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Post-Mem Wkd Concert Update: Yo Gabba Gabba, Summer Fest, Teenfest, AIDS benefit, Cool Canyon and more

Oh, man. A rare three-day weekend. Didn't make it to Los Lobos, didn't make it to Balloonfest, but did swing by the national cemetery at Fort Bliss to visit my dad and brother. That's time well spent.

Back to the grind. Here's some concert and event news that accumulated over the weekend:

• Following up on an earlier post, tickets for the Nov. 29 stop by "Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! It's Time to Dance Show" will go on sale at 10 a.m. June 24.

The show, the followup to last year's successful "There's a Party in My City" tour will be at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.

Tickets will be $23, $33  and $40, plus service charges, on sale at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

Party packages, which include various perks, are $113 and $120, plus fees, available now via presale only to Citi card holders.

Citi also is having a presale via Ticketmaster for regularly priced tickets, through 10 p.m. June 19.

The venue presale will be from 10 a.m. June 3 through 10 p.m. June 23.

There is an 8-ticket limit per person.

• La Catrina Quartet, which is in residence at NMSU, will return to headline the El Paso Summer Music Festival's annual "Potpourri" concert at 7:30 p.m. June 4 at UTEP's Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall.

Orit Amy Eylon, an associate professor of voice at UTEP who appeared in El Paso Opera's recent "Madama Butterfly," also will perform.

The annual concert also will recognize the students who participated in the festival's Young Musician's Competition and students who benefitted from the festival's Instruments for Young Lives program.

Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for seniors and military, $15 for everyone else, on sale at the door. Go to epsmf.org for more info.

• Speaking of opera, cast members from the El Paso Opera production of "The Desert Song" will preview songs from the localized operetta as part of the International Aids Empowerment benefit concert at 8 p.m. June 3 at The Percolator, 217 N. Stanton.

The concert also will feature Layali Al-Sham, an Arabic ensemble from UTEP, a new a cappella group, the Do Re Migos, singer-songwriter Emily Davis, David Pena and Michael Jackson impersonator David Nabhan.

It's an all-ages show, $5 at the doro, with proceeds going to the local IAE, which provides care and services to those with HIV/AIDS.

• The schedule for the first Cool Canyon Nights series, a collaborative between TownSquare Media (KLAQ, KSII, KROD) and the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau, is almost complete.

The series, which will feature local acts, opens June 9 with the jazz group Crosstown on the main stage and Carla Rojas on the patio.

The rest of the sked so far: rockers the Sect (June 16); Spanish-language rockers Enter (June 30), with Rojas on the patio; Tejano band Asi (July 7); funk-rockers the Lovelys (July 14); Christian rockers Altarmotive (July 21), with the Joe Barron Band on the patio; disco-funk revivalists Fungi Mungle (July 28); jazz pianist Billy Townes (Aug. 4), with April Ticket on the patio; and Radio La Chusma (Aug. 11).

• Local bands Skunk, Paralysis, Skyscrapers and Jayden's Playground singer Jamie Hernandez will perform at the El Paso Public Library's 17th annual Teenfest from noon to 5:30 p.m. June 4 at Cohen Stadium.

The El Paso Tuner Coalition is organizing a car show in the parking lot. Set up will begin at 9:30 a.m. that day, but registration is open through noon.

It's the kickoff of the library's summer reading program, which has a theme of "Going Global" this year.

The free, family-oriented event includes a DJ, dance performances and other events, including a book giveaway.

• Detroit techno titan Richie Hawtin should get the Independence Day weekend thumping and jumping when he performs at 9 p.m. July 3 at Club 101.

Tickets are $21, on sale at the club at Ticketbully.

• I meant to post these last week. Promoter Michael Fierro has a couple of shows coming to the Lowbrow Palace.

The Memorials, which includes The Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, headlines a show with the Pendulum Clock and With All Due Respect at 8 p.m. June 9.

