Greetings from Cow Creek,

My, how the time does fly! We just returned from a “five-banger” Fourth of July Tour finishing up at Gruene Hall on the banks of the Guadalupe River and at Concan, on the Frio, north of Uvalde, Texas. Both rivers were up and flowing as we have had records rains here in central Texas during the month of June. This is good for everyone, especially the tourist industry at these two beautiful river vacation destinations, and we had packed houses at both locations. I might mention, while I am at it, that we will be at the House Pasture Cattle Company and Steakhouse on September 5 th in Concan during Labor Day weekend. This is a big weekend there as they are descended on by hordes of river campers, but it is also the opening of dove season which is huge in the area. Contact the House Pasture people for information about cabins, camping, and dove hunting packages. They have made extensive improvements on their music venue there, and can accommodate up to 1200 people for a concert/dance situation. This is a definite “Road Trip” opportunity and we invite you to join us there of September 5 th.

The big news for us is that our new CD, “SOMETHING FOR THE TRAIL” has had a tremendous response since its release in late May. The first single, “PERFECTLY NORMAL”, entered the Texas Music Charts at 26 I think, and worked its way up to the Number 6 spot in just a few weeks. It has stayed there for the past several weeks having been added in heavy rotation on many stations that not so long ago would not have programmed any Texas produced music. It was Number One on the KVET’s Genuine Austin Original Top Texas Countdown this past week! This represents absolutely fantastic progress for us. A second single is being prepared by the Smith Music Group for release later in July. We are so pleased to be associated with this outstanding organization. They are doing a great job of distributing and promoting this new product making sure that is available and displayed prominently in all the major retail outlets such as Hastings and Wal-Mart.

We are getting great feedback from our fans about how much they appreciate how the new CD covers so many bases of country music and yet sticks to a more traditional format. Of course, I like to put some things in there with a sense of humor. The main observation I have noted is that it is so danceable. It pleases me to hear this as this is what I attempted to do in producing the CD. I sincerely hope you will all support us by adding this one to your collection and that you will enjoy it as much I enjoyed making it.

On the home front, Ruth and I are really enjoying our new house. It’s a lovely place set in the hill country of Burnet County, and we are getting to know our neighbors and making friends and acquaintances in the Marble Falls area. I’m starting to have a little time to enjoy some of the great golf courses in the area and we are spending more time on Lake Travis and Lake LBJ enjoying boating really for the first time ever. I can’t wait to have the time to slow down enough to actually go fishing! Our friends at Austin Boats and Motors at the LBJ Yacht Club at Horseshoe Bay have introduced us to boating and we enjoying it immensely. I even wrote a little song which they are thinking about using in a radio jingle.

Our son Julian turned 19 today, the 7 th of July. He’s working very hard as a counselor at Camp Stewart for Boys and was promoted to Division Leader in just his second year, which is quite remarkable I am told. I am not surprised as he really is a great kid…. very mature and responsible for his age, and he seems to really enjoy working with the kids and the camaraderie of his fellow counselors that come from all over the world. He brought five of them home with him on their between terms break. Naturally Ruth indulged them with samples of her own world class cooking. The ate and slept and went out on the lake, and ate and slept, and ate and slept……

Our grandson, Sylas, attended the June session at Camp Stewart and we have enjoyed having him with us a few days after camp. He’s having trouble with swimming so Gee-Paw took him to the pool today and gave him the special lesson. In an hour I had him retrieving rocks from the bottom of the deep end. I have a little experience in that area as I was a life guard at the city pool in Brownfield, Texas, where I grew up. Every two weeks, I’d have another class of 10 or 12 and they were all off the high board before I was finished with them. Not a single one drowned while under my supervision. Those were the days…..

Speaking of those days, there was the greatest rock and roll band I’ve ever heard called the “SPARKLES” that played in West Texas while I was in high school. Anyone from that area during that era will testify and back me up on this. I had a little high school band and we did our best to emulate the Sparkles. Later I had the greatest thrill in my life by being asked to join the band. This was 1965-66-67.

It was the greatest, but in the summer of 1967 the guys decided they wanted to go California and try to make it big. They were all married with kids and I was still in college and single, so I had to decline and that’s when I moved to Austin and enrolled at UT. The point of all this is that the Sparkles’s music has been an object of serious collectors over the years, and they are having a reunion in Lubbock, Texas on Sunday, September 6 th during the Buddy Holly Festival held there annually. They have invited all the ex-members of the Sparkles for a reunion concert to be held at the Cactus Theater in the Buddy Holly district. I plan to attend if I can get myself there from Concan on the 5 th. It should be a real hoot going back to Lubbock and reuniting with this wonderful group of friends and musicians. Check out >sparkles.net< for more information

Yes, those were the days, but these are the days too. I have done more in the music business than I ever dreamed possible back then. Actually I never intended to make a life out of it. It was just something to pay my own way and have some fun until I figured out what I was going to do with my life. Now my name is engraved on a bronze plaque in the West Texas Circle of Fame in Lubbock, Texas, along with my greatest musical heroes…. Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Bob Wills, Waylon Jennings, and many other great musicians. Certainly I am not worthy to be mentioned in such company. I’m just thankful I have had to opportunity to do what I enjoy in this life. I have a wonderful family. I have enjoyed good health. I have seen this country from one end to the other, a good deal of Canada, Mexico, and Europe. I have driven millions of miles, most of it by myself. I’ve had plenty of time to think about things. It hasn’t all been roses, but it hasn’t been bad. Most was good, some has been great. I can honestly say that these are the best times ever. Thanks to the support and friendship of all of you, I have to opportunity to do what I love. My records are playing on the radio, I’m playing to packed houses, and I get to live in the greatest state in the United States, and that would make it the greatest state in the world. Not too bad, I reckon, for a kid that’s still wondering what he’s going to do with his life.