What a family the Robisons of Bandera, Texas are. Super talented, and they all have their own vector. Charlie Robison is a consummate performer, and when I got the chance to see him again this summer at White Water Amphitheater in New Braunfels, I was again taken with the depth and breadth of his most memorable set list. And once again I was singing along. Robyn Ludwick is the younger sister to the Robison brothers, and has an incredible new album coming out that was produced by Gurf Morlix and as you can well imagine, it is smoky, sultry and powerful. Brother Bruce Robison is doing it his way, and that's a mighty good thing. He is the storied writer of songs that were mega mainstream hits, like "Angry All The Time," "Wrapped," and "Travelin' Soldier." And Bruce is married to Kelly Willis, with whom he duets from time to time.
Bruce has readied a new album called You and Me that will be coming out later this month, but he will be putting videos up on his YouTube channel. This is very cool; Bruce is making “Song of the Month” downloads available for free on his website. Bruce expounds on the game plan, “My feeling is now, that everybody’s on their own. There’s no labels, there’s hardly any management. It’s like the 50's again; we don’t know how it’s all going to shake out. But I’m really excited about the future, and finding new ways to get the music directly to the fans. And I’m having fun doing it.” Bruce Robison has a new band, as well as a new attitude. New members include Joey Shuffield from the Austin pop-rock band Fastball, and Brian Becken and Bruce Hughes from the South Austin Jug Band. Exciting stuff, with Bruce's impeccable songwriting blending with acoustic flavor and pop chops. And the divine voice of Kelly Willis. Here they are together on a song Bruce co-wrote with Fastball's Miles Zuniga, "Dreamin," which features video of them in the studio working on the album. Oh, and here is a head's up, Bruce and Kelly's holiday show is always a treat!
- Jessie Scott
