Oh, they are now pouring in folks! I am BACK and better than ever now! And now, it is my time of the year where I decide my TOP 50 albums, but also this is where my biggest endeavor begins….next year’s festival lineups of over 275 festivals!

True, I only get to pick 4 or 5 to cover for the next year, because it’s a lot of work doing a festival coverage job. There are so many of them spanned across so far of the United States, you cannot go to them all in one year.

Now, just like every year that I do these different festival articles, each one is going to have their own separate articles of information including maps and directions on how and where to go if you choose to try new ones next year. You can rest assured that I’ll be researching and keeping you informed on all of the different ones that are announcing their lineups and dates in 2022!

A 14-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient, Emmylou Harris’ contribution as a singer and songwriter spans 40 years. She has recorded more than 25 albums and has contributed her talents to countless fellow artists’ recordings. In recognition of her remarkable career, Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2018. Harris is known as much for her eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her incomparably expressive singing. Admired through her career for her talent as an artist and song connoisseur, Harris shook up country radio in the 1970s and established herself as the premiere songwriter of a generation selling more than 15 million records and garnering 14 Grammy Awards, three CMA Awards, and four Americana Awards. Harris is one of the most admired and influential women in music. She has recorded with such diverse artists as Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Ryan Adams, Beck, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, and Rodney Crowell. Few artists have achieved such honesty or have revealed such maturity in their writing. Forty years into her career, Harris continues to share the hard-earned wisdom that—hopefully, if not inevitably—comes with getting older, though she’s never stopped looking ahead. A longtime social activist, Harris has bestowed her voice to many causes. Most passionately to animal welfare. She established Bonaparte’s Retreat with the goal of rescuing shelter dogs and adopting them into forever homes in Metro Nashville and surrounding counties. Emmylou Harris will perform on Sunday. Since their 2000 formation in Kalamazoo, MI, the Greensky Bluegrass quintet—Anders Beck [dobro], Michael Arlen Bont [banjo], Dave Bruzza [guitar], Mike Devol [upright bass], and Paul Hoffman [mandolin]—have unassumingly progressed into a phenomenon on their own terms with the undying support of a devout audience. Rolling back and forth across North America on successive tours, they recently sold out 3 nights at Red Rocks, a feat unheard of in their genre. In 2019, All For Money marked their second #1 debut on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums Chart and third straight Top 3 entry. They’ve also earned critical acclaim from Billboard, Parade, NPR, and Rolling Stone who hailed them as “representing the genre for a whole new generation.” As always, the band embraces tradition, ushering bluegrass forward on their eighth full-length offering, Stress Dreams. “Greensky is and always has been very unique in our world,” observes Paul. “We put our love, energy, and focus into what we appreciate about our music. We come together as a band in a way that’s organic. We take a lot of pride in how we grow and challenge each other too. We’re maturing together. I think we get more Greensky all of the time.” Greensky Bluegrass will perform on Friday.

MerleFest 2022 will host its second annual MerleFest Mega Raffle to support scholarships at Wilkes Community College. Tickets are on sale now. The Mega Raffle drawings will be held during the festival on Sunday, May 01, 2022, at the Raffle/Silent Auction Tent beginning at 1:00 p.m. Over $170,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded. Only 5,000 tickets will be sold, and ticket holders do not have to be present to win. Raffle tickets are $100 each and include two entries to the MerleFest Mega Raffle drawings. To purchase tickets or for more information visit www.merlefest.org/megaraffle.

As a volunteer, you will receive free entry to the festival for the entire day of your shift, free parking and shuttle, and 10% off camping at River’s Edge Campground. Most importantly, you will be supporting a major fundraiser for Wilkes Community College. The benefits from this festival to our students and community are too many to list! Your support is greatly appreciated. In other words…you ROCK!

This article may have a few more photos in it than usual, because I was there more as a fan there this time, than media. I took some time off to take care of some personal issues, and enjoy a few shows as a fan. I did make some mental notes and observations, but I did not take total notes like I usually do.

I’m going to touch on a few of the songs, but I don’t recall the entire sets of all three acts. Mr. Joshua and I got together a few times this year, under both good and bad circumstances. We been friends a long long time, and we try to hook up two or three times a year as we can.

The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta was a VERY nice venue to go see a show at, and we had a nice little side table to sit at. All of the staff here were so nice to us, and even though I do not drink anymore I found the drink prices quite reasonable.

Tylor And The Train Robbers have actually released a great new album this year, their third release. This Boise based Idaho band is solidifying their position in many different genres of music, with a dynamic stage presence and a united sound as a unit.

Their new album called “Non-Typical Find” was produced by Mr. Cody Braun from Reckless Kelly, and it was an awesome album including the title track song about finding a dead body ( every hunter’s nightmare). He was taking a hike in the woods while hunting, and he found the dead body of a gal who got into a stranger’s corvette.

This band consists of  Mr. Tylor Ketchum, his brothers Mr. Jason and Mr. Tommy Bushman and his father-in-law Mr. Johnny “Shoes” Pisano, and I finally got the chance to see them live.

They put on a very exciting and high energy opening set tonight, and I will try my best to see them live again in the future. The next act was a very talented guitarist named Mr. Will Hoge and he also had a new album in 2020 called “Tiny Little Movies”.

There is a lot of talking in his set, and when it gets so political, it tends to make the music less fun to some. I suppose that either way it gets monotonous indeed, on songs like “Still A Southern Man” proclaims his dislike for the confederate flag, while maintaining southern roots.  I really do not hold an opinion on the matter my own self, and I can understand the song subject here.

Mr. Willy Braun, Mr. Cody Braun, Mr. Ryan Engleman, Mr. Jay Nazz and finally Mr. Joe Miller make up this Idaho Red Dirt band called Reckless Kelly. This band has contributed a LOT to the local Red Dirt community not only in their own area, but north as well and on into Canada.

Each year the four Braun brothers ( the other two are in Mikey And The Motorcars ) get together and host the popular Red Dirt festival called The Braun Brothers Reunion in Idaho.

I remember them playing many songs off the album Wicked Twisted Road including the song that bears the album name, as well as the ever popular “Seven Nights In Eire”.  From The Day album they played the song “Crazy Eddie’s Last Hurrah”.

From the album last year called American Jackpot/ American Girls they played the song called “Tom Was A Friend Of Mine”. They played a really nice set of 14 songs tonight for us, but for me this was just a really nice weekend with an old friend.

One thing I have learned in the last few months is who my friends were. I had to do a lot of soul searching and self care, as well as take care of some of my own family issues before I could step back into the world of my website, and now I am back…and catching back up on more issues!

Thanks for reading everything folks!

This year, especially at Muddy Roots was a first for me on many different levels. I’m still really into the music like I was before, but this year I brought my own daughter and introduced her to this wonderful place…..THIS YEAR meant a lot to me as a music fan, and a dad as well.

Ever since the very first Muddy Roots in 2010, I would always talk about that festival ( as well as others ) with my daughter, and always send pictures of each festival all over the United States. I did get to take her to Chicago for Moonrunners a few years back, and in 2019, I moved her here to help her get on a right path in life.

I brought her to Muddy Roots this past year, and even though I had my usual crew with me, I didn’t work as ardently as I normally do. I did however catch a LOT of the festival, and in my usual fashion, I am going to share it all with you in an article.

I want everyone and every band to know that I am back on the commander chair, and I am better than ever on the music front. I did the usual amount of research and had the usual pages of notes on this article, that I usually do, but what differs here was that I spent more time with each band. See, usually I float all over the festival to catch many more bands than I did here.

