Some of the Hill Country’s most talented songwriters and performers gathered on Thursday, March 12 in the Back 40 of the Old 300 BBQ on Blanco’s Town Square to celebrate the night sky in song.  The cause for celebration was the CD Release Party for “Deep in the Dark of Texas™ Vol 1,“ an effort sponsored by the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky (BCFNS) to support night sky preservation in the Hill Country.
Last fall, the organization challenged local songwriters (most of whom are regulars at the Friday night Pickers’ Circle at Liz’s on the Square in Blanco), to write songs about the night sky. The song could be a love song inspired by the night sky, a song of marvelment at the wonders of the night sky, a song of protest objecting to city people who move to the Hill Country and ruin the night sky with their outdoor lights, or anything else in the creative minds of the songwriters.
The songwriters gathered at Liz’s on the Square in November to compete in the “Deep in the Dark of Texas™ Songwriting Contest.  A standing room only crowd gathered to enjoy the original music and cheer for their favorite song. Melanie Van Aken won the competition with her song, “Welcome in the Night,” a lively little ukulele ditty, about the night from the perspective of the small creatures of the darkness.
Read the full press release from Blanco Country Friends of the Night Sky here. 

Melania Van Aken plays her ukulele while singing her contest-winning song, “Welcome in the Night,” at the March 12 “Deep in the Dark of Texas™” CD Release party hosted by the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky in the Back 40 of the Old 300 BBQ in Blanco. Friends provide choral back-up including several of the other performers on the CD. Some 50 people attended the event and enjoyed the original songs celebrating the Hill Country’s night sky. (Photo by Wayne Gosnell)