Well this weekend is the two year anniversary of the Outlaws And Icons festival weekend in Altamont Tennessee and that means it’s my two year anniversary of re-launching my website! That’s right folks I have been at this “job” for five years total but this is my second year on this format.

In that two years I have brought my website to 16 states and have covered hundreds of shows. I have featured many many bands and songwriters and have brought exposure to many new artists and old ones I stumbled upon. I have developed promotional plans for local shows in my weekly article I update that features local venues as well as national acts.

I have literally met thousands of venue owners, booking people, and festival directors and have been blessed enough to be able to promote their shows and make profit off my work without taking ANYTHING from the folks I feature. I THEN TAKE that profit and invest it BACK INTO the music I get it from through door fees, merchandise sales, hotel travel and more. I have handed out hundreds of my popular “road bags” to artists that travel, including toothpaste and soap, shampoo and shave cream for the folks I know travel 365 days a year.

I have been saying this for years to those of you who love local music and the national music that is not over produced or watered down bullshit, if we do not INVEST into that music it will not and CANNOT flourish and grow.
If we do not share it with others and expose others to it..the media sure the hell won’t. Many people will not even know about the great talent that lies within the halls of Nashville and other cities in this great country.

Joshua Morningstar has been a true friend of this website for the entire two years I have been under operation. He’s been featured at over 6 festivals on this website and countless house shows on here. I have been honored to have been part of his life, his sobriety and his growth as an artist.

He played Douglass Corner Lounge last night as many of his heros…hell OUR HEROS have cut their teeth on, and as he opened his set with “Say Goodbye” as a solo act along with “March To The Gallows” he acknowledged his respect for the venue before he went into Billie Gant’s song “The Night That I Shot Rueben Dixon Down”.

He brought Jeremy Pittman along with his awesome looking “Buck It” upright bass, whom you might remember from Crooked Smile Music Festival during my coverage of Husky Burnette. Mr. Jeremy has performed with many local acts like Hank 3 and more!

“Talk To Me Texas” was next before his favorite song Lefty Frizzell sang and wrote with Whitey Shafer “I Never Go around Mirrors”. He then played his cover of Ernest Tubb’s “Drivin Nails In My Coffin” but the song he perofrmed last night that garnished the greatest reaction from the crowd was “As Long As You Ain’t Coming Back”.

His first single form his Little Class Records new release “Motel Madness” was next followed by his usual song he closes ALL sets with the Hank Williams classic “I Saw The Light”.

Sean K Preston HOLY CRAP what a show he was, now I’ll be honest I have heard of this man but I never been near his show. He’s up in the northeastern part of our country and I have heard many many stories of his stage presence and It’s NOT EASY to impress me to the extent that Mr. Sean did.

He was loud and he was rowdy and his set was non stop action, in fact several people told me that if I didn’t give him ONE HELL of a review they would stop following me (Bet you thought I wasn’t listening Mr. Sie?) NO SIR I agree with that statement he absolutely kicked the crap out of the whole festival.

I mean these next three sets just barreled through songs faster than I could write down and take in. I know he opened his set with “Snakeskin Boogie” and his song “Satan” was really good. This man brings an old school Country sound with his own twist to it. I saw his respect for Country Music’s Legends like I have in his set and it made me instantly relate to him and his music.

“The Deal” and “Homeward Bound” were good songs that he played, but perhaps the pinnacle of his set was the fact he included some really obscure music. In case I didn’t mention the fact Jimmy Swope was playing guitar with him and he performed “Golden Chain Of Hate” by Blue Balls Deluxe.

He played “Regret” and “We’re Not In Love” and a few more before leaving us to calm down for Husky. I tell you WHAT GUYS I had no idea he was that insane on stage. He is one hell of a talented guitarist as he and Jimmy Swope traded lead guitar duties on his set, and I was truly enjoying that. What a great bunch of new friends I got to meet!

Husky Burnette I missed his set the last time he was at a different festival and I promised you readers I would SOON catch up with him…well I did.

He absolutely did not disappoint me as a fan, his set kicked complete butt. The first song he did I was so busy admiring his sound I didn’t even notice but his second song was ‘Cooney Hill”. I got to talk him at a different festival this year at the Rusty Knuckles booth and he let me have some info on his new album coming SOON, and as I gather more about it I shall share it with you.

