Whilst attending the Dallas Guitar show I also took the opportunity to hang out in Austin Tx, although sadly my schedule meant I could only go there for a couple of days.

In case you didn’t know, Austin is widely regarded as the live music capital of the US, and has more live music venues per capita than any other US city.

On the Sunday we managed to catch country guitar legend Redd Volkaert playing with Heybale at the Continental Club.

On the Monday we had a look around a few of sites including the SRV memorial.

In the evening we hit 6th St, which is full of bars and clubs, most providing live music. We ended up in the Maggie Mae’s bar where Mike Milligan and the Altar Boyz host a blues jam every Monday. Obviously whilst at the bar I got volunteered for this! Scott Unzicker lent me his customshop Tele with a huge 50s baseball bat-like profile! Fortunately I really like these big old Fender necks, although they aren’t for everyone…..

Had a good chat with Scott about the Texas blues scene; amazingly we are both huge fans of Jimmie Vaughan and Anson Funderburgh! Scott also works as a free lance music writer, so check out his excellent article in Texas Music about the Fabulous Thunderbirds on Scott’s website.

Anyhow, thanks to Scott and the other jammers for putting up with my playing. I assume as I’ve lived to tell the tale it went OK — they take their blues guitar pretty seriously in Texas!!