"It's What You Know About Who You Know" - Bob Malone

In all of my journalism studies, it's always been hammered into me to "write what you know." Well, I know Bob Malone. About a million years ago (ok, it was about 1989 but YOU live didn't live in Los Angeles in the 80s....) there was a tiny bar, in a tiny strip center in Sherman Oaks called The Chimney Sweep. Being a fan of the dive bar, you can't imagine how thrilled I was to find this one within walking distance to my apartment. This was during what I refer to as The Whiskey Years and I'm sure I don't have to explain any further.

Bob was playing solo; hammering out Billy Joel, Dr. John and occasionally slipping in an original that no one noticed but me. In my best Faye Dunaway, I staggered (I'm pretty sure I staggered...) up to him and said, "You don't belong here." That's about all I remember about that night but it was the beginning of a 20 year friendship that still holds strong today. We both gave up the whiskey but never each other. 

Bob e Las Bobetts SXSW 2011

I was there the first time Bob played his first showcase gig for ASCAP. I was there to sing background vocals on some of his first recordings. I wasn't there, unfortunately, to watch him marry the lovely and talented Karen Nash, who I consider one of my closest friends. I'd moved to Texas by then and LA had gotten further and further away from me. 

 

Post Fogerty March 2013

I will be there Friday, September 27 when Bob plays at Cypress Creek Cafe. Karen and I will be singing background vocals like we always do when he's in Texas. I've watched Bob go from dive bars to enormo-domes, where he plays keyboards and accordion for the legendary John Fogerty. 

He's released seven CDs and traveled the world extensively as a solo artist. He continues to write, arrange, record and still keep all of his hair.             

T.

The Slow Season

I'm Temple Ray and I am the worst blogger ever. I started this thing as a way of reaching out to new customers as well as staying in touch with our regulars and, well, I just got busy.  So much has happened since I last posted many months ago and I think it started with the holidays and never let up. I'm glad to enter a new year with CCC and I look forward to many more. Mainly because I'm too comfortable there and I don't have the tenacity to look for another job. Ever.

What inspired me to dust off my thesaurus and answer all of the security questions to recover my password to this website was my evening at the Buzzard Bar. We just launched our "Monday Classic Movie Night" (don't worry, we have a contingency plan for when football season starts again) and though the crowd was small tonight, it was spectacular! As one patron stated, "It was magical."

Tonight's movie was To Kill A Mockingbird. As many times as I've seen this movie, it always touches me. But to watch it on the patio at CCC, with some of our regulars; to have it be quiet, save for the sound of ice in glasses or the occasional commentary; truly was magical. We ate popcorn. We laughed, applauded and cried in the right places. When it was over, we all discussed it and talked about the other movies we'd like to see. The greats. The classics. I'm sticking to the black and whites as often as I can because the view somehow seems better that way.

This is considered the slow season in Wimberley and I think that's when I like our little village best. I've run into more people that I know, but never see, in the last couple of weeks. Even I've ventured out of my comfort zone. Did you know there's a coffee shop in the King Feed building? I've even noticed a couple of new stores on the Square that I'm pretty sure weren't there a couple of days ago. I've really got to get out more! Wimberley is a pretty cool place to live but there's more to it than the straight drive down RR12 from my apartment to CCC and I plan to take full advantage of it.

I guess the point of my diatribe is this: come out, come out, wherever you are! Come to Cypress Creek Cafe for lunch, dinner, live music or a Monday night movie. Hit up Groovin' Grind while you're buying those first plants of the season at King Feed. Visit the Thrift Stores. Go see Death of A Salesman at the Wimberley Players Theater.  Visit all of these websites and let's get out there and support our local businesses!  I know we want to see you at CCC. Even if you're sitting quietly on the patio watching a movie...

tr

think pink...

Well, I gave it my best shot but Melissa Etheridge will not be my October interview. I guess you only get one interview per celebrity in your lifetime and I already had mine with her in 1980-something when I was a budding young journalist in LA and she was an up and coming singer songwriter who had just released her first record. My thanks to her management for at least putting up with my annoying phone calls and emails. It's hard to get me to take no for an answer once I think I've got a good idea.


As we are preparing for our second annual Pink Fest! 2012 here at Cypress Creek Cafe, I still can't believe it's been almost a year since our maiden voyage. We learned a lot from that first event. We learned that you can't compete with a gun raffle, you can't charge a ticket fee and I learned personally, that I can't do an entire day in heels.