He continued to batter the audience with songs like “Beat And Low Down” and “Skinny Women”. Another song he played that I haven’t heard live before was “Shake Em All Down”. I really enjoyed that song in this set.

He played “Gonna Send You Back To Georgia” and the title track off his latest album “East Side Blues”. Husky closed his set with an old song called “Stagger Lee”. I’ll tell you what like I said in an earlier article the sound in this venue was REALLY LOUD and it was a GREAT place to watch music.

The final act of the festival was none other than Carrie Nation And The Speakeasy. I have saw them perform MANY GREAT sets in 2015 and this set was nothing short of stellar. This multiple piece band from the Kansas area never fails to rock the house!

They opened their set with “Obis” and quickly went into “I Saw Your Daughter”, one of their songs that was included on one of the festival promo CD’s I was sent a few years ago was “Promised Land”. I think that’s one of my favorite songs they play.

After they played “Stop Believin” they played one I haven’t ever heard live before called “Andersonville” which is a cool song about the civil war. It truly sounded awesome in that venue with the acoustics like they were! They went on to play an old Johnny Horton song called “Ole Slewfoot” and then they played “Animosity”. They closed their set this weekend with “Speakeasy Solution” and “Devil On Your Side”.

Honestly folks I will be going back to this festival again in the future, I’m REALLY glad I went. The director Donnie Wymer and the Circle X Staff was very nice to me and the website. The hotel was AWESOME and the area was gorgeous, and I had a truly good time bringing the website to the state of Indiana.

So after a really good night’s rest at the hotel I woke up starving and had a really huge breakfast before heading back to the campgrounds to cover the last day of the festival. The first act I got to cover was my good friends Mr. Eric and Miss Amanda Bestul now known as Lonesome Red And The Blue Strings along with Mr. Ryan Zylka. Now Mr. Eric and Miss Amanda were the band that played with Mr. Owen before we lost him to Hillbilly Heaven and I finally got to catch up with them to see what diabolical scheme they had up their sleeve to carry on that Traditional Country Music I KNOW they both live for.

This is it, THIS is their newest project and I tell you what…it is a GRAND project indeed. I met him for the first time several years ago when he and Mr. Owen played The Slider House, and I got see Mr. Eric show off his ability to play upright guitar and steel at the same time reminiscent of the great Junior Brown.

They played a set of cover songs to give us a feel of their intentions once they release an EP of original material which shall be soon. They began with “Mama Tried” and one of my favorites “Seminole Wind” by John Anderson. By December they should have their EP completed and ready to purchase and I’ll keep close tabs with them to feature it.

They continued with “Good Timing Woman” and the Jamey Johnson song “in Pictures”. Quote of the whole festival was made by Mr. Eric “Hearing people clap for Waylon Jennings makes me happy”! As they continued on to play a Billy Joe Shaver classic “Georgia On a Fast Train” and “Simple Man” they finally hit on another pinnacle in their set I enjoyed.

They played A-11 in the style of Johnny Paycheck…before he took on the Paycheck identity, I’ll give you a short lesson..Donnie Lytle got his stage name from a boxer in Chicago named Johnny Paycheck and in 1964 he legally changed his name to that. Before he did he performed under Donnie Young and wrote “Apartment #9” for Tammy Wynette while he played steel as a Jones Boy for George Jones. A-11 was the first charted hit he had under the moniker of Paycheck and it was later covered by Buck Owens and several more.

They closed their set out with “Fire On The Mountain”, Alan Jackson’s “Buy Me A Mercury” and “Man Of Constant Sorrow”. What a GREAT START to a GREAT festival folks! I was already VERY excited to see more music.

The Piss Poor Players I finally got to cover their set on this website. I have been close several times but never caught the opportunity to get there, they are from the Wisconsin and Michigan area.

Mr. Dustin opened up their set with “You’ll Never Understand” and another song I recognized called “Piss Poor”. Honestly before coming to Crooked Smile I knew very little about this band, and it was really nice to get caught up with them.

As they continued their set with a pretty good song called “Sin Eaters” and another called “Take That Walk” they truly entertained us today as did everyone else. I was getting geared up for more of the new bands I was about to cover and doing two things at once but I did get to hear them play “Watch The Sky” and ‘Stone Sorrow”.

“Cold Dead Fingers” was their next song along with “No Good Until I Die” and they followed that up with my favorite one they play called “Never Gonna Change”. They closed their set out with a song called “reach Out” by the Dad Horse Experience.

