2023 is already looking to be another busy year for State Fair Records. In late January, Jackson Scribner & Billy Law are playing the Kessler Theater together to commemorate their European Fall Tour they did together in Sweden. This show was presented by KXT and proved to be a memorable evening.
Matt Hillyer is kicking off the New Year in style at the MusicFest in Steamboat, CO and then he heads off on a West Coast Tour supporting Dale Watson from late January into February. His solo album Glorieta is due for release on Feb 25th on both vinyl / cd and all the streaming services and he’s confirmed for a show at The Kessler Theater on March 25th. 2023 will definitely be a busy year for Matt as he will continue to tour around Texas and the Southwest promoting his solo release.
Nathan Mongol Wells from the cowpunk band, The Ottoman Turks has also been busy recording his first solo album with John Pedigo of The O’s / Pedigo’s Magic Pilsner whose engineering and producing the album along with Nathan. The Turks will continue to play regionally throughout the year as well but look for news on Nathan›s solo release later this winter.
John Dufilho from The Deathray Davies / CLIFFFS /JDJR amongst many other bands and projects he’s involved in, has yet another musical guise to add to his long list of creative endeavors. He’ll be releasing a solo album under the moniker John Buffalo. This will definitely be a musical departure from anything he›s released before, so be on the lookout for that later this year.
Jackson and Levi Scribner are going into Consolvo Studios in East Dallas with the Grammy-winning engineer, now Austin-based, Stuart Sikes (The Walkmen, White Stripes, Loretta Lynn) to record his self-titled follow up due out later this year.
Lastly, the offshoot program The State Fair Records, Singles Club has a stocked roster for 2023. SFR Singles Club is designed to champion local and national artists who aren’t on the label but that we want to spotlight as true talent. “We just want to release songs and shine a light on these artists who are producing amazing music,” said State Fair Record’s Jeff Ryan.
The Longhorn Ballroom is kicking off its long-awaited grand re-opening with Asleep At The Wheel on Thursday, March 30. Other upcoming shows include Old Crow Medicine Show with Joshua Ray Walker, Friday, March 31, Morgan Wade and Lucero with Kaitlin Butts, Saturday, April 1, Ween on April 25, and Emmylou Harris, Saturday, April 22nd.
From our vault of “missed items of note” that occurred during the BUDDY Magazine pandemic leave, Mouse and the Traps released a fantastic set of tunes entitled, Walking In Dylan’s Shoes, a tribute to Bob Dylan. It features 14 Dylan covers, with tunes like “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” and many others.
The Nervebreakers have just a few copies left of their limited-edition vinyl release, entitled Face Up To Reality. It is a beautifully packaged disk on thick red vinyl, and sounds as great as it looks…
Music journalist and music historian John Lomax III (of the famed Lomax music family) is going out on the road, performing a one-man show about his family, and giving life to songs from the past. He has released a new album by John Lomax Jr., entitled Folk – Live. There are 18 tracks, and each song is aptly described in historical detail.
Marcus Jones, drummer and founder of the band The Found, says they are currently recording, with plans to release new music in the Spring. He also says they are planning to play more performances outside of their long-standing Thursday night gig at The Free Man. For the last seven years, BUDDY Magazine publisher Rob Garner has been telling anyone who will listen that The Found is hands-down one of the best bands in Texas.
It was an axe-fest at the Granada Theatre last January 6 with Eric Tessmer and Chris Duarte. Photographer Zoe White of SweetAzurePhotos was on hand to capture all the action. Check your socials for more great shots from Sweetazurephotos.
MCA Nashville released 70’s era Joe Ely recordings on vinyl on February 17 They include Joe Ely, Honky Tonk Masquerade, and Down on the Drag…
BUDDY Magazine Publisher Emeritus Ron McKeown will be inducted into the 8th annual Dallas Songwriters Association Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be held on April 15th, 2023 at Love and War in Plano. McKeown is being honored for decades of service to the Texas music community.
Beloved Oak Cliff guitarist, David Brown, died November 12, 2022, at the age of 70 in Lodi, CA. Best known for his years with Texas Rock and Brownhawk, David was a consummate showman who played with so much joy. “David was a great friend and one of the best guitar players I had the pleasure to know,” said Rocky Athas. David was “one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever known,” Bart Campi recalled. “He would always tell me, “When you see Stevie, tell him I’m gonna take him to Kiest Park and whoop his ass.” And Stevie would always say the same back, and grin.”
Garland native Cedric Moore picked up a Japan tour with Marcus Miller last September. He joins an elite group of drummers to fill that chair for bassist Miller, who is nothing short of contemporary jazz royalty. You can catch Moore playing around North Texas with the Funky Knuckles.
Ginny Mac has been tearing up the road with Asleep At The Wheel for the last few months. We at BUDDY Magazine believe that Mac joining AATW is the one of best things to happen to Western Swing since it became our official “State Music of Texas” back in 2011…
As we went to press, we heard the sad news that Dallas guitarist Michael McCullough has died. A March 31 Memorial is planned. The fleet-fingered BUDDY Magazine Texas Tornado, Class of 1997 was a dear friend and will be sorely missed.