January 17, 2022 | McKinney Falls, TX

McKinney Falls State Park on the outskirts of Austin has been a favorite from our first winter in Texas. A quick 45 minute drive from Dripping Springs had us backed in and hooked up with water and electricity. Tim was able to secure the same huge site we had last year with lots of trees and total privacy. It is good to be in a familiar place where we already know our way to the closest grocery and hardware stores.

What I love most about Austin is the music and the musicians. Unfortunately, for the past two years we have not ventured to many roadhouses and honky-tonks. This year is no exception as most of the venues are closed due to Covid. Some of the bar/restaurants have outdoor patios where bands can perform if the weather is warm enough. That has also been a crap shoot with Texas temperatures bouncing around like cold spit on a hot griddle.

Our good friend, Joel Weinstein plays pedal steel in two bands we love to see perform, Emily Herring a great country singer and the Gin Racers a retro swing group. We did not get to see either of them. Musicians in Austin may play with three or four bands on a regular basis. These two bands share a base player, guitarist and of course, Joel on pedal steel. The one guitarist I have seen with both groups is Sophia Johnson. For my money, she is absolutely one of the best and hardest working guitar players in Austin. She plays nearly every night with any one of a dozen different bands and she can switch from country to rock to jazz and bluegrass without missing a beat. Remember that name, Sophia Johnson.

In 2019 BC (before covid) I was doing a radio show on WIOX. During that time Joel recorded interviews with Austin musicians for the show, a couple of which were with Duane Hamilton. Duane played drums with a number of well known bands including Whiskey Drinkin’ Music, Rusty Weir and a few dozen others.

I sent Duane a message when we arrived at McKinney Falls and after determining everyone’s Covid vaccine status and test results, he invited us to his house for snacks and drinks. Duane had a regular bar and pavilion built in his back yard to house his hobby of smoking (meat that is) and grilling. His idea of snacks included grilled sausage, steak, shish kabob, stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs and margaritas that just didn’t stop. His wife, Dawn was a bit dubious about these strangers who showed up at her door in the middle of a pandemic, but she warmed up quickly and we all had fun listening to stories of music gigs gone wrong and musicians gone wild. It was a fun evening and after two years of a global pandemic with very little socializing, a welcome change! We left with hugs and promises of getting together again soon.

According to Joel, in his (not so long ago) drinking days Duane was known to fall backwards right off of the bandstand on occasion. Most musicians have some great stories to tell and that is why I love hanging out with them. Duane can also smoke a mean brisket and mix a hardy Margarita so what’s not to love? Lucky for Duane, Dawn feels the same way.

Joel came into Tim’s family through his wife, Paula who was best friends with Tim’s sister, Pat. One evening while we were camped at McKinney Falls we drove to their house in Wimberly, TX for dinner and a lively game of Pitch.

We are doing more socializing in Texas this winter than we have done in the Catskills over the past ten years! I am loving every minute of it and Tim seems to be at least putting up with it quite very well.