Matt Olson whom plays for Filthy Still played a solo set and although I did not catch the first song I did catch ” Real Eye In The Sky” and ‘Motorhead”. I also caught another song he played called “Dinosaur Shit” which wasn’t a bad song, and I thought that was a pretty good set.

Mickey And The Snake Oil Boys were the next band on the roster. They opened their set with a song called “Wedding Bed” and followed it with a song called “Simmah Dahn”.

This is a Pittsburgh based band that I enjoyed before the bands I’d been waiting for the whole weekend. “Saddle Up” and “Who I Am” were two more songs I got to catch along with several other songs before closing their set with “Southern Comfort”.

The last band I caught of the afternoon was called The Drunken Cuddle which was a three piece band from Denver Colorado. Now I didn’t get to catch a lot of their set because I was getting things ready for the last three acts of the festival which I shall touch upon in my last installment of this series.

Their drummer Katie Marie Sternig really breathes a lot of life into the band with her talent on the drums. She’s a firecracker on the stage and the whole band sounded really good I recall a song called “Naked” and another called “New Mexico”. I was visiting with many folks and eating and getting geared up for the next few sets!

Folks allow me to start out by saying I apologize I forgot my camera and my tablet was not charged. I kind of had a fluke happen at work last night, it was my weekend to work and I got to leave early. So I decided to head down to the Music Valley Drive area to attend the Midnite Jamboree, because I haven’t gone in quite some time. It’s not that I don’t want to go, I just have so many irons in the fire it is difficult to physically support them all.

Last night’s turnout was REALLY impressive and I heard good comments and enthusiasm about future shows from patrons. I know that several months ago a few (I call them) “Tabloid Country Music” websites released articles about how doomed the Midnite Jamboree is and even went so far as to make accusations against people. I printed the TRUTH and said I would keep close tabs with what’s going on and last night I gathered quite positive information regarding our beloved program.

Before I talk about the PRESENT STATE of it let’s talk about the FUTURE of it. I have information on some shows coming up in the future for the Jamboree:

OCTOBER 31
TIM ATWOOD
w/Special Guest
Helen Cornelius

NOVEMBER 7
DAVID FRIZZELL

NOVEMBER 14
SYLVIA

NOVEMBER 21
GAIL DAVIES

NOVEMBER 28
HELEN CORNELIUS

DECEMBER 5
RON WILLIAMS

DECEMBER 12
JETT WILLIAMS

DECEMBER 19
JIMMY FORTUNE

DECEMBER 26
NO LIVE MIDNITE JAMBOREE IN TEXAS TROUBADOUR THEATRE
ARCHIVED SHOW WILL BE BROADCAST

MIDNITE JAMBOREE WILL RETURN TO THE TEXAS TROUBADOUR THEATRE ON APRIL 2, 2016

Now I think that I need to stress the continued support of the Ernest Tubb Record Shops is imminent for proliferating the Jamboree and you can also contribute by joining the Midnite Jamboree Association which takes the membership dues and distributes the money directly to Mr. David.

Last night’s show was hosted by Country Legend Leona Williams and emceed by Jennifer Herron. Before the curtain opened they played some Jimmie Rogers music and then the show began.

She opened with her classic song “You’d Be Home By Now”, and I’ll tell you folks she hasn’t lost her sound or her precise vocal form in all these years. She IS STILL a true honest Traditional Country performer with her signature tone and presentation. Her guitar timing lost nothing with age, in fact it is getting better! Her next song was “Nobody’s Darli’n But Mine” which included some really great piano solos from Terry Duncan and some KILLER steel solos from Russ Paul. This truly was an awesome show!

They then took a break to play albums like they usually do and the first album was Jake Penrod “Big Yellow Moon” you can order it HERE.

After playing the ever popular Hank Williams tune “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me” she brought out her first guest. As you know the Jamboree was originally structured to promote younger artists who aren’t getting any exposure from other sources. Parker Pressley came out and sang “He Stopped Loving Her Today”.

The next album that got airplay was a song from Joe Paul Nichols and Amber Digby and the song was called “Someone To Care” which was written by Governor Jimmie Davis and it’s on his album “Friends In High Places”.

Her next song was “Yes M’aam He Found Me In A Honky Tonk”, and another really good one “I Never Go Around Mirrors” which she sang on Whitey Shaffer’s birthday. As you know he wrote that song with Lefty Frizzell and she did a wonderful job singing it.

