DAY TRIP - Flea Market - Kyle, Texas

A Mini-Mall of Mixed Treasures
An Impressively Inexpensive Adventure    



By Sean Claes

Early January saw some amazingly cold weather and some dreary days. The type of day that you don't want to wander around outside, but you've got to get out of the house, right? I found the perfect day-trip for those in the Austin area. The Flea Market in Kyle, Texas.

I know, a flea market invokes thoughts of dark smoky places where the broken toys of your childhood gather dust next to an old VHS of Over The Top... and about 10 years ago when I visited the Flea Market in Kyle it was kind of true to that thought. But, in recent time, they've stepped up their game and there are some great booths with some amazing discoveries. It's also smoke-free inside.

Kyle Flea Market (Web |Facebook) is located at 1119 N Old Hwy 81 in Kyle, Texas. It's just off IH-35 on the southbound access road. They are open from 9a - 5p on Saturdays and Sundays year round.

Driving up that dirt road towards the big tin-roofed building that sports a huge "KYLE FLEA MARKET" on the top - I felt like I was going to an old-school swap meet. There were folks with tables on the grounds in front with piles of clothing and "sellable junk" akin to a big multi-family garage sale. I found out later that anyone can "buy" a space outside for a few bucks. I took my parking space (it's free) and decided to bypass those folks and walk into the building.

Once inside, there are what seems like hundreds of "booths" that feel more like individual stores within the building. The layout is a large rectangle with two walkways... stores on either side. There's toy stores, an art space, stores with paintings, some refinished furniture spaces as well as some with "upcycled" furniture. There are some antique, knife/weapon, and feng shui spaces. Some hand-made knit items and some college-themed hats/shirts/collectibles. Yes, there are some "garage sale" flea market booths, but they are outnumbered by manicured "antique" stores. 

In other words, they've done a great job turning this place into a pretty nice and safe place that the entire family can visit and get some great deals. It's well lit and the booth owners (for the most part) are really nice and welcoming and ready to chat you up or sell you a new-to-you item.

 One of the stores I walked into took me back in time to college... in San Marcos, Texas. There was a Hastings there and this space had some of the signage from that location. Almost bought a huge newsstand sign for $10... but decided to leave it there for someone else to discover. I chatted with the owner and he uses this space as a sorting space for a consignment store he owns in San Marcos called Junk In Da Trunk. Because of this, it was one of the stores where you dig for treasures instead of find the wares displayed. Oh, There was also a cheeky laundry sign that made me chuckle. 

 On the other side of the spectrum, there was a fantastic upcycled furniture store (Booth 70A) where I found some fantastic bar stools that were turned into functional art pieces. The owner, who holds this space as an overflow for a North Austin upcycle furniture gallery (where the prices are likely tripled) had them retailing for $30 for the pair. They now reside on my back porch... but what drew me into the space was a "mounted deer head" piece that was both beautiful and funky. 

In addition to the stores, there is a modern art space in the back corner of the space encased in glass. It's the Dirty Dark Place, an "errant, artist-run project space." The current installation, entitled "Bornagain"  evokes a post-apocalyptic living space complete with makeshift seating, fly-paper chandelier and camouflage toilet paper. It's definitely a modern art piece that is open for interpretation and feels both awkward and right at home at the Kyle Flea Market. 

Once I got my modern art appreciation in, I walked into a store that reminded me of one I'd find in Chinatown Center in Austin. Gold and Green Jade has a large display of feng shui items and a great assortment of maneki-neko (often referred to as the "Chinese Lucky Cat"). The owner, Kim Lee, was really welcoming and gave me a nice tour of her space.  

 Of course, not trip to a space like this is complete without finding some funny, strange and just plain weird items. That is part of the fun of going to the flea market, isn't it?
I found a few funny t-shirts, a box of wrestlers, a painting of a cactus playing the guitar and some other great items. 

 

So, if you've got a few hours to kill and a few bucks in your pocket to spend, I'd highly recommend checking out Kyle Flea Market. You won't be disappointed.

