Spent the evening at Threadgill's Cafe, one of Austin's most storied venues from "the good ol' days." Watched a great show by Lynette & Lefty, which included them performing "Come a Little Closer," a song from my upcoming album, Honky Tonk Hymnal. Great fun. Special thanks to my friends who came out for the festivities.

Forgot to snap a photo of it, but my son Will added his trombone to "A Beer is a Beer" for HTH today. I really love the fact that he'll be on this album, too. Thanks, son.

Kaye and I played our second gig at The Hole in the Wall tonight. Afterward, we drove up the street to NeWorlDeli to see Byrd & Street perform their last set of the evening.

Stayed home for the first two evenings of 2017 fighting cedar fever. Went out tonight to see Lynette & Lefty perform at Evangeline's Cafe in south Austin, and they were great (as usual). Afterward, I decided I wanted to play, too, so I went to the open mic at Posse East, a UT campus-adjacent bar, where I was easily older than any other two open mic performers there. Yikes.

As it was between semesters, only a small crowd of locals were there. They seemed to like my stuff, which made me feel a little less ancient.

On Saturday, Kaye and I will perform at The Hole in the Wall, another campus-adjacent club.

Once again, I've managed to forget about updating my blog for over two weeks. The past couple of months of 2016 have been fantastic and depressing in turns. Fantastic because of the work on my upcoming CD, Honky Tonk Hymnal; depressing due to several family members' illnesses, including the passing of my mother-in-law, Marla Jean.

Hopefully, 2017 will be better for both areas of my life.

Most of the past two weeks have involved working on the upcoming album, Honky Tonk Hymnal. Details to follow.

Nov 30: Planning a day of rest, more or less. Want to go see the Jordan Cody Band at One2One tonight.  

Nov 29: Spent a good part of this morning and early afternoon raking the backyard. Ended up with 16 bags of leaves! Spent the rest of the day suffering from allergies probably made worse by handling all the dead leaves.  

Nov 28: David Harbaugh approved final rewrite of "Give Us This Day Our Honky Tonk," formerly "God Bless This Here Beer." 

Nov 26: Katie Shore (fiddle player for Asleep at the Wheel) told Richard she’s not available on our studio dates; however, she’lI be happy to do studio work on the road. Meanwhile, today at the studio with L&L, I replaced my scratch vocals for "When Willie Gets Behind the Beat," and Tommy and I remixed Josh's  mandolin licks with Paul’s guitar for "Beer and Pretzels for Communion." Also added Lynette’s bass to "Give Us This Day Our Honky Tonk" and to "A Beer is a Beer," adding L&L's vocals to the bridge of the latter.

Nov 25: Met Kaye at The Watercrest in Bryan for our regular last-Friday of the month show.

The Austin Ukulele Society's monthly meeting was last Thursday. We recorded a better version of Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" and our Christmas song for next month's YouTube post. The next day, I rehearsed with Anna Lewis and the UT Ukes.

The Kaye Pasa Trio spent Saturday morning performing at the Barton Creek Farmers Market. Jimmy Joe and Chrissie Natoli (a.k.a. The Better Halves) host the music there. That evening, I performed with the UT Ukes at Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church in north Austin.

On Sunday, David Harbaugh came down from Plano with plans to stay until late Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, Jimmy Joe and Chrissie had a Sunday afternoon gig in north Austin, and they were hosting the open mic at B.B. Rovers that evening, too. They asked if they could use Casa Davenport as a layover, rather make the long drive back and forth between their home in far SE Travis County to Rovers. Naturally, I said yes. I'm a fan, and it's pretty cool having these two at my house (and soon, on my next album, Honky Tonk Hymnal).

We worked a little on Richard's song, "Mississippi de Tejas," which will include Jimmy Joe's guitar and Chrissie's vocals. After that, they worked on a song for an upcoming wedding gig. David and I had a front row seat at a Better Halves practice, and we liked the way they worked with each other.

Sunday evening at Rover's open mic, I was thrilled to share the stage for a couple of songs with Jimmy Joe on one and David Harbaugh on the other. I can't remember the last time David and I performed together on stage. Felt good to do it again.

Monday was studio day with The Better Halves on "Mississippi de Tejas." What a great day's work. Chrissie and I swap lines throughout the verses, and she sings harmony to my melody in the choruses. Fantastic!

David decided to stay an extra night in Austin, which allowed us to go to Dino's open mic at The Brass Tap in Round Rock. Lynette and Lefty were there, too. They're coming back to the studio in a few days to do some more work on Honky Tonk Hymnal.

I always enjoy playing with Lynette & Lefty, but next time, let's make sure Lynette is in the middle. The best looking thing on stage should be front and center.

Kaye and I had a great time playing at Hole in the Wall, one of the oldest clubs in Austin. Jennifer Jackson opened for us, and Helen Haake took the photo above. The crowd was fantastic. Not sure why the spotlight made my black shirt look purple.