Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2008

[Pete C]

This year's three themes are Bhutan, Texas & NASA (!). There should be some great music from Texas.

http://www.folklife.si.edu/center/festival_2008.html

[bluenoter]

Well, come on down!

(I can hardly wait to hear the music from NASA. Very spacey, no doubt.)

[Pete C]

(I can hardly wait to hear the music from NASA. Very spacey, no doubt.)

I'm looking forward to the food.

[Bill Barton]

They definitely should have Jane Ira Bloom take part. NASArally.

[Pete C]

The concert schedule isn't up (except evening concerts), but here's the list of Texas artists. I think some of the bigger names will be doing special evening concerts only.

Coming to the Festival

Music

Asleep At the Wheel, Austin, Texas
Ray Benson
Jim Finney
Elizabeth McQueen
David Miller
Jason Roberts
Under the able leadership of Ray Benson, Asleep at the Wheel has enjoyed close to forty years of making Western swing music for audiences of all ages. Keeping alive the jazzy, up-tempo dance favorites of the genre has been a crusade for this ensemble, which has met with much success and many, many GRAMMYs.

Marcia Ball, Austin, Texas
Marcia Ball
Don Bennett
Corey Keller
Johnny Medina
Andrew Nafziger
Thad Scott
Pianist and singer/songwriter Marcia Ball is an East Texas phenom. Learning from various family members, she began playing piano at age five. Her piano style mixes equal parts boogie-woogie, zydeco, and swamp rock. Most of the songs on her albums are her own creations, so songwriting has always been a part of her job description.

CJ Chenier, Houston, Texas
CJ Chenier
Timothy Betts
Daniel Glenn Griffin
Michael Morris
Michael Vowell
CJ Chenier is the son of zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier. CJ pays tribute to his father's musical prowess but has expanded his legacy with formidable, original contributions. As a Houston native, he is living proof that zydeco music is Texas music.

Guy Clark, Nashville, Tennessee
Guy Clark
Verlon Thompson
Though he currently resides in the so-called Music City, Texas lays fierce claim to songwriter Guy Clark, and Clark himself never forsakes his roots in the Lone Star State. Part of the songwriting cabal of the 1960s and 1970s, which included Lyle Lovett, Townes van Zandt, and Billy Joe Shaver, Clark continues to tour with many of his Texas cohorts and play throughout the state.

Conjunto Los Angeles del Sur, La Feria, Texas
Joe Cantú
Arturo Galván
Joe Sánchez
Joe Sánchez Jr.
Lorenzo Sánchez
Joe Sánchez, accordionist, vocalist, and founder in 1978 of Los Angeles del Sur, traces his musical heritage to the 1930s, when his grandfather organized dances in La Feria, a small community in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. His father joined the conjunto to play bajo sexto. Joe's son, Joey, plays drums. They are joined by Arturo Galván on bass and Joe Cantú on harmony vocals.

Joe Ely, Austin, Texas and Joel Guzman, Kyle, Texas
Amarillo native Joe Ely got his start with the legendary Lubbock ensemble The Flatlanders. Since then, his music has sampled everything from Western to honky-tonk stomps and rockabilly, to Woody Guthrie ballads and Mexican-influenced corridos. This formidable writer and interpreter of classic Texas songs is joined by Texas accordion king Joel Guzman, whose prowess on the squeezebox ranges from rocked-up and straight-ahead conjunto to more nuanced and romantic Mexican roots music.

Fiddlin' Frenchie Burke, Lytle, Texas
Frenchie Burke
Jeffery Barosh
Born in Louisiana, Burke received his first music lessons from his grandfather. After his family moved to San Antonio, he joined the Air Force. His apprenticeship in the Texas honky-tonk scene included work with the likes of Ray Price and Johnny Bush. In the early 1970s, he perfected a blend of the Texas and Louisiana fiddle repertoires and wrapped it in flamboyant showmanship.