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EXTRA
This is a fun game I like to play with my kids (10 and 13). Everyone has $5. Get the coolest/neatest/most interesting thing you can for that price. The great thing is... most of the booth owners will work with you on price (sidenote: This game is also great for helping the kids get comfortable talking with business owners and other adults). 

The day we went, we played this game and here are the results of our $5 finds:

The author & his kiddos with the $5 finds game results.

Celebrate New Years Eve in Corpus Christi with Oscar Houchins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

1960s-70s Rock Star and South Texas Music Walk of Fame Nominee to Perform Two Night Engagement at Oso Grill and Pier - Corpus Christi 

Oscar Houchins of The Clique Comes Home December 30 & 31

 

Gulf Coast Music Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame 2008

Legendary Musician-songwriter and King High School (Corpus Christi) graduate Oscar Houchins will be headed to Corpus Christi to perform two nights of originals and classic rock from the 1960s and 70s at Oso Grill and Pier (6124 Ocean Dr) to ring out 2017 and ring in 2018.
Event on Facebook: Link

Houchins is best known for being a member of The Clique in the late 60s and early 70s, but his musical career spans decades and includes touring with bands such as Tommy James and the Shondells and Sonny James and the Southern Gentlemen. In fact, Houchins recently received word that he was nominated for a star in the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. He is hopeful to receive his star in 2018.

He will be performing in Corpus Christi on December 30 and 31 for a two-night stand at the Oso Grill and Pier. It’ll be an all-inclusive dinner and a show experience. The restaurant seats 60. Call (361) 371-5217 to reserve your spot.

BACKGROUND
After The Clique parted ways in 1972 Houchins continued performing and being involved in the industry behind the scenes – as a writer, producer and publisher. While under a writing contract with ABC Dunhill, Houchins penned and published songs recorded by bands such as Wilco and Rita Coolidge. One of his songs, “If You’re Willing” became the theme song for the non-profit Tennessee Voices for Children (tnvoices.org). He also co-produced Rolling Stone Magazine’s 10^th Anniversary Special (1977) and represented the catalog of Tommy James of the Shondells. He currently manages his production company, House of Houchins, in Austin, Texas.

While he is rooted in music, Houchins also continued his education. In 2017 he completed his Concordia University Doctorate of Education (EdD) research in the San Marcos Independent School District. The dissertation, which will be published in 2018, explored the positive effects of music on the behavior and academic engagement of “at risk” students.

THE CLIQUE
The Clique (tinyurl.com/CliqueTX) were a “sunshine pop” band who saw success with four top forty hits including a gold record for “Sugar on Sunday” and “Superman.”

They’ve been covered by REM (“Superman” 1986), Chi Coltrane (“Hallelujah!” 1973) and Smith (“I’ll Hold Out My Hand” 1969).

They were inducted into the Gulf Coast Music Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame alongside Edgar Winter in Port Arthur, Texas in 2008.

10 Questions with Lucas Cook

“Pouring my heart into every note I sing and chord I strum” - Lucas Cook

By Sean Claes
Singer-songwriter Lucas Cook has been chugging along as part of the Austin music scene for a few years. He’s got 3 releases under his belt in the last decade and has another, appropriately titled Long Road, gearing up for release.

I had to describe Lucas Cook’s music in a sentence, I’d say say it’s six-string toe-tapping storytelling music that invites the listener on a journey into his world. And his world holds joy with a douse of pain and is speckled with humor and wonderful stories.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, he has put together a relief show at Moontower Saloon September 16 and 17 to benefit the Austin Disaster Relief Network (in funding) and the Central Texas Food Bank (canned foods).

Sean Claes: Musically, you’re kind of difficult to place in a genre. You’ve got your serious side like “South Austin Blues,” the you go tongue-in-cheek with “Chicken Fried Steak” and your goofy/fun with “COMEONIWANNALAYA.”  How would you describe the Lucas Cook sound?

