Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > December > 11 > Entry
Grammy Texas Rocks at Gibson Guitar Showroom
Sometimes, the Gibson Guitar Showroom feels like the Austin music community’s secret club house. Parties here at Penn Field are constructed around live music. There’s enough elbow room for a multiple points of focus, should you need them, and traffic moves fluidly among three indoor and two outdoor spaces.
Marie-Laurie Carvalho and Terrany Johnson
The Grammy Texas Rocks fundraiser Wednesday fit the Showroom like tight harmony, in part because the Recording Academy’s state headquarters is on site. Musicians bumped into invited media and supporters with supreme ease. Just about anyone who promotes local music — Rose Reyes, Casey Monahan, Elaine Garza, Theresa Jenkins, Ihor Gowda, etc. — hung around the neon-colored rooms.
Billy Henry and Carlos Sosa
My big find: Carlos Sosa. He’s the president of Grammy Texas board. He grew up wanting to play saxophone for Stevie Ray Vaughn, but arrived in Austin after the blues great died. He carved an extremely successful career out of music-directing in Los Angeles. His big long-view push is convincing California artists to record here, because local backups can be a comparative bargain and often better than their LA counterparts. Area studios are now top-notch. (Future column alert.)
Phoenix Hart and Chris Bell
But then again, everyone I talked to came with a story. And when people are relaxed, as they were at the Showroom, they share. And luckily, the amplification is trapped in the east room, so one can actually hear a conversation in the rest of the spaces, while still enjoying the music.
Elaine Garza and Rose Reyes
It was a strange delight to run into Billy Henry, whom I know from his theater work. Now he’s got his Americana musical career — maybe he had it all along and I just didn’t notice. I wanted to know more about how he blends those worlds, but didn’t get a chance. (Another column idea?)
Amanda Potter and Rameses Bramer
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