2010 in review and 2011 girl power

The year known as 2010 is about to be placed on the shelf with all the other years before it. It was a good year for our little festival event in Mesquite. We topped the 25,000 mark in attendance at the RTF and we expect even greater things in 2011 -- the fifth anniversary event.

It was an eventful and tumultuous year for music. This past year saw the record industry struggle under the transformation of how people buy music. Internet sources and streaming music sources became the present ... not the future, but the here and now.

Limewire was sued and order to shut down -- giving way to Frostwire. Sony is launching a streaming music site. As far as the way music is purchased in 2011, Apple and Itunes will continue to reign supreme. Others will come and others will go. Itunes will still be king when the dust settles.

On the Texas music front, 2010 marked the end of an era. Cross Canadian Ragweed ended a 16-year run as the 800 pound gorilla of the Red Dirt music scene. The 2010 Real. Texas. Festival. was among the final shows the group played.

That being said, as we look forward to 2011, I would submit to you that one of the top groups to watch will be The Departed. It's a super group featuring Cody Canada and Jeremy Plato of CCR, blues roadhouse rocker Seth James and road warrior drummer Dave Bowen of Stoney Larue and Jason Boland fame.

We also see the new year being a year of girl power in the Texas music scene, and perhaps mainstream country for that matter. Texan Miranda Lambert enjoyed a monster year with several awards and well-deserved critical acclaim for what may be her seminal album, "Revolution."

It would seem logical that there will be a number of Texas female artists and groups seeking to capitalize on Lambert's success.

That said, here are a few locally to check out. When you get a chance, to go to one of their shows.

Lantana -- Three moms from north Texas who bring a Dixie Chick-type of harmony and approach to their sets. They've been a fixture at festivals and fairs all over the region ... including the State Fair of Texas.

Sara Jaffe -- One of the most unique styles and voices out there. Think Allison Krause meets Days of the New and you have Sara Jaffe. The song "Clementine" might be one of my favorite singles released in 2010.

Blacktop Gypsy -- A guitar-slinging, mandolin-shredding, fiddle-sawing duo who play, produce, write, arrange all of their music. They are true artists who are not only great players and singers, but technicians.

The Trishas -- It's very rare when four solo artists can be brought together to form a cohesive group. Normally, you have over-singing and upstaging going on as one of the members of the group try to establish him or herself as the dominant performer. Not so with The Trishas -- and I know from personal experience Liz Foster has a huge voice. Still, Liz, Kelley Mickwee, Savannah Welch and Jamie Wilson have it figured out. The result is a soulful, bluegrass almost gospel sound.

The Courtyard Hounds -- Hardly a breakout or new artist like the great female artists mentioned previously, but look for even greater things from this group in 2011. The Courtyard Hounds are comprised of some very familiar faces -- Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks. Their debut album is getting rave reviews.

There are others who should and probably will make an impact on the local and national music scene in 2011, but alas, we've run out of time. Here's to a wonderful and save start to the next decade.

Stop the insanity

What do college football bowl games and entertainment awards shows have in common.

There are way too many of them.

Pretty soon, you'll have to be a pretty sorry entertainer or musician to NOT win an award somewhere.

It's like there are awards shows being created for the sake of awards shows. They are being created so that everyone ... particularly the big name entertainers ... can have some kind of accolade to attach to their resumes.

Case in point. Easton Corbin was nominated for Best New Artist for the CMA or the ACM ... it's hard to remember. It doesn't matter.

He didn't win.

Well, the other night at the American Country Awards he was named the Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Same award, just a different wrapper. It's hard for me to wrap my brain around the concept that Easton Corbin wasn't good enough to win the best new artist for one awards show criteria but was in another.

Carrie Underwood lost out on Entertainer of the Year awards at the Country Music Association awards. She was named Entertainer of the Year at the American Country Awards. Now, some of these are fan-voted awards and some are not.

But, all of the awards seem to carry the same weight.

Remember when the Grammy Awards used to be the be all end all. Man, if you won a Grammy, that was really something.

In some cases, it was enough to say you were Grammy-nominated. It was good just to be nominated for a Grammy. Now, there are artists who are placing their American Music Awards, their American Country Awards, their Country Music Television belt buckles, their MTV video awards, their VH1 awards, their Country Music Association awards, their ESPY awards and all other awards they can secure right alongside the Grammy.

OK ... that was a test. I wanted to see if everyone caught that. The ESPY isn't a music award. It's the waste of television time from ESPN every year when they hand out the sports awards.

I don't know. It would seem a Super Bowl championship, an NBA title, a Stanley Cup, the World Series trophy, a PGA major tournament championship or any other championship for that matter would carry a little more weight that some stupid statue. But I digress.

What happened to prestige? Back in the day, there were four pretty big-time awards shows. The Grammies, the Oscars, the Emmies and the Tonies.

Of course the Tony awards recognize Broadway performances in musicals and whathaveyou. It's the best stuff not very many people have ever heard of.

Now, the Emmy awards have even been fragmented. You have the daytime Emmys that honor talk shows and soap operas.

Oh well. I guess it's just everyone making sure they get theirs.

What are ya gonna do?

Giving thanks

Ah yes ... Thanksgiving.

The Real. Texas. Festival. has plenty to be thankful for. Let's get started.

* The RTF is thankful for visionary City of Mesquite administrators and elected leaders who see this festival not only for what it is, but for what it's becoming. In a day and age when many music festivals are shuttering due to soft ticket sales, the Real. Texas. Festival. steamrolls into its fifth year and is not looking back.

* The RTF is thankful for Time Warner Cable, Hooters, The U.S. Army, Coca Cola, Coors Light, Hampton Inn and Suites, Resistol Arena, Star Community Newspapers, 99.5 The Wolf, The Dallas Observer, Al Dia, Dallas Regional Medical Center, Lee Lewis Construction and all of the other sponsors who help make the festival possible.

* The RTF is thankful for Texas musicians like Stoney Larue, Eli Young Band, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Cory Morrow, Kevin Fowler, Jack Ingram, Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights, the Old 97s, The Toadies, Bowling for Soup, Wade Bowen, Steve Holy, Billy Joe Shaver, Buggs Henderson, Robert Earl Keen, ZZ Top, Miranda Lambert, The Dixie Chicks, Kelly Clarkson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jason Boland, Mark McKinney, Reckless Kelly, Micky and the Motorcars, Mike McClure, Charlie Robison, Seth James, Doyle Bramhall II, Damage Plan, Lucinda Williams, Patrica Vonne, Valejo, Little Joe y La Familia and all of the other Texas music folks who make their music their way. They stay true to themselves, true to their state and true to their art.

* We are thankful for the fans of Texas music and the Red Dirt scene. They are the people that make the Real. Texas. Festival. tick.

* We are thankful for Gibson, Fender, Paul Reed Smith, Music Man, Guild, Martin, Breedlove, Taylor, Epiphone, Ibanez and all of the other companies who build guitars.

* We are thankful for Marshall, Fender, Peavy, Ampeg, Crate, Line 6, Mesa Boogie, Orange, Carvin and all of the people who power the sound of Texas music through amplification.

* We are thankful for Taylor Swift who continues to sell records when nobody else seems to be able to. We don't know how she's doing it, but she's doing it.

* We are thankful for Mumford and Sons who went head to head with Wal-mart and won.

* We are thankful for barbecue. Nobody does it better than Texas.

* We are thankful for the Texas Rangers -- the baseball team.

* We are thankful for Justin Bieber, who can make everyone seemingly forget about the Jonas Brothers. Now, if someone else can come along and make us all forget about Justin Bieber.

* We are thankful for Pink. She's not from Texas but she ought to be.

* We are thankful for 99.5 The Wolf. There's nobody better.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Check out the Real. Texas. Festival. April 29 and 30, 2011.

Big night for Texan and RTF alum

Good for Lindale, Texas' own Miranda Lambert.

Lambert was one of the big winners at the Country Music Association awards last evening. She won the awards for Best Female Vocal Performer, Song of the Year, Video of the Year and Album of the Year for "Revolution."

The Song of the Year was "House that Built Me" with its corresponding video winning Video of the Year.

