John Dickson Q&A
by Richard Skanse
January 2009

I may be asking for a stoning here, but — enough about dancehalls, already. Corner just about any artist even loosely associated with the current Texas/Red Dirt music scene, or any fan who's ever gotten goosebumps upon hearing the line “Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town” that kicks off Robert Earl Keen's “The Road Goes on Forever,” and chances are they can talk your ear off about Gruene Hall, Luckenbach or any other rickety old Texas beer joint where they've ever hoisted a Shiner while playing or listening to live music. And that's all well and good, but let's be honest here: all that dancehall love really isn't fair to that other foundation upon which this whole scene was built, a hallowed tradition going all the way back to the first Willie picnic in the early '70s. People, let us all hail the Texas music festival.

Ah yes, the festival: where thousands of fans come together to drink beer in a hot field and crane their necks for a clear view of the stage. There's invariably mud, dust, expensive concessions, long lines at the smelly Porta-Johns and sometimes even longer waits between sets. But for the diehard music fan, it's all heaven on earth. And for artists big and small, there's nothing quite like a big-ass outdoor music festival for getting one's music across to as many fans as possible, both new and old. From Larry Joe Taylor's epic bubba gathering in the middle of nowhere to the much ballyhooed Austin City Limits Music Festival deep in the heart of Austin, festivals, not postcard dancehalls, are the true lifeblood of the Texas music scene.

Fighting words? Maybe. But here's the real corker: the best Texas music festival around today isn't even in Texas. Or Oklahoma. It's all the way up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, smack in the middle of a picturesque ski resort. . .

Read Richard Skanse's full interview with John Dickson