Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2010 > February > 02 > Entry
Backstage at the Rod Kennedy 80th birthday tribute
(Pictured: Terri Hendrix, Randy Rogers and Jimmy LaFave.)Terri Hendrix said she was tempted to talk trash onstage at the Paramount Theatre Tuesday night about the University of Texas’ decision to phase out the iconic Cactus Cafe, “but this was Rod’s night, so I kept it all about him,” she said.
Indeed, onstage it was a night of magical music, performed lovingly for Rod Kennedy, the man who created the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1972, but had done so much for the Austin music scene before that. The format was that of two guitar pulls, with such artists as Ruthie Foster, Ray Benson, Robert Earl Keen, Marcia Ball, the Flatlanders, taking turns telling stories and singing songs.
(Pictured: Ruthie Foster, right, accompanied by Cyd Cssone)But backstage, several artists railed on about how outraged they were on hearing that the best listening room in Austin was slated to close in August after a meeting Friday on the Texas Union board that had a majority of student members. “The Cactus isn’t just a bar and a stage,” said Joe Ely, who recorded a live album at the 150-seat club in 2007. “There’s a psychological connection to that place. To think that six people in a back room can decide it’s fate is just crazy.”
Motioning towards the stage, Ely continued, “Everyone who’s playing here tonight has gotten up in the morning and tried to write a song as good as the ones they heard at the Cactus the night before.” He recalled the first time hearing Townes Van Zandt play “Pancho and Lefty” at the Cactus and how that opened him up to the possibilities of saying so much with so few words.
“There’s something going on behind the scenes that we’re not hearing about,” said Jimmy LaFave. That was a sentiment repeated by others.
“It can’t be about the money,” Ely said. “Because we could’ve raised it if anyone had said anything about it. We could’ve raised it in one night with a benefit concert.” UT officials have said that the Cactus Cafe had to be subsidized by about $66,000 last year.
Robert Earl Keen was nostalgic about “the quietest room I’ve ever played in” and recalled the night Van Zandt fell asleep onstage. “The audience just sat there, not making a sound, until Townes woke up.”
Follow Austin Music Source on Facebook and Twitter.
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By Marjean Fieldhouse
February 3, 2010 3:42 PM | Link to this
The concert was magic and the artists were amazing, I felt so lucky to live in a town with so much fantastic music.
But somebody needed to shut the prof from Texas State UP. He clearly loves his own voice more than music