Lucas Cook: I’d call it Americana, with a blend of Country, Rock and Blues. Growing up my parents introduced me to Otis Redding, Led Zepplin, Blind Faith, Eric Clapton and so many others. In my formative years, John Mellencamp was a huge influence, I think you can hear that today in my music.

Claes: As much as I enjoy your albums, I am always drawn in to your live performances. You seem to be at home on the stage and make everyone in the audience feel like they’re hanging out with a friend. How do you craft your performances?

Cook: To be honest, the crowd crafts my performance and really, when i’m in that zone, it just happens. Things I say, my actions on stage, that some from a place that I can only tap into when I have an audience.

The more tuned in the audience the better the show, I think. I really feed from the energy, if I have a crowd that’s into and listening and responding, there’s no telling what will happen up there.

Claes: You’ve released 4 albums Lone Star State of Mind (2008), Toe Tapper (2010), Live At Weirdos (2014) and Hi-Def Low-Fi (2015). How close is the release of your next album, Long Road?

Cook: Long Road is really close, there’s a few things holding it back.

1. Money, I need to make sure it’s done right and there’s a few things I need to put together before I can release it. 
2. Timing. We started this album in September of last year, i’d like to get it out this year but as we get closer to the holidays (EEECK) it’s kind of better to just wait until 2018. 

I have some new material and song ideas and not long after Long Road, I’ll be slowly popping off new singles so that the new music is out more frequently.

Claes: It’s been 10 years since you released Austin State of Mind. Looking back, how do you think you’ve grown as an artist between then and now?

Cook: I can’t even begin to tell you all the ways i’ve grown but some huge areas are in the business side of things, which shows I play and which shows I don’t. How I market myself and my voice, my voice has changed a lot, a little deeper, i’ve been through a lot of heavy life stuff in 10 years and I think you’ll hear that on Long Road.

Claes: You were the house band for the Austin-based Bling Johnson Show which ran from about 2010-2015. How was that experience?

Cook: That was pretty amazing, I think we all were crossing our fingers that this would be it, for all of us. That the show would take off and it would catapult my music. Life tends to take it’s own course but I can tell you that I made a lot of fans and had some great experiences.

Being on TV just feels cool, you feel a little special because not everybody gets to do that. I’m very grateful for the time I spent on that show and the experiences we had.

Claes: In 2016 you took part in Shiner Rising Star competition put on by a Dallas Radio station. You went pretty far making it to the Semi-finals.

Cook: I had seen the contest pop up on social media in the years past and was like: Oh that’s cool, but it’s probably a waste of time, these contests their just never really worth your time. For some reason, I decided to submit and was accepted.

I think they were looking for more traditional country sounds. I still think I’m more country than a lot of music coming out of Nashville right now, but certainly I can’t hold  a candle to the Jason Isbells and Chris Stapletons of today’s country music scene.

Claes: You’ve organized a Hurricane Harvey Relief concert at Moontower Saloon this weekend.

Cook: We actually have two full days of music. We’re asking  folks to bring cash for the Austin Disaster Relief network and canned food for the Central Texas Food Bank. Check out the event page on Facebook - Event.

Claes: One of the things I’ve always admired about you is your passion and drive. As an independent musician you are in charge of booking/writing/social media and everything else that goes with it.  What keeps you going?

Cook: The shows really - it’s not the money or the fame - those are pretty scarce. It’s connecting with people, it’s people connecting with my music and then telling me about it. That’s what we all want, I think. It has to be about the music and that’s what it's about for me. Getting the demons out and pouring my heart into every note I sing and chord I strum.

Claes: If you were to give a starting musician some pointers, what is the best decision you’ve made and worst decision you’ve made in your musical career?

Cook: The worst decision I ever made was playing shows just to play them or for the money. I’ve learned that what’s important to me is building fans of my music and my brand. If I could go back, I’d probably limit the amount of shows, then again, that’s where I cut my teeth and learned a lot about playing shows, managing a band and marketing myself.