The next album they featured was Anita Stapleton’s album “A Place In My Heart” before Leona brought out her next guest for the evening, Colleen Gallagher and she sang “Pass Me By If Your’e Only Passing Through” and another song she recorded that Leona Williams wrote called “Bad Girls”.

They then played a song off Tim Atwoods debut album “Buy This Piano A Drink” and she played another song called “Guitar Picking Man” and another George Jones song called “I’m Not Ready Yet”. From her album she recorded of all George Jones songs.

She closed out the show with “I’ll Walk From Dallas” a Jimmie Rogers song and the ever popular Gospel hymn “How Great Thou Art”. So all in all it was truly a wonderful show and I’ll hopefully be able to report MORE positive news to you in the future.

Like I said before folks the future of the Ernest Tubb Record Shops solely depends on US and our patronage of the store. I know…I know the stock is predominantly low and we can change that! Let’s do it, shall we?

Today at Crooked Smile Music Festival I learned about just how The Urban Pioneers came to be, and it’s an interesting tale of nature..that you’ll read about later on in this installment. This portion of my festival coverage will include the headlining acts from the first night.

I was extremely tired from driving and running around but the music kept me going. When I went to bed that night I had 40 hours in very little sleep so when I arrived back at the hotel I had no trouble falling asleep. The first act of this portion is none other than Matthew McKinley or as we call him “Mule”.

He is the upright bass player for Filthy Still (which will be touched on later) and right now he did some solo songs for us. Filthy Still also came up on stage for Carrie Nation And The Speakeasy’s set. He opened his own set with “Hair Of The Dog Blues” and another song called “The Evil”.

His album called “Blood In The Still” is really good and that song was also included in this set later on. He played “Problems” and “By Your Name”. I got some time later on that night to talk with him and he was really nice to everybody, and as he played “Frickin Frackin” `and his album’s title song we all were getting ready to be blown away by the rest of the acts of the first night of music. He closed his set with a song called “Mustache Ride”.

Smokestack Relics were next and they describe themselves as “Dirty Swamp Rock” on their website. They opened their set with “61 And 49” and as they played their entire set I went merchandise shopping and was working on the WordPress prep for the final shows of the night. I got to see the Relics play “God Damn My Soul” and a few others.

I finally got to cover Farmaggedon Records artist Jimmy Swope. His album “The Wages Of Sin” is one that labels finest releases to date in my opinion. And I got to spend quite some time with him and his wife. VERY nice folks indeed.

He began his set with “This Old Town” and with the folks he had on stage backing him it sounded really good, I enjoyed his set. He then went into “Dust Train” and my favorite song he does “5 Chambers Empty”. One of the first places I heard about him was Mr. Owen Mays who was honored with a tribute before we all went on our ways Sunday, and also I listened to this song on the Farmaggedon Festival CD sampler that Mr. Darren mailed me.

“By Myself” and “Drifter” were both next and as he went through a couple more songs he went into “The Crack Whore Song” and ended his set with “Tip Jar”. I’ll tell you folks if you do not have his album, shame on you. It is truly one of my favorite albums in my rotation as of now. I strongly urge you to go check him out live when he comes to your area.

Before the Urban Pioneers took the stage this night our buddy Dave Congrove got up on stage and explained JUST WHERE they came from and I even learned what happened to Mr. Keith’s sleeves! I mean all this time I had NO IDEA Miss Liz got sucked up in any F5, I thought she met Mr. Jared in Bob Wayne’s band? That had to be the most inventive and clever story I ever heard!

When they began to play they opened with “Ain’t Gonna Work” and “Something That’s Never Been Done”. In fact right now I am listening to them on vinyl and I’m amazed at how beautiful they sound on my record player. I was honored to review their new album first and I can never say enough good about them. Not only are they talented people they are some of the best friends you’ll ever meet. I have been around them for many many years and saw them many times and every time they just grow and get better.

“Apparition In The Fog” was next, and that’s one of my favorite songs they play. I LOVE Miss Liz’s fiddle solos on that song, and it’s well written in the lyrics. I’m telling you folks these three ARE the real deal. In her vintage clothes and Mr. Jared’s claw banjo style, they are one of the bands in this group of music that is growing and consistently releases quality songs.

