Crossroads Music Company

Ultimate FingerPick and Gus Gustafson Music

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Cultural Arts District

Billy Joe Shaver brought the MAGIC!

Billy Joe Shaver, Texas’ very own Honky Tonk Hero AND Preacher, shared some of his MAGIC on the Crossroads Stage!  A comfortable crowd filled the Winnsboro Center for the Arts, and our special guest Pauline Reese returned to the stage to honor Billy Joe as his opening act!  Pauline had returned from a Crossroads performance, as headliner, just a few weeks beforehand, which worked out well for those that missed her great individual performance on August 3rd.  This time, additional guitar licks were provided by J.C., out of Waco, Texas, and Pauline even invited her daughter “Sky” to the stage to sing a number.

Billy Joe Shaver hit the stage with his band, and they gave the audience a couple hours of meaningful melodies, legendary lyrics, great stories of his life, and some bonus honky tonk preachin’ to balance things out.  I hope you were one of the guests there that night, because shows like that have to be experienced to be appreciated, and there’s no better way to experience a show than up close and personal in a listening room environment like Crossroads!  If you DID miss this show, Billy Joe Shaver has a book and CDs you may want to get your hands on!  The book is filled with a catalog of lyrics from the many songs of his legendary career in the music business.

PICTURES [Top to Bottom]: Gus, Karen L., Billy Joe, & Carol; Billy Joe with Lindy Hearne; Billy Joe Shaver & his Band; His great smile during a bit of Honky Tonk Preachin’; Billy Joe Shaver with Carol & Gus; Pauline Reese w/ guitarist J.C. in the background; Pauline backing up her daughter Sky’s vocals 🙂

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BJS with Lindy Hearne BJS and his band BJS honkytonkhero BJS Carol Gus Pauline and JC Pauline and Sky

Thank you WCEC!

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A big thank you is in order for the Wood County Electric Cooperative [WCEC]!  Their generous contribution to the Winnsboro Center for the Arts [WCA] will go a long way to help keep the doors open, which will keep the Arts alive in Wood County–for the kids and the community as a whole.  This includes the performing arts, like kids Summer Drama Camp, which always ends with an entertaining community theater performance–great opportunities for the youth of our area!  As many of you know, Crossroads Music Company & Listening Room shares the WCA stage, fitting in performances by Global talent in-between the community theater events.  Thank you WCEC, for helping keep all the Arts ALIVE in Wood County!

Click on the logo above, and visit the WCEC website.

Fall Concert Series 2013!

 

 

Fall Concert Series

 

Hope to have all tickets for all the shows available in the Crossroads Store by the middle of August, so keep checking back!  ~Gus

Claudia Nygaard put a smile on everyone’s face!

Crossroads was very fortunate to catch Claudia Nygaard on her way through East Texas, as she headed towards Kerrville.  Claudia shared her wonderful spirit with the crowd, infusing her sharp wit in the songs she performed, and the stories she shared on how certain songs came to life.

She performed songs from her newest release, “Let The Storm Roll In,” along with tunes from her earlier CDs and even songs yet to be recorded.  The appreciative audience really didn’t want the night to end.  Claudia had to get a very early start the following morning, in order to get to Kerrville in time for an afternoon commitment.  Otherwise, I’m quite sure the music would have continued even longer!

For those of you that may have missed it, we’ve posted a couple tunes on our YouTube channel:  [Click below]

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Jive Jumpers; Johnny & the Nightcrawlers

Saturday night at Crossroads Music Company & Listening Room on May 11, 2013, and we had a “roomful” of Blues!!  Not only was the listening room FULL of Blues, but it lasted for over THREE HOURS!  Pretty cool, I must say!

This was a co-billing between the Jive Jumpers [formerly known as Diddley Squat Blues Band] and Johnny & the Nightcrawlers.  By the end of the evening, BOTH bands were on the stage together for one HUGE joint encore!!!  Click on the band name for a taste of what you missed!

The dynamics & song presentation of the Jive Jumpers really stood out–very tasty!  Johnny Simmons & the Nightcrawlers were really enjoying themselves on the Crossroads stage, and it was quite apparent with all the cuttin-up between tunes.  Both bands have a great time while performing, and it shows–excellent chemistry!

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Janet Robin Rocks the House!!

How do you describe Janet Robin?  “Energized” is a word that comes to mind.  “Accomplished” is another good word, especially when describing her guitar playing!  Pure ENTERTAINMENT sums up the whole package, when you combine that energy with her room-illuminating smile & presence, singer/songwriting delivery, and awesome guitar-playing skills.  What a wonderful talent showed up in Winnsboro, Texas last night!!