He's also bringing France electronic duo Dinner at the Thompson's, which he describes as Portishead meets Dee-Lite, to the Lowbrow at 8 p.m. June 10, part of their first American tour.

One Mann Jazz will open.

They're both 21-and-older shows.

Tickets to each show are $10.

• Speaking of the Lowbrow, it's also bringing in A Tribe Called Quest DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammed for a 21-and-older show at 10 p.m. June 16.

Kootch1 and DJ Bobby Smith open.

Tickets are $15, on sale at Ticketbully.

The club at 112 Robinson also hosts punk's Swingin' Utters for a post-Warped show on June 29.

Continental (featuring former Dropkick Murphys guitarist Rick Barton) and locals Fire At Will open.

It's at 8 p.m., 21 and older.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 at the door ($2 discount with Warped ticket stub).

• A little update on Johnny Rawls, the Memphis bluesman whose albums are released on El Paso's Catfood Records imprint.

His latest CD, "Memphis Still Got the Blues," has been getting good reviews and is the No. 1 "Pick to Click" on B.B. King's Bluesville channel on Sirius/XM.

• Just got a release that next year's Coachella festival will be split into two separate events on April 13-15 and 20-22. The plan is to feature the same lineup each weekend.

No confirmed acts have been announced, but the $269 passes will be for sale from 11 a.m. our time June 3 passes go on sale June 3 to 11 p.m. June 10 at coachella.com.

Wonder if that will help or hurt organizers of next year's Neon Desert Music Festival in downtown EP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concert update: Filter/Saliva tour to Speaking Rock

Alternative Revolt magazine is sponsoring this summer's "Under the Skin of Angels" (or USA) tour feature Saliva and Filter.

The tour will play the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center on  Aug. 4, according to a post on altrevolt.com.

Speaking Rock GM Karl A. Maahs told me earlier this week he was working on a Saliva/Filter date for August.

The tour coincides with the release of Saliva's new album, "Under Your Skin."

It also will feature Anew Revolution and Heart-Set Self-Destruct.

All shows at Speaking Rock are free. This one, like most, will be outdoors.

Maahs said the venue's large parking lot on Socorro Road has been refitted as an outdoor concert venue, including permanent fencing, porta-potties, electrical and water.

That's where most of its Memorial Day Weekend events will be, including tonight's Los Lobos concert (with El Paso native Tommy Mora opening), the second "Rockin' the Rez Pow Wow," with Native American dance, food and more from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Saturday's Joan Jett and the Blackhearts concert, Sunday's Puddle of Mudd (they're releasing a covers album in August, with "Gimme Shelter" as the first single) show and Monday's Poison/Warrant concert.

Keith Secola and the Wild Indians will perform, with hoop dancers, at around 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Spirit Garden bar while crews clean up after the pow wow and prepare for the concerts that night in the lot.

Don't know if you noticed, but the Rock also has revamped its website and changed its address to speakingrockentertainment.com.

 

Dutch DJ Sander Kleinenberg goes deeper with '5K'

Dutch DJ/producer Sander Kleinenberg is dining with friends in Ibiza, Spain’s dance music capital, and admits he’s “very drunk.”

But he sounds pretty clear-headed about “5K,” his first album as an artist, due June 14, in a career that started as a teenaged DJ in the Netherlands nearly 25 years ago.

Kleinenberg opens his “5K” tour ,with Britain’s Desyn Masiello, at 8 p.m. June 2 at Nova Luna Ultra Bar, 2270 Joe Battle. Tickets are $25 in advance at wantickets.com; $30 door. Go to novalunaep.com for more information.

It's part of the club’s participation in the international “We Love ... Music” party inspired by  Ibiza’s legendary Space nightclub and celebrated at clubs everywhere from Miami to London to Dubai.

He said the album developed out of a need to express himself.

“I just wanted to make a document that was a little bit more substance,” he said, noting a growing desire to do something more than “just providing Saturday night soundtracks every weekend.”“I have something to say, I guess,” he added.