Many times my daughter and I kept chairs under the same stationary tent for the entire night, because that tent had a complete lineup of bands we wanted to see. It just meant so much to me as a parent, to pass this event on to another generation of fans, that I am adamant will cherish and support long after I am gone in life.

The larger tent stage this year was named after one of our Muddy Roots friends that are no longer around to enjoy the festival on Earth, and that was Mr. Chris Buckley. There is no doubt in my mind he is watching over us all, as we enjoy the music.

One of my favorite memories of him was the time that Call Me Bronco was playing, and they stopped the show to find someone’s glasses. I have so many stories of so many of the folks that I met and became cherished friends with at this festival here, that I could fill up a book bigger than one of those old yellow pages. So, this sucker is going to be choked full of photos from one of my freelance photographers Miss Marla Gibson.

I brought her into the Muddy Roots fold in 2019, because I knew that she was going to be a great fit for the vast array of various music styles, that encompass the Muddy Roots ideology. She has been out doing an amazing job on her own as a photographer, and I thought that with my getting her foot in the door, that she could embellish Muddy with her knowledge of her craft.

I’ll be completely honest, this year the weather made it one of the best weekends I have ever experienced yet. In the many years of festivals I have taken part in here, I went through INTENSE rain and INTENSE heat as well as other various factors, and this year the weather was PERFECT!

I know that on a normal basis, when I do these articles for music festivals, I like to include the hotel I stayed at, but I’ll be honest. I stayed at so many wonderful hotels in the area in my time, it’s difficult to make JUST ONE the top choice!  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn Cookeville this year, and the staff was VERY nice to us, and the rooms were amazing!

The first act that I got to take Meghan to this year, was a good friend of mine who is always tearing up the road, and his name is Pat Reedy And The Longtime Goners. folks, I been around the block with him a few times and went to many functions for him in various states. He has a true and genuine love for that foot stomping Honky Tonk Country Music that quickly draws me in as a fan, and I think that is one of the reasons I enjoy him so much.

The first song he played was called “I Won’t Be Lonely” , and followed that by introducing his band, which  consisted of Mr. Leo Grassam on steel, Mr. Justin Hamilton on bass, Mr. Gabe Coleman on guitars and finally Mr. Ryan Elwell on drums. This is a good breakup song, however it pretty much proclaims that there will be an easy replacement gal in the picture…on a temporary basis.

The second song he did was from the first album called “Highway Bound”, and is one of my personal favorites he has called “Burgundy In The Rain”. Named after the street in New Orleans where he lived for awhile, not pronounced like the color.

They did a rousing version of the 1966 Charlie Walker classic called “Little Ol Wine Drinker Me”, which was later cut by Mr. Dean Martin. It is a song about a man on skid row as he drinks away his life’s troubles. One of the reasons I love this song so much is that it was one of the earlier ones produced by one of my favorite producers, Mr. Jimmy Bowen.

“Big Wheels” was from his first album, which talks about the big wheels on the bus that roll slowly across the nation, which he indeed does just that. When he is not touring, he is in town doing construction work and he is a very hardworking young man in his own right.

“Lucky I’m alive” and “Fare The Well” are both from his most recent album, filled with plenty of warm steel guitar twang that is sure to please your heart. The last song he played was called “Running Out of Reasons”.

One of the few things I had to complain about was not really Mr. Jason’s fault, see the stage company dropped off the wrong stage, and it was too late for him to remedy the problem! So the fact that the stage in the Buckley Tent was so low to the ground and smaller was an issue that happened at the last minute.

One of the times where shows were happening on tight time schedules were here, as Meghan was learning where to go and when, I kind of started to go off on my own to work a little while leaving the chairs on the Buckley tent corner. This year, I got to be a parent AND a fan, this year was filled with many milestones for her! Right below is a video from a band called Tijuana Bible.

Some of the bands in the beginning were changed up, and I missed a few of them on the wood stage, which was once again run by Mr. Mark Simmons again. I swear, the man never sleeps on the wood stage! All of the videos on this article are property of Mr. Scott Mithun over at Hellbilly And Outlaw Radio.

Above photo property of Marla Gibson.

So, now let’s finally get to one of the artists that I have been featuring a little this year, and I fully plan to begin to feature him more, now that I have fully returned to the website. Just a few years ago, the local music scene was hammered with a new member of the Williams family.

That family has so many members that are involved in music, and each one of them does their OWN thing and has their OWN style. You won’t see me trying to compare any two members of the bloodline, nor will you read about me doing that on here. I myself don’t really care for the music that Sam Williams does, however to try and tell him he doesn’t compare to his father ( who is Hank Williams Jr.) is ludicrous. I’m not a member of their family, and as a TRUE FAN of each of them, I’ll NEVER do that.

Enter into the picture Mr. Coleman Williams son of Shelton Hank Williams III, and he is simply using the moniker of IV And The Strange Band. He blends his own type of  Country and juxtaposes it with doom metal and various other genres all rolled into one form of art.

Every show I have gone to of his, he holds the crowd in his hands, and is in complete and utter control of each of them! He is a phenomenal artist in his own right, and he is growing, grooming, and developing a style that I hope is here to stay.

There is nobody that is going to make me give up on this man’s music, nor am I ever going to place  him into ANY “box” or comparison, despite my admiration for his family members. With songs like “Son Of Sin” I am just elated for the upcoming album form him.

Get back and on again
I’m just another old son of sin
That’s been passed like a bottle to praise my kin
Ain’t a matter of where you been
Cause I’m just another old son of sin

The above chorus is an excerpt from his single he released on 4-20-2021. His band consists of Mr. David Talley-Guitars, Mr. Daniel Mason, Mr. Jason Dietz-Bass, Miss Laura Beth Jewell-Fiddle and finally Mr. Taylor Powell-Drums.

Above photo property of Marla Gibson

I believe that it is incredibly difficult to go through life in his shoes, from a musical standpoint because of his lineage. Why? Why does so many people feel the insatiable need to compare him to his father, or grandfather? One of the main focuses of my website is to dispel this common theory by showcasing their individual talents. The song “Son Of Sin” touches on that very subject for me, while stressing that he is indeed the Son Of Sin.

“Malice” and “Inbred” were first. “Malice” is one of his more Country songs that showcase his vocals the  best out of them, however one of the most intriguing and well written songs he has is called “inbred’. This song is about an old, old Kentucky folklore about the Fugate family, which was a family that bore children with a blue skin condition known scientifically as Methemoglobinemia.

There were so few families back then in such a small area that a lot of inbreeding was occurring, and this story goes far more in depth than I can type here. You can research this further HERE. “Stand Your Ground” was next, as well as “Train”, and “Haunt You”. I’ll be delving into many other of these songs of his in future articles I have coming up from his show at Springwater Supper Club.  He closed with “Deep Down” and “Filth”.

Photo property of Marla Gibson.

This next act I only caught a portion of, so once again this video below has been generously contributed by Mr. Scott Mithun who hosts the Hellbilly And Outlaw Radio Show out of Minnesota. I believe I tagged him many times on here. This next act was Memphis local legend Mr. Jack Oblivian. This first video is the song “Running From The Law”.

Those videos are going to be followed by some random pictures of my beloved Muddy Roots Family. Right now I want to apologize in public for taking so long to do this job here, it took a long time to get my shit together and begin my sobriety. I had to check into a rehab for a pretty nasty pill addiction, and when I emerged I was a new man! I was then busy making amends with my daughter, who never gave up on me!

Now, we finally get to one of my favorite milestones of the weekend for me as a fan and a father….my daughter’s very first metal show! She had no idea of the world she was about to be exposed to, and has never seen a mosh pit.

