Giving thanks

There are many things to be thankful these days, and at the risk of sounding like the rest of the world by telling everyone what they are thankful for -- rather everyone wants to hear it or not -- we thought we'd take a little time to give a little thanks.

First, I'm thankful for Cross Canadian Ragweed. They, along with the rest of the entertainment line up being put together, will make the 2010 Real. Texas. Festival. one of the most prolific ever. Not just in the history of the event, but one of the most prolific events of 2010 -- anywhere.

You darn right it's a bold claim, but I'm sticking to it.

I'm thankful for The Neckties. This is the group of 12- and 13-year-olds who won the festival's battle of the bands event. Since winning the contest at the Third Annual Real. Texas. Festival. in April, the group has gone on to play many, many shows.

In fact, they were named the official band of Harley Davidson charities ... locally anyway. They play this Saturday night on the square in Mesquite as part of an ongoing concert series being produced by local music legend Art Greenhaw.

Along the way, The Neckties credited the Real. Texas. Festival. battle of the bands event for helping get their bookings jump started. And, they have been promoting the battle of the bands event at their shows, which we hope will lead to doubling the size of the battle of the bands event for the 2010 festival event (April 23 and 24 for those keeping score at home).

We're thankful for Mesquite Youth Services. Mesquite Youth Services is no longer in operation, but the former director Dana Mitchell and her group of student leaders put together the battle of the bands format. It just works.

We're thankful for Town East Mall and it's Rockin' Shoppin Eve event that goes down Thanksgiving night and into Black Friday. It's genius.

We're thankful for the 15 minutes of fame everyone receives at one point in their lives. By my count, we are coming to the end of the 15 minutes for Miley Cyrus, Adam Lambert, Kate Hudson, Fall Out Boy and Ashley Tisdale.

Along those same lines, we're thankful that the 15 minutes of fame has run out for Taylor Hicks, Dane Cook, Jimmy Fallon and The Fray.

We're thankful that there are folks who are willing to invest the time and effort to tell a good story. The festival is a good story. Mesquite is a good story as well. I know what you all have heard, but I challenge folks to look around the next time they are in Mesquite.

I mean really look around.

Look at the Town East/LBJ intersection and compare that interchange with any other freeway interchange in the Metroplex.

Look at the improvements made at Town East Mall ... don't tell me about perceptions and what is believed to be the demographic of the clientele of the place. But just look at it.

Look at the fact that there are several stores inside that facility that are among the leaders in their respective companies in terms of sales and volume. Vans is number two in the nation, only behind the original store in California.

It just stands to reason that a "image problem" doesn't translate into a store located in that mall being one of the leading stores in the nation for its chain.

But I digress.

There's just a lot to be thankful for.

The economy seems to be trending upward ever so slowly. People don't seem to be as tightly wound about the economic scene as it once was. For a while there, people were just coming completely unspun.

The weather is turning cooler ... finally bringing 8 months of summer to an end. It's hard to wrap one's brain around it now, but three weeks ago, the temperature hit 85 almost 90 degrees. Fall is great.

I'm thankful for Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket. It just gets me through the day.

After the holidays, the Real. Texas. Festival. promotional buzz wheel will begin to pick up speed. More entertainers will be signed and announced. Tickets will go on sale after the first of the year.

We're thankful for this great event and for the momentum it is helping to establish for this community.

Cross Canadian Ragweed brutha!

I understand the special event world is pretty well summed up by Janet Jackson.

"What have you done for me lately."

The 2009 Real. Texas. Festival. was just so outstanding. Los Lonely Boys was the most significant headliner the event had signed to date. And, they were absolutely fabulous. In fact, all of our headliners were great ... Kevin Fowler, Los Lonely Boys and Jay Perez.

But the Real. Texas. Festival. can't afford to become complacent. As organizers, we have to continually find ways to get better. After all, we're only four years old heading into 2010. We don't have a long enough track record to get comfortable.

We must continue to make a splash.

Well, let me take this opportunity to say if I may: Mission Accomplished.