One of the best things I’ve ever done for my career was not giving up. I came to realize that for a lot of people out there, I’ve already made it and now it’s just about raising the bar. What can I do to write better music, play bigger shows and reach more fans.

Claes:  What’s next for Lucas Cook?

Cook: I want to get the new album out and start working on new material I have a couple songs to record already and several ideas. I’m really at a point now where if I don’t think a show will further my career or connections, i’m not going to play it. That’s what’s next, raising the bar, and getting everything to the next level.

I don’t want to be overly confident, but i’ve paid some dues, i’ve stood the test of time and I think I owe to myself and my fans to get up there on a more regional and even national level.

M

Lucas will be hosting and playing Saturday at Moontower Saloon for the Harvey Flood Benefit show and Sunday at Ernie’s on the Lake as a part of the KLBJ Summer Concert Series. Grab some cans of nonperishable food items and head out there for free music, great food and wonderful folks all out there to help serve the needs of folks who could use a little help right now.

And, of course, follow Lucas on his website and Facebook and be on the lookout for the release of Long Road.

Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. This is week 35 in his "52 Weeks of Austin Musician Interview" series. See the others here: 52 Week Project

10 Questions With A Good Rogering

By Sean Claes

When you interview a musician named Skunk, you know the conversation will be interesting. Especially when you learn Skunk is in a band called A Good Rogering (AGR), which actually has it’s own tongue-in-cheek definition on Urban Dictionary.

Skunk Manhattan is an amazing guitarist, showman and band leader. AGR has been around - shocking and amazing audiences since 2008. They’ve laid low for the past few years, but with their new EP, This Is Death Metal, which will be released on September 5, they’ve re-emerged with a new line-up and fantastic new tunes.

Manhattan took some time to talk about the future of AGR with INsite… as he answered 10 questions.

Sean Claes: Looks like A Good Rogering (AGR) has gone through some lineup and style changes. You went from a three piece featuring yourself & Chef Bull RD to emerging from a year-long hiatus to a full four piece outfit. How did this transition occur?

Skunk Manhattan:I wasn’t looking at all; the stars just sort of aligned. Chef and I had grown tired of searching for drummers and really had just focused on writing after our last release. It’d actually been about 3 years since we’d played a show and then he ended up moving to San Francisco so that was that.

Anyway, I’d produced an EP for a band called Old World Kings in 2015 and somehow talk of us jamming together had come up. I’d already jammed with their drummer, Blake Haskins. Their bassist, Sammy Alvarado, was a fan and was all about jumping on board.

Enter Rick Lambert… He was fairly new in town and had heard of AGR and was wanting to get out and play, so I said let’s all learn 3 songs and get in a room together and see what happens. And it was killer! That’s how it all started.

Claes: Is there a new sound that goes with the new line-up?

Manhattan: The sound is finding itself, as it always has. We’ve rebranded and have started dubbing the music eclectic heavy-rock. I think it’s fitting even though we have a definite “old school” metal edge.

We’ve done everything from a mock TV theme to a classical piano piece so it’s hard to define a sound when you branch out in that way. The live show is an all out, high energy, hard rock assault. We love playing live and the energy between this group of guys has been second to none. I love it.

Claes: According to your website, your music was driven by channeling your “ancestral caveman predecessors.” Care to explain what this means?

Manhattan: I think that sentence sums up the band perfectly. We are rather brute. But yet charming. You just have to come to a show to get it.

Claes: I remember seeing you play Texas Rockfest a handful of years ago and what impressed me as much as the music (which was great) was your command over the audience. I felt like I was at rock & roll church. Where did you get such a command of stage presence?

Manhattan: Yeah that kind of ties into the last question. I think we really shine live, more now than ever actually. Back when you saw us I was doing a reverend shtick. It made sense at the time. I mean one of our members was already wearing an apron and a giant chef’s hat right?

But now it’s been stripped down. It’s just natural. We just go out there and rock the fuck out. It’s raw and honest the way rock and roll should be. Being on stage is easy. Honestly it’s one of the few things in life I feel comfortable with and in command of. It is my religion.