As the sun was setting upon the first day of the festival, we all made our way back to the wood stage for one of the greatest metal bands that not many have heard of, and that is Black Tusk. They are a sludge metal band from Savannah Georgia, and they have been around since 2006, however this was my first time seeing them live.

I don’t really care about the flack I will catch for featuring a metal band on here, and I don’t do it often but for Muddy….it’s on! I did not take information on the set list, however I did take TONS of pictures and I’ll share those.

Photo property of Marla Gibson.

Photo property of Marla Gibson.

I wanted to take a moment to give a lot of credit to the official emcee of the entire event here Mr. Sean Wheeler. He and I had an opportunity to talk at one of the sober community meetings, and we share a common bond of sobriety. We talked about how we can co exist in this world of drinking and partying, while remaining sober.

Many genres of music herald the praises and at the same time lament the demise of a life soaked in whiskey and dope. We talked about some of our past with one another, one of the “rules” of working the twelve steps is to NOT romanticize your past highs on your drug of choice. But on the contrary, I think it’s healthy to involve that in the music. It can speak to you, and it can prevent you from forgetting where you came from.

This brings us back to the Buckley Tent for a true Legend, the one and only Mr. Scott H Biram! He has been one of my biggest influences into the local music world, and is now one of my daughter’s favorites too! I want to personally thank him for being so kind to her, and spending time with her and me too!

I have another article coming from his show with IV And The Strange Band in Nashville here to be posted soon. But for now, let’s talk about my second time seeing him at Muddy Roots.I’m hoping for good things for him, now that Bloodshot has announced their hiatus, which I will talk about in another article as well.

This video is of him performing “Time Flies” from the 2009 album called Something’s Wrong. Like I said, I will be touching on his set in another article coming directly after posting this one. You can rest assured that I will pay more attention to the dirty old one man band in that next article, along with my deep appreciation for his many years of music, and influence.

Directly after this we had yet another historic thing happen here, that I recently wrote about HERE. That is the almost all original lineup of the Legendary Shack Shakers! The four members that were on stage tonight ( as were last week) were guitarists Mr. Nathan Brown, and Mr. Brian Berryman, upright bassist Mr. Todd Anderson and of course Mr. J.D. Wilkes.

It sure was a historical treat to finally hear songs like “Back To Paducah” and others from the first 1998 album called Hunkerdown. “Hunkerdown” was one of the songs they played tonight from their extensive list of albums. They have been busy this year, touring in support of their new album called Cockaddodleduex.

This band is widely known for their energetic stage shows and Mr. J.D.Wilkes is always a welcomed addition to any festival lineup for his onstage antics and his knowledge of music history. My team was busy scurrying around taking many pictures of them, as they steamrolled through songs like “Tickle Your Innards”.

Photo is property of Marla Gibson.

Once again, this year I was filled with joy to finally get to show my daughter this paragon of Country, Roots and Rockabilly music, hell, he represents more genres than just those! I could easily write a lengthy article about how much this band means to me, just like I could write about Biram.

My good friends over at Viva Le Vox closed out the evening on Friday night, and they played songs from their new album called Where Class Meets Economy. I really think a lot of their bassist Mr. Scarecrow Jenkins, he takes time out to photograph all of the other bands, and supports them all.

He is another fellow member of the sober community with me, and the reason I like their music is because I cannot lump them into ANY genre or classify them as ANYTHING but music that I like. I draw a lot of strength from all of these bands like Viva, Mr. Scarecrow, Mr. Johnny Tugboat and Mr. Tony Bones. You’ll see me have them on the same playlist as Slayer, and Tracy Lawrence and 2Pac…it’s how I am. Here is a good portion of their set beginning with the title song “Where Class Meets Economy”.

Photo property of Marla Gibson.

The band Earthride is a doom metal band from Maryland, they started off day 2. I did get to watch some of their set before going over to check out my list of bands I wanted to cover for the day.

The band is made up of Mr. Dave Sherman, Mr. Eric Little, Mr. Josh Hart and Mr. Kyle Van Steinburg, and we enjoyed their set before heading over to the Buckley tent to see this next band that has been creating quite a buzz across the U.S.

The Bobby Lees are a band from the New York area, comprised of Miss Sam Quartin , Miss Kendall Wind, Mr. Macky Bowman and finally Mr. Nick Casa. And, might I say that this band was absolutely AMAZING LIVE!

Photo property of Marla Gibson

This is a classic garage type punk rock band with songs like “Drive” that took me back to my own youth in the late 80’s. We drove around and partied in abandoned car lots, and drank beer. This band is absolutely insane in every sense of the word, from their crushing guitar riffs to the way Miss Sam punishes her vocal cords with her rousing vocals.

This band plays like a well oiled machine, and I am completely amazed they haven’t become noticed by many more yet. They played one called ‘Be My Enemy” which if I am not mistaken is a cover song from the Waterboys.

Despite all of the mischief going on around you at ANY festival, there is family orientated people too. THIS kind of sharing the music makes me overly joyful inside, and I enjoy supporting the young people as they become exposed to ANY type of music.

THIS….this is the future of Muddy Roots right here. If we truly want it to continue to happen each year, we need to make sure we raise a future generation of patrons that spend money to keep it going.  This year was very special for many of us that are having fun watching each other’s kids growing up.

And once again, we have another familiar name on the bill the ultimate outlaw, none other than Mr. Bob Wayne, whom I featured not long ago on my Heart In Hands pet rescue article. He came in full force tonight with his signature train whistle and his whiskey fueled Honky Tonk demeanor.

I have always called him the nicest bad guy you’ll ever meet!  With his rumbustious ill feelings for the law, and a bitter hatred for authority, Mr. Bob Wayne sings songs that glorify cocaine and whores, yet at the same time warns not to get on the “Dope Train”.  A song he wrote with Country Music legend Mr. Red Simpson.

A song that he opened with was “Till The Wheels Fall Off”, which became his well known anthem of debauchery and ill mannered living. Along with the ever popular “Everything’s Legal In Alabama”, he barreled through a metric ton of Outlaw Country songs.

He played the song he wrote for our friend Mr. Bandana, who many of us met at Muddy Roots. He was a huge advocate and active supporter of Roots Music, and was always sitting side stage to fellows like Mr. Bob Wayne, and others. Finally, the other song I recalled was “Sam Tucker”.

Also speaking of the wood stage was the manager of said stage, whom I swear NEVER sleeps that weekend, Mr. Mark Simmons. He is always very nice to kids and to the media, and enforces the rules with tact. It’s always a pleasure to mention him on here, and I see him as an integral part of the team.

In fact, without Miss Delaney and Mr. Milton Chavez and ALL of his team, I KNOW that Mr. Jason could not do this as efficiently as he does. So many food and craft vendors help make it fun to go shopping on the vendor row, like Stoned Beautiful Jewelry.

Another friend of mine is a Muddy Roots legend, and he doesn’t even need a band to perform a spectacular set for this festival. My friends, this is the one and only Mr. James Hunnicutt! EVERY TIME he is on the band list at ANY festival, I make sure I see his set.  I met him way back in the MySpace era, and we physically met at Porter Wagoner’s funeral visitation in Nashville. Not an ideal setting to finally meet, but we shared a common love for Country Music.

One of my favorite songs he does in his set is always the song called “99 Lives”, and I still have one of the old 99 Lives t shirts I like to wear. He has such a smooth and unique way of hitting his high notes on his songs like “My Pain”. And I think that is one of the many reasons why he is so popular at this festival.