The festival will be headlined on Saturday by the 800 lb. gorilla of the Texas Red Dirt music scene.

Cross Canadian Ragweed.

How's that for a splash? Excuse me while I jump in the pool -- CANNON BALL!!!!

The City of Mesquite -- the executive producer of the Real. Texas. Festival. -- is thrilled with the confirmation of CCR as it's headliner.

CCR is the kind of act that helps us define what the festival is and what we hope it can be.

Cross Canadian Ragweed has staked its career on the fact that it takes it's music -- music that simply grabs you by the throat -- straight to the people.

CCR reeks of genuine Texas attitude -- it's a swagger that isn't found anywhere else in the United States. You don't find this kind of swagger in California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana ... anywhere. It's only found in Texas.

And that's what the Real. Texas. Festival. wants to accomplish ... it wants thousands and thousands of people to assemble on the grounds surrounding the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and celebrate Texas and what it means to be a Texan.

It's an attitude that causes many Texas residents to proclaim, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could."

Cross Canadian Ragweed is a huge signing for the festival.

They'll hit the stage at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and will no doubt unleash a barrage of hits such as "Alabama," "Long Way Home," "Fighting For," "Carney Man" and the somewhat controversial "In Oklahoma."

You won't want to miss this thing ... Kevin Fowler headlining the festival on Friday night with Cross Canadian Ragweed headlining on Saturday.

And, that's just two of the acts signed on. There will be many other acts that will be announced in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned.

Back in business

Hey high school kids ... that's right ... I'm talkin' to you.

Actually, I'm looking for high school kids who play in a rock band. It's an actual band ... you know, the kind with instruments and stuff. Drums? Guitars? Keyboards? Anything?

Sorry for the condescending tone, but nowadays when you say rock band everyone thinks about the game -- not an actual rock band.

That being said and since this is a blog for the Real. Texas. Festival., let me announce the return of the battle of the bands.

Any of you high school aged bands who didn't try to participate last year missed a good time. Well, actually, it was still this year. It was last April.

Anyway, The Neckties won the event and picked up a cool $500 for their efforts, as well as a performance slot in this year's battle of the bands.

There I go again ... it's not this year's battle, it's actually next year. Next festival anyway -- April 23 and 24, 2010.

But the folks closest to The Neckties will tell you that participating in the festival's battle of the bands event was a great little shot in the arm for them. They've been able to parlay their title into several bookings and gigs.

Would they have gotten those gigs anyway? Probably so. They're pretty good.

Still, it is nice to know that the Real. Texas. Festival. Battle of the Bands played a part in some success of one of its champions.

In 2010, we hope to have 8 new bands competing for the title. Again, the music can cover any genre. Everyone is welcome and all styles are accepted. The festival itself leans more toward the southern and country style, but the Battle of the Bands can and hopefully will feature grunge, metal, hip hop, rock, electronica, fusion, punk, Brit pop, thrash, alternative, Tejano, soul and, well, you get the idea.

Some bands may shy away from the festival's band battle because the members may feel it's all country. Rest assured, this is not the case.

The format will be basically the same. Applications and entry forms are due by March 31. A committee will audition the material, select the final eight and schedule an orientation meeting.

At that meeting (which will feature free food -- yeah buddy), the rules will be explained, questions will be answered and we'll draw for the initial order.

The battle of the bands is scheduled from 10-noon for the first two rounds. There will be a break for about an hour or so, then we'll roll out the finals.

Hey, $500 is $500. I'm a musician myself and I've played in bands over the years who have gotten paid much less than that if anything at all.

Check it out ... look up The Neckties on Facebook and send them a message. Ask them about the event. I bet you'll find they were very happy with their experience and had a great time.

More importantly, enter the contest. It's a good time.

For rules, entry forms and applications, see www.realtexasfestival.com and click on the battle of the bands photo in the picture scroll on the home page.

A legend never dies

At the Real. Texas. Festival., we pride ourselves in celebrating and featuring Texas music ... all Texas music all of the time.