Sander K’s certainly done well with that DJ thing. He’s been an in-demand house and trance DJ for nearly 20 years, a successful producer, label owner and remixer, winning Dancestar USA’s best remix award in 2003 for his reworking of Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body.”

Kleinenberg also is known for his use of video during his DJ sets, an art form known as DVJing. “It gave me an extra element to play around with, an extra element for what I try to get across,” he said.

But “5K” is yet another attempt to do that. It has a seductive everything-but-the-kitchen sink quality, with accessible melodies, slamming electro beats, gurgling synths and washes of cosmic sounds. 

It also features strong vocal contributions from British jazz singer Jamie Cullum on the radio-friendly digital funk of “Remember,” the measured vocal of British country-folk singer Neil Ormandy on the anthemic “Closer,” and the husky melancholy of Dutch singer Miss Montreal on “Wish I Said.”

“The album was a good box to put all those ideas into and shake it up and see what comes out on the other end,” Kleinenberg said. 

"5K" is very contemporary in terms of musical motifs and use of technology, but has a subtle old-school electronica feel. The 40-year-old DJ emerges as a producer at the peak of his creative powers with the album, and a skilled songwriter and arranger.

But he sounds a little unsure about how it will be received. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking.

“As a matter of fact, when I ended the whole thing, this little journey, I looked at it and I purposely made the expectation around it as narrow as I could and tried to downplay everything I’ve done,” he said. “There’s probably not a lot of people waiting for me to do this. Most who know me want banging tracks for Saturday night. ... I put this armor on to protect me from the backlash.”

He admits to a certain ambivalence himself. “One part of me wants to see what Saturday night is all about, the other wants to criticize the world or write about personal things. I guess it’s a little bit of both,” he said, joking that he’s a “closet romantic trying to make love with an Uzi.”

“That’s kind of how it felt in the process of this,” he added, a process he had to go through.Whether he’s providing Saturday night soundtracks or expressing deeper feelings, there is a greater goal.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “it’s like this endless search for the perfect night, perfect mix and perfect setting. It’s what I keep chasing every single night.”

 

Concert update (Memorial Day Weekend edition): Cumbiagra, Alodex, DJ battle

A couple of late additions to the busy Memorial Day Weekend:

• Brooklyn cumbia band Cumbiagra will make their local debut May 27 when they join our own cumbia reenergizers, Frontera Bugalu, at 9 p.m. at the San Carlos Building, 501 Texas.

The band also plays the Arte en el Parque on May 28 in Juarez.

Admission to the EP show, which also features Kontra Golpe Noise Manifesto, are $5 at the door for 21 and older, $10 for 20 and under.

• El Paso metal band Alodex, who play the KLAQ Balloonfest on May 28, released their new album "Embrace the Heartache" this week on Oklahoma Christian label Tate Music Group. But they're not a Christian band and if you go to their website, alodex.net, you can see the cover art that TMG rejected.

The 12-song release is now on sale on iTunes, Amazon and tatemusicgroup.com.

The band, by the way, goes on at 12:50 p.m. Saturday at Wet 'n' Wild Waterworld.

Tickets for the festival, which features several local bands and headliners Finger Eleven (May 28), Ed Kowalczyk (May 29) and Drowning Pool (May 30) are $15 in advance, $30 at the gate, on sale at 7-Eleven stores in EP and Pic Quik shops in LC.

Go to klaq.com for more info.

• Promoter Fernando Arriaga of So Fresh Productions is producing the second King of the Crown DJ Battle at 8 p.m. May 29 at House of Rock Live, 8838 Viscount.

It's an open format, but participants include Club 101's DJ Illness, Wet's DJ Joseph G, Kutting Krew's DJ Gabriel, Brick & Mortar's DJ Technotics and DJ Julian V.