Her fiancee Blake Shelton was also a big winner ... and that makes the Real. Texas. Festival. one of the winners at the CMA's as well. Shelton won the award for Best Male Vocal Performance as well as for Musical Event of the Year ... the duet with Trace Adkins for "Hillbilly Bone."

In fact, host for the evening Brad Paisley -- who had several underrated and funny lines throughout the evening -- was prompted to say "with the night Blake and Miranda are having, we should expect a baby in about nine months." His best line of the night was during his introduction of Dierks Bentley when he told the audience that on his latest album, Dierks returned to his bluegrass roots.

"And of course as everyone knows, bluegrass grows wild and free in Dierks' hometown of Phoenix, Ariz."

Genius.

So, how is the Real. Texas. Festival. a winner at the CMAs? Well, Blake Shelton was the headliner in the inaugural festival in 2007. It gives the festival even more credibility as a top-shelf event because of the magnitude of the entertainers we bring.

That being said, how did we do?

As you may recall ... at least the half dozen to 10 people who read this blog regularly ... we took a stab at predicting the winners in some of the major categories at the CMAs. We didn't predict all of them, but it looks like we did pretty well.

Best New Artist -- Prediction: Zac Brown Band. Winner: Zac Brown Band
As much as it drives me crazy how a band or an artist who's breakout album was three years ago can win Best New Artist, kudos to Zac Brown. It's an outstanding group, but we were pulling for Texan Chris Young.

Vocal Group of the Year -- Prediction: Lady Antebellum. Winner: Lady Antebellum
No real surprise as the luster begins to rub off Rascal Flatts.

Vocal Duo of the Year -- Prediction: Brooks and Dunn. Winner: Sugarland
Not sure how Sugarland wins for vocal duo of the year when Kristian really doesn't sing. Jennifer Nettles does about 98 percent of the singing in that band. I thought for sure with Brooks and Dunn on their farewell tour, they'd be a lock. So, there ya go.

Single of the Year -- Prediction: "Need You Now" from Lady Antebellum. Winner: "Need you Now."
Not a fan of the song or the group, but when you have something that crosses over multiple radio station formats, it's obviously a formula for success.

Song of the Year -- Prediction: "Need You Now." Winner: "House that Built Me" by Miranda Lambert.
I saw this as a bit of an upset. I actually like "White Liar" better from that album.

Video of the Year -- Prediction: "Water" by Brad Paisley. Winner: "House that Built Me" Miranda Lambert
The true greatness behind this video is the less-is-more concept. Just her, an old house, a guitar and a tour bus. Fabulous.

Entertainer of the Year -- Prediction: Brad Paisley. Winner: Brad Paisley.
Until last night, Brad was well on his way to becoming the Susan Lucci of the CMAs in this category. I believe last night was his fifth nomination without a win. And again, he had a very underrated line in his acceptance speech: "My mentor Little Jimmy Dickens used to say, 'If you see a turtle sittin on a fence post, chances are he had help gettin there.' Folks, I had a lot of help getting here."

One final note about the CMAs (pardon the pun) ... Gwyneth Paltrow. Uh, I think she's a very good actress.

Micky and the Motorcars signed

The Real. Texas. Festival. entertainment schedule is starting to take shape. Offers are being made, mulled over and a few have even been accepted.

We've already signed our headliners. We have a couple of publicity embargoes as our headliners have shows booked in the area. We don't want to step on those shows so we'll wait until we've been given the green light to promote our headliners.

That green light will come Jan 1 ... so Jan. 1 at the stroke of midnight, be sure to check the Web site www.realtexasfestival.com for the announcement of the RTF headliners for 2011.

Trust me y'all ... it's big and Texas music fans will certainly not be disappointed. I say this every year, but we could have the largest attendance ever at the festival with the Friday and Saturday night headliners we've signed.

That being said, there are some signed entertainers that we can talk about.

For example, rising Texas music alt-country rockers Micky and the Motorcars have been signed for the festival. Micky and the Motorcars are an Austin-music scene stronghold and have been for a number of years.

I was unaware of the fact that Motorcars frontman Micky Braun is the brother of Reckless Kelly frontman Willy Braun.

Like many of the Texas bands and artists, they are true road warriors. They play some 215 shows per year and are traveling all over the state and nation. That's one of the things that sets Texas bands apart. They can log more miles touring in a year and some national recording acts -- simply by traveling the state.

Think about it ... from Kingsville to Amarillo and from Texarkana to El Paso -- that's a lot of miles.

The festival will also feature two of the hottest Tejano/Latino groups going today. One of them, Los Texmaniacs, won the Grammy for Best Tejano Album in 2010 for "Borders y Bailes."

Grupo Vida will be making a return performance at the festival, having played the event in 2010. The Electric Cowboys, as they are referred to from time to time, certainly entertain with an electric performance. They just might be the most versatile act on the bill.

The festival will also bring back the Battle of the Bands event for high school "garage bands." There are only eight performance slots available, but that doesn't mean more bands won't have the ability compete.

It has been our hope to have enough bands submit audition materials to where we can actually have preliminary rounds. And remember, there are no restrictions on the style of music that can be submitted for the Battle of the Bands.

True, the festival leans toward alt-country, country rock. But the Battle of the Bands event can feature anything or everything -- Rock, Rap, Metal, Grunge, Techno, Alternative, Emo, Thrash, Punk, Ska, Gospel, Hip Hop, Dance, Goth, Electronica ... it just doesn't matter.

The Real. Texas. Festival. prides itself on having one of the most diverse entertainment line ups and concert series out there.

The 2011 edition will be no exception.

Rough year for the concert industry

Man, it's been a difficult year for concert promoters and the like.

There have been any number of shows canceled recently, or plans for future editions of a concert series have been killed. Most of the shows were canceled due to one reason.

Soft ticket sales.

That can happen when promoters and/or venues are paying six figures or even seven figures for their headliners. The ticket price has to go up accordingly.

We've gotten some ridicule the past four years as to why we haven't tried to sign George Strait as the headliner for the Real. Texas. Festival. After all, he is certainly in the conversation for being the most famous Texas recording artist out there.

And, we could book George Strait. It only takes money ... high six figures if not seven figures. If we book George Strait, the $15 ticket price goes out the door. It would have be to be triple that ... if not more to attend the festival.

Also, say good-bye free general admission or shuttle lot parking, kids 12-and-under- free, complimentary rodeo admission -- and we'd probably have to find some other things that we could charge admission or user fees.

We'd prefer to properly manage our entertainment cost to keep the ticket price affordable and all-inclusive.

R&B megastar Rhiannon canceled a few shows this summer because of soft ticket sales. The economy isn't quite there yet. And, by and large, I think fans just simply don't want to pay $200 and $300 per ticket to see their favorite artists.

I don't know ... maybe it's Ke$ha. Ke$ha was on the bill with Rhianon for some of those canceled shows. She was also supposed to perform in the South Side Seaport concert series in New York. It was canceled as well.

Note to artists ... avoid performing dates with Ke$ha.

In fairness to Ke$ha, the Seaport concert series was canceled due to mistaken expectations. It was thought 6,000 or so would show up for the free Drake concert. However, 25,000 attended and the security wasn't able to adequately manage crowd control. So, the organizers of the series simply pulled the plug on it ... it was a free concert series so they weren't making money. Plus, they had to deal with the public relations black eye.

Soft ticket sales also doomed Hullabalou at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kent. The first year show was decimated by the heat and the fact they just couldn't sell enough of the $300-plus tickets. The promoters lost $5 million on the shows, twice as much as they planned on losing in the first year.

Promoters have already said there won't be a second Hullabalou ... at least not next year. It was the perfect storm of a huge entertainment nut to cover, weather and economic conditions.

I dare say Hullabalou had close to $5 million tied up in three artists -- Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews Band and Bon Jovi. The event also featured Zac Brown Band, The Doobie Brothers, Sara Evans, Jason Aldean, Steve Miller Band and the Black Crowes.

Even though soft ticket sales has been the culprit for many concert cancellations, there have been other reasons.

We already mentioned the crowd control issues for South Street Seaport. In 2009, Fort Worth's May Fest was canceled because of what was perceived as a huge health scare -- the Swine Flu "epidemic."