So, it probably goes without saying that we should honor the life of perhaps the most influential Texas musician of all time -- Stevie Ray Vaughan.

There are five seminal moments in popular music history where artists were taken from us just as they had broken through and had successfully introduced their unique style to the masses, or who were extreme innovators who helped launch a musical genre -- subsequently altering the direction of popular music in their particular eras.

Stevie Ray will be commemorated on Thursday (Aug. 27) -- the 19th anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed the Texas music legend.

I, like many other Dallas area guitar players and musicians, will more than likely make the trek to Laureland Cemetery in South Dallas to visit the grave site of SRV. We'll go to remember his greatness and how he was poised to perhaps be one of the most influential musicians of any genre.

He had made that cross-over ... getting exposure from mainstream, album-oriented radio stations of the day, as well as from the recording industry itself.

One can only imagine what Stevie's legacy would be today. By my count, Stevie would have been 55 years old this Oct. Considering that many artists are just getting started in their 50s, Stevie would have been right there amongst the current day greats.

We have tremendous expectations for the Real. Texas. Festival. We believe it will be the premier Texas music event in the state, if not the nation. However, it is sad that the festival will never host what might be the most influential Texas musician ever. We will, perhaps, be able to welcome the Arc Angels to the Real. Texas. Music. Stage. We hope that can happen.

The Arc Angels feature two players, originally featuring three players, who were very close to Stevie Ray. Arc Angles are comprised of Chris "Whipper" Layton on drums, the drummer for Double Trouble; as well as Doyle Bramhall II, the son of Doyle Bramhall Sr., who one of Stevie Ray's song-writing collaborators.

The latest version of the Arc Angels doesn't have Tommy Shannon, Double Trouble's bass player, in the line up. Oh yeah, the final member of Arc Angels is Texas guitarslinger Charlie Sexton.

It goes without saying SRV was great. Much will be written and said over the next few days concerning that. Personally, the death of SRV was one of those moments in time where I will always remember exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing.

I was working a newspaper gig in Sterling, Kan., and had just returned from a school board meeting. I was working on writing up the story for that week's paper when I tuned in to my favorite radio station -- T-95 in Wichita, Kan. Jeff Shaw was on the air playing nothing but SRV tunes in tribute. Until that time, I had gone on about my business ... gathering the news and so forth for the paper.

I wondered why SRV song after SRV song was being played then it occurred to me -- the last time I'd heard something like that on radio was when John Lennon had been shot and killed outside his New York City apartment. I put two and two together and after a while, Shaw confirmed it for me and read the news story.

I, like many other musicians and music lovers, immediately felt a sense of loss.

The good news is the musical legacy of SRV will never die ... and in fact continues to grow through the local SRV benefit concert that occurs in October, as well as through the many tribute bands continuing to celebrate the life and music of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.

I must say; however, I must agree with Robert Cray when it comes to covering Stevie's music. Robert Cray said, "There are going to be a lot of frustrated guitar players out there trying to do Stevie's stuff."

R.I.P. SRV.

By the way, I mentioned the five tragic moments in the popular music history where trendsetting artists were taken away from us too soon. I place Stevie Ray's untimely death at the top of the list. Here are the other four as far as I'm concerned.

1. Dec. 8, 1980 -- The aforementioned death of John Lennon as he was shot and killed in New York by Mark David Chapman. Not a situation where he was taken too soon, but certainly Lennon was one of the most influential and most prolific songwriters of all time.

2. April 8, 1994 -- The suicide of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain -- credited with almost single-handedly introducing grunge to the world.

3. Aug. 16, 1977 -- Elvis Presley ... dead at age 42. Certainly not taken too soon ... although 42 is too young to die ... his death still impacts millions.

4. Feb. 3, 1959 -- The plane crash that claimed the lives of JP "Big Bopper" Richardson, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. All three artists were innovators and altered the sound of popular music.

And, as an honorable mention, I throw in Sept. 20, 1973 -- the day folk rock singer Jim Croce died in a plane crash. Another innovator who propelled the careers of contemporaries such as Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne.