However, one of his most well written songs is the song called “Dying Healer’s Waltz”, and every time he plays Muddy Roots he fills up the tent with pretty much everyone! He comes early and is always involved in spreading his positive energy to everyone here. He was defiantly one of the artists I wanted to expose my daughter to, and now she too is a fan.

Now we get to another band I have always liked a TON, and that is the almighty Black Tarpoon. Here we have ol Mr. Joey Reed AKA Oatmeal, and his crew of heathens that performed one hell of a good show here this weekend…Don’t worry..we are going to mention them all here, with TONS of pictures!

Bottom 2 photos are property of Marla Gibson.

They have a new album just released this year called Probable Caws, and I have it on my album feature radar ( with thousands more, Jesus, I’m behind). Anyways, they played “The Dogs” , which is about a drug addict that was attacked by wild dogs and is on the Creature From The Black Tarpoon album, as well as the new one.

On this new album they added instruments and produced it in a different fashion. This whole album maintained their Roots Music sound, while at the same time showed growth as a band.  “Somebody’s Watching Me” was another song they played here tonight.

The rest of the band consists of Mr. Jesse James, Miss Tashia The Don, Mr. Billy Mo, Mr. Chi Chi Picante on the drums and Mr. Scooby Davidson on the fiddle. It’s always so much fun to watch them perform at Muddy, and I am hoping that they do some touring to support the new album here.

You can defiantly look forward to more features on this band here on my website, which was created to make a home for ALL of these local bands I love. See, that’s the difference here. I’m not JUST featuring national acts or local acts getting Ryman shows, I feature everyone I like.

This brings me to two bands my daughter LOVED at this festival and they were Left Lane Cruiser and the Goddamn Gallows.

Left Lane Cruiser is a two piece band from Fort Wayne, Indiana and it consists of Joe Evans IV and Pete Dio.  We stood there and both enjoyed their cover of “Black Betty”, I recall her saying “IT SOUNDS LIKE I’M IN A TORNADO, DAD”!

Above 2 photos property of Marla Gibson.

The Goddamn Gallows are a traveling bunch of scalawags that I enjoy going to see play every chance I get, and they always put on a fantastic show. You cannot place them in any musical genre, although some call it Gutterpunk, some call it Roots Music etc….. I just call it good ass music.

Mr. Mikey Classic, Mr. Fishgutzzz, Mr. Jayke Orvis and Mr. Uriah AKA Baby Genius make up this band. Additionally they now have Mr. Joe Perez on banjo again, who left a few years back for personal reasons.

Mr. Sean Wheeler said he had a nap, and stayed up late for the Goddamn Gallows! I’ll admit the long days and nights are difficult, however this year it wasn’t so HOT all day. That heat just drains me running around from stage to stage all day, and the calm weather made it so much easier!

First up was the sing “Blackened Soul” from the 2018 album The Maker, which was their latest album. Now, they do have a new single out now called Call Of The Void. I highly suggest you check that out!

“MUDDY ROOTS……WE’RE BACK BITCHES!” Mr. Jayke yelled as they rolled into the song “City Of Hell-A” from my favorite album Ghost Of The Rails. I loved that time period around 2009 and 2010 when so many of these Roots albums came around, and I learned about these bands.

I could care less that I run a Country website, I could listen to these guys all G Damn night. I get e mails from my other Christian friends on how can I like this? Listen, if you got to judge another man for a name, you aren’t a true Christian man! That may or may not be YOUR thing, and that’s fine, but HERE they will always have a home, and you will always be able to read about what they’re up to….which is usually debauchery…but nonetheless I’m a fan for life!

Mr. Jayke played “Dreadful Sinner” and one other one I cannot recall what it was? He always features one or two from his Broken Band albums, I highly suggest you check those out. Those were more of the classic albums that came out in the 2010 time frame.  The song was also on the Trial album.

The Maker album boasted the song “Ol Dusty Trail” along with “Y’all Motherfuckers Need Jesus”. They also played “The Maker” from that same album. after they played, that concluded Saturday for us, we went back to the hotel room to die. Because this job is always rough on these bones, and I usually sleep for 16 hours when I’m done!

This man here….I cannot say enough kind things about him. I just cannot. The only regret I have is that I do not cross paths with him enough, and I need to change that with ALL of you. Rest Assured I am now back into this, and can travel again.

They done went and scheduled Mr. Brook Blanche and also Miss Rachel Brooke at the same time but luckily, they were right across from one another. I did get the most I could from both sets, and wrote down what I could.

When he sang “Empty Bottle” this weekend, I heard more passion in his vocals than ever. He has changed a little in the years, and not for the negative either. Empty Bottle is one of the Top 20 songs I have ever heard. Period. I mean to say that overall of all genres it is one of my Top 20 favorites.

The album Miss Rachel released last year was absolute FIRE and I’m glad it made as many TOP lists as it did, because it surely deserved it. MY GOD those first few notes of “It Ain’t Over” makes my soul melt. Her voice is so solid and solidifies her as the QUEEN of the Underground, and it makes me upset she isn’t embraced by major media outlets.

“Run Of The Mill” was next, and actually as I write this she is in Nashville tonight. I wished I could go so badly, but I cannot. “Ghost Of You” was on this one as well as the title track of her new album called “The Loneliness In Me”.

Nashville needs to listen CLOSE to her on that song, it needs to embrace her loneliness and meet the “Ghost Of You”, that comes back only when she drinks. She also played “Killer’s Dream”, which is another of those first albums I found out about. That one was 2012 and I knew about Bitter Harvest as well.

She also played “It Won’t Be Long”. We started gathering up all of our merch we got, and loading up car stuff as we were winding down the weekend here, BUT there is still a LOT to tell you about, so keep reading folks!

I wanted to THANK Mr. Sean for giving his time to introduce so many bands and artists here this weekend. For taking the time to chat with me and contributing to the sober meetings for us this weekend.

So, let’s get around to the last few bands here this weekend that I got to see, mind you, I did float around to see a lot of the other bands as a fan. Like I previously said, I enjoyed it more as a fan this year, but I will ALWAYS BE one of the official Muddy Roots websites for ALL THINGS Muddy, including the Nashville Boogie.

This gentleman here is Joe Buck Yourself, and he is very prevalent in many of the Roots Music festivals I go to. He is one of the more popular OMBs ( One Man Bands), and he plays a dual  kick drums made from guitar cases along with his guitar.

He played “Planet Seethe” off the Piss and Vinegar album from 2010. Another song he did was “Devil Is On The Way”, along with “Evil Motherfucker From Tennessee” off the same album there.

The Pine Hill Haints are from Alabama, and they released a MIGHTY FINE new album this year called The Song Companion Of A lone Star Cowboy. they currently consist of Mr. Jamie Barrier, Miss Katie “Kat” Barrier, Mr. Stevie LaBlanc, Mr. Brian “Zero” Borden and Mr. Justin Ward.

They played “Back Against The Wall” from last year’s 13 album, and they also played “They Tried To Kill My Momma’s Son” from the Evening Star album. The thing about the Pine Hill Haints is they have so many albums to play material from.

Video is property of Hellbilly And Outlaw Radio.

As I previously wrote about Dylan Walshe at the Hearts In Hands animal benefit show this year, this man also puts on a VERY GOOD show. He tells stories in between songs and tells aulde (pronounced old) tales of Irish lore like my personal favorite “Raggle Taggle Gyspy”.

He hits those high notes with no instruments and the words burn into your soul on many of his songs, and “Straight To Hell, Boy” involves the audience whether you are drunk and camping or sober and leaving, it’s easy enough to sing along to.

