West Texas area music calendar - August-September

Odessa/Midland
8/26 - Eli Young Band - Dos Amigos
8/27 - Jamey Johnson - Dos Amigos
9/3 - Charlie Shafter - Lone Star Bar
9/10 - Turnpike Troubadours - Permian Basin Fair
9/15 - Granger Smith - Rockin' Rodeo
9/17 - Reckless Kelly - Permian Basin Fair
9/17 - Dierks Bentley - Rockhounds Baseball Park
9/22 - Styx - Chapparral Center
9/23-24 - Lone Star Music Fest - Midland, feat. Cody Canada & the Departed, Wade Bowen, Kevin Fowler, Chris Knight, No Justice, & more
9/29 - Kyle Park - Rockin' Rodeo
9/30 - Stoney Larue - Dos Amigos
10/15 - Josh Abbott - Dos Amigos
10/16 - Darius Rucker - Dos Amigos
10/27 - Bush, Chevelle, Filter - Dos Amigos

Alpine/Marfa/Big Bend
8/25 - Deke Dickerson & the Ecco-fonics - Railroad Blues
9/2 - JP & the Gilberts - Railroad Blues
9/4 - Joe King Carrasco & the Crowns - Railroad Blues
9/9 - James McMurtry - Padre's
9/15 - Explosions in the Sky, Twin Sister - Vizcaino Park in Marfa (FREE)
9/22-25 - Trans-Pecos Festival of Music & Love - El Cosmico; feat. Patty Griffin, Barbara Lynn, Erika Wennerstrom, Adam Bork, Amy Cook, Ben Kweller, Tift Merritt, the Black Angels
10/8 - Del Castillo - Railroad Blues
11/11-12 - 1st Annual Jimmy LaFave Songwriter Rendezvous - Lajitas Golf Resort & Spa; feat. Jimmy LaFave, Sam Baker, Slaid Cleaves, Kevin Welch, Malcolm Holcomb, Gretchen Peters, John Fulbright, Ray Bonneville, Will Kimbrough

Lubbock
8/25 - Jason Boland - Blue Light
8/27 - Reckless Kelly - Wild West
8/31 - Thrift Store Cowboys - Blue Light
9/16 - Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Blue Light
9/22 - John Evans Band - Blue Light
9/23 - Ray Wylie Hubbard - Blue Light
9/25 - Dirty River Boys - Blue Light

San Angelo
9/15 - Two Tons of Steel - The House of Fifi Dubois
9/22 - Turnpike Troubadours - Blaine's
9/24 - Los Lonely Boys - San Angelo Coliseum

Abilene
9/21 - Mindy Smith - Moody Coliseum
9/23 - Guy Clark - Paramount Theatre

Richard Buckner - Our Blood

Today marks the release of Richard Buckner's Our Blood, his first release in 5 years. Buckner has received a great deal of praise throughout his career, and the hiatus has no doubt been tough for his loyal fanbase.

Richard Buckner - "Traitor"

The beauty of having a new release from Buckner is that we have the chance to hear from him in interviews. As an artist who rarely, if ever, talks while performing, it is fortunate that he has been quite generous with the interviews he has done leading up to this record. You can find a number of them out there, although this one from Magnet Magazine is one of the better ones I have seen. In it, you can find a brief summation of the reasons behind his 5 year gap between albums.

To put in perspective how long ago Meadow was released, the vinyl resurgence among indie labels was not yet very far along and it was available only on CD and mp3. Therefore, Our Blood is, to my knowledge, his first full-length album available on vinyl. It was worth the wait.