July 4, 2010

Texans love to celebrate holidays.  Usually, we get a day off from work and maybe a three-day weekend in the bargain. Add fireworks, music and a patriotic theme and you have a party. Below are some 4th of July celebrations around Texas.  Mostly these are the big events.  For a more complete list, check out the Events Page on Texas Highways website.

Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic

Sunday, July 4, 2010
Doors @ 11am | Show @ Noon
The Backyard at Bee Cave
3472 Bee Cave Parkway (off Highway 620), Austin, Texas

Come celebrate the 4th of July with a true native Texan, Willie Nelson. Willie has been holding these picnics on July 4 since the early197os.  You will love Willie and his special guests at the new Backyard venue.  General admission tickets and information on Backyard website.

Note: The United States Library of Congress has added the album Red Headed Stranger to the National Recording Registry.

Austin Symphony July 4th Concert and Fireworks

Auditorium Shores
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Austin, Texas

Each year, more than 100,000 people gather at Auditorium Shores for the Independence Day celebration, which consists of symphony music and fireworks over Lady Bird Lake. The Austin Symphony will begin performing at 830 pm.  The fireworks begin at 930 pm and finish at 10 pm.  When you hear the beginning of the 1812 Overture, cover your ears!  This last piece of  music is punctuated by 75-millimeter Howitzer cannons, courtesy of Texas National Guard Salute Battery.  This event is free.  More information at Austin Symphony website.

Freedom Over Texas

Eleanor Tinsley Park
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Houston, Texas

Texas singer-songwriter Pat Green will headline the annual event held from4 to 10 pm on Sunday, July 4.  Then the largest land-based fireworks show in the US will rock the sky. Admission to the event is FREE with the donation of one canned item per person to the Houston Food Bank.  Get all the details at the official website.

Celebrate Independence Day in Baytown

Bicentennial Park (Market Street / Lee Drive)
Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4, 2010
Baytown, Texas

Saturday night, there will be a performance by Blue Oyster Cult and Madigan. The annual July 4th Parade down Market Street and Lee Drive includes floats, military vehicles and classic cars. Local school bands and dance and cheer groups will march in red, white and blue! The Parade will kick-off the July 4th Celebration this year beginning at 530 pm. Enjoy music by C.C. Rider Band, Kyle Park and Joe Nichols and fireworks. See the Celebrate Baytown website for more information.  This event is free.

Friday Night Fireworks

Laguna Madre between Palm and Red Snapper Streets
South Padre Island, Texas

The Fireworks Capital of Texas celebrates summer with fireworks every Friday at 915 pm.  The displays can be seen throughout the area.

Dallas, Texas

Evidently, Dallas is having a little budgetary problem, so there will be no fireworks at Fair Park this year.  Do not despair. Many of the surrounding cities are holding their 4th of July celebration,  Find information on these events at the following links:  Grapevine |Farmers Branch | Frisco | Arlington |Fort Worth.

In the 1950s, the San Antonio Zoo had a banner year for breeding.  The extra exotic animals were taken to Y.O. Ranch, where today you may enjoy them on the daily tour.  If you would like to get close to a giraffe, an ostrich or a zebra, Y.O. Ranch is the place to be. Other animals on the ranch include waterbuck, impala, ilk, gazelle and springbok.

Have you always wanted to be a cowboy?  Learn how during summer camps or you can  join one of two cattle drives per year.  Y.O. Ranch has the largest herd of registered Texas Longhorns in the world.

Featuring “best fair chase” hunts, versus canned hunts, Y.O. Ranch is a trophy-hunters paradise.  Of course, you may hunt your trophy with a camera as well.

The Y.O. Ranch has 20 RV sites ($30).  Or, you may also want to rent one of the rooms in the 1880s style log cabins with great stone fireplaces and period furniture.   Whether you RV or stay in a cabin, you may take your meals at the Y.O. chuckwagon.

There are so many activities at Y.O. Ranch, that you will need to visit the Y.O. Ranch website to view them all. The activities are as diverse as the life of the founder of Y.O. Ranch, Charles Armand Schreiner.

