I had the fabulous opportunity to hang with Chris Hill (owner of the Esquire) and his sister, Stacey Hill (co-owner of the Monterey) a couple of weeks back. This originally ran on Plaza De Armas, which you need to subscribe to if you want to know everything San Antonio.

Sweet, and ultra-talented Camille Cortinas-Neal gets her waaaaay overdue…congrats my darling darling friend…read on!

Nashville, TEXAS – March 28, 2011 – Camille Cortinas will be featured as an emerging artist during the April 20, 2011 episode of Music City Roots.

“Camille was discovered after being the voice behind the popular Texas Lottery «Lucky Day» campaign,” said Music City Roots, Executive Producer, Todd Mayo. “Her voice connected with the radio listeners of Texas and we are excited to bring her music to a worldwide audience on Music City Roots.”

“Roots is the perfect outlet for my music,” said Camille Cortinas. “Sharing the stage with Jim Lauderdale and knowing that legends like the Doobie Brothers, Ricky Scaggs, Brandy Carlisle have all appeared on this stage, makes this a dream come true.”

Show Details:
Date: April 20, 2011
Venue: Loveless Café Barn
Address: 8400 Highway 100, Nashville, TN 37221
Performance time: 7:00 pm

About Camille Cortinas debut solo album «Taken Apart»
Produced By: Eric Neal
Recorded at Sunquist Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Mark Hallman at The Congress House Studio

Camille’s musical style uses storytelling and personal experiences to create a human connection that appeals to audiences of young and old, and her captivating voice smiles through the speakers. While her music remains upbeat, her songwriting finds its way through melancholy and melds into a hopeful and optimistic future. It’s learning to let go of the heartbreaks and find the happiness that life can bring.

For the most update tour/press information please go to www.camillecortinas.com and look for her first solo album on cdbaby and itunes.

About Music City Roots
Music City Roots has been hailed as “truly extraordinary” and “the greatest live radio in America” by journalists who have visited and artists who’ve played the Roots stage. The Nashville Scene recently named the Loveless Barn and the show as Nashville’s Best New Roots Music Venue, “akin to what the Opry must have been like 60 years ago.” The program has also established itself as a trusted curator for excellence in Americana music, with appearances by Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush, Mike Farris, Ricky Skaggs, Mountain Heart, Cherryholmes, Dex Romweber, Roger McGuinn and many more. Roots has become a trusted brand partner that has done everything in its power to extol its valued sponsors, including Nissan, Whole Foods Markets, Vietti Chili, Ascend Federal Credit Union and The Nature Conservancy.

Sarah Jaffe. A looooooooong time FineLineFave. Check the new video, es muy bueno. Keep your eyes peeled for band members who play in bands such at Centro-matic, Doug Burr, Seryn and Bosque Brown. Nice little band’o'playa’s.

Sarah Jaffe performs at the Ghost Room in Austin on September 25. See you there.

Art&Seek, my favorite place to be…just launched an absolutely fabulous new site just in time for their 2-year anniversary. Alan Melson deserves the medal of A&S….Check it out every single day.

The fabulous Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff is host to the equally fabby KXT 91.7, “Barefoot at the Belmont” concert series. The Belmont continues its traditional poolside concert series featuring some of the best bands and musicians from North Texas, along with a breathtaking back-drop of the downtown Dallas skyline…reserve a room, wine, dine and take a dip in the Belmont pool…all the while experiencing the whole BFatB/KXT magnificence…you’ll thank me in the morning….prolly twice….

Hands-down, Rawlins Gilliland is among my top favorite writers and commentators. I fell in love with him during KERA pledge drives, his voice and sense of humor made me want to pledge my first born. Please take a moment out of your busy day to listen to his latest contribution to KERA…you’ll thank me in the morning.

James Bland had a history of Dallas music photographs hung throughout the theater. DJ Mr. Rid aka Mark Ridlen was spinnin’ vinyl GREATNESS in the lobby bar…speaking of which, the joint was absolutely GORGEOUS!

Jason Carney put on one helluva slam poetry performance…you coulda heard a pin drop. Josh Alan Friedman was quite the star of the evening with a line to purchase his latest book, Black Cracker and a standing ovation for his perfect musical performance on stage.

I hit the road back to Richardson before Mark Growden performed, but Liles didn’t miss a beat with his trusty video camera.

Make plans to hit the Kessler Theater very soon and very often. It’s quite fabby.

Ed. Note: The above video was shot and edited for KERA’s Art&Seek.

How about a lively discussion about the arts scene and “rising stars in Dallas?” Even better, how about enjoying this experience in an intimate Park Cities residence and an informal conversation about it with SMU’s Meadows School for the Arts dean, Jose Bowen? Tickets to this event are $50 and limited and include complimentary wine and snacks.

Interested? Better act quick. Art&Seek is running a contest and if you win, you win pair of FREE tickets to the exclusive event. Click it good.

A comment from a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Guild writes:

I am a member of the DSO Guild and let me tell you, we have a TON of FUN at our events. We are a small group of only about 60-65 members and the common denominator is our love of music (membership and attendance are open to anyone, no social connections required!).

At our luncheon last week, our guest speaker Richard Rodzinski had members practically rolling on the floor (you know, ROTFLMAO) with his hilarious backstage tales from the Metropolitan Opera and the rest of his fascinating life in arts administration. (Did you know his father, former NY Phil conductor Artur Rodzinski, was packin’ heat at his concerts? Thought not.)