Feeling the pinch

Perhaps it was a matter of time, but the concert industry is starting to feel the pinch of the current economic condition.

Throughout the summer, we've seen many organizations, cities and non-profit agencies either cut back on or cancel events due to lack of ticket sales, failure to secure corporate sponsors or because the event had just simply run its course and had become stale.

The fact the event became stale is nobody's fault but its organizers and/or boards of directors. But that's a different post for a different time.

Now, even the juggernaut of the concert industry ... the monolith known as LiveNation ... is reporting shortfalls in revenue from what was earlier projected.

LiveNation is discounting tickets all over the place -- finding that in many of the venues in which they promote or produce shows, the less expensive seats are selling out while the really, prime seats are vacant. There are stories at some venues at some shows where $60 seats are going for $20 and $45 seats are going for $15.

Not good for LiveNation because many of the artists booked in the venues in which they control are high-dollar performance fee artists.

The good news is that the music industry has reversed itself. Back in the middle part of the 20th century, artists made their money by playing live. Once the recording industry started to get its wheels under it, and as technology continued to advance in the recording arts and sciences, record sales were the primary source of income for artists.

I read recently where itunes accounted for more than 35 percent of all music sales last year. That's a huge hit to the record industry trying to move CDs of their signed artists. It probably explains why the greatness of Virgin Record Store, Tower Records, Sam Goody and other music retail outlets have gone the way of the dinosaur.

So, it's come full circle. Artists must tour to make bank. And, the Real. Texas. Festival. is committed to find top shelf artists and the hottest up and coming acts as well. And, we're gonna find a way to keep those ticket prices at a level where folks can come out, have a good time and not worry too much about the bank account.

Sign of the Times

Event producers and venue managers are facing some competition from what might be considered an unlikely source.

Casinos.

More and more casinos are creating concert venues and booking some pretty heavy-hitting talent. It could prove detrimental to festivals and other concert events as the casino competition could create a circumstance where the performance within a certain radius in a certain number of days clause in many performance agreements kick in.

See, many artists have a clause in their agreements or as a general rule that they will not perform a show at a venue within a certain distance of another venue in a certain number of days. Most of the time, it's 50 miles and 30 days. Sometimes the distance is pushed to 100 miles or so.

What this means is that if a particular artist ... say, Aerosmith ... plays the Superpages.com Center in Dallas Aug. 1, it won't book a show in Fort Worth in 30 to 45 days. It would separate the possible audience ... particularly if there is a discrepancy in ticket prices.

This becomes especially true for festival venues. The community/regional events (not the Bumbershoots, Austin City Limits, Lallapaloozas or Bonnaroos of the world) feature a low ticket price. At the Real. Texas. Festival. it's been $5 to $10.

Well, people will pay $35 or $40 to see Randy Rogers Band at House of Blues (if not more). If they can see RRB for $10 at Real. Texas. Festival., the logic is they won't pay $40 to see RRB at House of Blues two weeks later.

Personally, I don't think that's true. Fans of Randy Rogers Band will go see that group whenever they can wherever they can.

Anyway, with casinos now getting into the concert production game, those distances could encompass yet another series of venues.

The Real. Texas. Festival. could possibly be impacted the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. It's 92.2 miles from Mesquite, Texas, the home of the Real. Texas. Festival., to Winstar. If the distance requirement for a certain artist is 100 miles, the RTF might have difficulty booking an artist who plays at Winstar 30-45 days before the festival.

On the other hand, it might be benefit for the festival in that 92.2 miles is an easy travel distance between shows. Tour managers are often looking for routed shows to pick up -- meaning if someone is playing in San Antonio Thursday night and is expected to be in Thackerville at Winstar on Saturday night, the opportunity to play the Real. Texas. Festival. on Friday night would be attractive is it is right on the way ... straight up I-35.

Interesting stuff ... particularly when playing Casinos used to be associated with some kind of cheesy Vegas lounge act -- performing elevator music covers of pop and rock hits.

