Joe Ely the Writer Honored by Texas Institute of Letters
After paying tribute to the late Guy Clark with over a dozen other musicians at the Paramount Theatre on Friday night, Joe Ely took a plane to El Paso to be formally in ducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. According to the Honor Society’s website, the TIL was founded in 1936 “to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement.” Ely and 14 other writers were inducted in this year’s ceremony, joining an honored tier that includes internationally-acclaimed authors like Cormac McCarthy and Sandra Cisneros. Since the announcement, Texas Institute of Letters President Steve Davis has been assertive about the Institute’s induction of Joe Ely the writer, not Joe Ely the musician and lyricist. Ely’s written two books. Bonfire of Roadmaps, which celebrates its 10thanniversary this year, is a memoir of Ely’s life on the road, while his Reverb: An Odyssey, according to Davis, “reads like a Beat novel about his move from Lubbock across the state of Texas.” Ely will be back in town this weekend playing an acoustic set at the Cactus Café.
Local Nonprofit Hold Annual Garage Sale to Aid Austin’s Aging Musicians
Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers is having its annual HOME sale, a grand-scale garage sale full of music collectibles, furniture, clothes, antiques, music gear, and more to help fund the organization’s efforts of aiding aging vulnerable members of Austin’s music community through housing assistance and other forms of help. Founding members of HOME include local musicians like Marcia Ball and Carolyn Wonderland, who serve as Vice-President and Board of Directors Member respectively. Other Board and Advisory members include Shelley King, Ruthie Foster, and Susan Antone, all headed by Executive Director Deb Fleming. The organization’s HOME sale is this weekend, April 8th and 9th from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3010-B South Lamar, the same lot that houses Wholly Cow Burgers and the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians.
-Taylor Wallace
