Progressive Folk Trio Sounds a Rich, Elegant, Smart Note

Austin, TX -- The Blue Hit, the Austin progressive folk trio with a sound that's simultaneously classic and timely and a debut CD that is hypnotizing listeners with smart lyrics, out-of-this-world vocals and simple but rich instrumentation, plays a show here in Austin late this month.

The Blue Hit plays at 10 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at The Parish Room, 214 E. Sixth St. Cover is $10 for those 21 and older, $13 for younger music lovers; information: 512.479.0474, www.theparishroom.com. Doors open at 9 p.m. Also on the bill are Danny Malone (11 p.m.) and Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township (midnight).

Listeners are enthralled by the octaves, emotions and insight covered by the trio: David Moss on cello, John McGee on guitar and Grace Rowland, whose amazing voice quivers,  shivers and blasts through the bands sharp originals.

"Less is clearly more on TBH's proper debut," The Austin Chronicle said of MOVE IN. "The sparse yet engaging backdrop provided by guitarist John McGee and cellist David Moss leaves plenty of room for the precious frailty and jazzy inflections of vocalist Grace Rowland, who recalls Regina Spektor without all the quirk."

The trio plays 200 club and festival dates a year across North America and in Austin, including this year's NorthEast Kingdom Music Festival and Festival of Fools, both in Vermont, and appearances scheduled for Chicago and New Orleans.

For more information, see www.myspace.com/bluehit and http://www.thebluehit.com

HAAM & Estes Audiology Unite for HEAR Project Screenings
Next Week at Gibson Guitar Showroom

Austin, TX -- Health Alliance for Austin Musicians will work with Estes Audiology Hearing Centers to educate HAAM's member-musicians and screen and fit them with custom ear plugs for a drastically reduced price in a program called The HEAR Project -- starting next week with the first round of clinic sessions to be held at Gibson Guitar.

"HAAM welcomes the participation of Estes Audiology in The HEAR Project, a new program that certainly furthers our mission by preventing hearing loss and giving member-musicians hope for safer, more productive careers," says Carolyn Schwarz, HAAM executive director.

The first three clinics will each serve 60 HAAM member-musicians and will be held 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (by appointment only) at the Gibson Guitar Showroom, 3601 S. Congress Ave., #G400, on Tuesday, August 18; Monday, October 26; and Monday, November 16.

The clinics will be used to educate, screen and make impressions of musicians' ear canals for custom-fit ear plugs. Estes Audiology Hearing Centers, under the direction of Soriya Estes, Au.D., will be assisted by audiology doctoral student-interns in the University of Texas-Austin Audiology Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Made possible through grants from the Austin Community Foundation and Wofford Denius and The Cain Foundation, HAAM member-musicians will pay only $25 for the custom ear plugs. Ear plugs services are an example of important hearing healthcare issues cited in a recent survey of HAAM members as a high priority, crucial to their profession but financially out of reach. Research by the University of North Texas and other organizations suggests 30 to 50 percent of musicians report hearing problems.  

Austin, TX -- Landmark music venue Momo's Club will commemorate its ninth anniversary with a four-night, 21-act celebration at the end of August featuring appearances by the "family" of bands and musical artists that have gotten their start or perform regularly there including Kacy Crowley, Warren Hood and James Hyland.

The anniversary event starts Thursday, August 27. Tickets range from $7 to $10 and are available at FrontGate Tickets and at Momo's, 618 W. Sixth St. (512.479.8848). For more ticket information and musical lineups, see below or visit www.momosclub.com.

In nine years, Momo's has grown to embrace musical genres and styles ranging from folk, Western swing and pop rock to R&B, soul, blues and rock -- the best original music, plain and simple -- with shows every night and live broadcasts of weekly KUT 90.5 FM world music shows and SXSW showcases. Its huge outdoor deck overlooks the Austin skyline.

"Momo's is a family," says Austin-born Paul Oveisi, Momo's co-owner, music advocate and community activist. "You can't come up to the club without a dozen or so musicians lurking in the shadows. They come to be inspired, to critique, to digest diverse sounds and occasionally jump on stage with one of their cohorts. We're firm believers in building residencies to allow musicians to develop their live show, build a following and quite simply, have a place to play regularly where they feel at home."

The singer-songwriter James Hyland says, "Playing Momo's has always felt like playing in my living room to me. Paul's commitment to having a great venue for both the bands and the audience is what makes Momo's so successful. And it's important that they've always been open to booking new talent." 

18th Annual Kerrville Wine & Music Festival on Labor Day Weekend Celebrates Songwriters, Texas Port and Texas Reds!