Judges include Johnny Kage, DJ Jay Smooth and KTSM's Chuck DeBroder.

First place winner gets $1,000.

Call 329.9983 for more details.

EP's Altarmotive answers to a higher power

Christian rock may not be the first kind of music that comes to mind when you think of Alfresco! Fridays.

The popular, free local music series, which runs Fridays at 5:30 p.m. through the spring and summer at Arts Festival Plaza, is better known for its cumbia, Tejano, Top 40 and classic rock bands.

Enter Altarmotive, a melodic, Christian hard rock trio whose members are part of the worship band at Abundant Living Faith Center, who play Friday's installment of the popular series.

I jokingly tell drummer Josh Webb that an altar call might be out of place. He agrees with a laugh.

"It's going to be very different than what we do at church," Webb says. "We know people are there to hang out and have fun. We'll play a lot of everything — Beatles, the Police, Tears for Fears, U2, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, there may even be some CCR in there."

They will toss in a few inspirational songs from their new album, "Afterglow," including "Want You to Know," a driving rocker that would fit in KLAQ's rotation. Webb said they'll also play a couple of songs from their last album, "What We Have Inside Us," which featured songs that were used on TV's "One Tree Hill" and "Ghost Whisperer" programs.

That was about five years ago, when singer and lyricist Drew Hale was in the band. But he left the group, formed when the members were teenagers at the Abundant Living-connected Faith Christian Academy, three years ago to move to Traverse City, MI.

That left the core band — singer Ezra Jurado, worship leader at Abundant Living; guitarist Mike Garcia, a member of the church's music staff; bassist Mike Minjarez; and Webb, a part-timer in the music department, and art director at Ghostlight Creative — without its main songwriter.

They wrote about five songs together, writing "lyrics by committee," the 30-year-old drummer, then turned to local heroes Jim Ward and Gabe Gonzalez of Sleepercar to help "flesh out" the songs and produce their next album at Ward's Clap of Thunder studio.

"I bumped into Jim one time on the street and said, 'Hey, man, I really appreciate what you are doing for El Paso and music in El Paso,' and just what's he's done through At the Drive-In and Sparta and Sleepercar," Webb said. "We're just fans of what he's done and what Gabe's done."

The result, "Afterglow," is full of fairly stock, worship-oriented lyrics set amidst a bed of ringing, U2-style guitar and propulsive rhythms, with a few ballads mixed in.

The last album with Hill was more pop-oriented, Webb said, but they wanted the new one "to be more focused on how we felt about God."

"I think so much of Christian music is about putting the focus on, 'You need to love God more,'" Webb said. "We don't tell people to do anything. We talk about God's unconditional love, 'Hey, he loves you unconditionally. You don't have to live with this guilt or condemnation."

That, he said, better reflects how their religious convictions guide them in their daily lives. Webb acknowledges that critics dismiss Abundant Living and its founders, pastors Charles and Rochelle Nieman, who executive produced "Afterglow," as being money-driven.

The drummer begs to differ. He said it was through them and the church's philanthropy, such as massive toy, food and clothing giveaways to the poor each year, that the band members have learned to "let hope rise" with their music and in their daily lives.

"Christian culture as a whole can be very condemning, picket signs, anti- this and that. That kind of lifestyle is unacceptable," Webb said. "Our perspective is Jesus went to the lowest of the low and the biggest of sinners and he showed them how much he loved them unconditionally. It's not about picket lines. It's not about drawing lines as it is circles of inclusion and, 'Hey, God loves you in spite of you, in spite of me.'"

Webb said the band is more interested in helping their church, families (he and Jurado are married) and community than promoting themselves. "What's important is helping people and giving people hope," he said, adding that the group is helping Tapestries of Life raise the $1 million it needs to complete an orphanage near Juarez.

But they do have some career aspirations. They're selling the new album — Webb designed the cover — on iTunes and giving away the three-song "Kingdom Come" EP online.