Claes: You released “The Snail” as a single back in November. To me, the song seems to be a tell-tale about the music industry - musicians wanting instant success without putting in the work. So… who is “The Snail?”

Manhattan: Actually that song is also on the EP but with a different drum track. It’s also the only track Chef is on bass. It features Blake on drums. We decided to release that version as a tribute to that roster that never was. It’s cool we at least got in the studio for that one song though.

It’s a typical simple but not really simple AGR type tune. There’s always little tricks that will make you feel like an asshole if you didn’t do your homework and learn the tune (laughs).

Anyway, lyrically it is about being frustrated. I’ve definitely experienced disappointment and wasted time and am no longer interested in moving at a snail’s pace or working with anyone not dedicated. This time around we’ve hit the ground running and I have no intention of letting up.

I think if can get in front of the right crowds over and over again the honesty in our music and performance will get us where we want to be. I’m a romantic like that. A caveman romantic.

Claes: One thing that makes it hard to explain AGR to people is the fact that your music is not one-note or really one-genre. Do you think the fact that you’re so genre-jumping makes it easier or harder to reach new audiences.

Manhattan: Well it doesn’t make it easy to package and that is something I’ve learned you have to do, at least to some degree. I don’t like it, but that’s part of the business. I think we’ve really found who we are, though. Things are really coming together with this lineup for sure.

There are those quirky tracks we’ve done, but live we are a high energy, take no prisoners rock and roll band. And we can get pretty damn heavy but I still don’t like to say metal. So “eclectic heavy-rock”. That’s our “package.” One thing I’ve noticed is that when we do gain fans they tend to really enjoy the diversity of the music. Which I take as a great compliment.

Claes: You’ve got an endorsement with Tregan Guitars. Why did you choose that brand?

Manhattan: Oh Tregan is fantastic. They’ve always been super cool to work with. I met Tony Guarriello (founder) at a NAMM show here in Austin ten years ago. I actually got on board with them before A Good Rogering had even been conceived. I was with the band Quartershackle and we had a nice press kit. Tony liked the band and the image so we came up with the Skunk signature guitar and the rest is history. I’ve done demos at NAMM shows and have had national advertising with them over the years. I love playing the guitars. That’s pretty much all you’ll see me playing live, and almost all the guitars on the AGR albums are Tregan.

Claes: Tell me about This Is Death Metal, your EP that is out September 5.

Manhattan: The title is from the last track and it’s exactly what it says it is. The other tracks are all different. “Never Miss” is a re-work of a track on Long Overdue. “The Snail” with Rom on drums is a totally different mix from the single. And then there’s “Five Ministries.” The total opposite of Death Metal. It’s more groove and melody based with lyrics that make you think, if you want to.

Claes: You’ve got a tour coming up this month. Where are you heading?

Manhattan: Yeah, well we’ve got some dates on the calendar. We’re doing a festival called 828 Rockfest in Asheville, North Carolina so that’s kind of been the catalyst. We’ve got a few east coast shows on the way  and then a few in Louisiana on the way out. We love playing that state, the fans are awesome! We go up as far as Maryland or possibly New York and then we’ll be heading back for a few Texas shows.

Most of our schedule is on our website agoodrogering.com

Claes: When do you play Austin next?

Manhattan: September 23rd. I guess it’s technically in Pflugerville. And I haven’t played north Austin in years so we’re excited to play up in that area for those fans that don’t like having to deal with downtown and all that.

Gonna give a shout out to Ear Splitting Media here because they put on a lot of good shows up there.

A Good Rogering will be playing Fitzgeralds in San Antonio on September 6, then they’ll head out on tour around America before returning to play Hanover’s in Pflugerville on September 23. If you’ve seen them live before, you’ve likely already got these dates on your calendar… if you’re new to AGR, do yourself a favor and make a show. It’ll restore your faith in locally-sourced live music.

Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. This is week 34 in his "52 Weeks of Austin Musician Interview" series. See the others here: 52 Week Project