Janet Robin hails from Los Angeles, California, and is very popular in Europe as well as the United States.  If you missed the show and would like to learn more, click the link and visit her website.  You may pre-order her next CD, to help bring it press, while checking out her impressive credentials and accomplishments!  In the meantime, check out a few pictures from last night’s Crossroads’ performance, compliments of Wildernest’s Jim Willis.

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Those in attendance were treated to an opening performance from Winnsboro’s own rising star–17 year old Tyler Lenius.  I, too, was invited to participate a few times during the evening, which was truly awesome!  Let’s find a way to bring Janet Robin back…I believe she enjoyed our down-home East Texas flavored hospitality!  Maybe a future Wildernest MusicFest?  Your comments are always welcome.  ~Gus Gustafson

Sponsorships sought!!

 

 

Sponsoring a Crossroads Music Concert event was never as appealing as it is right now!  www.CrossroadsMusicCompany.com

Here are some reasons:

  • Since the write-up in Southern Living Magazine 9 months ago, Crossroads website page-views have increased substantially
  • “Hits” broke the 100,000 mark, PER MONTH, from May 2012 on…
  • Crossroads Music Company is still the reigning Business of the Year for the Winnsboro Chamber of Commerce, until the next banquet announces its next winner.  We are also featured in this month’s Texas Highways Magazine, with a wonderful article capturing the essence of Winnsboro’s magic.  On top of all that, Crossroads has been inducted into the County Line Magazine’s HALL OF FAME, for winning “Best Live
  • To keep the excitement going, we’re re-inventing the website, and adding another reason to visit–the “Store,” which will offer tickets, merchandise, and music by the artists that performed on the Crossroads stage [that choose to participate].  This feature should be in place by February 2013.
  • Crossroads just celebrated its 7th Anniversary, with a show put on by Adler and Hearne [co-founders] a few weeks back…this event & SEVEN [the other December show] were both videotaped, and there will be plenty of footage posted.
  • Videos from past concerts will also be available in the Crossroads YouTube library, which is extremely valuable, since a sponsor’s stage banner will be visible for 3+ minutes while someone is viewing a live performance of a song performed on the Crossroads stage.
  • The new design for the website will feature one or two main banner ads on the top of the home page, with additional banner ads along the right-hand side

Sponsorship opportunities are as follows:

  • Louisiana Crossroads Band: www.crossroadsfans.net January 26th; $500
  • Global talent – Janet Robin; http://www.janetrobin.com  February 16th; $500 [taken]
  • Global talent – Kinky Friedman; http://www.kinkyfriedman.com March 1st; $1,000
  • Global talent – Emily Elbert; http://www.emilyelbert.com April 20th; $500
  • Slaid Cleaves – http://www.slaidcleaves.com/  June 22nd; $500
  • Other acts we’d like to bring back include, but not limited to, Billy Joe Shaver; Rhett Butler [playing at Bass Hall on January 25th];  Guy Clark, SEVEN, Terri Hendrix, Sara Hickman, Billy Joe Shaver, Wildernest Spring MusicFest, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robin & the Bluebirds, Buddy Flett, Druha Trava, Jimmy LaFave, etc…

Sponsorship would include:

  • Consider triangulation, or dual sponsorship opportunities, by adding one or two related businesses to the mix for increased benefit.
  • Your banner [provided by you] hung on the stage, seen by patrons at the show, and included in videos & photos, many of which receive much exposure on the internet, including YouTube.
  • 30 day website banner ad–front and center on the Crossroads Home page– which would LINK to your website and be seen by thousands
  • Your logo, as a sponsor, on all the promotional posters, and a blurb in my email blasts, maybe promoting a special YOU may have going, etc…My email addresses are approaching the 2,000 mark, all of people that have signed up to receive, and actually OPEN and READ the emails.  Now that I’ve switched to Word Press for the website, and GOOGLE for the email management, I’ll have tracking results for you on all this.
  • We will also be able to determine how many people click on your link from the banner ad, and transfer over to your website, so the banner ad should most likely include some special…
  • Also included with your sponsorship package will be concert tickets for the event you are sponsoring.  The number will be determined when you signup for your sponsorship package.

Please let me know as soon as possible, since I need a sponsor in place for this month’s event, and will still honor a full 30-day banner ad.

Gus Gustafson