They've retooled their lineup, replacing the recently (and amicably) departed Minjarez with bassist John Paul Buchanan and adding keyboardist David Hernandez.

They plan to play more shows, including opening for the Newsboys June 24 at Abundant Living, a July 21 slot on the new local music series, Cool Canyon Nights, that beings June 9 at McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater, and a July 24 show at a church in Omaha, NE.

They may not play a lot of religious songs Friday night, but don't care who knows their religious beliefs. They're just not going to shove them down anyone's throat.

"There's a phrase in the Bible where Jesus said true religion is helping the orphans and the needy and the poor," Webb said. "If people label us religious, we hope it's because we're showing acts of kindness and helping people, not just that we play in a Christian band."

 

 

Concert update(d): Dancing in the City, KC, Yo Gabba Gabba, Billy the Kid, Matt Cusson

Hey, tonight's the "Dancing with the Stars" finale. I'm rooting for Hines Ward.

What better time than to tell you about the second, expanded version of the downtown concert and dance series called Dancing In the City.

The first edition last year featured two events, which started with a dance lesson, followed by a performance by a local band, in which dancing was encouraged.

It expands to six weeks this year and will feature country, salsa, merengue, cumbia and rockabilly.

Sponsored by the city's Museums and Cultural Affairs Department and the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau, the series runs Saturday evenings in the Arts Festival Plaza. Admission is $6 per person, $10 per couple, available at the door.

Dance lessons are at 7 p.m., with performances at 8.

It opens June 11 with El Paso's Team Havana and continues June 18 with Nashville country singer Scott Collier, June 25 with Grupo Soncache (merengue and bachata), July 9 with Ivon Ulibarri & Cafe Mocha (salsa and cumbia), July 23 with El Paso's Hillside Gamblers (rockabilly) and concludes July 30 with Havana Son (Cuban salsa).

Information: facebook.com/dancinginthecity.

In other show news:

• Speaking of dancing, I just got word that disco legends KC and the Sunshine Band are headed to the Coliseum for a Sept. 30 show.

Tickets will range from $25.50, $35.50, $45.50 and $50.50, plus service charges, and will go on sale June 3 at the box office and Ticketmaster.

• While we're on the dance tip, if you missed "Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There's a Party in My City" last year at the Chavez Theatre, you're in luck.

A new "Yo Gabba Gabba!" show, "It's Time to Dance," is headed to the Chavez on Nov. 29 as part of a fall tour.

Last year's tour,  a stage version of the offbeat pre-school kids TV show, drew more than 300,000 people and featured numerous celeb guests in various cities, including the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Snoop Dogg and Lou Diamond Phillips. Rapper Biz Markie, part of last year's tour, returns.

A presale for Citi card holders starts at 10 a.m. May 31. Another presale starts June 3 for those who sign up via yogabbagabbalive.com. Regular ticket sales should begin soon after.

 

 

• Tickets for the second annual production of the locally written play "Midnight Rendezvous: Billy the Kid and the Mystery of 1876" go on sale May 25. Maria del Pilar Munoz wrote the play about the gunslinger's experiences in San Elizario.

Performances, part of the June 10-12 Billy the Kid Festival there, will be at 7 p.m. June 11 and 1 p.m. June 12 at the Festival Playhouse, formerly known as the Adobe Horseshoe theater.

Tickets are $7 GA, $10 reserved seating and will be available at billythekidfestival.com, or call 851.0093 or 851.6012.

• Young jazz singer, pianist and guitarist Matt Cusson, who is on the Spectra Jazz label, performs at 8 p.m. May 26 at Dominic's Italian Restaurant, 6901 Montana.

He won the 2008 edition of the John Lennon Songwriting contest, Maxell's 2009 song of the year and was a 2011 Billboard Starmaker award winner for his song "One of Those Nights."

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 day of show, and $25 with dinner.

Call 778.0011 or go to dominicsitalian.com.

