Austin American-Statesman

Good music, good cause

Reckless Kelly Softball Jamraisesm­oney to renovate ballpark.

- Peterblack­stock Austin Music Source

On a breezy afternoon in the outfield at Dell Diamond, Reckless Kelly and all their rowdy friends knocked a few over the wall, all in the name of laying down new turf on another side of town.

The sixth annual Reckless Kelly Celebrity Softball Jam was a terrific Sunday event, combining a softball game between local musicians, sports stars and media figures with a concert of short sets by nearly two dozen acts.

In the game, the One Hit Wonders defeated the Sultans of Sing, though allegation­s of cheating were playfully made from the stage later regarding the competitiv­e spirit between Reckless Kelly brothers Willy and Cody Braun, who coached the opposing teams. The real winners, though, were the children who will use a newly renovated ballpark at Downs-Mabson Fields in East Austin, a project that the event’s proceeds helped pay for.

“We’ve renovated a few fields over the years, but this one is really nice,” Willy Braun said Sunday during a set change between bands. “It’s all synthetic turf, so it’s minimum upkeep. Hopefully it’ll be around for a long time and a lot of kids can go out and play ball.”

Sunday, the kids who were having the most fun playing were actually onstage as part of the post-game concert. Taco and the Enchiladas, an impressive band of 10-somethings who followed Reckless Kelly about 4 p.m., clearly were thrilled to have graduated to the big stage, after playing a small indoor stage by the stands at last year’s event.

“It’s a dream come true,” they said as they gazed out upon the thousand or so people strewn across the outfield on blankets and crowding in front of the stage, as their faces beamed bright on the stadium’s huge video screen. The big surprise was that they were quite good, fully earning their time on the bill and proving to be more than just a youthful novelty. See ourcoverag­e from Saturday’s Pachanga Fest, including video, photos and highlights, at austin360.com.

“My brothers and I had a band when we were that age,” Willy Braun recalled, “so it’s cool to see kids really enjoying playing music.” Indeed, the Braun brothers performed as kids with their father, Muzzie Braun, when they were growing up in Idaho. On this Mother’s Day, Muzzie joined Reckless Kelly during their set for a fitting cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried.” The band also brought up Texas honky-tonk great Johnny Bush for a couple of tunes.

Another high point in the early part of the show was the Peterson Brothers, a pair of high-schoolage siblings who delivered a confident set of blues they’ve been honing in top Austin venues such as the Continenta­l Club and the Roost.

The ballpark really got frank when Shinyribs took the stage. Still decked out in his winning One Hit Wonders red jersey, frontman Kevin Russell led the band through a short but soulful set of funky roots-based tunes, at one point leaving the stage to lead audience members in a long conga line that bobbed and weaved through the crowd.

To fit all 22 acts into the show — which ran until about 10 p.m. — the sets were kept to about 15-20 minutes, a nice gameplan that kept the music constantly fresh. (The two-stage setup allowed for quick turnaround from one act to the next.) Large lines formed at the autograph table for the Randy Rogers Band before their mid-show appearance, with top-drawing acts including Wade Bowen and the Turnpike Troubadour­s beckoning toward the end of the lineup.

All of them donated their time for the cause. “We have a lot of great friends who come together and help us out,” said Willy Braun. “Without these guys coming out here and playing for free, there’s no way we could put this on.”

Fests out west

Two big festivals are coming up soon out in the Hill Country. First is this weekend’s Cherokee Creek Music Festival, held on a ranch in the small town of Cherokee, about 20 miles north of Llano.

The festival starts Thursday evening with performanc­es by Mavis Staples and Garrett Lebeau; continues Friday evening with Bob Schneider, the Indigo Girls, Josh Ritter and Donavon Frankenrei­ter; and concludes with an all-day Saturday lineup featuring Lucinda Williams, Paul Thorn, Patty Griffin, Shawn Mullins, Joan Osborne, Jimmy LaFave and Jonah Smith.

Tickets are $200 for one day or $300 for all three days at cher okeecreekm­usicfestiv­al. org. On- site camping also is available.

Next week, the granddaddy of all Central Texas music festivals, the Kerrville Folk Festival, kicks off at the Quiet Valley Ranch just south of Kerrville. The three-week event runs May 22-June 8.

A couple of notable events pay tribute to festival founder Rod Kennedy, who died April 14 at age 84. The May 24 evening program will include a “For the Rodfather” session with a large group of artists including Terri Hendrix & Lloyd Maines, Buddy Mondlock and Tish Hinojosa. And Butch Morgan will host a Rod Kennedy Life Celebratio­n Concert from 1 to 3 p.m. June 8.

The festival also presents a Celebratio­n of Steven Fromholz, the Texas songwritin­g great who died in January, at 7 p.m. May 26 with performers including Gary P. Nunn, Bob Livingston, Tommy Elskes and Bill Hearne.

Other highlights of the 18-day run include the May 22 opening night with Dale Watson, Ray Benson, MilkDrive, Parker Millsap and Stee Pol- tz; longtime festival anchor Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary on May 30; and top-notch singer-songwriter Steve Forbert on June 6.

Tickets run from $25 to $40 for daily admission to $325 to $450 for extended passes at kerrville-music.com. Onsite camping also is available.

Rememberin­g Waylon

Benefits for worthy causes seem to pop up weekly in local music venues, sometimes more often. But the Full Moon Full Life concert, set for May 20 at the Backyard, stands out for a variety of good reasons.

First is the lineup, which includes acclaimed country singer Jamey Johnson along with two members of the late Waylon Jennings’ immediate family: his wife, Jessi Colter, and his son, Shooter Jennings. Also on the bill are Lukas and Paula Nelson, Ray Benson, Waylon Payne and Cody Canada.

Next is the beneficiar­y. The Nikki Mitchell Foundation raises money toward the prevention, detection and cure of pancreatic cancer. In 2013, pancreatic cancer claimed the life of Mitchell, who helped run Jennings’ musical affairs for many years both before and after his 2002 death.

Perhaps most intriguing, though, is the way the show’s theme, “A Night of Influence Celebratin­g Waylon Jennings and Hank Cochran,” ties together with its cause. The show pays tribute not only to Jennings — an obvious choice given his close ties to the foundation’s namesake and the show’s headliners — but also to Cochran, who in 2010 also died of pancreatic cancer.

Last month, the Country Music Hall of Fame announced that Cochran would be among its 2014 class of inductees at a ceremony later this year.

Tickets to the event, which begins with a 7 p.m. live auction, are $35 at nikkimitch­ellfoundat­ion.org.

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 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D BY ZEO INC.
RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL / AMERICAN- STATESMAN ?? The Zeo SleepManag­er is a wireless headband that canmeasure brainwaves and send data about sleep toApple devices such as iPhones. It costs $99 and can suggest ways to improve sleep habits based on the data it collects. Austin area 10- something band,...
CONTRIBUTE­D BY ZEO INC. RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL / AMERICAN- STATESMAN The Zeo SleepManag­er is a wireless headband that canmeasure brainwaves and send data about sleep toApple devices such as iPhones. It costs $99 and can suggest ways to improve sleep habits based on the data it collects. Austin area 10- something band,...

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