The Glastonberry Music Festival in England will be canceled for 2012 ... two years away. Soft ticket sales aren't to blame for this one. After all, how can someone predict how many ticket are or are not going to be sold two years from now?

No, a portable toilet shortage is cited as the reason the festival will be canceled. The Olympic games come to London in 2012 and all available portable toilets will be deployed for that spectacle.

That just stinks for Glastonberry. Ooops ... sorry. Bad pun.

Rockers sit at the top of tour list

Pollstar -- the concert hotwire of the music industry -- recently announced the top grossing concert tours of the third quarter of the year.

And, although I wish it could be so, no artist appearing on the top 100 list will be appearing at the Real. Texas. Festival.

However, the top grossing tours of the third quarter of the year all have one thing in common -- a ticket price four, five and in some cases 10 times higher than the Real. Texas. Festival.

At any rate, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the top 100 concerts. First of all, this isn't necessarily the top 100 money makers ... some of these shows might have actually made more money, but their ticket price was appreciably higher.

These are the top 100 concert tours in terms of tickets sold.

And positions one and two on the list are held by rock acts.

The number one concert tour in terms of tickets sold was AC/DC -- who have sold 1.8 million tickets worldwide. In second, Bon Jovi with 1.3 million. Dave Matthews Band was fourth on the list with slightly more than 1 million tickets sold.

The top country act on the list was Tim McGraw with 838,939. He was number six.

Since the Real. Texas. Festival. celebrates Texas music, let's see how Texans fared on the list.

The highest ranking Texan act was Brooks and Dunn featuring Coleman, Texas' own Ronnie Dunn. The duo ranked 13th with 622,122 tickets sold -- perhaps bolstered in large part by their on-going Last Rodeo tour.

Other Texas acts on the list include:

The Eagles at 23 -- 443,164. Sure, they are generally classified as a California band, but you can run into Don Henley from time to time across the D-FW Metroplex as he lives in our part of the world.

The tour featuring George Strait, LeeAnn Womack (both Texans) and Reba came in a 30 with 350,925 tickets.

Houston's own Beyonce ranked 63rd on the top 100 top concert tours with 168,157 tickets sold to date.

Nora Jones was 79th at 134,411.

Believe it or not, Willie Nelson is still packing them in. Willie's tour was 94th on the list with 105,890 tickets sold.

Ever heard of Further? This band was 54th on the list at 196,350 -- further proving (pardon the pun) that an artist really doesn't need a lot of radio play to sell tickets on a tour. Further is a spin-off band of The Grateful Dead featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir.

Perhaps the most surprising entry on the list ... at least from my perspective ... was Scandinavian pop act A-ha. The one-hit wonders of "Take on Me" fame came in at 90th on the list with 107,403 tickets sold through the third quarter of the year.

Tickets to the hall

It's good to dream every once in a while. I have a dream that one day, one of the artists to perform at the Real. Texas. Festival. will be inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

That would be awesome ... particularly since the artist who typically perform at the festival are all 20-somethings or 30-somethings for the most part. If they are one day inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it would stand as a testament to their career -- that they were able to endure through one of the most uncertain periods the music industry has ever faced.

And, it would certainly be a testament to the longevity of the festival.

I know what you're thinking.

"How can a Real. Texas. Festival. artist make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Most of the folks who play the festival are all alt country artists."

Well, it can happen. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is more than just rock and roll. Take a look at the nominees for this year's class for possible induction.

Alice Cooper -- Goth rock pioneer.
Beastie Boys -- An alt-rap group ... defined the genre.
Bon Jovi -- An ultimate chameleon. Bon Jovi has morphed from rock, to pop to alt country with a duet with Sugarland.
Chic -- Three words. Ah. Freak Out!!!
Neil Diamond -- Certainly not a rock and roll artist, but a string of gold records as long as my arm.
Donovan -- 60s flower power rocker. Interesting nomination. I always thought of Donovan of being just a guy in that scene ... nothing special.
Dr. John -- Blues artist and jam band producer extraordinaire.
J. Geils Band -- They produced one of the seminal albums of the 80s with Centerfold.
LL Cool J -- Again, not a rocker by any stretch. Rap pioneer. Mamma said knock you out.
Darlene Love -- A career R&B back up singer ... again, not a rock and roll artist.
Laura Nyro -- Again, Nyro's background as as a composer and lyricist in the pop and R&B genres ... not rock and roll.
Donna Summer -- Without question, she was one of the queens of the Disco era. Last Chance," "Hard for the Money" ... greatness."
Joe Tex -- Baytown's own Joseph Arrington Jr. might be one of the earliest rappers for his style of speaking over the music. He deserves consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work on the soundtrack of "Reservoir Dogs" alone. Awesome.
Tom Waits -- Bourbon-soaked vocalist and jazz artists. Perhaps he may be best known for a famous cover of his song "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart.
Chuck Willis -- Perhaps one of the greatest one-hit wonders of all time. His one-hit even had a dance that accompanied it ... "The Stroll."

The point of all this is that it is possible that one day one of the Real. Texas. Festival. alumni could be nominated and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What would that mean for the festival? Well, probably not much.

However, festival attendees from back in the day could tell their children, friends, relatives and whatnot that they can remember when they saw them perform in Mesquite, Texas at the Real. Texas. Festival. -- and that, I believe -- is pretty cool.

There are a couple of omissions from the list -- the fact that Stevie Ray Vaughan is not already in the Hall is a travesty. No other group has created the marketing maelstrom that KISS has over the years.

I believe there are only seven acts that will be inducted. It may be just five. If it is seven, here's who we think gets in:

Beastie Boys
Alice Cooper
Neil Diamond
LL Cool J
Bon Jovi
Dr. John
Donna Summer

Who do you think will get in?

Dreaming of ACL

The Austin City Limits music festival is upon us. Although I've never been, I've always been a follower of the event and have been interested in seeing how they do things down there.

First of all, let's not compare the Real. Texas. Festival. with Austin City Limits. It's just too apples to oranges.

ACL is produced by the same outfit that produces Lollapalooza -- perhaps the grandfather of the modern day music festival. Modern day ... please don't shout me down all of you Monterrey Pop Festival and Woodstock enthusiasts.

Austin City Limits has hundreds of bands performing all over the city.

However, I really like their diversity. There really is something for everyone at Austin City Limits (if you want to fight the traffic, which is awful anyway let alone when there are 70,000 people trying to get around for a music festival).

If you want Texas Red Dirt, check out Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Bingham, Carolyn Wonderland and Band of Heathens.

Want to check out some good old 90s alternative? Go see The Verve Pipe or the Flaming Lips.

Like some 2000s nu-rock? There's Muse, Switchfoot, Silversun Pickups and the Black Keys.

There's even artists on the bill from the lighter side of things such as Norah Jones, Pete Yorn and Blues Traveler. And, there are mainstream pop country rock hit makers such as The Eagles and Pat Green.

Or, if you want to attend a two-hour show and hear five songs, you can check out the Phish show -- maybe one of the greatest jam bands of all time.

The point is that music is such a subjective thing. Sure, some think Pat Green is a sell out ... he's forgotten where he's from and is not part of the Red Dirt scene anymore. He's all Nashvilled-out and over produced.

But for everyone who thinks that about Pat, there may be five other people who think Pat Green is absolute greatness. The argument can be made the Pat's career has evolved ... that he's grown as an artist and is comfortable doing what he's doing.

Same can be said for Green Day for that matter. Personally, I'm not a fan of Green Day. But I appreciate the contributions those boys have made.

I applaud Austin City Limits for being so eclectic with their line up. We've always maintained there's more to Texas music than the Red Dirt scene. Sure, Red Dirt has become a tremendous calling card for Texas music.

But there's also a large rap contingent in Houston (Mike Jones). The blues scene is still alive and well (Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights). Texas music is also Celtic (The Killdares), Tejano (Jay Perez), metal (Hell Yeah), ska (The Rude Kings), western swing (Asleep at the Wheel or the Lightcrust Doughboys), hard rock (The Toadies), Pop Rock (Bowling for Soup) and R&B (Beyonce).

It is our hope the RTF can feature great diversity in its concert line up. And, we're certainly working toward that end. We will be making some line-up announcements this winter so get ready.