I have never met a nicer and more gracious performer than he is, I’d say along with Shooter Jennings and Brent Cobb, he is one of the kindest in the business. Another song he does that I enjoy is called “At Sea”.

In closing, my dear friends I wanted you all to know how much I appreciate all of you, and how nice it is to see y’all each year. I am hoping some of you read this, that have never been before, and this article helps you choose to go one day. It is my onus to bring as many new faces as I can to Muddy Roots.

The Muddy Roots Gospel, yes….yes that’s what Mr. Jason calls it alright. As I always say to ALL the different music communities I write about, the best way to support the continuity of the music, the festivals and the venues is presence and money.

Lastly folks, next year how about we DON’T THROW wadded up clothes in the port a shitters, so we don’t clog up the septic trucks? All we did was create FURTHER BILLS for Mr. Jason, who in turn will have to make that money back…wonder how?  Well, I’d be safe to bet the prices of tickets may have to rise to cover the costs of it!

We are very lucky and fortunate to have such a secure place to bring our own food and drinks, ( within reason ) we are free to do whatever we want, why do we need to jeopardize this wonderful thing we have? I cover MANY festivals people, and I promise you there are only 3 others that have 3.00 beers and reasonable food prices!

I cannot close with scolding anyone but I have always wrote the negative things the FESTIVAL DOES I did not like…this time it was the patrons that did a negative thing and it needs to not happen next year, I hope with all my heart it does.

Yeah, it’s pretty tough following all of these bands on 2022 tour announcements and all of the 275 festivals we report on here, and also catch up on all of the 2021 work we missed while taking care of our issues we had to step back over.

You can be sure to bet that it will take many hours of labor over the keyboard to catch up with everything I need to do on this website, but rest assured I am going to kill this job.

The Infamous Stringdusters have influenced me in my quest for total music knowledge for many, many years now.Their first three albums on the Sugar Hill label were three very influential albums for me. The Bloodshot label boasted many Roots albums that I loved, as well as a ton of the Jamgrass bands and Bluegrass bands like Split Lip Rayfield, and this band…The Stringdusters.

They have a new album hitting the market on February 18th and they have a new tour list being released today, and I wanted to touch on both here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (November 15, 2021) — Jeannie Seely and Jack Greene – Together Again has been released to retail and digital music platforms today by Country Rewind Records, who has established a well-known tradition of bringing unreleased traditional country music into the contemporary country era. This album consists of recordings made exclusively for radio broadcast and, although some song titles may be familiar, these specific recordings have never before been commercially available. The original master tapes were rescued by Country Rewind’s president and executive producer Tom Gramuglia and put in the safe hands of producer Paul Martin who brought the recordings up to twenty-first century audio quality. Mastering  was provided by engineer Mick Conley with overdubs, remix, additional guitars, bass, drums and keys by Paul Martin. Background vocals for the project were sung by Nora Lee Allen, Jamie Allen Martin and Paul Martin. Stream and download Jeannie Seely and Jack Greene – Together Again on Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Pandora and your favorite digital music platforms here.

“I was thrilled that these recordings were still in existence and that they would be available to the public once again,” said an excited Jeannie Seely when she heard that these long-forgotten tapes had been re-discovered. “I was so thrilled to hear I would be working with Paul Martin on this project, ” Paul Martin is not only one of the nicest guys you could ever know, but he is absolutely brilliant musically. I knew this would be fine-tuned to be the best it could possibly be, and he didn’t disappoint. I’m also proud to call him and his family close personal friends.”

Seely added, “It will always be special to remember the years Jack and I worked together with an incredible group of musicians,” she said. “We were both excited to carry on the traditions of country music, but also to update our sound and presentation to expand the limits as far as we could. The friendships we formed with each other, and our fans, are treasures. These recordings brought back wonderful memories of that very busy time in my career,” added Seely. “This also reminded me that we really did have a great sound and a great show, as these are the arrangements that we used in our live stage shows.”

“It was an honor to work on this particular project,” said Martin. “Jeannie and Jack have always been two of my musical heroes. I am grateful that I have gotten to know them through the years. Growing up working with my parents’ country band in the 70s, I performed many of the songs you will hear on this project with my folks back then. These songs seem so familiar, but they also show just why these two artists are true legends. It always takes a great song, but combined with 2 great singers, you get a timeless piece of art.”

Country Rewind Records has dedicated itself to bring classic country with this contemporary feel to not only the past country fans but also to the new country listeners.

Jeannie Seely and Jack Greene – Together Again Track List

1. Mr. Record Man (Willie Nelson)
2. There Goes My Everything (Dallas Frazier)
3. Our Chain Of Love (Willie Nelson)
4. Don’t Touch Me (Hank Cochran)
5. All The Time (Lonnie Melvin “Mel” Tillis; Wayne P. Walker)
6. Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You (Dave Kirby; Hank Cochran)
7. Love Takes Care Of Me (Jimmy Peppers)
8. Welcome Home To Nothing (Hank Cochran)
9. Love Is No Excuse (Justin Tubb)
10. Enough To Lie (Jeannie Seely)
11. Please Be My New Love (Hank Cochran)
12. The Great Speckled Bird / It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels Medley (Reverend Guy Smith; J.D. Miller)
13. There’s A Whole Lot About A Woman (A Man Don’t Know) (Bill Eldridge; Gary Stewart; Walter Haynes)
14. Help Me Make It Through The Night (Kris Kristofferson)
15. Sidewalks Of Chicago (Dave Kirby)

Stay current with Country Rewind Records on their website countryrewindrecords.com and social media platform Facebook.

About Country Rewind Records:
Country Rewind Records (CRR) was founded by Thomas Gramuglia of Hindsight Records in 2014, Gramuglia obtained a treasure chest of unreleased recordings from recruitment radio shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The superb CRR collection of original master recordings contains music from more than 100 country music legends and trendsetters (including intimate performances by country music greats such as Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Connie Smith, Faron Young, Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and many more). These recordings were never released for commercial use. After a diligent quest to collect appropriate and legal permissions from artists and/or their estates, CRR has now recorded and produced multiple, quintessential, “must-hear” projects. With the mission to transfer these never-heard-before tracks to a high quality, state-of-the-art recording; complemented by contemporary instrumentation and background vocals, Country Rewind Records will release this historical American music to America’s music generations of the future. For more information, visit countryrewindrecords.com

Here at Gary Hayes Country, we follow over 275 festivals nationwide each year. 2022 is proving to be an outstanding year for many up and coming bands, and I am going to talk about many of them throughout the end of the year, and into the new year.

I am very excited to be finally writing and researching again, and I’m going to be traveling to new places in the next few years in order to achieve my new goals. One of the festivals out west I have not attended yet, but report on heavily is the entire package of WinterWonderGrass events.

In February, this event will hit the Steamboat Colorado area, and it has announced several of the main headlining acts via email. Grammy award winning Bluegrass giants The Travelin’ McCourrys have been added to the ever growing list of big names.

The mountain top dinner takes place on Thursday, February 24, at the top of the Thunderhead Gondola. Only 175 tickets are available for this special night of music and gourmet family-style food. 

My good friends over at The Tejon Street Corner Thieves have been making quite a name for themselves lately, and they have a new album dropping early next year. I have been watching them from afar for my own enjoyment, and to report on what they have gong on for my readers.

See, these guys really and truly did begin their journey on the streets busking for spare change, and playing for anybody that will listen. Despite all of the hardships life has thrown at them, this band is continuing to overcome the odds and play on.

