It was a rainy Saturday in April when Larry Seiler’s Los Senderos Ranch inaugurated its opening concert season with Walt Wilkins , Tina Mitchell Wilkins, and John Greenberg.

Fans gather with Walt (third from left) and Tina (second from right) after the opening night.

It was a cool and clear weekend in November when the season drew to a close with a rollicking concert provided by Last Call from Mission.

The end of show picture with Last Call, Nov 15, 2009

With only one month off for the wedding of Larry’s niece, it was a full season of wonderful music. Along the way we learned some valuable lessons and relearned some that were long forgotten. The first thing we learned was that in the hills between Johnson City and Blanco the wind blows and keeps the air in perpetual motion. We rediscovered that a Texas sunset in July is hot because the good Lord apparently thinks we need to see the sun up close to appreciate its grandeur.

We learned that the weather at noon is no predictor of the weather at dusk, and then found once again that musicians are fun to be around. On the day Pauline Reese visited the ranch, the weather in the morning was brilliant. By show time at 7 p.m. the drought broke with a vengeance. Without exception all of the musicians who visited the ranch were gracious and thankful. Even if they felt something else, then never let on.

We learned that if you build your stage out of two by twelves and ½-inch plywood decking that it will be heavy even if you build it in sections and that two relatively old men are no match on occasion for that much weight. We repeatedly witnessed how much people like live music and the artists who perform for them. They believe, as Eric Burdon sang, “If you wanna find the truth in life don’t pass music by…”

It was a good season of music at Los Senderos and with a winter of rest the shows will pick up again in March. Larry is already talking about improvements he wants to make. I suspect none of them will be earth-shaking, but should contribute to the continuing development of Los Senderos ranch as a venue where the local gentry will feel comfortable bringing their friends and family for a night us music under the setting sun.

I wasfortunate enough to find myself at Broncos last night and I was also fortunate enough to have my camera with me. It just so happened that local favorites the Josh Weathers Band was there to play a four hour set. After making some typical bar conversations and  having some free drinks courtesy of some really cool people (you know who you are) I met at the bar I got my camera and headed up to the stage. The band sounded great as usual, but I had never actually seen them perform with some brass in the background. Needless to say, the sound was phenomenal. I managed to snap off a few good shots between sets and by the end of the night…that whole place was rockin.

-Josh Martinez