We may certainly never be as diversified as Austin City Limits, but it's a nice target at which to aim.

Battle of the Bands winners still rockin strong

Here's a little update for everyone.

Remember Jaci and Those Guys? They were the Resource One Credit Union Battle of the Bands winners at the Real. Texas. Festival. this year.

As such, they will be on the bill for 2011. By the way, headliners are about to be signed and an announcement will be forthcoming soon.

Anyway, it's been a bit of a whirlwind for Jaci and Those Guys -- fronted by the effervescent Jaci Butler. Since winning first place at the festival battle of the bands, the group won the battle of the bands contest at the City of Richardson's Wildflower Festival.

In fact, the group was invited back to perform a song or two with Wichita Falls' own Bowling For Soup on one of the main stages at Wildflower.

The band has played many different festivals and fairs, and in June, the band traveled to Boston to compete in the Berklee College of Music battle of the bands.

And, in true Jaci and Those Guys fashion, they won it, too.

They spent five weeks in Boston studying music and performance at Berklee College. Folks, this is a big deal.

Berklee College is one of the prestigious music academies in the country. It differs from Juliard in that it seems to focus more on contemporary music where Juliard seeks to classically train its students.

Berklee College alumni have won all of music's top honors such as Grammy awards and even Oscars. Quincy Jones is an Oscar winner and a graduate of Berklee College.

Other Berklee College alumni inlcude Donald Fagan of Steely Dan, guitar slingers John Mayer and Steve Vai, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Aimee Mann, Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, jazz greats Al Dimeola and Diana Krall, Melissa Ethridge and more.

It's mission is to teach musicianship through the music of the time. It's a genius concept really ... taking something the students are already passionate about and fanning the fires of that passion.

Jaci and Those Guys also finished as a top finalist in the Slurpee Battle of the Bands ... a nationwide contest.

Speaking of nationwide contests, the group also entered a competition that could have earned them a slot on the famous -- or infamous depending on how old you might be -- Vans Warped Tour.

The Warped Tour is one of the largest touring productions of the year. It comes to Dallas each year around the Fourth of July and features headliners a little on the edgier side of things.

Still, good music is good music. As much as the older types want to talk down the edgier stuff, good musicianship is difficult to ignore. It's musicianship that sets guitar players apart from guitar owners -- drummers apart from folks who stomp on a double kick drum pedal and hammer cymbals.

Aaron Gillespie of The Almost and Underoath is an example. Sure, that's hard, edgy music. But Gillespie is a fabulous drummer and musician.

It's good that young players like the players in Jaci and Those Guys want to put in the time to become better musicians. And, it appears there is no better place to hone those skills than a place such as Berklee College, or for guitar players, the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in California.

It makes us proud at the Real. Texas. Festival. to see some of the "up and coming bands" continue to fast track their careers. I suggest you keep an eye on Jaci and Those Guys. It would seem they could break through at any moment. Right now, just about everything they do turns to gold and they are really seizing the momentum.

At the festival, we couldn't be prouder of Mark McKinney and the success he has enjoyed since breaking into the scene in 2007-08. Sunny Sweeney, one of the 2010 festival artists, is starting to pick up steam as well.

Check out Jaci and Those Guys at www.myspace.com/jacibutler, and be sure to check them out on one of the main concert stages at the Real. Texas. Festival. in April of 2011.

The envelopes please

Anyone familiar with the Real. Texas. Festival. knows the concert series is second to none. It features nothing but the best in Texas music in the Red Dirt movement -- with a several other genres on the bill as well.

Well, the Country Music Association will soon award it's best at the annual CMA awards set for November at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Or will it be the best? Is it me, or are there just too many awards shows. Take the Country genre itself. There's Country Music Television's awards, the Country Music Association and the American Country Music awards ... it's all the same stuff and most of the time the same people win.

Of course, there are some instances where an artist will win the American Country Music award for whatever category in which he, she or they are nominated. He, she or they will be nominated for the same award in the same category for the CMA awards and not win.

How does that happen?

The best new artist award at these things drive me crazy. Take the CMA best new artist award, which will come down to Luke Bryan, Easton Corbin, Jerrod Neimann,
Chris Young or Zac Brown Band.

Again, maybe it's just me. But doesn't it seem like Zac Brown has been around forever? The breakout album for that bunch was The Foundation ... it contained "Whatever it Is," "Toes," "Free" and "Chicken Fried."

And, it was released in 2008.

My Lord by the time the CMA awards roll around in November it will have been almost 3 years since the album was released.

So, how does Zac Brown qualify as a best new artist when you have folks like Jarrod Neimann, Chris Young and Easton Corbin running around in there.

Who will win? Oh, I'm sure it will be Zac Brown Band, but we're pulling for Chris Young. First of all, he really cut his teeth as the house band at Cowboys Arlington. He's an honorary Texan. Besides, Neimann rose to prominence with a cover of a Sonia Dada song.

That's right, I said Sonia Dada.

Easton Corbin appears to be a one-trick pony with "Little More Country than That."

What about the other major categories?

Vocal Group of the Year.
In recent years, Rascal Flatts was a lock for this and they are nominated again this year. But I think the luster is starting to rub off of that bunch. Lady Antebellum is probably the favorite here, but don't be surprised if Zac Brown doesn't win this one as well.

Vocal Duo of the Year
There is no question who wins this one. Brooks and Dunn. They're quitting and in the middle of their last round up farewell tour. They'll win just for sentimental reasons alone. They shouldn't win, but they will. Sugarland shouldn't win either. They are no more a vocal duo than the man in the moon. That whole thing centers on Jennifer Nettles, period. I'd like to see Montgomery Gentry or Steel Magnolia win, but neither will.

Single of the Year
Easton Corbin's "Little More Country than That" is a strong contender. Texas' own Miranda Lambert has two nominees and one might win it ... "White Liar." I believe this one goes to "Need you Now" by Lady A because of the crossover appeal on country and pop radio stations.

Song of the Year (award goes to songwriters)
I don't see how a song can win single of the year, but the same song can't win song of the year. Give me "Need you Now." Yuck!

Video of the Year
I like Miranda Lambert's "White Liar" here because of the star power. Jamey Johnson's in it for cryin' out loud! "House that Built Me" is good, too. I think you have to give the nod to "Water" by Brad Paisley. No way the host gets shut out of a major category in which he's nominated. I also think Paisley wins Entertainer of the Year honors.

We'll see how we do after Nov. 10 when all of the envelopes have been opened and read.

Can benefit events raise even more money?

It's hard to imagine, but it's been five years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Crescent City and other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Five years.

And, New Orleans simply hasn't been the same since in many respects.

In the weeks and months following Hurricane Katrina, we saw what generally happens in times of great tragedy. We saw the entertainment industry mobilize in a series of telethons and benefit concerts.

The biggest of the bigs -- U2, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and on and on and on -- all line up in front of a camera and tell us of the tragic loss felt by the victims of the disaster.

A couple of months ago, country music's biggest stars and ZZ Top (odd addition to the bill) performed a giant, festival-style concert series to benefit flood victims in Nashville.

Recently, Mississippi native Faith Hill announced a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina-ravaged areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. And, rest assured, there are certainly areas of the New Orleans area that are still ravaged -- five years later.

Don't get me wrong. The benefit concert is a good thing. I'm quite certain millions and millions of dollars have been raised and much has been done in the way of rebuilding.

But while it's all well and good that lots of money is raised and the American public digs deep to go see their favorite artist and give to charity, I pose this question:

How much are the stars in for?

Let's take the Nashville Rising benefit concert that raised money for flood-torn Nashville in June.

That thing featured some really heavy hitters ... some of them Texas artists such as Brad Paisley, Leann Rimes, Miranda Lambert and the aforementioned little ol' band from Tejas.

Others on the bill included Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Jason Aldean, Bill Ray and Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Brooks and Dunn and well, you get the idea.

All of these folks for the most part are multi-millionaires. I wonder if they donated to the cause, or did they get paid to perform a "benefit" concert. Maybe they didn't get their full guarantee appearance money.