Now in the present day, these gentlemen are displayed proudly on many headlining posters with the likes of names like Miss Sierra Hull! THIS IS WHY I do this website job, so that I can watch all of these bands evolve on their own terms.

Speaking of artists doing it on their own terms, they are currently doing some shows with two others that are doing it on the streets as well. Those two are Amigo The Devil and IV And The Strange Band, both of whom I will be reporting more on later.

We have been working hard to bring Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real into the WinterWonderGrass community for several years, and finally, the stars have aligned. I had the opportunity to promote Lukas over 10 years ago at State Bridge. After spending a little time with him, I learned that he was not only an incredible musician with a stellar band, but he was a kind and thoughtful human—the exact kind of folks we love working with and welcoming into our community. I always love watching a new act take the WWG stage for the first time, and I know POTR’s headlining set is going to just blow minds. This gathering just can not come soon enough!

For the last two years, I have taken a little ( and much much needed ) time off to tend to some personal issues, and I am a little behind on many things I wanted to write about that have recently transpired in the music world.  I had to approach several of these articles from a different perspective, because many of the subjects have been covered by so many other websites already, however I guarantee you one thing: Nobody will cover the situation like me.

For me, it began back on a bitter cold mountain weekend in Altamont Tennessee, where I was working on the website, at a benefit festival for a motorcycle crash victim. For many of the bands on that roster that weekend, I had never encountered their live show, and the Dallas Moore band was one of them.

Now I’ll be honest, before going up there I had heard of The Dallas Moore Band, and I knew their immense contributions to the Ohio local music scene. For many years prior to this Mr. Chuck and all of the members of the band embellished the local music community with their intense guitar driven Country and Southern Rock blend.

Before coming up to Altamont, I had never encountered the Dallas Moore band or him solo, which at Altamont he was solo. At that time I had still not met Mr. Chuck Morpurgo, or any of the band members, however that event certainly cultivated his expansion into a larger national territory in the United States…and more of a fan base. Their years and years of intense hard work, and dedication to their craft solidified them into the halls of my website, where they have a permanent home here.

Even though Mr. Chuck was not present the first time I met Mr. Dallas, I was immediately an admirer of his guitar work on the albums that I bought there. At the time of that event his current album was “Blessed Be The Bad Ones”, from 2013. This band of heathens has been weaving a pathway for so many others to follow in the independent music scene for many years to come.

From that moment on, I honestly do not recall ever seeing Dallas Moore WITHOUT Mr. Lucky Chucky beside him. I finally got to meet him, and sit and talk with him at places like Bobby Mackey’s in Kentucky or several places in Nashville. I have witnessed their magic in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas and so many other states I cannot recall all of them.

Mr. Chuck Morpurgo was the only member of his band that had played on EVERY recording that Mr. Dallas Moore and the Dallas Moore Band ( AKA The Snatch Wranglers ) ever released. Throughout their lives together, the two were absolutely inseparable. And through the years, as I got to cover the band more, I got to know the band better as people and friends.

Everything that had happened to The Dallas Moore Band…happened to Mr. Lucky Chucky as well. This bond they had going together was a precise paragon of some of the bonds that existed in years past with other duos that remind me of Mr. Buck Owens and Mr. Don Rich.

Their unique way of juxtaposing their talents to formulate such a different sound to an age old recipe of what they call “Outlaw Country”, is another way to understand just how ardently Mr. Chucky loved his heroes The Allman Brothers Band. That was overly evident when they would play a precise version of “Whipping Post” on many of the shows I went to. When I would cover their sets, I would watch him…I mean REALLY watch him, and how much care he placed into his technique and his presentation of each note, each bend and each riff he did.

Neither he or Mr. Dallas tried to outshine one another or compete with one another, in the years that I knew him, and they were together. I had many opportunities to sit and talk with him, have meals with him, and just be friends. I never even knew he was a cancer patient, because he never spoke of unfortunate events with me in person. It was always happy greetings, quick handshakes and positive outlooks in life, and I don’t recall him ever having a negative attitude.

Even when I could easily tell he was road weary, and hungry, he was always kind and attentive to conversation. He CARED about the fans, he CARED about the music and he CARED about Mr. Dallas and the ENTIRE band. His absence not only leaves a big blow to local music, but to me as a fan as well.  His sound and his demeanor will forever be etched into my heart, and I’m blessed to have gotten to expose my own daughter to his guitar playing.

The music industry is finally getting back to where people like me can go and enjoy live music again, festivals were actually functioning again, and museums and other like minded attractions re opened.  There are so many venues that need our support, and my list that you can read here supports a huge list of venues and bands that need our support. Go to the shows, buy stuff and make sure you let the bands know you appreciate them!

I have taken the past two years on a hiatus to mend some personal issues, and to help my daughter out in life. One of the many things I have showed her about my world, is the world of Country Music. Where did it come from? Who brought it forth? Where is it going in the future? How can she help proliferate this wonderful genre?

Right now, the Country Music Hall Of Fame needs our donations and our attendance in order to maintain their mission to preserve the items that adorn the halls of this heavenly place, and the people that have been embraced in the past by being inducted.

Next year, the museum will be inducting Mr. Pete Drake, Mr. Eddie Bayers, The Judds, and the great Mr. Ray Charles. There will be a huge presentation to them and their kinfolk, at the museum next year. Additionally, the museum also contains so many cherished and integral exhibits, that anyone can walk away very enriched in knowledge.

This video features some of our favorite Country stars of today as they play some of the instruments from the exhibit cases, that were once prominently played by their heroes of the past.  You know, I really don’t care for much of Mr. Tim McGraw’s music…but as he held that guitar that belonged to Mr. Keith Whitley, and he played “Don’t Close Your Eyes”, you can easily FEEL the amount of respect and love he has for his hero.

This video has Mr. Ricky Skaggs playing that iconic mandolin that was proudly boasted by Mr. Bill Monroe, while Mr. Marty Stuart played a guitar made famous by Mr. Lester Flatt and Mr. Earl Scruggs banjo was also played.

Friends, you MUST WATCH this wonderful video here and enjoy all of these songs that continue to inspire future generations of Country Music and Bluegrass fans. But also fans of the Bakersfield Era, the Outlaw Era, or any other Era for that matter….and PLEASE make a donation. Here’s how !

I usually make it a point to visit the museum once every three months or so, and I always take a pile of Kleenex with me, for when I get choked up! You will get to see the EXACT studio that Mr. Guy Clark had in his home, re set up in the Hall Of Fame, as Mr. Rodney Crowell played his signature guitar in it.

In closing, to be honest the pinnacle of the entire video for me was the song Miss Ashley McBryde played by Loretta Lynn, on the very guitar that she was given by her husband Doolittle.  Man, her voice is so honest and so full of range I could listen to her sing acoustic all night!

This year, I took some time off to tend to personal issues, and as a result of this I have a HUGE PILE of albums to sift through, and finally get to feature this album on the website. However, as a fan I HAVE BEEN watching and listening to a bunch of familiar names in tons of genres. We cover such a wide and extensive array of genres, it’s difficult to catch up to them all….but I’m trying!

Bluegrass has it’s many Legends that are currently alive, and many of them are still active today including the mighty queen of Bluegrass Miss Rhonda Vincent. Her career has ( and still does ) span over four decades of Bluegrass, as well as solidifying many Country albums with her background vocals. In many interviews, she denounces the term “Queen of Bluegrass”, and designates that for Miss Wilma Lee Cooper instead.