(Kerrville, Tex.) August 9, 2009 - The 2009 Kerrville Wine & Music Festival is coming up Labor Day weekend, September 4 - 6. This annual celebration of performing songwriters and Texas wines will be held at Quiet Valley Ranch, 9 miles south of the Texas Hill Country resort community of Kerrville on Texas Hwy 16. For information on the event and camping (RV hookups available) please call 830/257-3600 or go to www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com.

Not a typical "wine tasting" event, this 3-day festival will feature 6-hour evening concerts and 2-hour afternoon concerts with over two-dozen singer-songwriters. 2-hour wine seminars are held on Saturday and Sunday.

We are excited about this year's musical line-up and feel that it covers just about everyone's musical tastes. We've got some alt-country with Austin's Stonehoney, Tex-Mex R&R with San Antonio's Los Texmaniacs, Americana harmonies with Austin's Ginn Sisters and funk-jam music from Eclectica. We are also thrilled about the return of some of our Kerrville favorites like Don Conoscenti, Thad Beckman, Karen Abrahams, Michael McNevin and Bob Livingston.

The performers for the Friday evening concert include: Brian Ashley Jones (Nashville, TN), Chip Dolan & Marvin Dykhuis (Austin, TX), Don Conoscenti (Taos, NM), Los Texmaniacs (San Antonio, TX), and Karen Abrahams (Austin, TX).

(Austin, Tex.) -  The Austin Farmer''s Market is located at 4th and Guadalupe Streets. Each Saturday music runs from 10 - 11:30 a.m.  Enjoy our covered cafe seating while listening to Austin musicians. For information call 236-0074 or www.austinfarmersmarket.org.

July 11 - Wiretree, One of the most promising recent entries into the music capitol''s blossoming indie scene, Wiretree boasts a sound that spans both sides of the Atlantic, containing equal doses of some familiar American folk and Britpop marvels. As Austinist.com wrote, "Smithereens, Squeeze and the Posies all make their appearances in the influenced-by department, but so do Tom Petty, James Taylor and Brendan Benson." Peroni is currently working on his sophomore release due out in 2009. Although the work will be primarily recorded and performed by Peroni, he will be collaborating with producer Lars G'ransson (Alpha Rev, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Future Clouds and Radar) on several tracks. If Bouldin is any indication, the new work is sure to be a fantastic collection of melodic, dreamy pop songs that are as infectious as they are accessible. (myspace.com/wiretree wiretreemusic.com)

July 18 - The Lost Pines "If you wanna go where the old folks go, that''s alright with me," sing The Lost Pines on the first track of their debut album Middle of the Morning.  As it turns out, that couldn''t be a more accurate description of the 6-piece Austin-based string band steeped in bluegrass, traditional country, and folk songs of early pioneer America.  But in as much as they write and sing songs about lost loves, drifters, bank robberies and burials, there''s also plenty that celebrate the enduring ties of family, the power of singing when it counts, and being proud of where you''re from--or end up--even if it isn''t where you intended it to be.  And those themes are about as modern as themes can get.  Add to that three-part vocal harmonies and arrangements, searing mandolin, guitar and fiddle picking, and a granite-solid foundation of banjo, guitar and standing bass, and you have one of the most entertaining and versatile bands around in any style, for any age. (www.lostpinesband.com)

Austin, TX -- Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers is the rockin' rockabilly-country-swing band that continues building audiences as it tours the country and Europe -- returning to Austin, The Continental Club and three Happy Hour shows in July.

The band -- called "a whip-smart mix of Stray Cats-fed rockabilly and Blasters-inspired alt-country" by The Austin Chronicle -- plays 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, July 16, July 23 and July 30, at The Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress Ave. As always, cover for Happy Hour shows is complimentary; information: 512.441.2444.

Outrageously flamboyant, outrageously talented front woman and songwriter Ruby Dee and master guitar player Jorge Harada are backed with a rock-solid honky-tonk groove by Jordan Teitelbaum (previously of Horse Opera) on drums and Leslie McCurdy (Mother Truckers) on bass on songs that cover the range of emotions, genres and human experience.

Still getting steady airplay are songs from the band's June 2008 release, MILES FROM HOME (Dionysus Records), which charted at #86 on the AMA chart and #26 on the Texas Third Coast Music Top 40 over many months, including "Childish Memories," "Round and Round," "Cold Pines and Red Dirt" and "Since You Went Away." The recently released "Round and Round" video has earned great acclaim with its cameos of many Seattle rockabilly musicians and famous musical neighborhoods.