Not so ... not any more. The August and September concert calendar at Winstar features the likes of Heart, Martina McBride, Billy Squire, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey and Kelly Clarkson.

Got a favorite cover band?

I've been fascinated in recent months with the fascination with the various tribute and/or cover bands that are out there ... and by "out there," I mean in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I should probably apologize for the overuse of the word "fascination."

I found it interesting -- or, dare I say it ... "fascinating" -- (sorry, that's the last time. Swear to God!) that the 2009 Richardson Wildflower! Festival's Sunday concert line-up was predominately dotted with cover bands.

There was Swan Song (the tribute to Led Zepplin), Bebe Le Strange (the tribute to Heart), Badfish (featuring the music of Sublime) and a couple of others.

If you take a look through the concert calendar for Dallas and Fort Worth on any given weekend, you'll see all sorts of cover bands out there. Some of them are really, really good. In fact, the Real. Texas. Festival. is considering a tribute band or two to invite to perform on one the two main concert stages for 2010.

Anyone out there got a personal favorite? If so, let us hear from you and we'll see what we can do to book them.

I have a couple I've heard that I really enjoy. Back in Black ... the tribute to AC/DC is just excellent.

It's one thing to feature the music of a particular group, but folks like Back in Black and Swan Song take it the extra mile. They even look like the bands to which they are they are paying tribute. Swan Song folks look just like Robert Plant, Jimmy Page et al. The lead guitarist from Back in Black plays the same Gibson SG and wears the same schoolboy suit that Angus Young has made famous.

I also like Hard Night's Day (Beatles), Queen for a Day (Queen), Petty Theft (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Naked Lunch (Steely Dan).

I've also heard of a new tribute band that's forming and rehearsing, preparing to unleash itself on the masses -- Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac).

There's also a couple of ZZ Top tribute bands that are pretty good ... Tres Hombres and Eliminator.

So, if you've got a favorite cover band that you'd like to see at RTF, or any place else for that matter, let us know. We'd like to see if we could book some of these tribute bands that are out there and that seem to be riding a great wave of popularity right now.

E-mail us at info@realtexasfestival.com.

Derelict in my duties

I feel I must apologize to everyone in blogger land ... especially to the followers of this particular blog.

Both of you.

In fact, I probably have to reapply for my official status in the blogger's club of the Americas for simply not posting enough entries. I started out with a lot of vigor and things got in the way. I got busy. No excuses.

However, I'll do better. I pledge to update and post blogs pertaining to the greatness of the Real. Texas. Festival. periodically. At least once per week until we get closer to the event (which, by the way, is April 23 and 24, 2010). We'll post twice per week or even daily as we get closer to the time.

Let's see ... a lot has happened since our last blog effort.

Michael Jackson died. You guys hear that? I heard people were sad.

Enough of that stuff ... what else has happened?

How about the festival having it's best year ever? Let's talk about that for a bit.

Nearly 25,000 people (23,000 to be more exact) turned out to hear Kevin Fowler, Los Lonely Boys, Jay Perez, James Otto and others tear it up on the main stage.

In just the third year of its existence, the RTF is really establishing itself as one of the premier music events in North Texas.

And, there' s no turning back now. Even though it feels like we just finished this thing, we are already starting planning the next one.

On July 13, 2009 ... we're 9-10 months out from the event and I swear, I'm gonna look down at my piece of paper here and when I look back at the screen, it will be March 31 and we're almost there.

It will be here before you know it.

We have lots of great plans for 2010. The format will continue ... particularly the All-Texas music jam. We are prospecting for headliners now and we'll be releasing more information on that toward the end of this month and the first of next.

For those who haven't heard, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo is under new ownership and management. We are looking for some outstanding synergies to be generated with the new owners and it will only help take the festival forward.

Speaking of rodeo, I must take umbrage with something I saw on a Web site recently. The Texas Stampede advertises itself as the first and only professional rodeo and concert event in North Texas.