“Please Give Me A Highway” was next and they followed that with some NEW songs that I’ll contact them and ask if I can write about in some future articles I have planned for them.

They just blasted the place with “Chocolate Easter Bunny” from their new album on Muddy Roots Records, and followed that up with “Liz’s Reel” another of my favorites. And how fitting they should play “Autumn Time” cause it’s time to chop up some carrots and celery for stew right now! And they closed their set with “Just Over The Horizon”.

This is always a sure bet to be one of the BEST sets of ANY festival, and trust me I have watched them at MANY different festivals all over the country. And as soon as their new album is pressed on vinyl I’m buying it! And like I previously said I’ll be reporting on their new songs when I can.

Filthy Still was the last act of the night, and by now I was pretty darn worn out. I had been up for almost 45 hours but I was so excited to see these guys tear it up I didn’t care. They played a GREAT SET this night which began with “Tijuana Mexico”…don’t drink the water!

Their next song was “Tomorrow, Today and Yesterday” and they played one called “Nothing’s Ever Burned Quite Like You”. The next bunch of songs were just completely awesome and had every one of us completely pumped as they steamrolled into “Lord I Do When I Don’t Try” and “Work With What You Got” it was evident they came to kick our asses.

“Dance All Night” was followed by “Smoking Crack With Jesus” ummm yeah they can hammer you with songs like “Everybody’s Sinning But Me” and “Another Bottle”. I have featured them before in previous festival coverage but this was indeed a longer set than I have ever seen them play. “Bigfoot Bones” and “Dirty And Low” were next and their last song was called “Shitty City”.

I truly was having a good time but I was completely wore out, in fact I slept nine hours that night. That hotel bed wasn’t bad at all, and I felt like that F5 grabbed me and tossed me around. But I’ll leave that for the Pioneers.

I left for the festival around 5 AM Friday morning after a short nap, I could not sleep from the anticipation and the wonder in my mind of adventures and new places to see. I have never been east of Indianapolis or west of Cincinnati before, nor have I ever brought the website to Indiana before. It was time to change all those facts.

I took my time coming up to the festival stopping for tourist items like all my football stuff I like. I like ALL the teams so I had to buy some Colts stuff and some Skyline Chili, yum. Well I forgot about the one hour time difference so I arrived at the Randoplh Inn And Suites around 1PM which was noon for me. Now the staff member on the phone said for my needs the budget building was good and IT WAS, VERY clean and although it was small, the location was GREAT. The distance to the ranch was minimal and the pool was indoor and nice, the free breakfast was also nice.

I got settled in and unpacked and got all my resource books ready to cover some music and network with people. I had no idea what I was dealing with all I knew were what bands I was featuring and some of the folks that were there. Across the street was a really good Mexican place that had really good tacos, I ate there Saturday.

I arrived at the Circle X Ranch around 4 and was greeted by the ticket desk staff whom were Facebook friends that I haven’t yet met. HERE is the Circle X Ranch Facebook page. Mr. Donnie came out to greet me and I began to look around the clubhouse where the music was going to take place.

This started out as an outdoor festival and this past spring it got moved indoors, the way the clubhouse is structured the sound is TRULY LOUD and perfect. Ken Bucci was working on running the sound for this event. He did a REALLY good job too, it’s been a long time since I have seen him and many others working here. There were tables so that gave me adequate space to work and write, as the venue didn’t have Wi Fi. I was using off line WordPress and books to do this..no big deal.

The food was basic but good and VERY affordable. In fact the whole darn trip was inexpensive and I would suggest this festival to anybody that is on a tight budget. For what I spent I was able to spend more on band merchandise and that pleased me, I finally got some good vinyls I been wanting for months.

The very first act was an acoustic act from the local area Nick Gibbs. At this point many people were still setting up camp and arriving to town but not me. I was ready to enjoy some music and learn some new bands!

Eric And Amanda Bestul who played in the band with Owen Mays before he passed away played us an amazing set before the next act. They played a song he said his son named “Uh Oh Tractor”.

The next act was Mr. Donnie’s daughter Mallory Wymer who does some singing and recorded an album not long ago with some help from artists like Jayke Orvis and Liz Sloan.
She played “these Boots Were Made for Walking” originally recorded in the late 1960’s by Nancy Sinatra. Her next song was called “Look Out Mama” which was originally recorded by Hurray For The Riff Raff and is the title track from one of their albums.

