How many times have you heard an artist on stage, stating misgivings for having written a song? Announcing that discomfort, especially if the song has traction with the audience; knowing that there was expectation for them to perform it. This is especially true if there is irony involved in the song. (It's like sarcasm in email---it's hard to know what the sender is REALLY saying!) "Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." That is indeed what happened with the song "Screw You, We're from Texas," from Ray Wylie Hubbard. At its heart, it is a celebration of Texas music legends, and the music that grows organically out of this soil. The thumbing one's nose, swaggering part makes for a discomfort for Ray now, and when I asked him to play it for us, he really didn’t want to. But when he wrote and released it, on the CD Growl, I watched the phones light up at XM's X Country in support of it, and the sentiment of it, from all over the country. It is after all, an anthem with a rocking groove. Me, I think RWH should have nothing to feel bad about. Texas has yielded and nurtured an amazing crop of musicians of every stripe through the years.
Austin musicians, in particular, share a strong bond of brother and sisterhood, sometimes even above the broader Texas music pride. HAAM is the Austin Health Collective that takes care of its own, offering health solutions to those artists that don't have insurance, and let's face it, most of them just don't. This Tuesday, September 21st, is HAAM Benefit Day. It is a city wide effort to raise money, with businesses all around town donating 5% of the day's proceeds to HAAM to support musicians' health. Musicians, most of whom are HAAM members, are performing throughout the day at retail stores, outside stages, City Hall and more. And we do mean ALL DAY, as it will start at 6am and run well past midnight. If you are visiting Austin, or live here, you are invited to shop, eat out, listen to great live music, and know you are supporting a most necessary cause! Ray Wylie Hubbard is one of over 130 artists participating, and his set is at 1 pm this Tuesday, at the Sixth St & Lamar Whole Foods Market in Austin. Hell yeah, We're From TEXAS.
- Jessie Scott
