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Countdown to Christmas: Austin musicians take on holiday tunes

With now only nine days until Christmas, one of the best parts about the holidays is the music. And you can count on Austin musicians to bring you your favorite carols with a little twist.
Here are nine Christmas songs by some of your favorite Austin musicians:
Black Pumas
Black Pumas are participating in the holiday spirit this year with a new Christmas single. The Grammy-nominated Austin duo released a cover of Lou Rawls' "Christmas Will Really Be Christmas" on Nov. 18. The single is part of the Spotify Holiday Singles collection, where artists get to showcase their favorite songs in different styles and melodies. After rising to quick fame, Black Pumas and their psychedelic soul music will continue to impress Austin.
Jackie Venson
Austin musician Jackie Venson hopped on the Christmas music train when releasing a cover of "O Holy Night" in 2018. Venson posted the cover on Facebook stating, "I don't usually do this, but 2018 was the year of new experiences." With a crazy year behind and Christmas almost here, we can't help but wonder if Venson will release another Christmas cover this year. If you're a fan of classic Christmas carols, you might have to add this one to your favorite holiday playlist.
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker spent most of his career in Austin as a leading figure in the outlaw country music movement. After relocating to Austin in the 1970s, Walker became a symbol of the Austin music community, along with Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel. The musician released a Christmas album in 1994, with deep Texas country tones and popular Christmas carols such as "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "Jingle Bell Rock."
Marcia Ball
Raised in Louisiana but now a Texas local, award-winning Marcia Ball wrote the song "Christmas Fais Do-Do." After kicking off her career in Austin in 1974, Ball invented her music style by releasing Texas and Louisiana inspired melodies and combination blues. The pianist and singer went on to release a short book inspired after "Christmas Fais Do-Do," illustrating the story of a Louisiana tradition—the house party dance. If you're a fan of Louisiana blues, this song is filled with country, funk and soul.
Rusty Wier
Rusty Wier / Santa Claus Is Back In Townyoutu.be
The Texas Christmas collection in 1991 featured artists such as Willie Nelson, Marcia Balla and Austin native Rusty Wier. Wier released a Texas rock and country cover of "Santa Claus is Back in Town," for funky lovers of holiday music. Wier died in 2009 in Driftwood.
Eric Johnson and Van Wilks
Van Wilks and Eric Johnson - What Child is This?youtu.be
Local guitarist Eric Johnson added to the Texas Christmas Collection in 1981 with an instrumental cover of "What Child Is" with Texas native Van Wilks. The pair manages to play the cover with intricate melodies on their guitars, for a beautiful echo of a well-known Christmas carol.
Pink Nasty
Kansas native and Austin local Pink Nasty, joined Texas musicians in "Stars & Snow: A Texas Country Christmas" in 2008 covering "Baby, it's cold outside" with WTF Special. The singer, with her powerful country voice, hasn't released any new music, but hit the holiday mark with this cover.
Black Pumas
Willie Nelson
The beloved Austin and Texan musician released "The Classic Christmas Album" in 2016, featuring popular Christmas carols such as "White Christmas", "Jingle Bells", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Along with releasing his own album, Nelson joined popular country-pop singer Kacey Musgraves in 2016 for her own Christmas album, "A Very Kacey Christmas." The duo performed "A Willie Nice Christmas," a fun and festive tune for lovers of both musicians.
This is part of a holiday series counting down to Christmas so make sure to visit Austonia tomorrow, as we reach eight days until Christmas.
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Popular
(Project Connect)
Designs for stations along Project Connect’s Blue Line were presented this week, giving a detailed look at what part of the rail system extending from downtown to the airport could look like.
The planned stations that have gotten the latest focus include Waterfront, Travis Heights and Lakeshore stations past Lady Bird Lake.
At the Waterfront station, the preliminary design aims to prevent visual obstructions and save on costs. This is accomplished by a transit guideway that will lower from the bridge to a level station.
Heading onto East Riverside Drive, the light rail faces a curve requiring a slow down to about 10 miles per hour.
The Travis Heights station could involve relocating a pedestrian crosswalk zone at Alameda Drive to Blunn Creek. Since light rails can't effectively operate on a steep grade, this allows the transit guideway to avoid that.
From there, the rail will extend to the Norwood Park area, and though it will reach along the right-of-way zone, the park will be able to remain open.
A view of the Blue Line by Lady Bird Lake. (Project Connect)
The line involves some coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation. That's because the department is working on an intersection that will have to be built before the phasing of the section of the Blue Line involving an I-35 crossing.
When it comes to the safety of cyclists and walkers, design ideas include a pedestrian hybrid beacon by East Bouldin Creek that would provide a protected signal to cross. And for the intersection TxDOT is carrying out, Project Connect is working with them on pedestrian access across the intersection. It could involve shared use paths along the street and crossings beneath it.
This summer, the public can expect 30% of design and cost estimates to be released. Though the project was $7.1 billion when voters approved it in November 2020, the latest estimates factoring in inflation and supply chain constraints show it could ultimately be upwards of $10 billion.
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(Amazon/Facebook)
Plans for an Amazon warehouse in Round Rock—a $250 million project slated to be a large distribution center—are on hold.
This comes just after the tech giant had its worst financial quarter in seven years.
The details:
- Late last year, it announced an expansion at the Domain adding 2,000 more corporate and tech jobs.
- Amazon still owns the site in Round Rock. Plans for it are unclear.
- Early this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is aiming to scrap warehouse space as it faces a slowdown in its e-commerce operations.
Part of that effort involves exploring the possibility of ending or renegotiating leases with outside warehouse owners. Another aspect is a plan to sublease warehouse space.
“It allows us to relieve the financial obligations associated with an existing building that no longer meets our needs,” an Amazon spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal. “Subleasing is something many established corporations do to help manage their real estate portfolio.”
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