On Sunday May 1st I went to what I’m guessing was the climax of the Austin Psych Fest. I’m saying that because Roky Erickson was going on at 9:30pm while in the next room Cold Sun started at 9pm. Hence I missed my favorite vocalist from the late sixties. However what I did see was Austin’s very own psychedelic secret. When I first started hanging out in Austin in the summer of “70 I was lucky enough to catch several performances of Cold Sun.....yes thats right over 40 years ago.

Local non-profit brings music education to low-income schools.

His heart pounding out of his chest, his breath heavy as the audience awaits those first few notes, José, a trumpet player, sits on the infamous stage at Stubb’s in front of a few hundred people. As he begins to play, his nerves subside. As he completes the last note of a stirring solo, the audience explodes into applause. And he hadn’t even graduated high school yet.

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen & friends, 1986

The Cactus Café celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Thirty years ago this month an Austin legend was born on the campus of the University of Texas. In the southwest corner of the Texas Union building, to be exact. Originally a nondescript coffeehouse, the venerable Cactus Café has, in three decades, become a legendary live music venue that offers a uniquely intimate setting for some of the best performances Austin has to offer. “It hasn’t really changed a bit,” says general manager and artistic director Griff Luneburg.

A few months ago my band played on the same bill with Amplified Heat. I have never seen any other band look and sound like this since I was very young.  Heres a short interview and a video link with the most interesting trio I've seen in many years!