More about WESTERN BEAT & Billy Block in the following article...

 

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REPORT FROM THE INFIELD: Putting Together Western Beat/Houston

Live Show on The Last Friday Of The Month - Next Week!

First Western Beat/Houston TV Show Tonight - Warner cable 17

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This week, I'm mostly busy looking for help with our new 'Billy Block's Western Beat/Houston" series of live shows and video shows, to be held monthly on the last Friday of the month. A week filled with advertising, new artists (I don't know EVERYONE!), video crew, etc.

 

Thanks to Chris Collins and Connie Mims from HAAM for their suggestions and support!

 

I'm not very much a part of the local folk, country or americana scene, but I've always made music in those styles. My rock history, as well as the blues stuff, seemed to take those opportunities off the table for me in Houston. As Vince Bell often says when introducing me onstage, "We didn't know Guy liked our kind of music!"

 

The WESTERN BEAT series began some 15 years ago, when our former bandmate (and one of Roger and my closest friends), Billy Block, began holding shows in Los Angeles, which featured new artists like Jim Lauderdale and Lucinda Williams. The series continues today as a monthly show. Billy had moved to Los Angeles to break into the studio scene as session drummer, which he did, and to try to get into TV (he did a couple national commercials).

 

After meeting his future mate, Jill (a great artist herownself), they moved to Nashville to raise a family, and begin several business ventures, including what is now Nashville's longest running weekly new music showcase of country and Americana music for the industry.

 

 

You see, Billy invented AMERICANA music.

 

He won't tell it that way, but...

 

When he worked at a national publication for the music industry, one which put together charts - sorta like Billboard - he put together a new chart which measured sales and airplay of a group of American roots styles which included country, folk, rockabilly, blues, zydeco, rock-n-roll and more. He started a weekly radio program featuring this music, which still runs. He's been the main proponent of Americana music and aims to "bring the fringes into the mainstream".

 

Biily has become a music mogul and practically a musical mayor of Nashville. Still in demand as a session drummer, Billy's reach includes his own label, management of several artists, record label, TV and radio production and jobs like hosting his own CMT series and guest-hosting at FARM-AID and The Grand Old Opry.

 

A couple years ago, they began a monthly Western Beat show in Boston. Billy asked me about doing a Houston show, but my committments made that impossible at the time.

 

Besides, people are already confused enough about what I do! <g>

 

Let me set the story straight about me - I am a MUSICIAN and SONGWRITER!

 

Yes, I wear a lot of hats, but they all exist to serve the musician and the music. I produce because I want the music to be brought to it's full potential (whatever that is), or, at least to a respectable enough version to share the song. I promote, because I want the music to be heard. I'm a bandleader, because we want the songs played. I make films, because those films can take the music and my musician friends much farther than we can take ourselves -  to other listeners - without a gasoline budget.

 

What type of music am I into?

 

I love all types of music. Period!

 

Not everyone who comes to my/our shows will love ALL types of music.

 

I admit that in the past, the variety of music and musicians I work with has confused some of my audience and disenchanted others. Too much variety for some. I'm trying to address that.

 

I work with sooo many types of artists and styles, that I've figured that my best bet might be to promote seperate events with built-in keywords and qualifiers that define what people will or will not hear at these events.

 

So, for the past few years, I've trying to develop events that go with each area of my musical interests, and am attempting to make each a multimedia situation where we create media while playing our music and putting on the show. In each of these, I get to do what I love - play music and work with (and maybe get to collaborate with), other musicians.

 

Let me take a diversion and tell you about each of these events we've been creating. I'm primarily writing about Western Beat today, but you may know somebody I don't who would be a good fit at another one of these events, also.