Well, they may be the first, but they are certainly not the only. The Real. Texas. Festival. is also a professional rodeo and concert event in North Texas.

And a pretty darn good one if I do say so myself.

Why we're better than LiveNation and Ticketmaster

Gee!

There's sure been a lot of weeping and grinding and gnashing of teeth over this whole LiveNation and Ticketmaster merger.

And rightly so.

Hey, it's business. In the world of business, companies merge. Some of them get bought out and some of them buy out others.

It happens.

But there's really only one sure thing that will come out of the merger should LiveNation and Ticketmaster join forces.

The rich will get richer.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it. LiveNation is a player in the touring and booking of some of the biggest names in the music business. It paid millions in a deal with Madonna if memory serves.

Ticketmaster controls all of the ticketing and ticketing services for these concerts.

This merger almost gives the combined companies license to steal. If one group is running the acts and the sister company controls the tickets, prices to attend concerts will go higher than they are right now.

When AC/DC came to the AAC (man, too many acronyms), tickets were more than $100 for most seats.

A dude and his chick -- to go to that show -- shell out $200 for tickets, another $20-$25 for parking, $40 on food and drink or more, $35 or so for a T-shirt and well, it's just too much.

And, don't think for a second this merger will cause these prices to fall. They'll continue to go up and the people who will feel the pain will be the fans.

Well, that's enough of that.

Here's why the Real Texas Festival is better than LiveNation or TicketMaster. Two words.

Five.

Bucks.

The festival doesn't charge $100 a ticket and $20 for parking. It's a five spot man. Those who buy their tickets in advance can get admission into the event, all of the concerts including Los Lonely Boys, Kevin Fowler et al, admission into the rodeo, car show and all of our other attractions.

And, we don't even charge for parking. Even if you don't get around to purchasing the tickets early, they're only $10 at the gate.

See, at the Real Texas Festival, it's all about the music, the rodeo, the food and the fun. It's not about making a bazillion dollars and establishing supremacy in the concert and ticketing world.

It's an event for fans of good music and good fun.

That's why we're better.

Grammy rooting interest

I watch two awards shows a year.

Two.

Out of the 50 or so that are televised.

One is the Academy Awards. It's good to go watch a particular Oscar Award-winning film after the awards show to see what all the hype was about.

Most of the time, the films that I think should be Oscar winners aren't event nominated and the films that get all the rave reviews are terrible.

I mean, really ... Beerfest wasn't nominated for an Academy Award this year? Really?

Seriously, the other award show I watch is the Grammy Awards. It provides some field research opportunities for the Real Texas Festival and it can also result in some additional publicity for the event.

The festival that takes place April 24-26, 2009 at Rodeo Plaza in Mesquite, LBJ and Military Parkway by the way.

This year, I have a rooting interest as James Otto (Friday, 7:45 p.m.) is nominated for Best Country Performance Male. I'd like to see him win it ... it would be great publicity for the festival to have a Grammy-winning artist performing on the main stage.

However, the competition is fierce as James will be going against Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, George Strait and Jamey Johnson. I'd like to think "Just Got Started Lovin You" could stand up along with the rest of the nominees and that James can win the Grammy.

But I think the smart money would be to go with George Strait or Brad Paisley.

I spend a lot time studying the music and recording industry. I like to go through an exercise in futility I call "Predicting the Grammy Awards." I know ... catchy title isn't it? I should rush to get that copyrighted so that no one steals my brilliance.

I'll offer my predictions on the big awards. Here we go.

Record of the Year -- Leona Lewis has had a brilliant year, but give me the safe pick. Coldplay's "Viva La Vida."

Album of the Year -- Cold Play would be a good choice here as well, but Radiohead with "Rainbows" might have something to say about it. I think I'm going with a bit of an upset here. Give me "Tha Carter III" from Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne is poised to have a Norah Jones-like year at the Grammys.

Song of the Year -- Again, "Viva la Vida" from Cold Play will be tough to beat. But give me "Love Song" from Sara Bareilles. That's a personal pick right there. I think it would be the ultimate irony for an artist to win music's highest honor for a song that was for all intents and purposes designed to tell her record label to shove it.

