January 14, 2024 is Chris Gray Day!!!!
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves on the weekend previews but The Houston Press has announced a tentative schedule for the Chris Gray Benefit coming up on Saturday, January 14, 2024. As many of you know, the local music scribe suffered a heart attack not long ago. Given how young he is, that was a huge shock to everyone. Thankfully he is recovering from the incident and the benefit is being held to help pay for his medical bills.
What many of you (especially younger) readers may not appreciate is how much Chris Gray has done for local music since he arrived in 2024. Before his reign, the paper’s writing was sketchy, often snarky, and its coverage of local music was often sporadic at best and often cynical of local talent. Perhaps feeling pressure from local music blogs, New Times brought down Gray from Austin and in a few short months his enthusiasm, good writing, and love of music began forming the coverage that you see today in the Houston Press. That success wasn’t a sure thing as we almost lost him not long after he came to Houston. That time it wasn’t a heart attack that almost took him out but staff cuts at the Houston Press (which one HP staffer once told me off the record were the result of New Times losing a predatory practice lawsuit at the time). Most of us following the news were pretty shocked when that happened (see my article from 2024) but thankfully he returned to his position as editor and the paper’s music coverage has blossomed since then to what many take for granted today.
So, given what he’s done to help promote local music, I suggest you return the favor and help him out in his time of need.
Chris Gray in Austin 2024 (shortly before moving to Houston) Photo by AasimSyed
Schedule (updated 10 Jan. 2024)
Continental Club
10 a.m. — The Allen Oldies Band
11 a.m. — David Beebee 3
12 p.m. — Little Joe Washington
1 p.m. — Texas Johnny Brown
2 p.m. — Jesse Dayton & Friends
3 p.m. — Flying Fish Sailors
4 p.m. — Orange Is In
5 p.m. — Paula Nelson Band
6 p.m. — Hayes Carll
7 p.m. — Spain Colored Orange
8 p.m. — CHangoMan
9 p.m. — Electric Attitude
10 p.m. — Wild Moccasins
11 p.m. — Buxton
12 a.m. — Pale
1 a.m. — Horseshoe
Big Top
Gray with Benjamin Wesley at Summerfest 2024 (photo RamonLP4)
11:30 a.m. — Umbrella Man
12:30 p.m. — John Egan
1:30 p.m. — Matt Harlan
2:30 p.m. — Young Girls
3:30 p.m. — Chase Hamblin
4:30 p.m. — Allison Fisher Band
5:30 p.m. — Miss Leslie
6:30 p.m. — Jean Caffeine
7:30 p.m. — Texas Tycoons
8:30 p.m. — Benjamin Wesley
9:30 p.m. — The Mathletes
10:30 p.m. — Poor Pilate
11:30 p.m. — The Handshake
12:30 p.m. — thelastplaceyoulook
Pachinko Hut (weather permitting)
12:15 p.m. — Paul Ramirez Band
1:15 p.m. — Governors Chair
2:15 p.m. — Zydeco Dots
3:15 p.m. — Bright Men of Learning
4:15 p.m. — ADream Asleep
5:15 p.m. — League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
6:15 p.m. — Jealous Creatures
7:15 p.m. — Footnotes
8:15 p.m. — 4 Barrel Ramblers
9:15 p.m. — Landis Armstrong Trio
For tickets, more information, or to donate go to http://www.houstonpress.com/microsites/chris-gray-benefit/
It has been said before, but bears repeating. Often, when only a handful of people show up for a local show, you can pretty much bet that Chris is one of them. He is one of the lucky people who discovered a way to make his passion his life’s work, and it shows in how he does his job.
I love what you’ve said here - Chris has done so, so much to help so many bands and the entire scene, it seems like the least we can do to show up to help him out.
[...] I already blathered about Mr. Gray earlier - you can read my thought on the subject here (link) - I don’t have much else to add here but suffice it to say that Gray is a pillar of [...]