FITZGERALD'S 33rd ANNIVERSARY SHOW: Jon Dee Graham, Jon Langford

The first of four consecutive nights celebrating FitzGerald's 33rd Anniversary.

JON DEE GRAHAM has always had a special place in our hearts and we in his -- his annual "Run For The Roses" tour grew around his yearly appearance at our American Music Festival. We're not the only ones who recognize Jon Dee's amazing talents as a songwriter and showman; Graham was named the Austin Musician of the Year during the South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference in 2006. He also was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame three times: as a solo artist in 2000, again in 2008 as a member of The Skunks, and again in 2009 as a member of the True Believers.

The True Believers, which included Alejandro Escovedo and his brother, Javier Escovedo, are widely considered by critics to be seminal figures in the fusion of literary songwriting and punk rock, a sound often referred to as Cowpunk, a subset of alternative country. Jon Dee went on to play with John Doe, Exene Cervenka, James McMurtry, Eliza Gilkyson, Kelly Willis, John Hiatt, Michelle Shocked, Patty Griffin, Calvin Russell, and Lone Justice.

His music has been featured in soundtracks such as Ladder 49 and Veronica Mars. In 1992, Patty Smyth covered Graham's song, "One Moment to Another" on her album, Patty Smyth, and a documentary about Jon Dee was released in 2008 (Jon Dee Graham; Swept Away).  His live shows are the stuff of legend--don't miss this chance to see a true Austin star.

JON LANGFORD -- A Chicagoan by way of Wales, Langford is a one-man renaissance: perhaps best known as one of the founding members of the influential punk band the Mekons, but has had his hands in many other projects as well as being a prolific and respected visual and comic artist. Langford put together the Mekons in Leeds, England, in 1976 and has had a steady output with that band since, as well as guesting on dozens of recordings from Dutch punk band the Ex to Austin, TX, legend Alejandro Escovedo. Langford founded his first side project to the Mekons in 1982 with the inception of the Three Johns, which lasted until the early '90s, when Langford relocated to Chicago.

In Chicago, he pieced together the underground country-punk group the Waco Brothers and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, an outlet for excursions into performing and honoring music written by others. He soon became a sort of father figure to the Chicago music scene, nurturing many of his labelmates on Bloodshot Records and championing anyone who he thought worthy of scrutiny, often lending his services as a musician or visual artist or inviting local musicians to guest on his releases.

We would also like to add that Jon once rode from New Orleans to Chicago with Bill and Kate after he missed his plane and was shockingly well-behaved.

Admission is $15. Coat check will be available.