This past year, she was finally inducted as a new member of the Grand Ol Opry, where she was invited by Mr. Dierks Bentley . This was a very important move for the Opry, as I have been delving into JUST WHO could be construed as their attempt to establish a new ilk of the ” Grand Ladies Of The Opry”. Her passion for the preservation of the historical aspect of Country and Bluegrass, easily solidifies her presence on the Opry stage as an integral foundation of both genres.

She had another accolade here recently, where she was the last host of the ever popular Midnite Jamboree as it was in the Troubador Theater, and returned to it’s original location….the Broadway location of Ernest Tubb Record Shops.

She has rarely ever altered her classic Bluegrass sound or her well known progressive Bluegrass chords, and this album is no exception. This album opens with her classic angelic vocals…man those smooth notes she hits on the song “What Ain’t To Be Just Might Happen”, which is a Porter Wagoner song, and album title from 1972.

To me, the fact that she holds true to the basic old time Bluegrass format while adding her own signature modern approach to the overall delivery of the music shows the secret behind her staying power. But I am going to share with you one of my own passions in life, and that is giving ALL my praise to my personal savior, Jesus Christ.

She does that with the title song “Music’s What I See”, she hit the nail right smack on the head with the story of a blind man who makes references to the many classic Country Songs of time past. He shares what he sees in his mind, when he hears those songs of old, like many of us all do. I have a HUGE level of respect for her for giving praise to him on the title of her album, through music.

However the absolute pinnacle of this album is easily the middle song called “Like I Could” penned by Miss Erin Enderlin, Miss Jeannie Seely, and Mr. Bobby Tomberlin. I’m telling all of you, if you do not know the name Erin Enderlin, you need to click her name and research her music, and her contributions to writing. That young lady embellishes Country Music in every way possible, and I hold her in HIGH regard.

The expert banjo of Aaron McDaris, fiddle of Hunter Berry, Josh Williams’ acoustic guitar and Jeff Partin’s Dobro, complimented by Mickey Harris’ rock-steady upright bass make up the current lineup of “The Rage”, her backup band. This band truly shows some unrivaled harmonies on the covid parody song “I Ain’t Been Nowhere”, which is a reverse of “I Been Everywhere”.  Trust me, this song was cleverly written and is hilarious.

It’s time once again for me to do my yearly feature in West Tennessee with my dear friends over at Heart In Hands Critter Hollow in the Stewart Tennessee area.  Even though this event is a relatively new one for me (this being my third year), I have made some truly blessed memories here.

Every year The Romero and Foncree families get in cahoots with SO MANY OTHERS that labor ever year for this wonderful, and important event. This year, I kind of leaned more toward being a “fan” more than a media outlet. Many of you that read my articles on a regular basis know how my last two years went. My 2020 and 2021 were both spent focusing on my own well being, so that I could help my own daughter evolve as an adult.

This yearly event has become quite dear to my heart, and a regular part of my yearly schedule of events. For three reasons :

1. It’s close to the house, in case of emergencies.

2. The lineups are ALWAYS so awesome, and there have been some terrific sets.

3. It is IMPORTANT to support foundations like this to control homeless pets.

My own cat here was a rescue as a kitten, I found her in an abandoned building, and brought her home to live here. She is an indoor only cat, and has established that she is the queen here..you know how that goes.

Much like hunting, we as a society need to have population control, that means spay and neuter all pets, and stop “dropping off unwanted” babies! Many of these wonderful places of business give second chances to these animals, as they nurse them back to health, and provide them with shots so they can be adopted by good people that DO want them!

I did go to every event this year with my usual means of documenting all of the music, however we camped this year, so that meant I cooked during some of the music. However, to be honest I could hear it quite readily from where we were camping.

They open up their home and their property each year for us all to come and enjoy the music, and enjoy seeing old friends again. There is just an absolute plethora of folks that help make this possible, and they could never do this without YOU!

Many of the artists on this lineup here, I will be featuring a few times this year at many different venues like this one. Three of them in total, will also be featured in my next HUGE article for Muddy Roots.

Austin Stambaugh was first today, and I remember him from last year, as a few others on the bill here today. Mr. Austin brings a Traditional Country flavor to the mix, and he doesn’t really try to be Country. On one hand, he covers some truly fine Country tunes that not your average person knows.

He tells a great story song about getting to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a boy, it is rather lengthy but it really is an entertaining story. I always enjoy his folk inspired Midwest humor and wit, as he plays both original and cover songs. You can venture out down to Nashville, and find him at Robert’s Western World and other various honky tonks.

Miss Milly Raccoon was another guest from last year, whom also played at their wedding we attended this year. She is a talented singer and fiddle player from New Orleans, that plays in many different bands. She arrived with her beloved dog ( as did many of us), and I thought this picture captured her better than onstage ones I took.

Her music encompasses so many different aspects of life, and I am very amazed she has not been recognized by more music media outlets than mine, and a few others I ran across while researching her music for this event.

“Another Cup Of Tea” was one of the songs she played today for us, which had a nice ragtime tinge to it. The song itself has some pretty complex lyrics, and you’ll really have to listen to it for yourself. She played the song called “No Buying Time” as well.

I always link the artist’s websites on their names to provide you ample ways to purchase their music, and support them from here. The foremost onus of my website I have here, is to do just that. PLEASE take a few moments to support some of these bands on this article…and all of the other ones I release in 2021.

Mr. Noah Fowler brought this trio to us, and they played the Steve Earle song called “Sometimes She Forgets”, from the 1995 album called “Train A Comin”. In my honest opinion that album is one of Mr. Steve Earle’s finest works to date, and I enjoy it more than “Guitar Town” or others.

I remember them playing one of the most beloved Bluegrass classics called ‘Fox On The Run” from the 1970s era of popular Bluegrass songs that trickled over into Folk and bands like Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and their ilk.

Miss Angela Autumn was a new find for me, I was not familiar with her or her music until today here. I’ll be honest, I did get to listen to her set, and I enjoyed her music but at the same time I was grilling supper for my daughter, whom was working in her vendor spot.

It was refreshing to see these younger artists giving their nods off to long lost Legends like Mr. Gram Parsons, and others while maintaining a Country presence at the same time.

I did indeed delve into her music a lot, and I urge you to do the same as well. I’m quite adamant on the fact that you will not be disappointed  in my suggestions to do so.

Have you ever had some friends that you just don’t see everyday, but when you do reconnect you just pick up where you left off and it’s like you saw each other yesterday? Yeah, me too, and I have that gift with these two fine gentlemen here. I cannot say enough kind things about the almighty Sweet Ga Brown from the Chattanooga area.

We hit it off years ago right away, because we share the same first and middle names, and we have such likened musical interests. He and Mr. Dave Dowda are old old music friends, and loved and respected by me greatly. I have a deep appreciation and admiration for Mr. Dave Dowda’s knowledge of music history, so much that when he starts into stories…I just shut up and listen.

These two absolutely tore up the stage with songs like “I Broke Wahoo’s Leg”. That song is a well written classic about life from death’s point of view, with references to  many a downfall of music’s greatest heroes, like Mr. Hank Williams and Mr. George Jones…and even Mr. John Denver.

While I listened to him belt out ” I’m Gonna Live Forever”, I took the liberty of walking around the ranch to see some of the residents of the area. I got to meet some of the guests and people here enjoying the music and the food.

It is truly amazing to me just how exponentially this event has grown through the years,  with the help of so many others pitching in to make it profitable for the pets that cannot provide care for themselves.

It’s totally cool to adopt a stray animal you find, and give it a safe and healthy home forever…but it takes more than that. Animals are like humans in that they need love and attention from their human. Businesses like this one care for these animals until that correct person comes along.

