Two Milestones: Free Press & Houston Calling, Both 10 Years On

Today’s a big day, at least in the realm of H-town music media, because it’s the 10-year anniversary for two of my favorite publications/sites/etc., namely {Free Press Houston} and {Houston Calling}.

It’s hard to believe, I know, that it’s been 10 years for these hardworking, music-loving, utterly awesome people — on the one hand, it feels like the time’s just zipped by, but on the other, it feels like, hey, haven’t these guys always been around?

I can distinctly remember the first time I ran across the Free Press, and I’ll be a man and admit it: I was skeptical they’d last. Not based on the paper itself, which was great, but based on the track record for the half-dozen other local alternative papers I’d seen come and go over the previous few years.

No way in hell would I have guessed how tenacious Omar and his crew would be, or that they’d end up building a freaking media empire that would include the paper, the Website, podcasts, TV, their own venue, and the biggest and best ongoing music festival this city’s ever seen. Wow.

And hey, check out the excellent mini-documentary about the first decade at the FPH:

David Cobb over at Houston Calling was kind of the opposite, weirdly — when I first saw his site, rather than get all skeptical, it immediately felt like I’d stumbled across a kindred spirit, somebody who viewed music here and elsewhere in just about the same way I did. I’m glad he’s hung in there, despite hitting the trials and tribulations of Dad-hood; he’s a good guy, and a damn good writer. Hell, I owe him big for writing for SCR for several years, too — without him helping me out, both in terms of writing and encouragement, I’m not sure this little e-zine would still exist.

So congratulations, both to David and the FPH crew. Y’all are two of the best things to ever happen to our strange little music scene here, and I’m throwing an Internet High-Five your way, right now. Happy 10th birthday, folks.