Thanks to the 9513 for putting this on my radar. Inspired by the Johnny Cash song of the same name, Austin’s one-of-a-kind Mean Eyed Cat bar is facing possible closure.

The property that the bar occupies is zoned as a retail space and thus is required to earn 51 percent of its revenue from food sales - The space has no kitchen so that’spretty much out of the question.

Owner Chris Marsh has taken the issue to the city council to ask that the property be rezoned. The council is set to vote on June 21.

Go to the Mean Eyed Cat and spend your hard-earned cash.

Go here to support the rezoning.

In its continuing quest not to completely suck CMT has a nice write up on Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas. Gruene Hall, Texas’ oldest dance hall, was opened by Pat Molak in1974 and then featured a young unknown named George Strait and his Ace in the Hole band who played one or two shows a month there starting in 1975.

“I have many great memories of playing at Gruene Hall,” Strait says. “It was definitely one of the highlights of my early career. Pat Molak, who owns it and I still consider a friend, let us play there one Sunday afternoon for, I think, 50 cents at the door. He had never heard us and wanted to check us out before he let us do a weekend night. This led to many great nights at one of Texas’ greatest dancehalls.”

“No Country For Old Men” is on of my favorite Corman McCarthy books and the Coen brothers (Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Brother Where Art Thou) are some of my favorite film makers, so you know I’m anticipating thier adaptation of this book about a drug buy gone wrong in rural West Texas. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson.

It was recently screened at the Cannes Film Festival to great reviews.

I’m headed home to Dallas to visit the ‘rents for the 4th of July weekend and had planned to head out to Ft. Worth to catch Willie Nelson’s picnic. And what does the Texas Yoda go and do? Moves the dang picnic to the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash., about 150 miles east of Seattle.

Insult in injury it’s one of the best line-ups in years with a distict alt flavor - Son Volt, Dallas’ recently reunited Old 97s and a newly Jason Isbell-less Drive-By Truckers.

I guess that July heat was finally getting to him.

Austin singer/songwriter Drew Kennedy is making quite a name for himself with his release of the excellent “Dollar Theatre Movie” (Texas-based Sustain Records) - that features contributions from Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Keith Gattis and Kevin Szymanski, but by also having his song, “Bourbon Legend,” qs the title track on the most recent release from acclaimed alt-country band Jason Boland and The Stragglers.
Catch Drew on his tour of the Great State, including the historic Floore’s Country Store and Adair’s, at the dates below:

Apr 27 Spicewood, TX Angel’s Icehouse
Apr 30 Kerrville, TX Inn of the Hills
May 4 Pleasanton, TX Coughran Hall
May 6 Dallas, TX Adair’s
May 12 Bandera, TX Bandera Bar & Grill
May 18 Helotes, TX Floore’s Country Store
May 20 Ft. Worth, TX Jacks Off The Wall
May 22 College Station, TX Alfred T. Hornbeck’s
May 23 Corsicana, TX Max’s
May 24 Plano, TX Love and War in Texas
May 25 Grapevine, TX Love and War in Texas
May 26 Denison, TX T-Bones
May 27 Bandera, TX Bandera Bar & Grill
Jun 7 San Antonio, TX Rolling Oaks Sports Bar
Jun 13 Wichita Falls, TX Stage West
Jun 19 Austin, TX Austin-Bergstrom Int’l Airport (3 pm)
Jun 27 El Paso, TX The County Line
Jul 6 Brady, TX The Old Peanut Mill
Jul 14 Waco, TX Scruffy’s