My daughter Meghan has been working very hard on her craft business, and she brought her wares out to the ranch to donate a portion of her profits to the cause. She has an extensive line of different items with may different patterns available on MB’s Crafts.

This year there were a couple other vendors including her, and more to do for the kids…like wallowing in the creek that runs through the ranch. I got in that cold water myself, because the afternoon was HOT this year. Funny how the next weekend at Muddy Roots was mild and comfortable.

Mr.Cody Lee Meece is a name I was familiar with, as I spent some time dwelling on his 2020 album “The Break”, we also talked multiple times on social media and finally got to meet in person today. He was here today to support my friend Mr. W.D.Miller.

I have been featuring his music for many years now, as he always brings out his true and gritty Honky Tonk Country to any event he is billed on. I have ran into him in Ohio at the Southgate House, Muddy Roots, and a few other festivals and events in the past.

He is another one of those artists that I cannot see why he isn’t given more attention than is given. He maintains such a true passion for history in his music, and lets his influences resonate in his art.

I was having some camera issues in the heat, and I did not get any viable photos of the only artist that has played every year for this event Mr. Doc Elliot. I always enjoy his covers of Merle Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee” , and others he does when gets on his piano.

His album “Rowdy Kind” boasted one of his songs he played called “Bloody Mary Monday” about having those ever popular Monday blues. He also played another song off that album called “Destiny”.

I’ll tell you what, I have had the pleasure in seeing so many great sets on this stage before they built a roof on it, and each year ( much like the rest of this event ) the lineup just keeps getting better.

Trust me, once Mr. Doc gets up there on that keyboard, you’ll wholeheartedly agree with me on the fact that his set is not one to miss, anytime you can get the chance to see him play. He played a song by Mr. Leon Russell called “Song For You”, and he played one he wrote that got cut by Texas Legend Mr. Kinky freidman.

Mr. Dylan Walshe is another old friend I met from Muddy Roots and other various music shows. He is from Ireland, and many of his songs are modeled after those old Irish folk tunes, that leave a warm and homely feeling.

His vocal range is amazing, and he uses that to embellish his well arranged songs like my personal favorite ” Raggle Taggle Gypsey”. That song is about a man that finds his wife, who ran off on him for another man. Many of his songs culminate into portions of his A Capella lyrics.

“Straight To Hell” was another her played tonight, where he included the children and the audience here in reciting the song title with him. He always does this song so well, and the crowds always love it.

Way back in 2005, I was recently divorced and bummed out about it. I got into MySpace and started discovering more bands like the ones that already influenced me like the Old 97’s and Split Lip Rayfield. I was into Red Dirt and Jamgrass as well, but artists like Hank III, and this man..whom I consider an underground Legend Mr. Bob Wayne…followed by the final band The Legendary Shack Shakers.

One of my finest musical memories was back in 2013 when he brought Country Music Legend Mr. Red Simpson to play an entire set at Muddy Roots on the wood stage. He made some epic memories there like playing the song they wrote together. “Dope Train” was a song that he got to write with Mr. Red before they played there that year.

He played the song ” Till The Wheels Fall Off” , and he went right into the story of old “Sam Tucker” from the Alabama mountains. He turned mud into gold, and was heavily sought after by thieves. I shall also be featuring the last three artist sets on my upcoming Muddy Roots articles, I am working on now.

Speaking of being influenced by the Roots bands of the 1990’s, this band out of Paducah Ky heavily influenced my musical tastes in many genres, simply because they really do not have a genre that anyone can lump them into.

For almost 25 years, the band has included a revolving lineup ( not that that is a bad thing ), and has recorded a plethora of classic albums regarded by many as iconic releases.

Even though my favorite LSS album was during Mr. Joe Buck’s tenure of the band ( the album being Cockadoodledon’t ) it was truly a dream come true to hear some of the classic songs from “Hunkerdown” album, with the almost all original lineup. The only member missing was their original drummer.

The four members that were on stage tonight were guitarists  Mr. Nathan Brown, and Mr. Brian Berryman, upright bassist Mr. Todd Anderson and of course Mr. J.D. Wilkes. Now, I will say that ” Back To Paducah” is one of my favorite songs, and it was heavenly to hear it live.

In fact many of these songs I have never heard live in all my time of seeing The Shack Shakers. Songs like “Tickle Yore Innards” were played in classic LSS fury, as Mr. J.D. went all over the place on the stage.

I have gone on the record before proclaiming my admiration for the mind of Mr. J.D.Wilkes, and his own love and respect for tradition and history of music as a whole. Many times his songs on various other sets have inspired me to conduct further study into subjects like that old tinker piano he had.

He holds a special place in Nashville as a local Legend here. I truly enjoy talking with him about the days of old down here, and hearing all of his road dog stories about people. They also went on to play a stellar set at Muddy Roots as well.

This event will always hold a special place in my heart, as a patron and a music fan. I will come down every year I am able to do so, and help this event grow into becoming an almost festival type environment.

Also, I wanted to thank Mr. Josh Koons for running sound for us these last few years out there. It is always a pleasure to see you out there, and to watch you get bigger as well each year. So many people labor ardently each year to help these young ladies run this event.

For me to say that this past year and a half haven’t been a personal struggle for everybody would be an understatement. Along with all of the pandemic crap, and so many personal struggles in my own life, I am finally able to come back to my website in an ardent fashion. It’s taken a long span of time to catch up to everybody, with the proper articulate detail, I enjoy putting into my articles.

One of the many years I went over to Memphis to cover the Ameripolitan Awards, I met up with a fellow named Mr. Nate Rylan. The two of us got to chatting for quite a long period of time, about what we do for music work.

He told me about a Project that he was a part of called Rylan Brooks a Country duo formed a few years back. They had a 2018 album called “Half Wild”, which I checked into and really enjoyed. Over time, neither of them ever forgot me, nor did they ever stop sending emails asking how I was in the most friendly and genuine fashion.

I owe these two men a sincere apology for being so late to the party here, I know many other websites featured their album first. But I promise you people that nobody can capture the detail behind this album, like I will. I had to step back and fight for my sobriety, and then I needed a year off to help my daughter out.

Perhaps it is my almost two year sobriety from heroin, pain pills and alcohol, that assist me in understanding and relating to their song material, or it may be the uncanny fact that they used to be an over the road trucking duo. See, another relatable quality I have is my factory job consumes a LOT of my time as well. Now, What I do at my job is work on the shipping dock. So basically, I load and unload trucks. I have a strong and loving appreciation for drivers and how trucks keep America rolling, along with a love for Country music like theirs that celebrate trucking in their songs.

One of the final reasons I liked this album so much was the way, and the style in which it was recorded. You can easily hear the old time influence in these songs  juxtaposed with a flavor of 90’s Country, with some damn fine two step shuffles and beats reminiscent of folks like Mr. Travis Tritt and others.

This new album was produced here in Nashville by Mr. Dean Miller, and has 10 original songs all penned by the two of them.  This album overall truly does bring me back to the 90s GOOD Country, better than anything I have heard in a long time, along with one of the best 70’s sounding ballads on the title track there.

They also enlisted some of the best studio musicians to help them bring this album to fruition, and after I studied them further,  I found out just WHY they have such a rich 90’s style. Many of the album’s contributors have played or toured with some of the greatest names of that era like the aforementioned Travis Tritt, Mr. Randy Travis and others.

Many of the songs are cleverly crafted, full of double meanings like “One Time Woman” being about a cheating two timing man, wanting a one night stand. Every song on this album compliments one another in a true honky tonk fashion, where many of today’s albums haven’t even a scintilla of.