Gary Floyd enters Texas Music Hall of Fame…no, really

But it’s not who you think. You know we love this Gary Floyd, the torch song singing silky voiced troubadour that tickles are ear fancies. But this Gary Floyd is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum with his Austin born punk rock. And by the end of this weekend’s SXSW festival he’ll be inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame.

That’s what it says here. Back in his punk days, his band The Dicks sounded like quite the raucous punksters.

Rumors of the time the gay, cross dressing singer pulled liver from his underware and hurled it at the audience seemed to many like scenes from a John Waters movie. Floyd admits the look of his bandmates resembled that of a prison gang, not punk rockers.

Today he’s a bit bluesier and his voice ain’t too shabby after years of screaming punk.  Now he’s doing his thing over in San Fran, he’s clearly going to remain a part of Texas music heritage. And we like that just fine.

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Wednesday night pick – Gary Floyd tonight @ Bill’s Hideaway

Yep, that’s what his Facebook said as of four hours ago. And in that small crowded venue known as Bill’s Hideaway, that might be the most intimate many of you can get with Mr. Gary Floyd (not this guy). And thankfully he has a silky smooth voice to go with that not-too-shabby mug. But he probably gets that ALL the time.

By the way, can someone tell Bill of Bill’s Hideaway to PLEASE get a Web site? MySpace at least? Facebook could work. Something!

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H4PJ’s new video “It Is I”

First and foremost, I can’t believe we are just now mentioning Mr. Gary Floyd on this site. He’s may-jah not only in the community but in Dallas arts in general. But we have our act together now.

Over the weekend we received this video from the local organization Hope for Peace and Justice. They debuted this video last Thursday at the 2008 Peacemaker of the Year Awards Dinner. Quite the apropos event to show and it didn’t hurt that H4PJ was honored as Peacemaker Organization of the Year by the Dallas Peace Center. Congrats!

Let us let H4PJ explain the song:

For over 120 years, the Statue of Liberty has welcomed all who would enter with the words of Emma Lazrus, penned in 1883.

She has stood as a symbol of open arms to the “tired, huddled masses yearning to be free.” There are no qualifiers in the text.

When did her warm welcome turn to a cold heart? Which immigrants are acceptable and which are not? Who has the power to decide?

Weren’t most of us or our families welcomed at some point to this “land of freedom”?

Singer/songwriter Gary Floyd has woven together the words of Emma Lazrus, Buddha and Jesus to remind us all that we are, indeed, one family.

“Who will light the way for those tired, broken masses seeking no more than we, ourselves, have been so generously afforded?

Each of us is called upon to respond: “Look no further, it is I.”

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On top of Gary Floyd’s silky vocals, it’s a line up of local Band-Aid proportions sort of. Singers Denise Lee, Theo Wischhusen, Liz Mikel, Terry Loftis, Annie Benjamin and Tracy Lee are also along for the ride.

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