Radio-Television-Film professor Matthew McConaughey and last year’s Moody College of Communication awardee Britt Daniel received degrees from UT, but this free football pregame concert with Gary Clark Jr. might as well warrant an honorary degree for the homegrown blues slinger. First time at the LBJ Lawn tailgate event, the four-time Grammy winner warms up Longhorn nation goring BYU’s Cougars at Darrell K Royal Stadium.
“As soon as I got a hold of a guitar, my grades suffered,” admitted Clark to the Chronicle a decade ago, with last-call gigs at Joe’s, Babe’s, and Antone’s Nightclub, which now counts the guitarist as a part owner, winning out over schoolwork.“My parents were telling me, ‘Keep your studies up,’ but I felt I was getting the best education possible down in the clubs.”
Further proof of Clark’s UT bona fides extend to rechristening the university’s “first auditorium,” the 90-year-old Hogg Memorial Auditorium, the night before Longhorn City Limits. Reconfiguring the lobby, removing the orchestra pit, and replacing 1,000 seats, the renovation bows Friday, Oct. 27, as shredded by … Dr. Clark, I presume. The Hogg’s first performance will be for students and invited guests.
—73703— Raoul Hernandez