Special to the PRESS
“Bob Livingston tugged his cowboy hat, stuffed his jeans into his boots, hooked on his guitar strap and came onstage in Madras, India. “I’m here to play country music,” he said to the audience. What country? That’s the question.”
– Mike Zwerin – International Herald Tribune
On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 30 and 31, El Paseo Arts Foundation will close out its 18th season with master singer-songwriter and master raconteur, Bob Livingston, “In Concert”. More cosmic than country and past the borders of America and Europe, Livingston has taken his brand of Texas music to the world as an international music ambassador for the US State Department.
Livingston has never been a traditional Texas country musician living the honky-tonk life, even though he’s spent more than his share of time on the roadhouse circuit with some of the most colorful and rambunctious musicians in Texas. He was born in Lubbock, Texas and landed in Austin in 1971. He was a founding member of the Lost Gonzo Band and recorded with such musical visionaries as Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, Ray Wylie Hubbard and many more. Livingston played an integral role in the progressive country and outlaw country movements that distinguished the Austin music scene and helped to create the music that first earned Austin the designation of “Live Music Capital of the World”.
Delving into the music and mysteries of far-flung countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Syria, Bob played with local musicians on their ingenious instruments mixing rhythms, instrumentation and insights from both East and West. They called it, “country and eastern music.” He demonstrated again and again, the unique power that music has to build bridges between peoples of the world. As Livingston says, “When all else fails, music prevails”.
His tours earned him the honor of being appointed “Ambassador of Goodwill,” by the State of Texas, and “Austin’s International Music Ambassador,” by the City of Austin. Livingston was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in 2018 and the Texas Music Legends Hall of Fame in 2016. Livingston’s world-traveled view was reflected in his 2004 album release, Mahatma Gandhi & Sitting Bull, a romp through the music and lore of both East and West. Next up was Gypsy Alibi which was named Album of the Year by the Texas Music Awards in 2011.
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