Opry to Feature Paul Schlesinger April 21
The Fayette County Country Music Club will host their monthly Opry on Monday, April 21 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in La Grange. The show starts at 7 p.m. and the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $8.
Entertainers this month are: Bernard “Nap” Gabler, Briana Adams, and Paul Schlesinger.
Bernard “Nap” Gabler started singing as a freshman for school functions at Bishop Forest in Schulenburg. He has enjoyed sitting in with many local bands in the past, both in this area and in Victoria where he has been living since 1985. He has been part of a strictly karaoke group since 2002 and sings in the Victoria area churches, rest homes and country Oprys Briana Adams is not exactly a rebel, but with her musical mashup of Waylon, Skynyrd, and Janis Joplin, you could be forgiven for thinking she is. In reality, Texas singer/songwriter Briana Adams is a sweetnatured Southern crooner that really just wants to share her music with the world.
Her songs are a honky tonk trip of classic dancehall and 70s outlaw country rolled into a tight-knit package, all headlined by a big Texas voice and an unmistakable style that’s all her own. And if you catch a little twist of blues and rock’n’ roll in the vocal, that’s not by accident. Growing up in a small Texas town like Winchester, that’s the way country music is done. For the last 15 years, Briana has been touring all over Texas. She has opened for some Texas Country/Red Dirt greats along the way, too, including The Bellamy Brothers, Randy Rogers Band, Jason Boland and The Stragglers, and Charlie Robison, just to name a few. Her superlative voice, vintage style, and quiet confidence even in the face of doubt will take her a long way. Stay tuned for a lot more from this rising Texas artist, Briana Adams.
Paul Schlesinger is a fiddle player and vocalist from Taylor who specializes in traditional Texas swing, country, and country-gospel music. He has been named one of the top five western swing male vocalists of the year by the Academy of Western Artists, one of the highest levels of recognition for country and cowboy entertainers. His recording of “You Were Meant to Ruin My Dreams” was named the Western Swing Song of the Year by the Academy in 2017.
His most recent award recognition occurred in July 2021 when he was inducted into the Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest Hall of Fame in Lawton, Oklahoma. Paul got his start in 1993 when he received his first fiddle lesson at age 23 from Perk Williams, the fiddler and vocalist for Jimmy Heap and the Melody Masters, a band from Taylor who in 1954 had the first national hit recording of “Release Me.” He currently works as a solo artist or appears with several different groups, including the Alibis of Austin; Bobby Dean and the Timeless Country Band from China Springs; the Merles from Austin; Ed Kopecky and the Fun Time Czech Band from Taylor; and the 3C Cowboy Fellowship Band from Salado. He also performs twice a month at the Bastrop 1832 Farmer’s Market with Tim Hill as the “Town and Country Boys.” Paul continues to be active in the area, and currently writes for the Giddings Times and News. He and the Alibis were invited to play on the opening night of last year’s Fayette County Fair, where he also performed the National Anthem during the opening ceremonies. All three of Paul’s CDs are available as digital downloads through services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
Be sure to be with Fayette County Country Music Club on Monday, April 21 for this great line of entertainment.