The Bugle Boy Opens 18th Season With Two Sold-Out Shows
Allbright Takes Over for Gosnay as Executive Director
The Bugle Boy listening room in La Grange kicked off a brand new year of quality concerts over the weekend with back-to-back sold-out shows by Texas music icon Ray Wylie Hubbard. The Friday and Saturday night (Jan. 7-8) performances by the Wimberley-based Austin Music Hall of Famer marked Hubbard’s return to the Bugle Boy stage for the first time since January 2019 and the official start to the venue’s 18th season.
“The Bugle Boy is such a very special venue, and to be the opening of their 18th season is quite an honor — there’s not a better gig that I know of to be able to do that,” said Hubbard before taking the stage on Saturday night with his guitar-playing son, Lucas, and drummer Kyle Schneider. Renowned as much for his wry wit as for his legendary songwriting (“Snake Farm,” “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother”), Hubbard went on to enthuse, “The sound, the staff — they treat me the way I deserve to be treated!”
With the first two shows of its 18th season now in the books, the Bugle Boy’s exciting lineup of musicians for 2022 continues this weekend with Chubby Knuckle Choir (recording a live album on Friday, Jan. 14) and former official Texas State Musician Shelley King on Saturday, Jan. 15. Tickets are also on sale (for both limited in-person seating and webcast streaming) for January and February concerts by Linda Gail Lewis (sister of Jerry Lee Lewis), Lisa Morales, Carolyn Wonderland, Sara Hickman, the South Austin Moonlighters, Sarah Sharp with Mitch Watkins and more. (Link: https://thebugleboy.org/tickets/)
In other Bugle Boy news for the new year, founder Lane Gosnay is announcing that after helming the ship for 17 years, she will be turning over her executive directorship responsibilities to long-time employee Heather Allbright. Gosnay will continue to work with memberservices, technical support, and serve as a “brain trust.” She also remains on the board of directors of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Bugle Boy Foundation, founded in 2008 with the mission to “elevate and sustain original live music” through live concerts and music-based outreach programs benefitting nursing home/assisted living residents, hospice patients, youth and Veterans.
In addition to Gosnay and Allbright, the Bugle Boy crew consists of longtime venue manager Joni Westall (14 years), sound engineer John Pearson (six years), and new recruit Richard Skanse, the former editor of both Texas Music Magazine and Lone Star Music Magazine who came onboard as the Bugle’s new talent curator/booking agent in September.
And of course the whole operation simply couldn’t manage at all without its amazing support team of volunteers, who help with staffing both shows and outreach concerts through out the year. Among that team is consensus MVP Joanna Castillo, who in addition to driving in from Austin for nearly every show, year after year, also provides invaluable technical support and helps the Bugle Boy with the creation of its playbills and calendars.
The Bugle Boy Foundation is supported by donations from individuals, grants from state and local charitable organizations and the City of La Grange. More information can be found at www.thebugleboy.org.