Last Saturday nite, August 4, GRO played at the Western Kountry Klub in Midlothian, Texas, just south of Dallas. Jerry and Barbara are the owners and proprietors, and they couldn't be nicer or more welcoming, and we appreciate them. GRO shared the gig with (the great) DEAN CHARLES; hearing him sing "I Gotta Travel On" is always a real treat for me. We had a nice crowd, and the Klub, which started out as a skating rink in the 1950's, was full of nice people and good vibrations. And it's always a treat to see MARYANN PRICE kicking up her heels and singing to beat the band.
Then the next day, on Sunday, my old folk-singing friend RORY McNAMARA flew in from SanFrancisco, and we spent a week in the studio recording and documenting five old "never recorded" songs, mostly written in the 1970's by our old colleague and brother, BILLY MARLOWE. Rory is an Irishman who grew up in England before settling in the Bay area around 1975, and it was a treat for him to meet and work with a handful of our great regional Texas players. I know that I enjoyed it---immensely, as my mother used to say.
We owe a big thank-you to old friends BUDDY WHITTINGTON, RAY AUSTIN, GONZY TREVINO, ARAM DOROSS, GARY BRISTOL, and MARK WILSON for contributing their fine spirits and skills to "the new Billy Marlowe project." And we want to also say thanks to "the new guy" CHUCK MAYO who came and blew the doors off the studio, playing Hammond, and thanks to Gonzy to introducing him to the studio, and to GRO.
We are planning to do more of Billy's tunes, just to see where his spirit leads us.
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