Best New Artist -- Two way race for my money and too close to call. Either Lady Antebellum or Adele. Remember, it's about excellence in the recording industry. Well, I guess for that matter, the Jonas Brothers might be a darkhorse. If you can take such marginal talent as that and make it sound as good as it does, you are a recording genius.

Female Pop Performance -- Katie Perry, "Kissed a Girl." Don't like the song and my favorite of that group was Leona Lewis ... the girl can sing.

Male Pop Performance -- Remember, Grammy loves the veteran artist who positions himself in the comeback role. I'll take that history and lean with "Wichita Lineman" from James Taylor.

Best Rock Performance Duo or Group -- "Violet Hill" from Coldplay -- again. But (see above) don't discount "Long Road out of Eden" from The Eagles.

Hard Rock Performance -- "Into the Fire" from Disturbed -- hands down. However, there are veterans in the field such as Motley Crue and Judas Priest. Watch out for them as well.

Metal Performance -- The winner will be "My Apocalypse" from Metallica. It should be Slipknot's "Psychosocial."

R&B Album -- Jennifer Hudson ... she should win simply based on her rendition of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl alone.

Rap Solo Performance -- "A Milli" from Lil Wayne. I don't think it will be much of a contest on this one.

Rap Album -- Yep ... "Tha Carter III" from Lil Wayne.

Country Female Performance -- We'll root for James Otto for best male and for fellow Texans LeAnn Rimes and Lee Ann Womack in this category. But give me Martina McBride as the winner.

Country Album -- There is no question who will win. George Strait and "Troubadour."

I could go on and on, but that's more than enough. Watch the Grammys on Sunday night to see if James Otto can pull of the upset and come to the Real Texas Festival April 24-26 at Rodeo Center.

Go Texan

Whew!

It's been a while since we've chatted. Sorry about that.

The festival is going to be awesome. Seriously.

There's a couple of new developments that we're happy to announce.

First of all, the festival has entered into a partnership with the Texas Department of Agriculture's Go Texan program.

Go Texan and the festival share a common mission -- the promote the marketing, success and production of things manufactured, grown or made in the State of Texas.

The festival will feature the Go Texan Pavilion inside the Real Texas Marketplace at the festival -- featuring Go Texan members promoting and selling their products.

It is also the 10th anniversary of the Go Texan program and it seems only fitting that the TDA has selected the Real Texas Festival -- which celebrates all things Texan all of the time -- to help commemorate the anniversary of the program.

In addition, we received confirmation this week that the U.S. Army will be bringing the Silver Wings demonstration parachute team to the festival.

There will be a few jumps where army skydivers will descend upon the event -- always a nice visual attraction and simply gives the festival another little something that sets it apart from the herd.

Details are still being put together on the schedule for the drops, but we envision one of them occurring right as the festival opens on Friday evening -- perhaps before the first act takes the main stage on Friday night. Army skydivers can drop into the center of the venue and plant a big Texas flag in the field to officially kick off the 2009 Real Texas Festival.

It should be really, really cool.

Also, the U.S. Army will sponsor the 2009 Battle of the Bands event, where 8 high school "garage" bands will crank it up in hopes of being named the champion.

We still have some spots open so please get your entries in. It's $500 to the winner and a chance to meet festival headliners Los Lonely Boys.

Also, the U.S. Army will present the Best Front Man or Front Person award ... which will go to the lead singer of one of the bands. It will be a people's choice award so fans of the bands can plan on voting for their favorite front man at the U.S. Army adventure van location at the festival, or they may be able to vote pre-event by logging onto realtexasfestival.com and clicking on the Battle of the Bands link.

Stay tuned.

Grammy ties

It's Grammy time again.

I've been a big fan of the Grammys for a long time now -- particularly when I have a rooting interest.

This year, the rooting interest is James Otto.

James Otto is a Real Texas Festival artist and has been nominated for the Grammy for Best Male Country Performance for the song, "Just Got Started Lovin' You."