But even though these benefit concerts raised millions, I can't help but think the could have raised much more. Carrie Underwood, Paisley, Swift, Brooks and Dunn, Rimes, McBride, perhaps the Cyrus family, Tim McGraw, Hill and perhaps ZZ Top could have each kicked in a million bucks a piece.

We could have been up to $10 million before we even started this thing.

I'm always interested in how the stars get out there and encourage us to give out of the goodness of our hearts. They use their celebrity to plead the case -- to be an advocate -- of the victims of disaster.

And it is tragic. Please don't misunderstand. We aren't minimalizing the impact Katrina or the floods in Tennessee had on residents of the region. It's true ... in many cases, people did lose everything they owned.

But while you hear about all the money generated by these concerts, you never hear about any stake the artists have in the event.

It's tough out here. The economy has taken it's toll on everyone. In fact, the artists will tell you they aren't doing as well as they once did because it's hard to make money in the music industry selling records.

Still, some of those artists will get $1 million or more per performance. They won't get all of that money as there are agents, public relations staff, managers and so forth to pay. Still, it seems a little hypocritical for these artists to ask the guy trying to scrape up $100 to attend a benefit concert to dig deeper and give more when the artists themselves are sitting on gold mines.

I know ... it's a little cynical. But we live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And it's a business of tough competitors.

Whoa ... I just went Jerry McGuire there. Sorry about that.

I guess I'd just like to see if the artists are backing their own causes when it comes to these types of benefit concerts. And, I know some of them do. Miranda Lambert is not only and advocate for, but a practitioner of, animal adoption.

She has a personal stake in her animal adoption cause. I believe Brad Paisley lost some of his instruments and music equipment in the Nashville flood.

Still, it's difficult not to be overly cynical when it comes to these things.

How much 'Law' is enough?

Interesting story out of Fresno, Calif. today -- where police appear to be issuing a crack down of sorts on nightlife in that city.

In fact, it is such a crack down -- according to recent stories in the Fresno Bee newspaper -- that some entertainment venues are canceling all-ages shows because of the threat, real or otherwise, of underage drinking. In some instances, the venues are canceling live shows altogether.

If the story is factual, the crack down isn't coming from police at all. The story indicates letters have been sent to the venues to be sure to abide the provisions set forth in their conditional use permits for the property. Live music may not have been covered in the permit.

Well, that's not a police issue at all. It is a planning and zoning department issue. Conditional use permits were issued by Fresno planning and zoning, and if the process is similar to that in Texas communities, the conditional use permits go through two approval processes -- on by the planning and zoning commission and the other from a vote of the city council, city commission, town council, city alderman or whathaveyou.

At any rate, the question for events in entertainment venues and festival events such as the Real. Texas. Festival. becomes "How much police presence and/or security is enough?"

There is one event that occurred in another community -- we won't mention any names here but let's just say this community is where I-30, Loop 820, I-35W and U.S. 287 kind of all converge.

I remember walking around the venue thinking, "My gosh there are lot of police officers here." It seemed like every fifth or sixth person you ran into at this event was a uniformed police officer -- and there were probably a number of "undercover" police officers working the crowd blending into their surroundings.

It just seemed too much ... it was palatable. It was kind of off-putting to be quite honest.

We believe we have the right number of police and private security present at RTF.

We've been fortunate and blessed that there hasn't been any kind of threatening criminal activity requiring intrusive action by police and/or security.

Now, this isn't to say the festival takes place in a cathedral and everyone is wearing their Sunday best and on their best behavior. We've had some instances where folks have gotten, oh, shall we say, a little excited.

But rather than act a complete fool, these folks have been gracious enough to remove themselves from the masses when asked to be removed. There was an instance where a gentleman tried to drive out of the parking areas at the festival -- much faster than he should have -- and hit a parked vehicle.

Sure, there have been "instances" of people behaving not so well at the festival.

But for the most part, people who attend the Real. Texas. Festival. are respectful. They have a great time and they are there for the party. But they don't draw attention to themselves and they understand there are people there to have a great time listening to great music or attending an Texas icon like the Mesquite Championship Rodeo.

Of course, by speaking of all this, there are those who will probably tell me I've just jinxed the event. But I really don't believe in that stuff. Jinxing or karma can be directed. As long as we continue to put a quality event that people want to see on the ground, building on the momentum that has been attained in years one through four of this thing ... well, we'll be fine.

There are number of other events that haven't been as fortunate.

Reality TV star Tila Tequila was pelted with rocks and debris at the recent Gathering of the Juggalos festival -- organized by the metal rap group Insane Clown Posse.

Gee, I didn't even know those guys were still relevant, let along headlining their own festival.

Of course, the Juggalos and the RTF is an apples and oranges comparison. Still, we have been very fortunate over the years to have great attendees to the festival, and we've hit on a pretty decent system for security and police.

We believe our festival is a nice, fun, safe entertainment option for the end of April and our security plan and the city police department play a tremendous hand in that.

Check us out.

Days the music died connected to Texas

Did everyone check out the news this week? There was a story that didn't get very much play, but we believe it to be quite significant.

Mark David Chapman is eligible for parole as he sits in prison serving a 20-years-to-life sentence for murder.

Mark David Chapman is the assassin who gunned down former Beatle John Lennon outside his New York City apartment in 1980. Chapman was a real man about it ... walked up and shot him in the back.

American singer/songwriter Don McClean had a huge hit in the 70s with the anthem, "American Pie." The song discusses the day the music died ... describing the plane crash in 1959 that killed Charles Hardin Holly -- also known as Buddy Holly -- as well as J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

I have maintained there have actually been four days that music died ... and I will be adding a fifth this year as I've come to understand the significance of another day the music died. In fact, the new day on the list might be the most significant of them all.

Interestingly, all of the days the music died have a Texas connection.

The subjects of the Don McClean song are truly representative of the day the music died. Lubbock's own Buddy Holly was a break through artist and might be one of the first "crossover" artists in history. His music was welcome on both mainstream country and renegade rock and roll stations.

The Big Bopper had a huge, monster hit with "That's What I Like." Ritchie Valens was only 17 at the time of the crash and his whole life and career in front of him.

Another day the music died occurred Sept. 20, 1973. A small plane carrying singer/songwriter Jim Croce crashed in a field killing him and the pilot. The Texas connection? Croce was flying to Sherman to perform a concert at Austin College.

Croce was a monster star and ushered in the great singer/songwriters of the 70s ... McClean, James Taylor (although Taylor had been an established star since the 60s) and others. I believe Croce would have put together a string of number one hits as impressive as anyone's out there.

Day the music died number three, the aforementioned death of John Lennon. The impact Lennon and his fellow Beatle bandmates (well, perhaps with the notable exception of Ringo) left on the music industry goes without saying. Even the death of John Lennon has a Texas connection ... Mark David Chapman was born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth.

Aug. 27, 1990 -- another day the music died. Dallas' own and Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a helicopter crash leaving a Chicago concert. There are four or five guitar players credited with revolutionizing the way the instrument is played. Les Paul. Eddie Van Halen. Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. One has to list Stevie Ray Vaughan as one such artist.

Who knows how significant SRV would be right now if he hadn't tragically been taken from us. He was able to take a niche music genre and take it mainstream. No blues artist had done it before and for my money, nobody has done it since. I supposed you can make a case for Clapton, but I think blues player Robert Cray put it best. "There are a lot of frustrated guitar players out there tryin to play Stevie's stuff."

Finally -- and I believe this is the most significant day the music died -- there is March 31, 1995. Selena Quintanilla-Perez is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar in Corpus Christi. Selena was born in Lake Jackson and died in Texas as well ... completing the Texas connection for all of the days the music died.

Selena was only 23 when she was murdered by someone she thought she could trust. In fact, if the movie "Selena" starring Jennifer Lopez is accurate, Saldivar was allowed into the inner circle of the Quintanilla circle.

Why is this the most significant day the music died? Well, because a genre of music actually died when Selena was shot and killed.

Like the other artists in this list, Selena was a crossover artist. Her music was adored on both Spanish language and general market radio. The Tejano music scene exploded with the rise of Selena. Since her passing, Tejano music has really never been the same. Nobody else as emerged as the torch bearer for the genre.