 

 

 

Concert update: Barney coming, Saul Hernandez not

Barney, that annoying purple dinosaur that kids just love, is headed to town with "Barney Live in Concert: Birthday Bash."

There will be two shows of the 25-song show at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. July 23 at the Chavez Theatre.

Tickets are $15, $20, $30 and $55 (VIP!), plus service charges, on sale at 10 a.m. June 6 at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

There's a presale (use the code word VMAIL) from 10 a.m. May 23 to 11 p.m. June 5.

In other show news:

• I'm guessing that advance sales for Jaguares singer Saul Hernandez's June 11 show at the Coliseum weren't good enough. The show's been canceled, according to ticketmaster.com.

Refunds will be available at the point of purchase.

 

Concert update: Stones, Freedom Crossing freebies, faux Fray name

Regular readers know that I'm an unrepentant Rolling Stones fan.

I fought to stay awake recently when Keith Richards appeared on Jimmy Fallon's show to hype the softbound version of his raucous autobiography, "Life." I was hoping he'd have some news on any plans they might have to record a new album or tour next year in honor of their 50th anniversary, but all he said was he was trying to round everybody up.

During the interview, which barely touched on the Stones, Richards revealed he'd been working with one of his other regular collaborators, drummer Steve Jordan, and that a possible Xpensive Winos album was starting to "blossom."

I also did a telephone interview  this week with the very likable Dave Stewart, of Eurythmics fame, to talk about his surprising and strong new album, "The Blackbird Diaries," an exploration of his rock, country and folks roots recorded over a five-day stretch in Nashville with Martina McBride's husband, John McBride, at the board.

It comes out June 28, two days after his musical version of "Ghost" opens in London.

Anyway, I asked Stewart about rumors that he was working on a Mick Jagger solo album, figuring Sir Mick wanted to pop one out before getting back into Stones mode.

"Everybody's asking about that," Stewart said. "We're not doing one, but have been doing something for a little while that nobody's expecting. It's going to come over the summer and into the fall and it's going to hit like a big bombshell."

He didn't elaborate, but Rolling Stone magazine's website reports they're part of a new supergroup called Super Heavy, which also includes British singer Joss Stone, Indian composer A.R. Rahman ("Slumdog Millionaire") and Damian Marley (Bob's son). 

They plan to release an album in September. "It's different from anything else I've ever been involved in," Jagger told the magazine. "The music is very wide-ranging — from reggae to ballads to Indian songs in Urdu."

Stewart has worked with Jagger before, including his "Primitive Cool" album and the soundtrack to the "Alfie" remake. He also co-produced and help write Stevie Nicks' new album, and worked on Joss Stone's next album, "LP1," due July 26, which is Jagger's 68th birthday.

Neither Jagger nor Richards has said anything to confirm a 50th anniversary tour, but Richards did tell USA Today: "Something's blowing in the wind. The idea's there. We kind of know we should do it, but nobody's put their finger on the moment yet. This is what we want to ask each other: Do we want to go out in a blaze of glory? We can, if Mick and Charlie (Watts) feel like I do, that we can still turn people on. We don't have to prove nothing anymore. I just love playing, and I miss the crowd."

In other music news:

• El Paso's Rave Marketing & Events is working with Fort Bliss' Freedom Crossing to present some free shows this summer at the military mall, including a June 17 performance by 2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks.

Hicks, whose style is in the Memphis soul/R&B/pop vein, opens the series, followed by country's Eli Young Band, a local favorite, on June 30 and Texas country vet Pat Green on Aug. 20.

Another show in the Let Freedom Sing series is planned for Aug. 6, but the headliner has not been announced.

They're free shows. Openers, as yet undetermined, go on at 7 p.m., with the headliners at 8.

Non-military may attend. You'll need a driver's license and you must enter through the Cassidy gate.

Go to freedomcrossingfortbliss.com for more info.

