could live in the fridge without electric-
ity for days, just long enough to con-
sume it before it became poisonous. As
the band progressed, they were able to
get electricity. However, there was still
no cooking because Todd unplugged
the stove to hook up his welding equip-
ment to the 220 circuit.
The Hogwallops played every
Friday at Harry’s Tinaja, once or twice
a month at La Kiva, and were one of
the only bands to play the Crystal Bar
on a regular basis. Neil used to host
open mike night at both La Kiva and
the Railroad Blues. If you didn’t have
your name on the list by 9:30 on
Wednesday, your chances of making it
onstage were slim. For a while, says
Neil, things were really hopping. You
could always find someone making
music somewhere.
One New Year’s Eve, the Doodlin’
Hogwallops were asked to play the
Starlight in Terlingua. The Starlight
pulled in $1000 from $5 covers in a
town that doesn’t pay covers. They did
$5500 in liquor sales, which is likely a
record. At the end of the festivities, an
inch of glass covered the dance floor as
most of the barware was shattered by
the revelers. The owner said to the
band, “Why haven’t you ever played
my bar before?!?”
In the melody of life, however,
things come and go and the live music
scene started to slow down in the Big
Bend area. Padre’s in Marfa changed
hands, and the Boathouse in Terlingua
shut down for a while. The Blues in
Alpine changed ownership, and while
people speculated if it was to be anoth-
er Whiskey Dick’s, the Blues faded a
bit. Crystal Bar closed when the owner
passed away and legal issues continue
to keep the building dark and silent.
These days, if there is an open mike
night, the band has to plan on playing
3 out of the 4 hours as not many peo-
ple show up to attempt their short list
of songs. Back in the Edelweiss days at
the Holland Hotel, Harry had live
music every day. Now over at the
Tinaja, a live show is rare.
Two of the forces that put the
brakes on the live music for the
Hogwallops occurred indirectly. The
first was the death of a good friend of
the Hogwallops, Glenn Felts, the
owner of La Kiva. Following his pass-
ing, the bar shut down, and although
it’s under new ownership, the exten-
sive remodeling required takes time.
Glenn was grandfathered in on code
regulations and in his genius way, was
always able to stay one step ahead of
the code man in order to keep the
doors open. It is an accolade to
Glenn’s creativity, says Neil, but when
La Kiva closed down, there went a
trusty gig along with a dear friend and
good times.
Another change that impacted the
live music venue was the cessation of
smoking inside the bars. The smoking
bans in buildings in Alpine, at least,
had an effect on the crowd numbers.
People want to smoke when they
drink, and sometimes bands want to
smoke while they play. The Crystal
Bar was able to skirt around this issue
by opening the garage doors and call-
ing themselves an outside venue.
Harry’s Tinaja has covered outdoor
tables and in the winter, full tented
walls with a wood stove – outside yet
inside. On many occasions at the
Blues, 99.9% of the crowd is outside
around the fire – smoking – while the
band plays to the bartenders.
The steady diet of live music in
Alpine has waned. Students graduate,
people move to the city or the oil field,
families start and change, and the
number of amateur musicians has
decreased. Although it’s a natural
course of things, and sometimes for the
better, change in ownerships affects
the status quo of a place and its func-
tion as a creative outlet. The new
owner wants to get their feet wet, make
their mark, turn a better profit, draw a
different crowd. Whatever the case
may be, things tend to slow down
before they pick up again.
For a band like the Hogwallops,
these changes affect them and have a
ripple effect on the area. In Alpine, out
of the Buffalo Rose, Crystal Bar,
Harry’s, Railroad Blues, Stetson Club,
and Chute #9, only a couple remain.
Live music venues rarely get the sup-
port other arts do, such as a museum
or a theater production. But music is
an important part of the culture, espe-
cially here in the borderlands. Access
to concerts and the like requires a fair
amount of travel and cost. Sure, there
is Midland or El Paso, but wouldn’t it
be productive to work towards creating
an engaging venue for creativity and
provide entertainment for residents
and locals as well as tourists?
Often there is talk of the Big
Phantom Hogwallops Album but so
far, they haven’t crossed that line. If
you’re a band that does live music
events and writes songs but doesn’t
have an album, you depend on live
events to make musical ends meet.
Taking on two or three jobs like every-
one else in this area can cut into your
creative space. What if you wanted to
make your living playing music and
still live in this area? Would that be
possible? How could we better support
the live music scene, network together,
and progress entertainment out here in
the desert?
If you’re a musician on your way to
somewhere else, it’s easier to have an
impromptu show in the Big Bend area
than it may be in the city - make some
music as you pass through in exchange
for a meal and a couple of drinks. The
spontaneity of moments like that and
the energy it inspires is a benefit to the
community and builds social capital.
Guests are delighted with something to
do: they leave with a happy memory,
thinking small town life is lively and
fun, and locals are inspired, maybe
even joining in. Live music is born in
alleyways, living rooms, bars, and front
porches. Venues where community
comes together, gathering places for
creatives and locals and non-locals,
builds talent as well as supports it.
Experiences are shared and communi-
ty culture is shaped. A vibrant live
music scene brings dollars to the area
in the creation, production, and con-
sumption of it. People from local towns
as well as tourists come to see bands
they like and to take a break from their
daily lives. Live music weaves the fab-
ric of a place together.
Life evolves, people grow, and
places change. Our interview was dif-
ferent from what it may have been a
few years ago. Instead of talking over
loud drunks at a bar, Neil and I chat-
ted over the indecipherable babble of a
baby. Neil and Chris both have fami-
lies now so not as many nights are
spent at happy hours ending in late
nights, and small children make it
more of a challenge to spend two
weekends a month in Terlingua. If life
is a circle, perhaps we can look forward
to and be supportive of an upswing in
our live music scene in the near future.
After all, the Blues are booking more
bands, the Boathouse is open again
and seems to be picking up, at least
according to Terlinguamusic.com, and
Harry is still serving and making every-
one feel welcome. So when you run
into the Hogwallops, because you will,
feel free to pass a shot of Sotol their
way.
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