Her next song “Valerie” was I believe an Amy Winehouse song, I never really was a fan of Winehouse’s music but I did respect her musical abilities. Her last song was a Traditional song we all have heard for timeless generations called “Welcome Table” which she sang A Cappella.

Mr. Eric Bestul and Miss Amanda Bestul played some songs before the next act like “Nine Pound Hammer” which Joe Maphis is known for playing with Merle Travis and O’l “Flying Fingers” Larry Collins. I got to meet Mr. Larry this past spring at a different festival, and got to thank him for his contributions to Country Music.

They played several sets throughout the weekend and in another article I’ll be telling you some REALLY GOOD information about their new project they have going. But in the meantime they played a few songs like “Sleepwalk” and “Rockin Gypsy”. However I’ll be telling you more about these two fine people in future installments of this series, there will be four pieces.

Now then the next act was one I have never covered on this website and sadly his band couldn’t make it and he played alone BUT dang it I’m telling you it was STILL GREAT. The album they have is really good, and the next band I witnessed was called Joe’s Truck Stop and during my research I was heavily anticipating this band.

He started out with some fiddle tunes called “Hell’s Broke Loose In Georgia” and “Sail Away Ladies” before going into a really energetic song called “Run Johnny Run”. That song is about John Robert Boone who was the largest crop of pot in the state of Kentucky, and vanished quickly as the authorities closed in on him. It was reported he had over 2,000 active plants.

He then played a song called “Good Old American Guest” that Merle Haggard wrote and released on the album “Big City”. That song was followed by a slower song called “One More Night”, which featured his talented guitar playing. Even as a solo performer he truly entertained me and I enjoyed his songs. He played a Bill Monroe song called “With Body And Soul” and followed that with “Lonesome Midnight Blues” with Liz Sloan on fiddle.

Another really good song off the album that he closed his set with was called “Kindness” and it is my favorite song on the whole album..It’s one of the best songs on the album. He brought up Mr. Jared McGovern on banjo along with Miss Liz, which was truly a great closing number along with another song I did not catch.

Duane Mark was up next who is primarily out on the west coast and played for us with his steel guitarist “Homeless Dave”. I missed a small portion of his set to eat some lunch and had to take care of some business on the phone and stepped outside, however I did get to catch him doing “Miner’s Blues”.

I also got to catch him introduce Mr. David Mills as “Homeless Dave” and tell some stories about how they met as they went into a song called “Hobo Insane” and “I’ll Fly Away”. He closed his set with a song called “Red Letter” which is off his new album. I was kind of bummed I missed some of his set and will try to catch him again sometime soon.

Josh Morningstar my good friend from Maryland who burns up the roads and does pretty much every festival I can think of was next. His new album “Songs For fools With Broken Hearts” on Little Class Records was one of my favorites in 2015 and he opened his set with “Say Goodbye”.

His set included one of my personal favorite songs called “March To The Gallows” as well, you know folks to be honest I believe I have covered my buddy Joshua more than just about anyone on here. We have a personal connection and I give him so much love for a personal reason. This man works his ass off and travels like crazy to play all over the country, and I want him to achieve every dream he has.

‘Brand New Angel” was next which was one of his first big single releases after we first met in Altamont at another festival. I’ll never forget the first set I ever saw him perform..hell..I can tell you the whole setlist that he may not even have remembered. He does that many shows!

At this point he had the whole place going nuts as he pummeled his kick drums and stomped on the stage along with his cover of “In The Pines” before going into “Motel Madness” off his latest album. And he closed his set with a timeless hymn “I Saw The light” by Hank Williams. He often closes with that song and that’s not really a bad thing, the night wasn’t close to being over either. Heck we still had a few good acts left, and at this point I had been up 36 hours.

Well you have heard me speak of Muddy Roots many times, last week they made a huge announcement. Now I just finished my coverage of their main festival in Cookeville and I am doing prep work for next year’s Nashville Boogie which you will hear about soon. And as always I shall help them promote the Spring Weekender in Indiana.

But just recently the CEO of Muddy Roots, Jason Galaz announced that he has been booking shows for the Nashville Palace. He remained quiet about this project for a little while as he is booking for the main festival and promoting other things. He is working VERY HARD to bring real music to town, I’ll be covering one of the shows and in fact, I’ll be celebrating my birthday at this show!