• Frank Duran, our hard-working web audience developer, found an item on the website of our sister paper, the Denver Post, about a secret show the Fray played at the Fox Theatre on May 19 in their hometown on Denver, just two days prior to opening for U2 on May 21 at the Colorado city's Invesco Field. 

The name they used for the secret gig? The Juarez Street Fighters.

Wow. Even soft-rock bands know about the violence over there.

 

 

 

 

Chit chat; read live chat replay

Completed my second live chat with the paper about 40 minutes ago.

I love doing these things. It's a great way to find out what readers are interested in and, I hope, a good way to pull back the curtain a bit on how things work in the world of entertainment.

If you participated, thanks. If not, you can read all about it right here.

 

Concert update: Cory Morrow works to stay on track

When Texas country singer-songwriter Cory Morrow started planning to film a live DVD, he turned to his Facebook fans for help.

The result?

Hundreds of suggestions, which Morrow’s been sifting through before the June 17 taping at Fort Worth’s legendary Billy Bob’s.

“I know what I want to play, what I’m tired of playing, what’s really difficult to play, what’s fun to play for me, but I don’t have a club what’s going on in the brains of the average music listener or fans of ours,” said Morrow, who’ll offer local fans a preview when he headlines the free concert series at the State Line, 1222 Sunland Park, at 8 p.m. May 25.

He was pleasantly surprised by what his loyal legions, cultivated over the past 14 years, came up with.

“The suggestions were great,” said Morrow, who’ll release the DVD in September. “Older stuff and newer stuff. It’s nice to know they’re listening.”

They also suggested covers, including his rockin’ band’s version of “Beer,” a song by ska-punks Reel Big Fish that Morrow first heard in the Trey Parker-Matt Stone movie “BASEket Ball.” Morrow, 39, prides himself on his songwriting, but loves to do unusual covers, at least in Texas’ so-called Red Dirt music scene, a blend of country and rock popular in the Southwest.

“Nobody in the scene ever covered any ska bands. It’s out there for our scene, our genre. Ska is totally on the other side,” he said by phone recently. “You wouldn’t believe how many ska fans listen to Texas country.”

The desire to keep evolving musically is a hallmark of the Houston native’s career, which took off after he left Lubbock, where he attended Texas Tech, to plug into Austin’s fertile music scene. He’s been releasing albums since 1997 and is a staple of the Texas music circuit.

Morrow, who performs here about once a year, has gone through some major changes in recent years. He got married — Morrow and wife Sherry celebrate their third anniversary in October — turned to religion, tried to kick a drinking problem and wrote more upbeat songs for last year’s “Brand New Me” album.

But he’s struggled with sobriety.

“I’ve fallen off several times in the past year. For the most part, I’m back on, which is where I plan on staying,” he said. “It’s a recent realization that it’s not a lifestyle I can live anymore.”

Bringing that sharply into focus was the birth of his first child, son Bear Allen Morrow, on March 24.

“When he was born, I came to the realization that this needs to be the final time.” Morrow said. “Over the last year, I quit for six months, then tried to include it a little bit, a glass of wine here and there, and I’d only drink at home and try to have a fine line. But it doesn’t work for me. I want more.”

So he’s trying to stay on the wagon for his son’s sake, if nothing else. With everything going on in his life, good and bad, Morrow hasn’t been able to write much. But that’s changing. He’s scheduled a writing session for this week and has collaborated with El Paso’s Dirty River Boys, the gritty acoustic trio he’s taken under wing. They’ll perform each others’ songs when they tour in August.

“I feel really lucky to able to sit down with guys like that that enjoy what they do and are really good at it,” he said, “and give me the chance to expand my music and give it a different flavor and sound.”

Morrow just needs a clear head, not Facebook, for that.“We don’t necessarily write the songs. You’re like a vessel for them to pass through,” he said. “In order for us to write the music, you have to be receptive, be an antenna, and feel what’s out there.”