New Opportunities for Bands and Musicians in the Tyler Area

Patriot Commons is near the University of Texas campus, and is currently growing by leaps and bounds. With about 3500 new residents each year, Tyler is a fast growing city, and the opening of Patriot Commons earlier this year is now paying off with new bars and restaurants.

Republic Icehouse is one of the newest additions, and they are currently seeking bands. They also plan on having an Open Mic night.

UC Sports Bar, which also features live music, recently opened at Patriot Commons. Restaurants round out the attractions with a Steak n Shake, Scooter’s Coffee and Yogurt, and Boba-Loompia. Fedex and UPS are also setting up locations here, so with all of this going on, I expect a lot of traffic and firmly believe Patriot Commons will be a huge boon to Tyler, and to Tyler musicians and bands.

Texas Showdown Tattoo and Music Festival - El Paso

This is for all you hardcore fans - tattoos, music, sideshows, and body suspension acts. Good music and over 300 of the world's top tattoo artists sounds like an interesting mix, but the body suspension stuff makes me queesy.

Friday, July 18, Deftones will headline, with The Casualties, Lower Class Brats, and Murder FM. I saw the Deftones a few years back, and unfortunately it was not a good show.

Saturday, July 19, Drowning Pool will headline, with 12 Stones, Crazy Town, Bridge to Grace, and more. I never got to see Drowning Pool with Dave Williams, but the newest lead singer Jasen Moreno is bringing high energy back to the band. After watching a few vids with him, especially how well he did on "Bodies", I plan to catch them the next time they're in Dallas.

Sunday, July 20 features Wu-Tang Clan, Snow Tha Product, Sheek Louch, and more.

Tickets for this 3 day event can be bought online at Ticketmaster, or save a few bucks by buying them directly from the El Paso County Colliseum box office.

Learn more about this freak show of an event at texastattooshowdownfestval.com or on their Facebook page.

The Amarillo Drum Circle

The Amarillo Drum Circle is a family-friendly group whose mission is to unite the community through rhythm and use music as therapy to reach those in need. The group is open to all and is free to join. They meet every Sunday at 6 PM in AC Memorial Park in Amarillo, and also at 7 PM the second Saturday of every month at Chalice Abbey. If you plan to attend, check the Facebook page first because on occasion the meeting is moved or rescheduled.

Despite its name, knowledge of drums or any musical instrument is not required, and other instruments are welcomed. Bring your drum, guitar, ukelele, flute, or just bring your love of music. Don't have a musical instrument or any musical talent? Don't let that hold you back - this is really about comraderie, friendship, and fun.

In addition to making music, there are often other activities, including a camping circle, poetry slam, art gallery openings, tie dye shirt night, and a bracelet-making circle.

The Amarillo Drum Circle was started a few years ago by Josh Floyd, Nick Andrew, Cyrice Gein and a few others who would get together occasionally. The group now has nearly 500 members. Most events have roughly 30 or so in attendance, but the word is spreading and they recently had about 75 at a gathering.

I can tell that this is a labor of love for the organizers, and that they truly enjoy the experience and want to share it with as many as possible. I'm frustrated by the hundreds of miles between us, because this is exactly the type of thing this "old hippie" would enjoy on a mild-weathered Sunday. I wish them the greatest success, and I hope to have an excuse to visit the panhandle soon just so I can join in the fun!

Brazos Nights Free Concert Series in Waco, Texas - Doing It Right!

I've been a big fan of Cajun music and Zydeco music since accidentally wandering into a Cajun bar in the small town of Bandera, TX about ten years ago. So when I saw Buckwheat Zydeco is playing in Waco on April 11, I had to check it out. I've been wanting to see him for a very long time.

The event is a series of free concerts (yes FREE) held each year beginning in April and ending in July presented by The City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department. What an awesome thing for a city to do!

But Waco isn't far from DFW, and they've been doing this since 1987. Why haven't I heard about it before? From what I can tell, most of their advertising is local to Waco. And as far as internet advertising, the event does not have its own website, instead it has a dedicated area of the city's website (Brazos Nights Official Home Page).

Despite not having its own site, they do offer plenty of good info - click on Bands and you'll see the headliners for each of the 4 shows this year, complete with links back to the bands' websites. Besides Buckwheat Zydeco, they have great names for the rest of the lineup, including the Toadies on June 13.

I'm seriously impressed with this festival, as they appear to be doing a lot of things the right way. Hats off to the organizers - I'm a bit of a critic when it comes to small town festivals and I can find little to criticize here. You've done so many things right, including a page featuring Photos and Videos from Previous Waco Nights, and moving the April date to accomodate artist schedules.

My biggest nitpick of this event? That they don't give me any tools to help advertise it. If they had some downloadable banners or tile ads, I would likely put them on some of my music-themed websites. I'm sure some of the participating artists would do the same. I even checked the Brazos Nights Facebook Page. I found images for each of the 4 dates, but they didn't include enough info (like WHERE).

But that's ok - I'm going to promote this event anyway, because it's an awesome lineup of artists and bands, and because it's FREE. Way to go, Waco!

A Lesson For Small Town Music Festivals

Who knew Midland had their own music festival? I stumbled onto the Tall City Blues Fest website quite by accident and was immediately intrigued.

Unfortunately, the website is woefully lacking in information. Lots of info about their sponsors, almost no info about the music. While I wish them great success - I love seeing smaller towns develop a successful music festival - I don't see it unless they change their ways.

Let their website be a lesson to other towns wanting to develop a successful music festival. Yeah, sponsors are important, but the website for a music festival should feature music. Is this really such a hard concept to grasp?

The Tall City Blues Fest website, www.tallcitybluesfest.com, starts on the home page with links to news, info, and sponsorships. I found last year's lineup from the News link (Chris Duarte headlined) and a few pathetic press releases that focused more on workshops offered at a nearby college than on the music. This was getting depressing.

Finally I found a videos link (see for yourself here www.tallcitybluesfest.com/videos/ and guess what I found? Three videos of Lisa Grissom (I guess she's the festival organizer?) either sitting on a Mazda and talking about the festival, or being interviewed by a Mazda dealership manager about the festival. (Guess who is the main sponsor of the event?) Oh, and almost as an afterthought, a single lonely video of the music from the pre-VIP party in 2012. One video of music!!

No pictures of past events, no other videos of past events, no interviews with past performers - what the heck?

Sorry Lisa Grissom, but you've only convinced me to come to this year's event if I'm interested in looking at a Mazda. Good luck with your festival, and my sympathies go out to any bands who play there. Unless you're singing songs about Mazda, don't expect any free press for your band.

South By So What Festival - March 14-16, Grand Prairie, TX

This annual festival started 7 years ago as a small way for DFW to get a taste of South By Southwest bands, but this year they're really blowing it out with big names and expecting a big draw.

The festival is scheduled for March 14-16, 2014 in Grand Prairie, Texas.

This year's lineup includes headliners Taking Back Sunday and The Used.

Full line-up can be found here www.southbysowhat.com/home/2014-line-up/.

Single day tickets are $45 for Friday or Sunday, $55 for Saturday.

Three day passes are available in several packages, ranging from General Admission for $120 to the Elite VIP Package for $320. They say the Elite VIP Packages are nearly sold out, so if you want yours get it now!

Tickets can be purchased here : www.southbysowhat.com/home/tickets/