The Real. Texas. Festival. has a special place for Tejano and for the legacy that former Texan Selena created. It is hoped that the next "Selena" will emerge and Tejano will once again rise to prominence as a relevant, top-of-mind style.

Punishments for pirates

There is much weeping and grinding and gnashing of teeth throughout all corners of the music industry over the growing problem of piracy.

In this case, piracy is not copyright infringement where artists are upset because other artists are ripping off their stuff. Perhaps they should be concerned about this type of piracy though ... I mean, have you listened to the stuff on radio these days. One song sounds like the next which sounds like the next which sounds like the one played five minutes ago.

More on that later.

Rather, piracy is the plentiful sources out there where folks can get their favorite tunes from their favorite artists for free. Nobody sells records anymore ... folks hear a song they like or their buddies tell them to check out a song. Those folks dig it so they go find it on Limewire or some file-sharing server and download it for free.

Apparently the problem is rampant in Europe where nobody seems to pay for music.

So the industry is crying foul. It wants federal regulations and legislation. It wants punishment for pirates.

Rather than find a way to embrace the trend and build a better mouse, the industry wants outside sources to come up with the better mousetrap. It refuses to do next to nothing to fix its outdated business model.

Instead, it finds something that works and tries to mass produce it. It tries to American Idolize new artists by forcing them down the throats of consumers and proclaiming, "This is the next big thing ... you will love them."

Or, it finds something that works, rides it as long as it possibly can, then moves on to the next big thing.

Quick ... tell me. Who is the great American pop star who started a career in the early 90s and has built a sustaining career that exists today?

There aren't very many of them that's for sure. You might make a case for Green Day. Beyonce, but even she really hit the scene with Destiny's Child in the late 90s, not the early 90s.

Of course, Madonna comes to mind, but she built her empire in the 80s. U2 has been around since the late 70s.

Punishment for pirates is going to be a tough nut to crack, if not impossible. It's very difficult to enforce a penalty for downloading music off the Net. It would seem the trail of evidence would be paper thin because in order to really prosecute.

Perhaps instead of looking for the Internet service providers to come up with the answer, or getting the federal government involved, what if the industry took a good hard look at itself and rethought the way it does business?

After all, the Internet service providers really don't owe the music industry, or anyone else for that matter, a darn thing.

As fans, most are getting tired hearing the same song with different lyrics. Take Carrie Underwood's new tune for example. Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead" was a pretty big hit. Rockers and country lovers alike banged their collective heads to that one.

You can sing the words to the chorus of "Gunpowder and Lead" right along with Carrie Underwood's "Undo it." Oh, and Blake Shelton had a hit with a song with a stutter in the chorus of "Hillbilly Bone." So, let's copy it with a stutter in "Undo it."

For years ... particularly in Country music ... the major players find a hot new artist they believe can be the next big thing. They take all of that artist's original material ... if he or she has any ... and put it in the hands of Nashville songwriters who work it over. Or, they tell that artist, "Here's a bunch of stuff we want you to sing."

It's a get-rich-quick scheme. If the labels really want us to stop stealing music, how about they not be so quick to wrest all creative control away from the artist and force them to fit the formula. And, artists need to fight for that control and be true to their music and not be so quick to sell their souls.

The problem is that there's this meteoric rise in some cases and there's no chance for the artist to grow. All of the albums sound the same. All of the songs sound the same.

I realize this sounds a little contradictory to our last post about not forgetting your favorite artist when they start making money. But really, when you stop and think about it, the artists that are being downloaded for the most part appear to be the fresh new stuff ... music that shifts outside the normal paradigms.

I'm of the belief the people will support their favorite artists and will pay for their music ... as long as those artists are continuing to push the envelope and remain creative and innovative. If they truly do sell out, well, then that's a different story.

Case in point: Look what Radiohead did a few years ago. They released an album for sale completely on the Internet. They told fans and music lovers they could pay as much or as little for it as they wanted. If they wanted to download the entire thing for free, they could.

It was an interesting experiment in that the average price for that Radiohead album was $10. People paid for music they loved and supported Radiohead. Speaking of Radiohead, their latest efforts sound completely different than their early singles such as "Creep."

If the industry really wants to stop piracy, it will re-examine it's business model, stop looking for everyone else to fix its problem and stop forcing songwriters and artists into their formulaic box.

Remember your Texas artists

I heard something from a radio talk show host the other day that sort of ticked me off ... but the more I thought about it, the more it made a little sense.

He was discussing the supposed farewell tour being planned by the Rolling Stones. After 50 years in the business, they are hanging it up. The tour will no doubt be a multi-million dollar production and from what I understand, it will almost take two years to complete.

He said he would probably attend -- not because he's that much of a fan of the Rolling Stones anymore, but because he owes it to them.

Wait. He owes them?

At first I thought, "Time out. That's backwards." If anything, the Stones owe us as music fans one final kick you-know-what tour where they play a two hour blistering set per night of their best stuff. They need to come out and play an unpredictable mix of their mainstream hits as well as some of the hidden gems that only true Stones fans appreciate and love.

Besides, if anybody owes the fans something in the way of a killer farewell tour, it's the Rolling Stones. Let's face it. That bunch has been mailing it in for the past 30 years. That performance ... if you want to call it that ... for the Super Bowl halftime show a coupe of years ago was one the most uninspired, disinterested displays I think I've ever seen.

But the talk show host further explained himself. He said he owed it to the Stones because as a young boy and young teen, the Stones provided a lot of great songs and a lot of great memories for him.

So, I began to ask myself about some of our Texas artists that we feature at the festival ... or those we'd like to feature.

It's been a common fan reaction to move onto something else when their favorite band or artist starts to hit it big ... if they land a major label deal or get picked up on a major artist's tour. All of a sudden, that favorite band or artist starts getting paid ... which was the dream in the first place. They all go into the business to land that big deal. They want to be rock stars. They don't like starving and wondering where the next paycheck is coming from.

But once these artists realize their dream, they are labeled as a sell out ... or they "forget where they came from." In some instances, that may very well be the case.

Still, it got me to thinking about "owing" artists and bands something for the memories and great times they provided for us. Although the two bands have next to nothing in common, owing the Rolling Stones on this farewell tour drew comparisons to the recent announcement of Cross Canadian Ragweed.

As everyone is probably aware, Cross Canadian Ragweed announced an indefinite break from touring. Speculation is that once this final rounds of shows concludes, CCR may just call it quits and go their separate ways.

What if that happens? I've seen a where a couple of venues have booked Cody Canada for some acoustic shows. Are people attending? Are the CCR fans supporting Cody in this endeavor?

Or, are they basically taking the stance that without CCR, Cody Canada fails to maintain relevancy?

I hope it's the former because like my radio host example, fans of Texas music and CCR owe Cody Canada continued support ... or Grady Cross or any of the other members of CCR who may or may not become involved in other projects. We're not saying CCR is breaking up, but we hope folks will continue to support them collectively or as individuals.

After all, CCR helped shape the current the Texas music culture and in time, will probably be considered one of the most influential bands of the Texas Red Dirt scene.

So, I agree with the radio host. The Rolling Stones should be supported on their farewell tour when they roll through Cowboys Stadium as they invariably will.

I "owe" the Stones myself -- just not at the $300 or more ticket price this thing might command. But I won't get on that soapbox again.

On the right track

Although some things will change at the Real. Texas. Festival., there is definitely one thing that will hold steady.

Ticket prices.

We believe we are really on the right track with the ticket prices for this thing. We were polling the ticket prices for some of the highfalutin music festivals around the country. It was shocking.

There is a new music festival at Churchill Downs featuring some huge names -- Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi and others. The single day ticket price once all Ticketmaster fees are factored in is more than $300. Now there is a multi-day pass available for $250 or more.

Know what a multi-day pass to the Real. Texas. Festival. is? $25.

That's it.

If we are able to sign Eli Young Band to headline ... and we're hoping this is the case ... the two-day pass for the entire festival will be slightly more than the ticket price fans expect to pay for an Eli Young Band show. According to pollstar, EYB average tickets are a little more than $19 per show.

And remember, that two day pass will include whoever we get to headline Friday ... which could be Kevin Fowler, Stoney Larue, Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights or maybe even Pat Green.