 

At SOUTH BY DUE EAST - it's a free for all. Different musical genres every act. folk>hiphop>country>reggae>jazz - The musical styles keep changing and the event and film focus on the diversity and quality of the musical scene. Some listeners can't take the variety. Even some of the artists cop an attitude and tell me how that other act "ïsn't even really MUSIC!" I love most all of it, and love the wierd people who make the music (we ARE a bunch of characters, aren't we?). Damm Fool thinks that Muzak John's noise/art sound is scary, even saying it comes from the devil. Hamilton Loomis thinks that Damm Fool's use of expletives is downright embarrassing. Most of the rockers think that the DJs and electronica artists aren't real musicians. Different strokes...

 

Our hope if that the films we make from these events will bring wider audiences for each artist, and a larger awareness of our great smusic/arts cene. As each artist tells their friends, family and fans to check 'their video' on the web, those viewers will be exposed to an additional 4-40 artists in the same film.

 

SOUTH BY DUE EAST should probably go non-profit. Our archival aspects make that a natural, but we have no means or knowledge of such things - YET!

 

At my BLUESGUY'S BIRTHDAY JAM, it doesn't matter who shows up. It's mostly a blues event on most years. Even if they are bluegrass musicians or hiphop guys, they wind up playing blues, too. If great stuff happens, we edit/mix the film or movie. If it's an average day, we enjoy the party and put the tapes/hard drives in the vault.

 

With Billy Block's WESTERN BEAT/HOUSTON, my hope is to create an event that allows a bunch of our friends, old and new, to come out and hang, visit and listen to  me my fmusical friends and everyone else in an environment and on a night they wouldn't normally go. Billy's ideas have been well-tuned over many years, so I won't mess with the format toooo much...

 

The earlier hour (Later than the Nashville show - I'd make it even earlier if I thought it would work - maybe later) and lack of hard rock and hiphop in this format should appeal to many music lovers of my generation who love many styles - but don't love all of them. The newer, younger artists show bring in friends and fans of their own. The Americana genre includes much of the variety we grew up with, from folk to rockabilly, from classic-style rock to country and blues. The short sets, multiple artists, etc., should give us all a bunch of prime quality time to visit with our fans and friends, too.

 

And we'll create a TV show each time. The first one may be found online at www.westernbeathouston.guyschwartz.com

 

 

The format will differ from the Nashville showcase. There, the impetus for the musicians is to be on Billy's show and radio show, and to have a great showcase to invite industry people. So, sets are in order, at specified times, so each artist may invite the A&R gal to show up for a specific time slot.

 

Ours will be different in this way -

 

We're mostly going to have a musical show and videotaping with a lot of friends and artists, and a built-in opportunity to commune with friends, fans and your favorite musicians. Most artists will perform only a couple of songs followed by a long break and a few more songs.

 

After the warm-up act or song circle, all artists will perform a short 1-3 song set early on (9-11). Some will play alone, some with their bands, and some will perform with our house band. We'll videotape all of this for the TV show.

 

Any audience member who needed to be home in bed by 11-12 before a busy Saturday (but wanted to come see/hear the show) can leave early and happy - having seen ALL the stars perform. Then most of us will play again. Maybe a short set, maybe a sit-in with the house band. Maybe a guest band to play out the night. Maybe a hootenanny or jam will break out. This isn't yet set in stone - it could (G-d forbid) evolve!

 

In between, everyone will have a chance to sit down and talk.... and exchange 'hody-dos, and get phone numbers and email addresses...

 

A lot of great musicians/artists have already signed on for the coming months. Jack Saunders, Vince Bell, Danny Everitt, Buck Jones, Mandy Smith, Dr. Rockit, Connie Mims, Scott Daniels, Jen Rathbun, David Fahl, Chris Knudsen, and there will be many more. New Jack Hippies all over the place...

 

So...

 

Come hang with us, enjoy the music, and you can tell your friends that -

"Admission charge is $5, but we give you a $6 show!"

 

BTW - Billy plans to attend, and play drums in the house band, approximately every other month - six times a year. Pretty cool, huh?

 

Any ideas? Any artists that you would recommend to me?

 

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WEEKEND MUSIC CALENDAR

Courtesy of The BluesHound, Baby Girl & KPFT-FM90.1

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