The Gillette Brothers, Crockett, Texas
Guy Gillette
Pip Gillette
In 1983, the Gillette brothers took over their grandfather's ranch outside of Crockett, Texas. It was a fortuitous turn of events because, at the same time, they found themselves part of a growing network of cowboy singers and poets who were revitalizing folks' appreciation for Western music and musical lore.

Mark Halata and Texavia, Houston, Texas
Mark Halata
Bruce Brosch
Jeff Brosch
Mike Gest
Texavia is a Czech polka band led by accordion player Mark Halata, who grew up attending Czech family and community events where polka music was a mainstay. Usually singing in Czech, Texavia plays waltzes and polkas that have been popular in the Texas Czech community for well over seventy-five years.

James Hand, Tokio, Texas
James Hand
Will Indian
John McGlothlin
Speedy Sparks
Born in Waco, Texas, rodeos and country music surrounded James from an early age. The classic strains of Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, and Ernest Tubb made their mark on him, but a more substantial influence on his performing and songwriting was life itself. Though largely a hidden treasure, James has been a true Texas honky-tonk player for forty years.

Terri Hendrix, San Marcos, Texas, and Lloyd Maines, Austin, Texas
Drawing on an early affection for country, blues, and other roots music, Terri Hendrix falls squarely in the long songwriting tradition of the state. She has joined forces with legendary steel player and producer Lloyd Maines. Member of the second-generation of The Maines Brothers Band and father of one of country music's feistiest female vocalists, his roots in Texas music are almost unparalleled.

The Jones Family Singers, Markham, Texas
Fred Allen Jones Sr.
Velma Davis
Ernestine Jones
Fred Allen Jones Jr.
Sarah M. Jones
Theresa Patrelle Jones
Alexis Jones-Roberts
Ian Wade
Sabrina Renee Wade
The Jones Family Singers is entirely comprised of family. Bishop Fred A. Jones Sr. leads this quartet-style gospel group, which includes five daughters, two sons, a grandson, and a son-in-law. While the group travels nationwide, they can usually be found every Sunday ministering musically to a small Pentecostal congregation led by Bishop Jones in their rural home base, Markham, Texas.

Tutu Jones and Soul Crew, Dallas, Texas
Tutu Jones
Tyson Grimes
Kevin Ross
Wayne Ross
The son of Dallas-based guitarist Johnny B. Jones, Tutu Jones is truly a product of his early environment, which included regular houseguests like Freddie King, Little Joe Blue, and Ernie Johnson. Obviously, his own future as a bluesman was never in doubt. You could say he exemplifies the sound of South Dallas, where blues and soul meet to create a special Texas mix.

Les Amis Creole, Beaumont, Texas
Ed Poullard
James Adams
Lawrence Ardoin
Led by veteran fiddler and accordionist Ed Poullard, this trio draws its inspiration from old-style French songs of the upper Gulf Coast. They expertly play and preserve a traditional repertoire of waltzes, ballads, and two-steps. Featuring the acoustic interplay of diatonic accordion, fiddle, guitar, and voice, their music is homemade, with an Afro-French twist.

Little Joe y la Familia, Temple, Texas
Joe Hernandez
Gracie Acosta
Frank Cagigal
Manuel Castaneda
Thomas Cruz
Jesus Gaitan
Sam Jones
Jesse Lopez
John Ontiveros
In the 1960s, this ensemble, led by Little Joe Hernandez, pioneered the Tejano sound. An innovative combination of many musical elements, including inventive approaches to Latino music, Tejano gives voice to the Chicano political movement. Little Joe y la Familia may be best known for recording the anthem of the Mexican American civil rights struggle, "Las Nubes."

Los Texmaniacs, San Antonio, Texas
Max Baca
David Farias
Lorenzo Martinez
Israel Villanueva
A contemporary-sounding conjunto ensemble, Los Texmaniacs combine traditional instrumentation and repertoire, with blues, rock, R&B, and a dash of country. Leader Max Baca is a much-in-demand bajo sexto player whose music echoes that of his many genre-bending San Antonio mentors—legendary musicians like Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, and Flaco Jimenez.

