The other legend of the night, Ray Wylie Hubbard, has been pumping out tunes since his big hit, “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” which was made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker back in 1973.  He has been a leading figure of the progressive country movement and a story teller deluxe.  He was joined this night in a 3 piece featuring his young son Lucas and vet drummer Kyle Schneider.  Hubbard rambled thru his catalog to the crowd’s delight including sing a long fave “Snakefarm”, some choice jammin’ cuts from his latest “The Ruffian’s Misfortune”, reluctant “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” to appease the crowd, tender “The Messenger”  and “Drunken Poet’s Dream” which his bud Hayes Carll has gotten a lot of run with.

Amazing thing is about this gent is that at age 68 he seems to rockin’, rollin’, bluesin’ and countyin’ all rolled into one from song to song.  I loved when he got down he referred to the music as “greasy”. Guy exudes confidence and really doesn’t give a rat’s ass what people think, which is the allure of the man to this reviewer. He’s been doing things his way his whole career and seems to be doing fine with it.  Plus a chip off the old block, Lucas, showed off some mighty fine electric guitar licks along the way backed by Schneider’s skin skills.

There might be two legends this night, but the main reason HMR was there was for CO-Headliner Uncle Lucius.  We’ve been hot on their trail for two years running and they are a smokin’ hot outfit these days.  Backing their 4th album, “The Light” which came out on Boo Clap Records in association with Thirty Tigers June 9th, the five piece band owned the storied building in the palms of their hands.

Led by the crisp strong delivery of front bossman Kevin Galloway who always lets the music do the talking and rips away prancing like a big bear on his acoustic.  He deflects so masterfully to his band mates letting them stretch out like electric masher Mike Carpentar, animated mad man Josh Greco on drums or electrifying keyboard work of Jonny Grossman. This Austin based band built their ever growing fan base by a blood and guts touring non-stop schedule.

By observing the lines to buy merchandise it seems to be working.  They been quoted as saying: :We pride our live show as a sacred and energetic experience, with a belief that this is still the truest form of communication.”  Amen to that!   Blistering numbers included “Gulf Coast Gypsies”, stalwart tune that got them on the airwaves “Keep the Wolves Away”, soulful “Age of Reason” and great build-up jam quality of UL’s tunes like “Taking In The View”. Ray Wylie Hubbard even took a moment to doff his cap to this hard working band during his set.  Plus you couldn’t meet a better bunch of humble down to earth fellows like this bunch.

CATCH ’em when you can like August 7th @ Dosey Doe Music Cafe…………

In closing, I’d like to say thanks big time to all involved with the Sounds of Texas Music Series.  Everybody was so kind  and hospitable.  God Bless the likes of Craig Jones, Lisa Rogers, Mark Taylor, Larry Winters, Dave Clements and Debbie Glenn who gave HMR a nice shout out from the stage.  Dearest take away for this reviewer was the return of the electric guitar to this cozy joint.  The jammin’ rocked the place in a good way and everybody in the packed house dug it.  Looking forward to 2016 already……..You should be too!  Get on their mailing list :  http://www.soundsoftexasmusicseries.com/.