In 1852, Charles Armand Schreiner moved with his family from France to San Antonio, Texas. Schreiner grew up to be  a Texas Ranger and a Confederate soldier.  Schreiner took part of  the US Army’s great experiment with camels  in Camp Verde, Texas.  He became a merchant, banker and served in various public offices. He ran cattle and raised sheep, putting Kerrville on the map as “mohair center of the world.”

By 1900 the Charles Schreiner Company owned more than 600,000 acres of land extending continuously from Kerrville to Menard. The YO Ranch, purchased in 1880, became headquarters for the Schreiner Cattle Company, and the Live Oak Ranch, now forming portions of the YO, was headquarters for the sheep operations.

The rest  is history.

When I moved to Austin in 1969, it was a small university town.   I was born and raised in Houston and was used to a fast-paced life.  However, there was something about laid-back Austin that appealed to me:  the  people, the natural beauty, the liberal atmosphere and the music.

Any night you could hear live music by walking through downtown Austin or by taking a drive to Threadgill’s, the Broken Spoke or Soap Creek Saloon. Later, the Armadillo World Headquarters would open and Austin became a Mecca for a new style of music, kind of a country, rock and blues hybrid that would forever blur the lines between country and rock n’ roll.

You never knew who would show up to play with a band or musician.  Bands and musicians of that time included  Asleep at the Wheel, Rusty Weir, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, Augie Meyers, Steve Fromholtz, Doug Sahm, Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Bill and Bonnie Hearne, B. W. Stevenson, Kinky Friedman and Greezy Wheels.

Some of these bands and musicians became history and others lived on to become legends.  One of these Austin legends was Rusty Wier.  Rusty Weir was inducted into the Austin Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Rusty lost his battle with cancer on October 9, 2009 at his home, surrounded by his friends and family. He was 65. On Thursday, October 15, 2009, there will be a gathering of friends, family and fellow musicians to honor Rusty and share stories and songs. Free admission; just say you are a friend of Rusty’s–everyone was a friend of Rusty.

Saxon Pub
1320 South Lamar
Austin, Texas
6 pm-2 am

Salsa and Jazz on the Boardwalk

Saturday, August 1, 2009
Kemah Boardwalk, Kemah, Texas
FREE

2009 Navasota Blues Fest

In memory of Mance Lipscomb

Friday, August 7, 2009
430 PM-Midnight

Screening of  Mance in Contest
6– 7 PM COCKTAIL HOUR W/MUSICIANS
715-815 PM THE BLUES BROTHERS
830–930 PM LORNA WILLHELM & A HANDFUL OF BLUES
945–1045 PM LEANNASAURUS REX
11 PM–midnight BLACKJACKS BLUES

Saturday, August 8, 2009
10 AM to Midnight

1215-115 PM SWEET MAMA COTTON
130-245 PM STEVE HOWELL
3-415 PM TUBIE & THE TOUCHTONES
430–545 PM BRUCE FLETT & THE BLUEBIRDS
6– 715 PM ROB ROY PARNELL
730– 845 PM DAVID EGAN & TWENTY YEARS OF TROUBLE
9 – 1015 PM BLIND ORANGE & THE SEEING EYE BAND
1030pm – midnight RANDY PAVLOCK & TWENTY FOUR SEVEN

129 East Washington Ave.
Navasota, Texas 77868

Website: Navasota Blues Fest

Rock the Dock

Thursday, August 6, 2009
THE REDS Reds Rock & Roll

Thursday, August 13, 2009
TEXAS UNLIMITED BAND Rock – Classic to Current / Pop Rock

Thursday, August 20, 2009
A-RIVAL Houston’s Rock Alternative / Dance Band

Thursday, August 27
EZRA CHARLES & THE TEXAS BLUES BAND Rockin’ Piano Man and Blues Band

Kemah Boardwalk, Kemah, Texas
630-1015 PM
FREE

Music Under the Stars World Music Festival

Sunday, August 2, 2009 : Reggae – Border Roots
Sunday, August 9, 2009 : Tribute Band – Windy City
Sunday, August 16, 2009 : Noche Ranchera with Mariachi Tapotio and the El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra
Chamizal National Memorial
730–930 PM
FREE

website: El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department

Bob Dylan & His Band, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp

Sunday, August 2, 2009
Woodlands Pavilion
Woodlands, TX
530 PM

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Dell Diamond
Round Rock, TX
530 PM

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Whataburger Field
Corpus Christi, TX
530 PM

Website: BobDylan.com, Willie Nelson,

Blues on the Hill

Mike Milligan & The Altar Boys; Rick Lee & The Nightowls with Evelyn Rubio; On the Roadside All-stars; and The Blue Kats.