It's been a great year for James and that song. The song was the top played single on country radio this summer and I believe it helped earn James a nomination as Best New Artist for the Country Music Association.

He didn't win. Lady Antebellum took that honor as that group went the way of Sugarland and Little Big Town before it -- they seemingly went from little known to mega star in the matter of about three months.

Interesting thing about public opinion, isn't it? Some of these groups have been together for decades in some instances. But they just need that one song or record to crack open the door. It can be a Grammy nomination, a collaboration, a record label signing, or it can just flat out come down to being in the right place at the right time.

All of a sudden, boom! The big time comes calling.

It would be really cool for James Otto to win the Grammy ... it could mean that there are three Grammy-winning or Grammy-nominated artists performing at the festival. James Otto, Los Lonely Boys and Jay Perez.

It wont' be easy for James as the competition is pretty fierce. He's up against Trace Adkins for "You're Gonna Miss This," Jamey Johnson for "In Color," Brad Paisley for "Letter to Me" and George Strait for "Troubadour."

That's some pretty elite company folks.

My call is Strait. I think "Troubadour" may prove to be one of the seminal Country albums of the decade.

But the good thing about the Grammys is that the winner isn't chosen by popular vote or though mass marketing or album sales. The base criteria for the award is "excellence and achievement in the recording arts."

It's the purest award show out there because, quite frankly, anyone can win a Grammy.

Case in point? Little Art Greenhaw Records and Mesquite record producer Art Greenhaw received Grammy nominations in the Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel category. He even won the Grammy a few years back.

He won despite the fact he was a small, independent record producer -- defeating the likes of EMI, Sony, Daywind and other big players in the Gospel recording field.

Sure, the Grammys have had their head-scratching moments. Nobody will forget the inaugural Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Performance went to Jethro Tull's "Crest of Knave." I believe Tull beat out Metallica and Judas Priest that year -- two of the most significant metal acts of all time.

However, "Steel Monkey" and "Farm on the Freeway" were killer tunes. Still, it wasn't a metal album by a long shot.

So, James Otto has a chance to win the Grammy for Best Male Country Performance. Come on down in April to Mesquite and check out James' work, as well as the work of all the other artists on the bill -- including the recently signed Paula Nelson (daughter of Willie ... woo hoo!!!)

Welcome to the Real Texas Festival Blog

I know what you're thinking.
Here's another spare blog in the vast ocean of blogspace touting some dude's incessant ramblings on his particular cause or event.
OK ... ya got me. That's exactly what it is.
That being said, welcome to the official blog of the Real Texas Festival.
The festival enters its third year in 2009 -- April 24-26 at Rodeo Center in Mesquite, Texas -- and quite simply, celebrates all things Texan all the time.
All performers on three stages in our concert series are from the state of Texas or have ties to the state of Texas.
Who's playing?
The world famous Mesquite Championship Rodeo takes a center stage position at our festival and the festival admission price includes admission into the rodeo.
Yeah, but who's playing?
It will be probably one of the greatest smelling festivals out there as we host the Taste of Mesquite Barbecue Competition sanctioned by the Lone Star Barbecue Society.
OK ... Who's. Play-ing.?
We have a huge carnival and kid's attractions and we are a great family value.
HEY DOOFUS!!!! WHO'S PLAYING!!!!
Glad you asked. This line up could be one of the strongest one out there on the local festival and event scene.
It will be headlined by multi-platinum and Grammy winning recording artists Los Lonely Boys. That's right ... Los Lonely Boys. They play on Saturday night.
Friday will be anchored by Kevin Fowler and Sunday will feature "The Voice" of Tejano, Jay Perez.
Our concert line up also includes Jolie Holliday, James Otto, Bart Crow Band, Johnny Cooper, Los Rhythm Kings, Eleven 21, Railhead and more.
We'll keep you updated here on all news and events -- including ticket promotions and how to otherwise get into the festival for free.
Check out www.realtexasfestival.com to see what we're all about.
Peace.