From The Director

You may have noticed a lapse in the regular appearance of your THMF newsletter. Good observation! Without an operating budget, the organization exists solely on volunteer effort and time. Our projects are fully funded and producing results in the community (Father’s Day Jazz Concert at the Point Theatre, Music Showcase at the Easter Festival, monthly coffeehouse at Schreiner University), but no secretary works in this office. Interested in a few hours of office work, filing, database management, organizing archives (tapes and photos), planning and executing the September 8, Living History Day or managing the membership and/or newsletter??? Know anyone who might be a contribution to our effort? Please let us know here at 367-3750. Our new website - thanks to the brilliant work of ACprint and Maverick Internet Service - is located at texasheritagemusic.org. My e-mail is kat@maverickbbs.com, so keep in touch.

Contribution creates community. We have a new working relationship with the Lions Clubs of Kerrville. They donated $500 to our Living History Day from the Easter proceeds. The Bluebonnet Lions have invited us (THMF) to join with them on the fall fund-raiser. We’re producing a Harvest Jazz Concert on Saturday, October 21. We will showcase that same amazing band, The John Adams Trio that we showcased at the Point on Father’s Day in the pouring down rain. The people who stayed reported great things to me. “Working Together” is one mantra of the THMF. How can we work with the other groups in town to further our own commitments? We are committed to stories and songs making a difference in the world.

The September 8, Living History Day is much more than entertainment. This is “Another Way of Learning: Using Stories and Songs.” Thanks to a generous grant ($3,000) from an anonymous donor, we are able to offer transportation grants to schools that could not otherwise attend. Suggestions? Thanks to a $2,500 grant from the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill country, we are able to pay some new performers to come in and educate through stories and songs. Other contributors, so far, to this specific project include Wells Fargo Bank ($500), The Jackson Family Foundation in Ft. Worth ($1,000) and the Lions Clubs of Kerrville ($500), and business sponsorships from The Family Sports Center, James Avery, the YO Ranch Hotel and the Hill Country Cafe. Our neighbors, 5k Laser and ACprint are always on the team, along with KCVB and Maverick Internet. We need about $15,000 to pay all the expenses, and we’re well on our way. If you have ideas of other interested businesses/individuals, let us know. We run a complete list of sponsors on the program and in the newspaper.

No trip to San Miguel de Allende planned for this November - The International Jazz Festival. We’re spending our time and effort on the October Harvest Jazz Festival with the Bluebonnet Lions Club. In the future: monthly coffeehouse programs at Schreiner University on the third Wednesday of the month, celebration of Jimmie Rodgers’ birthday on September 8, with a Texas Heritage Living History Day in Louise Hays Park from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. followed by a western swing tribute to Jimmie at Luckenbach from 8:00 p.m. until midnight. KR Woods will open the show with a special tribute to both Jimmie and his grandson, Jimmie Dale. Remember, Jimmie Dale performed in Kerrville for about 13 years each September.

If you would like to write for this newsletter, please consider submitting a 500-word essay on some aspect of Texas music, local bands, your favorites! Our friend, C.J. Berkman, has started a Texas music magazine based in San Antonio called Roadhouse. I wrote for the first edition on my interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan and submitted photos on the Kinky extravaganza at Helotes. Contact C.J. at cjberkman@prodigy.net for more information.

Some personal news: my book on Texas songwriters will be out next March (I’m begging UT Press to make it earlier!) Order forms are available on the website. I conducted a workshop at the Young Rhetoricans’ Conference in Monterey, California, on “Telling Your Story: A Way to Teach, A Way to Learn.” I’m busy this summer putting together a reading to accompany my book Telling Stories, Writing Songs: An Album of Texas Songwriters. I plan on using the words/stories of the various songwriters featured in the book. I am available for programs in the community.

Recently, I spent some wonderful time with the adult literacy program at the Auld Center. As a trainer in the program using the Native American story in the classroom (Past is Prologue - PIP), I am creating a workshop in August at Schreiner University for teachers and interest community members. Yep, I’m all into the story. Seems the Japanese also love the work of Paula Underwood, who wrote down the oral history called The Walking People, with the support of Jeanne and Bob Slobod here in Kerrville. Seems we are finally realizing, as a culture, that narrative (coming from the Greek word gnoscere, “to know”) is the way human beings know the world. We tell a story about our experience. That’s what all my work revolves around - the importance of the story we choose to tell.

Happy Trails, Kathleen