Saturday, August 15, 2009
McKelvey Park
1325 S 77 Sunshine Strip
Harlingen, Texas
6-10 PM
FREE

Website: Visit Harlingen

Paul McCartney

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Cowboys Stadium
Arlington, TX
730 PM

website: PaulMcCartney.com

Ray Wylie Hubbard

August 22, 2009
Granada Theatre
Dallas, Texas

website: RayWylieHubbard

Crosby Stills and Nash

Thursday, August 29, 2009
Municipal Auditorum
San Antonio, TX

Friday, August 28, 2009
Woodlands Pavilion
Houston, TX
800 PM

website:  CSN

One World Theatre

Thursday & Friday, August 6 (7 PM) and August 7 (7 and 930 PM), 2009
Ottmar Liebert- most talented, creative and influential guitarists of all time.

Friday, August 21, 2009
Larry Gatlin- forged a new musical standard for vocal harmony, raw talent and showmanship
7 pm

Thursday, August 27, 2009
Blood Sweat & Tears = unique fusion of rock, blues, pop, horn arrangements and jazz improvisation
730 & 930 PM

7701 Bee Cave Road
Austin, TX

Website: One World Theatre

This is a limited list of musical events happening in August.  In Texas, everyday, somewhere in Texas, there is live music playing.  During the summer, you can hear music in the parks in San Marcos, New Braunfels and many others. Texas has it all:  country, blues, rock, jazz, bluegrass, swing,  military, zydeco, flamenco, famous . . .

Find campgrounds from Camp Club USA, Good Sam Club, Happy Camper Half Price Camping Club

I watched the movie Charlie Wilson’s War on HBO the other night.  The movie is about an unlikely trio, consisting of the hard drinking and womanizing US Representative, an out of favor CIA operative, and a female Houston philanthropist, who joined forces to secretly bankroll the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union.

Russian troops had superior weapons, most notably helicopters that could rain destruction on the freedom fighters below.  The war went on for years and there were so many casualties, especially among the children.  The movie helps the viewer understand the wide-ranging and long-lasting implications of this little-known episode.

This morning I saw The True Story of Charlie Wilson’s War on the History Channel.  This was more interesting than the movie. Born and raised in Trinity, Texas, Wilson joined the Navy after graduating from college. Then he went to work at the Pentagon. He was an avid anti-communist.

Once elected, Wilson made a name for himself. In his Washington office, he surrounded himself with beautiful young women, who became known as Charlie’s Angels. He loved whiskey and the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1980s, which almost cost him his office. He might have continued with his life of debauchery, but he was stricken by reading an account of the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Afghanistan, which was now occupied by the Soviets.

Wilson had just been named to the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, the group responsible for funding CIA operations.  He decided to use his position, through a series of backroom deals, to steer billions of dollars to the Afghan rebels. Eventually, Rep. Wilson became part of what was then the largest covert operation in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency. Charlie Wilson became an ally of a CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Houston philanthropist Joanne Herring to bankroll the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Union.

The US would not give the Afghans American-made weapons that could cause an incident with the Soviet Union.  Ever resourceful, Charlie found a way to raise and route funds to the CIA to fund the purchase of Russian-made Stingers from the Saudis. In fact, the Saudis matched each dollar spent with one of their own.

With weapons that took away the Russian’s air superiority, the Afghans reclaimed their land. Unfortunately, the US did not follow through to help the war-torn nation rebuild their country.Those very freedom fighters that were armed by Charlie Wilson turned those same weapons against America within a decade.