This year, we are so incredibly lucky to have the following people, places and things sponsor this event so that we are able to make it free to the public. Many, many thanks to

The Women's Center at Central Texas Medical Center (WC/CTMC) in partnership with

 Pink Heals, Community Action and 

Texas State Cancer Advocacy Movement for Colleges and Outreach (CAMCO)

Amy Allen / V Clay Salon

Carpenter Insurance

Chuy's

Gallery On The Square

Old Mill Store

State Farm / Byron Eckols

Wall Street Western

 Wells Fargo Bank of Wimberley

All of the money raised from donations and the silent auction will stay in Hays County via our sponsorship with CTMC, and will be distributed to Pink Heals and Community Action to provide breast cancer screening and treatment to women in Hay's County. This is huge for us and while we are grateful to Komen for participating in our event last year, we felt we wanted to focus on our communities, our county and our citizens. I suppose it does take a village....

Pink Fest! 

Saturday, October 6

Gates at noon; live music at 1:00

South River Trio

Karen Nash & Bob Malone

Kim Meeks & Her Bad Habits

Jennifer B & The Groove Kings

Patricia Vonne

The Whiskey Sisters

Van Wilks will close out the night in the Buzzard Bar beginning at 9:00 pm

Please come out and support this great cause, help us create awareness about the importance of yearly mammograms. Talk to some amazing women who have survived and continue to fight for a cure. Be a part of this very special day.

Thanks to EVERYONE who helps make this event happen!

Temple Ray

Cypress Creek Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Anna

This is Anna Moss, the sister of our own Michelle & Aaron. Michelle and Aaron have raised her since she was an infant after the death of their mother and Michelle lovingly refers to her as “her daughter.” Anna has been sick for 16 months with chronic pain and illness that has been undiagnosed after seeing 17 different doctors. She has been unable to work or go to school and is bedridden most of her days. The next step for the family is to take her to the Austin Diagnostic Clinic for other testing. The costs so far have been devastating for Anna and her family and will continue to be until they receive a diagnosis. 

 

There will be a benefit at CCC, Sunday, October 28 featuring SUSAN GIBSON and friends and we will keep updates about this event on our facebook page. If you are unable to donate or wish to do so at a later date, please click on the PayPal link below.

Thank you & God Bless….

It's Good To Be King.....

Shelley King's decision to quit her day job in 1998 and play music full time launched  a series of events that would place her firmly in the bedrock of the Austin Music scene.  Having played in the area since 1992, King took some time off in the mid 90s to focus on writing songs and eventually record and release her first CD, Call of My Heart.  Two songs from that release, including the title track, would be covered by Toni Price on her 2001 release, Midnight Pumpkin, and “Call of My Heart,” would win Song of the Year at the 2002 Austin Music Awards. Fast forward to 2008 when King would be named Texas State Musician – the first woman to ever be able to claim the title.

“It was almost ten years to the day of me quitting my day job,” said King, when we spoke of the award.  People will sometimes say to me, “Oh, you’re so good. Why haven’t you made it?” In this kind of business, these days, every single little victory adds up. You’ve got to appreciate every single little blessing. I think it’s a blessing that I get to play music. It’s a blessing that I get to play at Cypress Creek. I think I’ve made it. I count every little blessing. Not everybody gets to be Blake Shelton, I guess, or whatever the flavor of the month is. And I don’t think we all want that. We all kind of dig our life around here.”

King tours solo, as a duo or with a full band and additionally there are other projects that also keep this power house singer songwriter up late at night, including SisDeville (with Carolyn Wonderland and Floramay Holliday) and Texas Guitar Women (which features Wonderland, Cindy Cashdollar, Sarah Brown and Lisa Pankratz). You're only as good as the company you keep, and King is definitely in fine company with these legendary women.

A new CD is scheduled to be released at the beginning of 2013. And if that's not enough to keep a gal busy, King has also managed to find some time for a serious labor of love called HOME; Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers.

In its infancy, HOME is a non-profit that was started by several Austin music industry leading ladies, (King, Susan Antone, Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland, Nancy Fly and Nancy Coplin to name a few) when one of Austin's premier blues singers recently became homeless. [I have not included the name of this artist in order to protect privacy.]

