include a chorus of local kiddos ages 9-18. The Bee Caves-based Adderley School for the Performing Arts sends 10 students to join Loggins on hit singles “Conviction of the Heart” and “If You Believe.” He’s a friend of the Texas/Cali theatre camp via founder Janet Adderley.
This article appears in August 4 • 2023.