The King of Western Swing will be honored for a 54th year in his hometown of Turkey with this weekend’s Bob Wills Day festivities, set for Thursday through Sunday.
Wills, who helped pioneer one of the 20th century’s most popular and enduring musical styles, called the tiny Texas town home, and its population positively swells every year with an international swarm of Wills’ fans.
Activities include jam sessions, a trade show, a downtown parade, the fiddlers’ contest, and dances featuring Joshua Hedley with the South Plains College Western Swing Band on Thursday; Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys under the direction of Jason Roberts on Friday; and Jody Nix & The Texas Cowboys and Jake Hooker & The Outsiders on Saturday.
Most events are free, but nightly dances are $30 cash at the door. For information, call 806-336-1471.
Carley du Menil, one of the fleet of volunteers who put the festival on, took some time from last-minute preparations to chat with me about this year’s party. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Chip Chandler: Why is this festival still such a big deal for music fans?
Carley du Menil: Well, Western Swing music has a very special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Before rock ’n’ roll, before all of that, Western Swing music really was the popular music in America. The event has stayed relevant and even continued to grow in the last few years because so many popular contemporary artists, especially from Texas and from Nashville, draw inspiration from not only Bob Wills’ sound and how he put bands together but from his stage presence and the way that he led bands. We’re seeing this resurgence of people that want authentic, real music, and there’s nothing more authentic and real than Western Swing.
CC: What is it about the music that appeals to you?
CdM: Western Swing music is an amalgamation of several different genres, and I love that this guy that grew up in Turkey, Texas, could take influences from polka music, from Latin music, from a lot of African-American music. He put all of those sounds into one genre that is genuinely a happy sound. He can be singing about the most heartbreaking things, like “Faded Love,” and it still has this genuinely hopeful tone to it. And I always love that Bob was so adamant about where all of his influences came from. It wasn’t like, look, I came up with something brand new. It’s like, no, I took my favorite things from all of the things that influenced me and made a new sound that made people want to get up and dance.
A mainstay of the Amarillo Symphony will put down her bow after this weekend’s concerts.
Violist Jill Bradford will retire after 50 years with the Symphony following a concert featuring, appropriately enough, Brahms’ Requiem. Jill was always one of the friendliest, dedicated and wickedly funny musicians I worked with during my time at the Symphony, and it won’t be the same looking at the stage without seeing her brilliant smile.
Jill and some of her longtime colleagues took a moment to share their thoughts about this monumental concert.
Jill Bradford: “I am a product of the Amarillo Independent School District string program, where Betty Roller was my first teacher who pushed me and encouraged me. In junior high, the first ASO concert that I attended was Beethoven Symphony No. 5. I decided then and there that I wanted to play music like that! After high school I continued to study at WT, with John Sumerlin, Ted Allred, and Gary Garner training me up and leading me on this journey. I am blessed to have been able to make music with all the fine musicians of ASO who also became like a second family to me. But we didn’t just share our music, we shared our lives—births, graduations, marriages, and even deaths. Of course, sitting in the viola section with my dear sisters there—some I have known since my childhood, some since they were children—has meant the world to me.
Melinda Koster, 46-year veteran violist: “Jill and I have been making music together since sixth grade! Her retirement is going to be a big adjustment for our merry band of violists. We will sorely miss Jill’s musicianship, positive attitude, coaching, encouragement, camaraderie, and passion for music and our symphony family.”
Irma-Esther Borup, 17-year veteran violist: “My very first rehearsal with the Amarillo Symphony over 20 years ago was punctuated by anxiety. I remember Jill delivering a discreet joke, though, that made the whole viola section giggle, and from then on, I felt lighter and more bonded to a section that would end up being my viola family.”
The concerts also will feature the Amarillo Master Chorale and the world premiere of a work by West Texas A&M University student composer John Sauma. They begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St. Tickets are $30 to $80. Call 806-376-8782.
