AN EVENING TO REMEMBER

As the sun slipped below the horizon across the picturesque shore of Lake LBJ, an inspiring concert began lakeside behind Quail Point in Horseshoe Bay this past Sunday night.  john Arthur martinez, Pauline Reese, Drew Womack, and fiddler Kurt Bauman headlined the event, attended by an enthusiastic crowd of 150. The weather, the setting, and the talent could not have been more perfect, even though the concert was shortened due to the threat of thunderstorms. People happily greeted each other like long-lost friends even before the music started.

 

HSB's Cultural Enrichment Society sponsored the event to benefit the four musicians and to bring the community together in a safe, outdoor environment after many months of limited contact. Musicians have suffered financially over the past six months due to canceling tours and venues. The personal enrichment and enjoyment of people's lives through participation in all types of cultural events and activities is the “soul” goal of CES, its donors, patrons, and volunteers. The CES board was eager to provide a musical event after months of cancellations and rescheduling performances due to the pandemic and concerns about HSB residents' vulnerability.

 

martinez began the evening by singing his enchanting song, Three White Spanish Horses. He wrote the song after driving past horses roaming wild and free across former Comanche lands. The chorus is eloquent: Three white Spanish horses untamed with no man’s brand, No bridle, and no saddle, They were running straight for me.

 

Reese, revealing her deep Texas roots, followed by singing one of her songs from 2010, Banks of the Guadalupe. The audience sang along with Reese's melodious voice, knowing to enunciate that last syllable to the river's name. Womack chose Man Behind the Mask in a nod to the current state of face coverings as his opening solo, drawing chuckles from the crowd and giving new meaning to a poignant song.

 

The songs and instrumentals by each musician throughout the two-hour concert were thrilling. The singers alternated, taking lead vocals as the other two harmonized while playing their instruments as backup. The only percussion instrument on stage, a wooden drum box originating in Peru called a Cajon, was played beautifully by martinez, keeping the music's beat as Pauline or Drew sang.

 

Bauman needed no introduction, and the audience hooted and cheered as soon as he lit up that fiddle. Fittingly, martinez sang the subtle but meaningful lyrics, “It ain't so much the fiddle, it's the man who holds the bow.” Throughout the evening, this master of the fiddle delighted the audience and was rewarded with well-deserved applause.

HSB is known for giving back to the community, and they did it again in a big way! martinez expressed the performers' deep appreciation for CES's generosity, the individuals who purchased tickets, and those who donated at the event.

 

As raindrops began falling, it was Womack's turn to sing. He played Leonard Cohen's soulful song Hallelujah, a fitting conclusion to a magical evening of music made even more memorable in the company of good friends and neighbors.

 

CES is hosting Grammy-award-winning Los Texmaniacs lakeside at Quail Point on October 24, 2020, at 6 PM. Tickets will be available for purchase in the future at hsbenrichment.org.