I went to Austin in June for a performance with Chris Schlarb’s Psychic Temple Ensemble at the NMASS Festival at the Salvage Vanguard Theater. While there, I sat in on a set by singer/songwriter Aaron Roche, whose album Plainspeak has been dominating my turntable all summer. Wonderful stuff. The NMASS crew did a top-notch job with this festival, the set with Schlarb was transcendent to say the least, and I fell completely in BBQ-induced love with Austin.

After the festival I drove to Houston, spent Father’s Day afternoon at Rothko Chapel, and then to a fun gig with my friend Thomas Helton and The Core Trio at Khon’s. Houston has a very dynamic community of creative musicians, and it was wonderful to meet and hear so many of them. Big thanks to Jonathan Jindra for his help organizing and promoting this show.