This week’s other can’t-miss options:
Wibby Wednesday with Rhett Uhland: 6 p.m. Wednesday; Six Car Pub & Brewery, 625 S. Polk St.; no cover; 806-576-3396
Filth: 7 p.m. Wednesday; Atomic Yellow, 3701 Plains Blvd.; tickets $22.46; atomicyellowict@gmail.com
Cadillac Ranch: 10 Cadillacs, 10 Movements, 1 Stunning Performance dinner and screening: 6 p.m. Thursday; Panhandle PBS, 2408 S. Jackson St.; tickets $75; 806-371-5222
Cameron James Smith: 6 p.m. Thursday; Walk On’s Sports Bistreaux, 3506 Soncy Road; 806-398-2003
Beyond the Little Black Dress featuring Jen Williams & The Potty Mouths: 7 p.m. Thursday; Crush, 627 S. Polk St.; admission $10 donation; 806-342-2500
Comedian Ralph Barbosa: 7:30 p.m. Thursday; Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St.; tickets $46 to $77, plus fees; 806-378-3096
Cameron James Smith: 7 p.m. Friday; Patio Vista at The Barfield, 600 S. Polk St.; 806-414-2200
Dana Cooper: 7 p.m. Friday; Chalice Abbey, 2717 Stanley St., Suite A; $15 suggested donation; 806-576-2480
Taylor Patterson: 7 p.m. Friday; The Lumberyard, 850 N. 23rd St. in Canyon; no cover; 806-804-3000
Dueling Pianos + Electric Violin Night 1: 9 p.m. Friday; Blind Pig, 609 S. Independence St.; tickets $25 to $400; 806-412-4251
Jack Cryver & Bad Decisions: 9 p.m. Friday; Western Horseman
Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
T*ts and Giggles burlesque and comedy show: 9:30 p.m. Friday; The 806 Coffee + Lounge, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave.; no cover, donations suggested; 806-322-1806
Earth Day Guided Hike: 9 a.m. Saturday; Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 N. Soncy Road; admission $1 or free for members; 806-352-6007
Friends of the Amarillo Public Library Book Sale: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday; 413 N.E. Fourth Ave.; 806-378-3054
Garden Fest: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive; admission $5; 806-352-6513
Randall County Master Gardeners Plant Sale: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday; AmTech Career Academy, 3601 Plains Blvd.; tx.rcmg@gmail.com
Smokey Fest: noon to 11 p.m. Saturday; Smokey Joe’s, 2903 S.W. Sixth Ave.; 806-331-6698
Spring Fest featuring The Light Superior, Sixty Two, Divided Me and Breaking Solace: 6 p.m. Saturday; Rockwell Event Center, 16307 Interstate 27; tickets $10; 806-683-2156
Underground: A Bug’s Reign art market and showcase: 6 p.m. Saturday; Idol Art Studio, 1201 S. Polk St.; 806-236-4128
Willy Wiggs: 8 p.m. Saturday; Golden Light Beer & Wine Garden, 6014 S. Western St.; 806-221-2337
Dueling Pianos + Electric Violin Night 2: 9 p.m. Saturday; Blind Pig, 609 S. Independence St.; tickets $25 to $400; 806-412-4251
Kerry Freeman: 9 p.m. Saturday; Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
Matt Kirk with Chancy Bernson: 9 p.m. Saturday; Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave.; cover; 806-374-9237
T*ts and Giggles burlesque and comedy show: 10 p.m. Saturday; The 806 Coffee + Lounge, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave.; no cover, donations suggested; 806-322-1806
High Plains Choral Society’s The Song We Sing: 3 p.m. Sunday; The Church in Austin Park, 2525 Wimberly Road; tickets $10 adults, free for students; highplainschoral@gmail.com
Email submissions to info@brickandelm.com.
Movie options:
Opening Thursday: Musical biopic Michael and, possibly, horror comedy Over Your Dead Body (Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive, and Cinergy, 9201 Cinergy Square)
Special engagements: Fight Club (Wednesday, Cinergy); Speed Racer (Thursday, Cinergy); The Silence of the Lambs 35th anniversary screenings (Sunday and April 29, Hollywood 16)