The tickets for the festival also include the car show, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and even general admission parking.

Concert tickets have been a point of contention in a lot of circles these days. The industry has changed under the avalanche of on-line music options.

The general opinion in all facets of the industry is that it's difficult to make dreams come true as an artist by selling records. I didn't used to be that way. At one point in the not-too-distant past, artists would release an album then try to back it up with a tour. The album provided the impetus for the tour.

Now it's the other way around. Artists will announce a tour to promote the album.

And, with record sales not providing the revenue they used to, artists and their managers are asking for higher and higher performance fees. For the most part, concert promoters and venue managers have paid those higher fees.

Well, something has to give. Someone who used to pay $50,000 for a performance fee who is now paying $100,000 is going to have to find ways to increase revenues to make the concert salient. The natural and easiest increase is the ticket price.

So, as artists continue to demand and get higher and higher performance fees, ticket prices continue to soar. Enter a less-than-stellar economic situation and you get what's been happening across the nation right now.

Shows are being cancelled. Entire music events are in jeopardy. Artists are dropping out of their commitments (see Lilith Fair). Big time promoters like Live Nation and AEG can't sell out their own venues and they are citing weak ticket sales as the reason for the cancellations. The fans just can't take it anymore. It's very difficult to shell out close $500 or so every month to go see your favorite artist in concert.

Those in the know tell us that the shift may come soon when managers and artists take less money to perform shows and the fans can get back to their concert-going habits because they can again afford the tickets.

And, that day may be here sooner than later. Less than 1,000 people attended the headlining concert of an event benefiting the Oregon Trail Days organization -- a concert featuring Julianna Hough.

So in essence, the Real. Texas. Festival. is ahead of the curve -- featuring quality entertainers and artists and striving to provide the best bang for the concert and event-going buck.

Let;'s get caught up

Well now ... it certainly has been a while.

I remember not so long ago, I made the claim that I was really going to try to do better at maintaining these posts and keeping up with the official blog of the Real. Texas. Festival.

Failure ... big time.

So I'm going to make the same commitment at this time. I'm really going to try to keep up with the official blog of the festival. And this time, we are going to call everyone's attention to the operative word in that statement.

That would be "try." I can try to do a lot of things ... I can try to run a 3 and half hour marathon this December. That certainly doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen.

So, off we go ... let's get caught up.

******

Big Doings
The Real. Texas. Festival. was certainly big doings in 2010. There were 25,000 people who attended this year ... the biggest crowd ever. And, that might be a safe estimate as our "kids-get-in-free" promotion seemed to be a very popular feature. It's one that will undoubtedly be back for 2011.

Is this the line for the shuttle?
Talk about your popular phrases ... This one was heard a lot. As has been the case for the Real. Texas. Festival. since the beginning, we battled some rain. This year was perhaps the most rain we've ever had to deal with. In 2008, we fought rain on Friday night, but it was gorgeous on Saturday. Now, Sunday was brutal with a nice 45 degree day with a 30 mile per hour wind straight out of the north.

Still, it was dry.

At the 2010 Real. Texas. Festival. in April, it rained hard ... and I mean hard ... for several hours on Friday and it rained substantially Saturday morning. The rain took out our general admission parking areas in the grass to the north of the main stage just outside the fence perimeter.

So, it was all shuttle all of the time. Well, actually, some decided they would brave the wet ground and park in the grass anyway during the Cross Canadian Ragweed concert. But for the most part, it was shuttle only for rodeo patrons and festival attendees.

And the shuttle service wasn't the ideal situation for ingress and egress. People let us know about it ... boy did they let us know about it. And, rightly so.

But I cautioned one festival attendee who was particularly angered about the shuttle service and the long waits in line (sometimes more than an hour). He said he doesn't intend on ever coming back to the festival because of the poor fan experience he sustained because of the shuttle.

It never was, nor will ever be, our intention to shuttle every single person who attends the festival. That was a Plan B and in large part, Plan C, execution. I asked the person not to judge us on the activation of contingency plans. That's what they are ... contingency. They are plans you hope you never have to use because they are not as ideal Plan A. That's the one you put in place to get the job done ... it's why it's called Plan A.

All things considered, the shuttle service did exactly what it was designed to do ... bearing in mind, it was never designed to accommodate all festival guests.

******

Friday Night
The rain hurt us for Kevin Fowler's headlined show. Saturday it wasn't so bad. I have a theory.

Friday night, folks got off work and checked the weather forecast. It called for up to an 80 percent chance for rain and thunderstorms throughout the night. As it turned out, it didn't rain one drop on us all night and it was beautiful. It was a little damp and soggy, but gorgeous.

Baseball and Weather men -- I'll take names of professions where you can only be successful 30 percent of the time and still keep your job for $400 Alex.

Rain was in the forecast all weekend long, but it's different when you get off work, look up at the sky and see nothing but clouds. Folks aren't as apt to head out to an outdoor concert event when they see nothing but gray clouds and skies.

Saturday, when everyone rolled out of bed around 9 or 10 (and that might be a little early for most) the rain had stopped for the day and they saw nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

And, it was Ragweed after all.

******

800-lb Gorilla
Cross Canadian Ragweed is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world when it comes to the Texas Red Dirt music scene. There is no question.
We thought they would be a great draw, but we had no idea. Of the 25,000 people who attended the festival, there is little doubt that 20,000 of that number was on Saturday.
And, as it turns out, CCR may be retiring on top as the champ of the Texas Red Dirt music scene.
They announced earlier this summer that they were taking an indefinite break from touring. After being on the road constantly for more than 10 years, it was just time.
They will be doing a show in Lewisville this September as part of Western Day and it might just be their last one for a while. What a lucky break for Western Day, huh?
In fact, we had already made the determination to bring them back for next year's event, but that's not going to happen.

******

What's next
Real. Texas. Festival. 2011 is set for April 29 and 3o. If those dates sound familiar to you, the MS 150 Bike Ride is that weekend as well. We're starting to talk about sponsorships and headliners for the event.

Who would everyone like to see? And remember, let's be realistic. We're not quite ready to go booking George Strait, Paisley, Chesney, Underwood or Rascal Flats.

And, I'm a little disappointed that my first two draft picks are already off the board. Miranda Lambert just keeps on with her meteoric rise. She's more than a little rich for our blood.
Ragweed has taken itself off the board with the announcement of a break from touring.

So we are pondering several names to fill our top four spots at the festival ... among them at present are Eli Young Band (perhaps the leader in the clubhouse on our wish list), Pat Green, Kevin Fowler (always a favorite) and Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights. We're also looking at bringing back Mark McKinney and Grupo Vida from last year as well.

Let us know what you think. Check out the festival on Facebook and as always, stay tuned to the blog.

Best vocal performance?

The Grammy awards went about as expected.

Beyonce won a bunch of awards.

Taylor Swift won for Fearless.

Lady Gaga wore a bunch of weird outfits.

Lil Wayne acted a fool.

I must stay I've never understood the Grammys. It's been said the Grammys recognize excellence in the recording industry and the awards have nothing to do with album sales, video requests, downloads and so forth.

However, if that's true. How does Taylor Swift win best country female vocal performance for "White Horse?" Vocal performance ... that means singing and oh, I don't know, the ability to sing on pitch?

I guess that's the greatness of the Grammy in that the engineers and production value of the recording is rewarded.

Seriously, did everyone hear Swift perform at the Grammys with Stevie Nicks? C'mon. The key of J sharp was definitely prominent in that performance.

In fact, I would dare say it was the worst performance in Grammy history. There was an interesting hypothetical posed on a morning radio show this week -- if Taylor Swift appeared before American Idol judges, would she advance through the first round or would she be sent home?

Not that American Idol is the be all end all of the music industry ... far from it. These are the people who brought us Fantasia Barrino, Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks.

Still, according to the Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences, Taylor Swift is a better singer than Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, LeeAnn Womack or Martina McBride. Really?

Those engineers and producers on Fearless deserve all of the awards they can muster if they can make that sound good. Anyone familiar with Taylor's song "You Belong with Me" knows that the arrangement was altered for the performance at the Grammys. I believe the arrangement was changed to keep Taylor from switching back and forth between vocal registers -- full voice versus falsetto.