This is not a see-and-be-seen group; it’s an I-love-music-and-oh-cool-so-do-you! group. Being in the Guild gives me so much more pleasure than I can convey here…

The one fundraising project we have is our dinner to support the Performance Prelude lectures–at our ten regular member events we just enjoy each other’s company and learning about music, be it backstage tidbits, delightful salon performances, conversations with composers, you name it. All the fun goes eventually towards making our intimate gala dinner a big success, so that we can provide DSO concertgoers with another full season of free pre-concert lectures!

Whoever wins these tickets will have a great time

So this 13-year old girl contacts me about getting some booking and promotions advice. Reading through the email, I noted that she did some recording with my beloved Salim Nourallah, which in turn boosted my curiosity.

After checking this kid out, I have one phrase and one phrase only….whooooooolllly craaaaaaap!

It reminded me a little of the first time I heard Maren Morris perform at the ripe old age of about 11 and the first time I heard Sarah Jaffe perform at the ripe old age of about 15. Ya kinda don’t believe these amazing voices are coming out of those little girls.

Anna Thomas has already made somewhat of a name for herself, featured on such indie radio shows as Indies Top 10 and Mevio Radio. Her songs have also graced the charts on Top Ten Pop and Broadjam.

Her voice is mature enough to fool ya into thinking she’s in her 20′s. Her songwriting is good enough to think she’s been writing for decades, not just half a decade. Beautiful voice, beautiful songs.

Check out her tunes and bookmark her website. You can thank me later.

PS: Anna is performing at the Lone Star Wine Cellars on Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. You can thank me with a nice glass of Chardonnay.

LaGrange: the opening night musical wrap up. Music courtesy of Slick 57

I was there one of those Quick nights, to shoot a portion of the Jason Janik studio tour for KERA’s Art&Seek. I was supposed to focus, that night, on Jason…but I’m a big Blythe Beck fan…and as you can tell by the video, I didn’t have my glasses on, so I didn’t know how out of focus my camera was that night…who cares, it was Blythe Beck! Thanks jason, Blythe and Farah Fleurima for letting me hang out!

Jason Janik, along with the good folks over at Quick, put together ho…ho…holiday photos of local musicians, personalities and a chef, including Gordon Keith, Tim DeLaughter and the fam, Blythe Beck, Smile Smile and Bowling for Soup, set to a Christmas classic movies theme. You can check out the photos by picking up a copy of Quick, which can be found, like, anywhere. Plus, check out the peek-a-boo videos shot during the photo sessions. Pretty nifty stuff.

Art&Seek Artist Studio Tour with ArtCon5 Artist Jason Janik

Art&Seek Artist Studio Tour with ArtCon5 Artists Tom Sale and Judy Vetter aka The Tom and Judy Show

Art&Seek Artist Studio Tour with ArtCon5 Artist VET

Art&Seek Artist Studio Tour with ArtCon5 Artists (and artist coordinators) Vanessa Neil and Kevin Obregon

Art&Seek Artist Studio Tour with ArtCon5 Artist Jason Ice

ArtCon 5 – The Day Before – The artists gather to make their art – 9 a.m., Friday December 11

ArtCon 5 – The Day Before – The artists gather to make their art -2 p.m., Friday December 11

ArtCon 5 – Art&Seek was there and they brought glitter, glue sticks and lots of crayons!

Big ups to Tiffany Kieran and Tyler Watson for helping with video and interviews. Lots’o'fun

If you haven’t picked up your copy of Quick this week, drop everything and go fetch one now. I just took a stroll down to the mail room (that’s where we keep all the local print media) to read David Hopkins’ first comic strip installment of We’ve Never Met and it’s freakin’ HILARIOUS! The Fine Line gives it 3 thumbs-up!

Thursday, December 10th
AllGood Cafe
Jon Dee Graham
CD Release Celebration for It’s Not as Bad as it Looks
9 pm

Lessee…full bar’n'music‘n’really wicked awesome artists with wares fer sale…I know where I’ll be on Saturday…

Trailblazin’ the Craft Scene Since 2007
Etsy Dallas, the original Dallas team and the first city team in Texas, is a cooperative craft collective of artists and designers living and working in Dallas who sell their wares on Etsy, the web’s premiere marketplace for all things hip and handmade. Etsy Dallas boasts talent from a range of mediums and crafts, and is independently run by its members with the blessing and loving support of Etsy.

Because of the determination of the original members, Etsy Dallas has become a force in the handmade movement, both locally and beyond. In the wake of Etsy Dallas’ inception in 2007, other Texas teams have formed including Etsy Austin, Alamo City Etsy, Etsy Fort Worth, Northeast Texas Etsy, Artisans of Houston and North Dallas Etsy. Two years later, Etsy Dallas continues to be the model as a leader in the art/craft scene.

Mission
This mission of Etsy Dallas is to promote the handmade movement, and to create an environment to buy and sell handmade goods in the Greater Dallas area.

Goals
~To promote each others’ goods by selling locally in the Greater Dallas area.
~To promote awareness of the handmade movement and indie lifestyle, with a focus on our Etsy shops.
~To act as a cooperative resource and support network for each others’ businesses.

History
Etsy Dallas was founded in September of 2007 by Stephanie Hindall of Tefi Designs and a handful of others (including co-leader Pamela Michelle) eager to spread the handmade movement across the metroplex. Today we are doing just that with two local craft shows that have garnered city-wide support and national credibility (learn more about the Bash HERE). Etsy Dallas has transformed itself over the years into a tight-knit collaborative group that supports each other’s handmade endeavors with love and good times.

Folk’n'A aka Trinity River Folk performed at Cliff Fest 2009 and delighted me to no end…I look forward to more performances.