Bullet the Blue Sky
• It’s Kerrville time: The 35th Kerrville Folk Festival starts today and continues through June 10. See www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com for the scoop.
• Asleep at the Wheel got a juicy New York Times write-up last week – in the business section. After years of barely making ends meet, the long-running local Western swingers hired former Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys musician Peter Schwarz as business manager in 2001. His financial overhaul – cutting production costs, distribution deals with Cracker Barrel and HEB, investing in the Ride With Bob musical – put the Wheel back in black. “We are still pinching ourselves that we are in a growth stage,” Schwarz was quoted. The Wheel’s Reinventing the Wheel is out now, and Schwarz’s old band stops by the Oaks in Manor Friday.
• Kelly Clarkson now officially employs more Austin musicians than Bob Dylan. Besides Chris Deaner, Jimmy Messer, and Einar (“TCB,” May 11), ex-Woodwork guitarist Aben Eubanks joined her band for 2005’s Breakaway tour and co-wrote four songs on next month’s My December, while Milton Mapes alumni Chris Dye and Jim Fredley keep the guitars in tune. Tuesday, meanwhile, is the Grooveline Horns‘ last Lucky Lounge appearance with Boombox before joining Clarkson’s summer tour, which stops in Dallas Sept. 5 and Houston Sept. 7.
• Austin-related TV series went one-for-two in the recent round of fall renewals. NBC renewed Peabody Award-winning Friday Night Lights, moving it to Friday nights this fall. CW teen sleuth Veronica Mars, created by former Black Irish bassist Rob Thomas, wasn’t as lucky, although one rumor says the show may yet be retooled and return. Thomas’ old friends and frequent Mars referents the Wannabes join the reunited Doctor’s Mob June 1 at the Hole in the Wall.
• Local metallurgists Shrapnel play their first show since their equipment was stolen last New Year’s Eve at Red 7‘s two-day May Metal Fest Saturday, alongside Crowbar, Hatchetwork, By Any Means Necessary, Disfigured, and more. Also back from the dead, sort of, is Church of the Friendly Ghost, which is curating a summer music series at Salvage Vanguard Theater‘s new digs at 2803 Manor Rd. that begins June 12.
This article appears in May 25 • 2007.