I will give her this -- she writes her own stuff. Taylor Swift wrote and/or co-wrote every song on that Fearless album. Carrie Underwood hasn't written a song in her life that I know of. What does she stand for. We're supposed to believe Carrie Underwood is prone to go on a drunk binger in Vegas and end up marrying some dude where she doesn't even know her last name?

Really ... the Jesus Take the Wheel girl? Oh, right ... and before that, she was smashing up someone's pretty little souped up four-wheel drive and carving her name into the leather seats?

Taylor Swift may be exactly what has been the standard bearer for the music industry as a whole. When it comes down to it, the singer/songwriter always wins out. Carole King, James Taylor, John Mayer, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan ... none of these folks have the greatest singing voices in the world. But all of them have enjoyed tremendous careers.

It was good to see fellow Texan Miranda Lambert nominated for a couple of Grammys. I'm not an industry expert, but I believe "Revolution" is the album that will define her career. In a few years, we will all look back at "Revolution" and say that is where it all started for her ... even though she's put out two other albums before this one.

Hopefully, the Real. Texas. Festival. will be able to have Miranda headline one of the nights. She is greatness.

Speaking of Texans, there were another couple of Texans nominated and one group actually won.

Jay Perez (RTF alumni) and Los Texmaniacs were nominated in the best Tejano album category. Los Texmaniacs won.

Good for them and good for Texas.

The revolution in the evolution

There's been some interesting pieces written concerning the new era of the recording industry and how consumers are purchasing and getting music from their favorite artists ... or their not-so-favorite artists.

I saw that 2010 will be the official tipping point in the music industry -- where digital downloads will surpass the sales of music from traditional activity. You know ... like heading down to your favorite record store and picking up a CD from your favorite artists.

So, what's the problem? So artists aren't selling as many records as they used to and are making their millions from the downloading public.

Well, it's not quite that simple. First of all, if record companies can't sell records they wont' be around ... record labels are after all in the business of selling records it would seem. And, if CDs don't sell like they used to sell, it would seem that the big checks written by record labels signing artists to record deals won't be as big as they used to be.

Secondly, it was a little easier back in the day to safeguard against people stealing music when buying tunes involved heading down to the record store. Sure, there were those who might be inclined to put a CD in a coat pocket and shoplift the thing out of there.

But it's much easier to steal music these days when it involves pulling it out of cyberspace. According to an industry report, downloads of singles increased 10 percent in 2009 to 1.5 billion units.

Number one downloaded artist of 2009? Anyone?

Lady Gaga. Seriously. I would staked my house and most worldly possessions on the Jonas Brothers or Taylor Swift for that honor.

Moving on.

The recording industry is attributing an overall slump in sales to pirates. People are just flat stealing music from artists. In broad daylight in some instances.

So, the recording industry isn't necessarily tasking itself with bolstering record sales and finding new ways to market CDs. It is instead tasking itself with stopping piracy and finding ways to cater to those who want to consume and purchase music legitimately.

Some countries have even adopted legislation -- that's right, the government is involved -- where people are warned first if they are attempting to download music illegally, and if the process continues, the would-be pirates have their Internet service and connection suspended.

Sounds a little extreme and it appears to be a system that can be easy defeated.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster and LiveNation continue to steam toward a merger that would in essence monopolize the concert industry. Ticketmaster would control 90 percent or perhaps even more of the tickets to shows and events and LiveNation would control the venues and the artists.

In fact, there are many artists who are signing exclusive promotion deals with LiveNation to perform a certain number of shows in LiveNation venues. LiveNation is big player in routing the tours.

The latest on that front sees LiveNation trying to sell of some of its venues to a rival company, while Ticketmaster is stating it may divest of its sister company, TicketsNow.com.

What does all of this mean? Well it continues to add evidence to the theory that the dominant revenue stream for artists will be touring -- kind of like it was in the old days.

For this reason, LiveNation and Ticketmaster merging might be a bad thing for the concert going public. If LiveNation is controlling venues and dictating tours, and Ticketmaster controls the ticketing, the concert going public may pay the pipers.

Have you priced top concert tickets these days? The top grossing concert in the week ending Dec. 31, 2009 was Mariah Carey's show in Madison Square Garden where top tickets went for $321 a shot.

Here's the hook folks ... if those reading this don't glean anything else from this drivel other than the following statement, well, that's fine.

It just can't be denied that our event ... the Real. Texas. Festival. is a tremendous value by today's standards. Pre-sale tickets will be launched the middle or end of February. Those who buy early will only pay $10 to see Kevin Fowler or Cross Canadian Ragweed -- or $12 to see both on a two day pass.

They'll also get a chance to stop in and see the Mesquite Championship Rodeo.

And, we won't even charge you to park.

It won't be long now

In a little more than a month, tickets will go on sale for the Real. Texas. Festival. Hard to believe. It seems like we just finished this thing a couple of months ago.

The festival is shaping up to be the biggest ever. First of all, Cross Canadian Ragweed is the headliner. That should do it right there.

But we also have Kevin Fowler signed, as well as Mark McKinney, Granger Smith, Stephanie Fix, Grupo Vida, Zack King, Railhead and Steely Dan tribute band Naked Lunch.

And, don't forget about the battle of the bands. The battle of the bands is something we believe has tremendous potential. Last year's winner, The Neckties, will be performing at the festival this year. The boys used the battle of the bands at the festival to somewhat launch a pretty full gigging slate throughout the year.

They've played for motorcycle events such as the Garland Police Department Toys for Kids drive this Christmas. They are also on the bill at the Dallas International Guitar Festival two weeks before RTF.

Here's the way it works. Eight bands are selected from an audition process -- which is all spelled out on the RTF Web site (www.realtexasfestival.com) -- to compete in a winner-take-all competition. The prizes include $500 in cash, meet and greet passes to the festival headliner as well as a guaranteed performance slot at the 2011 event.

That's important. There are a lot of bands who compete in these things and even if they win, they break up for one reason or another. Things happen.

Bandmates move away to college.

They just generally lose interest.

They decide to pursue other things.

With the battle of the bands winner getting a guaranteed performance spot in the following year's festival, it is our hope the young bands will stay together. Or, even if one of the members moves away to college or decides to pursue other interest, the remaining members will find a replacement and keep playing.

The Neckties are a good example of this. They implemented a suggestion made by the judges from last year's event to add a bass player, which gave the band a fuller, thicker sound.

The bands are judged on four key points in their performances ... vocal quality, overall musicianship, stage presence and overall performance. Judges score the bands from 1-10 with 10 being the best. The scores are added up from judges and the average of the total is the band's final score.

Hopefully, eight bands will be whittled to four which be pared down to two for the championship round.

The battle of the bands at the festival isn't new. It is a continuation of an event launched by Mesquite Youth Services back in the day. When Mesquite Youth Services went away, the battle of the bands event was mishandled. It was somewhat of a disservice to the people who developed that event ... which was very successful and continued to grow in it's four-year run.

It was assumed by the folding of MYS that the battle of the bands was just going to die. Well, it hasn't. The festival wants to continue this event ... at a different time, in a different month and on a grander stage.

Please -- any high school band, where the majority of the members are in high school or even younger, send in some material and audition for the battle of the bands. It's a good time. What else would you rather do on a Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 or 2 p.m.?

The application and audition process is open. Don't wait until the last minute and come experience rock star treatment. We'll have a backstage area for you to store your gear, hang out, have a few beverages (non-alcoholic of course parents) and hopefully, all of you will video and photograph your backstage experiences for your Facebook pages.

And, although the event was excellent in the past, the festival ramps it up a bit. Bands will perform on a 20x24 foot stage with a roof and a corporate sponsor. In fact, the battle of the bands event may have a title sponsor.

Perhaps most important, the same company who is mixing the house and teching the sound for Cross Canadian Ragweed and Kevin Fowler will have representatives on site teching the battle of the bands event. There will be people to help load in and load out whatever gear you have -- that's right, actual roadies.

Load in and load out should be a breeze because we'll provide complete back line -- Fender twin reverb guitar amps, Drum Workshop drum kit and Ampeg bass rigs.

Check it out ... it's gonna be great.