Tonight, Wednesday, the annual Austin Music Awards are showcasing some of the best music in the state as a pre-party for the thousands gathering for South by Southwest panels, workshops, presentations, and music showcases that runs all over Austin from March 18-21. It’s not too late to run up and buy a wristband, your pass for as many shows as you can get in for the weekend.

  Also, tonight Bill Sliva’s Schreiner astronomy class is meeting out on the high plain around my casita in the country to look at the big sky overhead. The music of the spheres. Guess where I will be?

  Every Tuesday night at the Southway Pub, Greg Forest hosts a jam that features a guitar players. Turk and Will Gage have added their prowess to the trio that includes Ronnie Leatherman on bass and Andy Vickers on drums. Andy has a background with the jam band Larry, playing a rolling rhythmic style that helps create the distinct sound of the trio. I heard the kind of blues based rock and roll that I love. I could be there every Tuesday, but my house of the high plain calls to me. And the book I’m writing on Texas women calls me to The House of David (my writing cabin).

  Greg is a musical fixture in this community. He helped me record a pilot radio show on Texas music my second year in town. I had this idea to syndicate a 13-week hour long radio show that featured an interview with a musician and a sampling of the music on each show. We trimmed it down to 30 minutes, and the series ran in Kerrville on KRVL for about a year. One of my first interviews was with our “possible” next governor, Kinky  Friedman. Our conversation in the studio unnerved me as I had my first experience with his kinky brand of humor. Since I moved to town in 1985, I think my work with Greg must have been about 1987. I came here originally to work with Rod Kennedy and the Kerrville Music Foundation’s songwriting school. I created the Texas Heritage Music Foundation in 1987 with the help of Stewart Davis and his expertise with the accounting paperwork. So, there’s a little of my history.

  I’ve been listening to music here long enough to now feel nostalgic when I’m with some of these local performers. Bobby  Rector, Ronnie Leatherman, Stan Morris (Melody Corner Music Store), Louis Real, Wayne Kennemer (deceased), Junior Pruneda, Bert Winston (and his love for western swing) are a few of those who are part of my own history with this area.

  I went to the Arcadia to see movies back then. Now I’m on a committee with the city, looking at possible uses for this space and the options in renovation. Ideas? Call me at school—792-7409.

  Greg Forest has also been part of a video project for the Kerrville Folk Festival as well as creating his own documentation of the Texas music scene by videoing performances in the Austin area. Many show on local access channels including a Folk Festival feature on Channel 10 in Kerrville. Check the schedule for times. He’s written a highly successful book on the “business” of music, and runs The Music Office from his home in Kerrville.

  Greg knows the recording business, the record business, the music business. He and Ronnie were 2/3 of Dime a Dozen. The late Cindy Terry completed that trio with her beautiful voice and lilting flute. Greg organized fundraisers for the family after her untimely death in a car accident in October, and his office has some of her music for sale. See www.musicoffice.com for more information. www.gregforest.com and www.cindyterry.com are also full of good information.

  I mentioned the name of Bert Winston earlier. He does play drums with Junior and others from time to time. He can be seen at Sunday jams during the summer at the Hunt Store. He is also an aficionado of western swing and has single-handedly kept the music of Tommy Morrell available to fans everywhere. I love the way his eyes shine when he talks of his pet music projects. Bert makes a difference in many lives. When I moved to town, he was supporting a group called Japonica who took Texas music to Japan at that time. All local performers.

  March 27 is the date for the 6^th Annual Scholarship Spectacular Gala of the Friends and Faculty of Ingram Tom Moore High School Endowment and Scholarship Program. Held at the Inn of the Hills, this event includes dinner, dancing and a live auction. More than $154,000 in scholarships have been awarded since the organization was formed in 1983.    I mention that now because the entertainment is provided by Craig Chambers and Tom Morrell and the Time Warp Tophands. Classic Western Swing. Tickets are $40 with special reserved tables also available for purchase. For more information call 238-4098. Bert Winston helps make this happen each year, I’m sure.

  Willie Nelson is at John T. Floore Country Store on Thursday, March 25. This may be the best place in Texas to have a “willie” moment. I’ve had a few good ones out there.

   Happy Trails and down the road.