On December 12th Muddy Roots and The Nashville Palace presents The Riders In The Sky as they perform Christmas The Cowboy Way. Folks this will be the classic lineup of Woody Paul, Too Slim, Ranger Doug Green and Joey Mesculin.

These four goofballs will be performing their trail songs and western comedy routines for us all evening, along with some classic Christmas songs in their true classic western fashion. These guys have been Opry favorites for many many years and have pretty much had a big role in my raising from youth.

Now the next week to follow at the Nashville Palace another show will follow. This one will feature Del McCoury Band and The Tillers. You can purchase tickets for THIS event HERE.

BOTH of these acts performed really good sets this past year at the Muddy Roots main festival and I’ll tell you what The Tillers released their new album “Hand On The Plow” off Muddy Roots Records label, and their song ‘Willy Dear” is one of the most well written songs I have heard in some time now.

So JOIN ME on my birthday (which is officially on November 29th) celebration at the Nashville Palace with Riders In The Sky!

You know folks last night I was finishing up my Muddy Roots coverage and I received an email from a reader and they had a truly good point. It was quite diplomatic and helped me to understand something…I made a terrible mistake and I’m not perfect. I got so wrapped up into the music and the bands that played I failed to mention some of the other people that helped make Muddy Roots possible and such a worthwhile festival. The whole day I dwelled upon this subject and I must honestly say I had no intention of insulting anyone nor did I do it on purpose, but I believe I made a mistake and for that I apologize to everyone involved. I know it was after the fact and I didn’t realize it on my own and I cannot go back and change that.

It’s actually helpful to have someone kick you in the butt once in a while and when you do this kind of work you need to be able to scold and criticize yourself to help yourself become better. And I forgot to mention some people that have always been very nice to me. I did mention Cracker Swamp Productions but not in the fashion they deserve for what they do.

Those folks got down to the festival two days early to set up and to help get the festival grounds ready for us to enjoy. I remember when Muddy Roots released Hard Soil the film about Roots Music, Nix drove down here from Michigan to support the film and drove back home the same damn night!

They helped make possible the Nashville Boogie and did a great job booking the Cracker Swamp Stage, and you can read my coverage of Lou Shields HERE along with Joshua Morningstar. I also covered the County Graves (who I wish was staying together) because they truly did a wonderful set.

I forgot my pal Ronnie Reels that runs Reelsound Productions this man works MAGIC on stage 1..I mean if it weren’t for him my TOP 3 acts would have not sounded so damn good. He works HARD at what he does and is always on top of things up there, and even let my good buddy A.J. Hancock from Diamondback Stringworks visit in the tower with him. Mr. Ronnie runs the sound at the Nashville Boogie and more! I mean the man works for Iron Maiden how baddassed is that?

Sugarlands Distilling Company provided the artists with an air conditioned tent that weekend because I’m telling you it WAS HOT! Nice folks out there that helped put on this festival as well.

The heart of the matter is pretty much not that I am just trying to be a part of any scene or look cool, I’m just a simple ordinary music fan with a nickel and dime website for a hobby. It’s NOT intended to push anything or anyone in a political fashion but I made an error and this was the only way I could attempt to rectify the situation. Simply because I care enough to try, that’s all I can say and all I can ask of myself.

The remainder of the whole festival was spent by me on the wood stage, and I remained in my chair and never moved the rest of the night. I was pretty wore out but man I had a wonderful time, the heat was really wearing on me. It was INCREDIBLY HOT them three days with some times of relief and it was cooling off nicely on Sunday night for the powerhouse Bluegrass Legends to follow, heck I should hope I wouldn’t even need to place links on their names…

None other than Dr. Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys were first up for the main acts, as of course they opened with “Man Of Constant Sorrow” which is a song that dates back to 1913, or older. It was originally called “The Farewell Song” possibly wrote by a partially blind fiddle player named Dick Burnett. I have spent many months researching to find out WHO TRULY wrote this song and have not gotten a final answer, even my CMA resources confirm it is indeed public domain. However the Stanley Brothers recorded the song in 1950 and the public grew interest in the song when Dan Tyminski and Union Station recorded it under the guise of the “Soggy Bottom Boys” in the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”. This film was loosely based on “The Odyssey” By Homer.

He followed that by “Little Maggie” and I’ll tell you what for being such an elderly man he was in really good shape for the festival, although I did hear he recently fell and injured his hip. He was ushered onto the stage to perform but he has the form and poise of exactly what he is…A LEGEND that is deeply forged into our hearts.

