Author: Gary Smith

Dale Watson – Austin’s Favorite Son

Dale Watson played to a nearly full-house at The Globe Theatre in Bertram, TX on Friday. His shows are not uncommon to Austin locals and he puts on a great show. Dale and his Lone Stars, have appeared on Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Grand Ole Opry but Dale has also been involved in several short movies and TV shows.

Dale Watson, keeper of the true country music flame, latest album Call Me Insane, was recorded in Austin with veteran producer Lloyd Maines (Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, etc.). The Austin-based honky-tonker carries on in the tradition of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson with his “Ameripolitan” brand of American roots music.

Album highlights include “Jonesin’ For Jones,” a love song to the music of the legendary George Jones, “A Day At A Time,” about “getting by by barely getting by;” “Call Me Insane,” the album’s moody title track; “Bug Ya For Love,” a fun warning to all the single ladies, and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Babies.” (Yes, it is an answer song to the Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson hit.) “Crocodile Tears” is a tear-in-your-beer country song that sounds like an instant classic and “Burden Of The Cross” reveals Watson’s serious side.

Call Me Insane was recorded in Austin by Watson and his ace touring band, “His Lone Stars”: Don Pawlak (pedal steel), Mike Bernal (drums & percussion), and Chris Crepps (upright bass & background vocals). DaleWatson.com

Dale and His Lone Stars

No Dale Watson show is complete without a plug for Lone Star Beer and few sips of the frosty beverage.

Lone Star drummer Mike Bernal

Chris Crepps (upright bass & background vocals).

Don Pawlak (pedal steel)

Dale Watson Backstage at The Globe.

After The Storm

Sometimes you’re just drawn to things and I’ve always been drawn to the sea and fishing, among other things. This is the fishing pier on the James River in Newport News, VA. A summer thunderstorm had just passed and the dedicated fishermen scurried back out after the lightening passed to get their spot secured once again.

The catch of the day was croaker or “hard heads” as known by locals, but few keepers seemed to be had. Often a storm will trigger the bite so the fishermen were quick to return and did undoubtedly fish into the night under the lights of the pier. I was a bit jealous as I had to get on a plane early the next morning and head back to Texas, leaving my old stomping ground in good hands for the evening.

The Aermotor of Chicago

La Verne Noyes, founder of Aermotor Windmill Company, had hired engineer Thomas O. Perry for a different job but saw the potential of the all-metal windpump developed by Perry after extensive experiments. The first Aermotor was sold in 1888, with 24 windmills in total being sold in the first year. Aermotor soon became a strong competitor among its contemporaries selling over 20,000 of its windmills by 1892. Over the next 30 years Aermotor grew and expanded, introducing accessories and variants on “the mathematical windmill.” La Verne Noyes died in 1919. He left the Aermotor Company to a tax paying trust, with 48 colleges and universities as beneficiaries.

Aermotor continued to innovate and manufacture windmills throughout World War II and helped to produce the top secret Norden bombsight.

During the latter part of the century ownership of the Aermotor Company changed hands and had its operation moved and expanded to new venues, including the country of Argentina; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Brentwood, Missouri; and Conway, Arkansas. By 1981, 80% of all windmills manufactured in The United States had their genesis in Conway. In 1998 Aermotor was purchased by Kees Verheul, as owner and president. It now operates from a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) facility in San Angelo, Texas. In 2006, the company was purchased by a group of West Texas ranchers, and the name restored to its original from 1888…”The Aermotor Company”.

This image was shot in the middle of the day near Eden, TX. The camera was a Nikon D810 and a Nikon  28-300mm lens at F32 at 1/8th of a second on a tripod. I would have preferred to use ND filters rather than such a small aperture but I didn’t have my filter pack with me.  Final processing was done using Alien Skin with an infrared action.