“This is to help aging Austin entertainers,” said King. “We have HAAM, [Health Alliance for Austin Musicians] and we’re keeping our musicians healthy. They’re going to live longer and they’re going to need help with housing later. This is something we need so much.  We have set up a bank account and are starting to solicit donations. We are also planning on putting out a CD to benefit HOME and hope to have it out before the holidays when everyone will be thinking about home."

[A benefit will also be scheduled at Antone’s at a later date and we will keep you posted as the information becomes available and links to pertinent pages will be added here later.]

As King continues to blaze her trail, her songs continue to inspire and uplift. Her character and her love of what she does is reflected both on stage and off and she will continue to reign supreme for a long, long time. - TR

www.shelleyking.com

Shelley King 

Saturday, August 4

The Buzzard Bar 

Cypress Creek Cafe

Wristbands, $10

A (Southern) Gentleman and a (Blues) Scholar

WC Clark is called the godfather of the Austin blues for a good reason. Blues greats from Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Lou Ann Barton and countless others have all fallen under his tutelage at some point.

A multiple award winner, legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter, when I asked him about his career defining moments he said, "playing at Rockefeller Center and seeing the signs advertising some of the great blues and jazz players that had performed there...that was a big one for me." Having his crowds be a mix of young and old is also one of the things he says defines him most.

He is also defined by his southern upbringing in Austin, Texas. His stories to me included several about his grandmother, who was half Cherokee, and who taught him about love and respect. "I'd go to the store with my mother or my grandmother, and if there was someone struggling with their groceries, they'd tell me to go ask them if they needed help. I still do that now. You see somebody that needs help, that’s what you do."

Clark comes from a world that for the most part, no longer exists, but he has not forgotten it. His music harkens back to a time of gospel, family and struggles met head on with grace and kindness. "I never even went to a doctor until I was 17. My grandmother always cured us of everything. I remember her rubbing sardines on my chest to cure us of diphtheria." 

Clark's road has been one traveled once and then again, always with a story to tell. "One time, we were coming back to Austin. It's was my turn to drive so some of the guys asked if they could drink beer in the van. I told them, no!" They told me they wanted to get a hotel room so I dropped them off and that's just what they did; got them a room so they could drink beer and drove back by myself!"

"These young players coming up have to decide if they want to play for a living or if they want to do it as a hobby," he said laughing.

"My grandmother told me that 'music is love just looking for a home,' and I never forgot that." For Clark, who says he has no intention of slowing down after touring for 40 years, finds a home with his muse in the clubs, theaters and stages all over the world. "When I played in Russia, Turkey and the Canary Islands, I was representing Austin. That's a good feeling."

Since the early 80s, Clark has been bringing his blues and love to the bar at Cypress Creek Cafe and we will greet him once again with open arms, Saturday, July 14. 

Welcome, home, WC!

-Temple Ray

WC Clark website

Show starts in The Buzzard Bar at 9pm, wristbands $10.

Live music, cold beer....

With the 4th of July falling on Wednesday, we decided to get a jump on the party!  Come on down and dance, drink a nice cold beer and have yourself a good time!

Following is our music line up July 4 - 8

Wednesday, July 4
Joel Hofmann Band
Playing traditional Country and Rockabilly deep in the heart of Texas!!!

Thursday, July 5
Mark Allan Atwood & Special Guest
acoustic song swap
This enigmatic performer pulls the crowd in with some good ol' fashioned, hell-raisin attitude and then knocks 'em flat with his rough edged, passionately delivered ballads. From his arresting choice of covers to his life-stained, gut-blasting originals, he is Honkytonk at it's best. 

Friday, July 6
Alex Dormont & The Hot Texas Swing Band
Alex has been in numerous bands in Austin including Ace in the Hole with George Strait and Jimmy Day's band.  Alex's arrangements have been inspired by the Big Band music of Bob Wills, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. 

Saturday, July 7
Fat Cracker
Playing the best in classic rock dance music! Beatles, Stones and all your other favorites to make you shake, rattle & roll and dance the night away.

Sunday, July 8
Jimi Lee Band
Harmonica ace JIMI LEE is an award-winning songwriter and performer. He is referred to as “the best” at playing harmonica in the rack and guitar simultaneously. His dynamic vocals and searing harmonica solos have been turning heads for quite a while earning him great reviews and ‘pre-legendary’ status in the Austin music scene.