Mariachi Los Arrieros, El Paso, Texas
Manny Andrade
Joseph Baca
Antonio Luis Bordonada
Doug Edward Brown
Rene Eduardo Castañeda
Juan Alberto Contreras
Leopoldo Gomez
Angel Hernandez
Eduardo Alfonso Hernandez
Omar Daniel Lopez
Albert Gil Martinez Jr.
Jose Montes Jr.
Gabriel Prado
Manuel Talamantes III
Javier Villarreal Jr.
Since 1996, this fifteen-member ensemble has performed for El Pasoans. Arriero is the Spanish word for "drover," the person who drives livestock to its destinations. Los Arrieros have lived up to their moniker by educating young people about the mariachi tradition. They now share their music with audiences nationwide.

Augie Meyers, San Antonio, Texas
Augie Meyers
Joe Forlini
Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Augie Meyers absorbed all the styles of music that were popular in his childhood. As a founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornadoes, he put this knowledge to use. Meyers, a Texas musical icon, continues to be at home with styles as diverse as polka, conjunto, Cajun, country, and rock and roll.

Jody Nix and The Texas Cowboys, Big Spring, Texas
Jody Nix
Johnny Cox
Dixie Hankins
Larry Nix
Robert Weeks
A second-generation Western swing musician, Jody Nix inherited the leadership of the Texas Cowboys from his father, the early and important Western swing fiddler Hoyle Nix. To this day, the Texas Cowboys play dancehalls, rodeos, and community events throughout the nation, but their special stomping ground is West Texas, where swing fans are avid and demand a driving, danceable sound.

The Original Soul Invaders, Industry, Texas
Roy Green
Danny Davis
Demontreal Edmond
David Scott
Chadwick Turner
Chris Washington
The Original Soul Invaders draw on the amplified quartet tradition popular with African American gospel groups in Texas. Founder and leader Roy Green, who pastors the Mars Hill Deliverance Tabernacle Church in Fayetteville, Texas, started the group in the late 1970s.

The Quebe Sisters Band, Burleson, Texas
Grace Quebe
Hulda Quebe
Sophia Quebe
Joey McKenzie
Drew Phelps
Among the Quebe sisters, stunning sibling vocals are matched by triple-threat sister fiddling. Their mentor, master musician Joey McKenzie, and upright bass player Drew Phelps join them. Their repertoire includes Western swing, cowboy tunes, and traditional Texas-style fiddling.

Mingo Saldivar, San Antonio, Texas
Accordionist Mingo Saldivar is known for his distinctive twist on the conjunto tradition. He has built a loyal following in dancehalls across South Texas by blending straight-ahead conjunto with country and western standards and by translating original English lyrics into Spanish and the plaintive sound of country into bright and danceable conjunto sound.

Texas Johnny Brown, Houston, Texas
Texas Johnny Brown
Larry Evans
Giovanni Godley
William Hollis
Blues guitarist and session man, songwriter and bandleader, Texas Johnny Brown has a storied yet little known musical history. As studio guitarist for Houston's groundbreaking Black label, Duke/Peacock Records, Brown toured, played, and recorded with many of the greatest blues, gospel, and R&B artists of the day. He now leads his own ensemble.

Charles Thibodeaux and the Austin Cajun Aces, Austin, Texas
Charles Thibodeaux
Steve Doerr
Peter Schwarz
Although recently formed and from a Texas town not known for its Cajun roots, the Austin Cajun Aces is steeped in Texas Cajun tradition. Fronted by Cajun accordionist Charles Thibodeaux, whose musical mentor and hero is the great Texas Cajun accordionist Andrew Cormier, the Aces play the music Charles grew up with in dancehalls, community centers, and clubs throughout Southeast Texas.