“Worried Man’s Blues” was next EVERY SONG in his set was an absolute timeless classic before he introduced us all to his grandson Nathan Stanley who sang us a truly heartfelt song called “Papaw I Love You” off his “Legacy” album. I bought it it’s truly good you MUST BUY IT!

Next came an instrumental song that lies within the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C and it is called the “Clinch Mountain Back Step”. They followed that with such classics as “Pretty Polly” and “Rank Stranger” and the rowdy fast paced song “Lost All My Money But A 2 Dollar Bill”.

The Clinch Mountain Boys played some songs called “Lee Highway Blues” and “Old Country Church” before the defining pinnacle of a Ralph Stanley set and when he delivers this recitation…you can hear your blood flowing. I never ever heard the Muddy Roots field this quiet before in the 6 years I have been coming there….EVER. He stood up there steadfast and recited “O Death”…TWICE. He performed it for us twice in a row and the crowd couldn’t get enough of it, in fact this was perhaps the largest group of people I ever saw at the wood stage tonight.

His encore (of course) was “Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone”. Folks I’m glad I was sitting down cause I had rubber legs and goosebumps on my back. There was NOT a dry eye in the house.

Bluegrass Legend Ricky Skaggs has contributed more to Country Music and Bluegrass than anybody I can think of at his age or placement in his career. He attempted to break into Country Music for a short time but returned to his Bluegrass roots and acquiring more success there. After all, Ricky Skaggs began playing Bluegrass at an early age of 7 when he was seen playing with Flatt And Scruggs. He is also more known for forming an early Bluegrass partnership with Keith Whitley who died in 1989 at an early age.

His first song of his set was called “Ridi’n On That Midnight Train” and was featured on Kentucky Thunder’s first album Bluegrass Rules. Even though they didn’t play my favorite song off their album Ancient Tones called “How Mountain Girls Can Love”, this was STILL a totally awesome set altogether.

“Selfish Heart” was next and he and his top notch band went on into “Pig In A Pen” which is always a good toe tapping fast paced barrel ride. I song I have never heard live was called “Toy Heart” and that song is off his “Fathers Of Bluegrass” album and he also played “Mother’s Only Sleeping” which was good.

The next song was AWESOME choice off his “History Of The Future” album called “Sawing On The Strings”, that’s always a really good banjo picking song he does. The last time I saw them on the Opry they played that song. He began playing some newer songs off his newer albums from 2012 and so forth like “Blue Night” and “Tennessee Stud”.

“Can’t Shake Jesus” was next VERY good inspirational song he does, along with “The Kentucky Waltz”. Before I headed back to the merch area to get a picture with him I heard him playing “Black Eyed Suzie” from his first album. I had to head back and buy some albums and such. Thankfully I parked close enough to the main aisle so I could keep going back to the truck and dropping off every load of merch I was buying…WOW.

The last final act I attended at Muddy Roots was the Legend himself Del McCoury and the Del McCoury Band. He really is a good entertainer as he jokes and talks to the audience between the songs, and I was going up to the main stage after spending some time in the tent with Ricky Skaggs. I missed the first song he began with but the second song was ‘Bluest Man In Town”.

After going into an instrumental song he went into “Hand On My Heart” and followed that by “Nashville Cats”. Then the fiddle player went into a really great instrumental and the band came back to play “You Win Again” by Hank Williams.

One of my favorite songs of the set was “Blackjack County Chains”, man what a great song. Well written and well played. “Lights On The Hill” was next and “Train Wreck”. There was still a pretty good sized crowd out there for this set, and I tell you what “Race Horse” was a truly good choice to place in this set. “Snake In The House” was one the crowd hollared out for them to play.

My second best song they play was next “Vincent Black Lightning” and “Smoking Gun” had this crowd going crazy and was probably the best part of the set as I heard him finish up with “High On The Mountain”. That pretty much summed up my last night at the festival, the heat had worn me out for the four days I spent out there but I tell you what..out of ALL the festivals I go to and cover Muddy Roots main festival is my PERSONAL FAVORITE ONE of them all. And honestly I don’t see much changing that!

I want to thank Mr. Jason and Mr. Chris for always going out of their way to accommodate me and everyone else. On behalf of my website and myself as a fan, I’d like to thank them for the music..and making it feel like home.

Well folks It’s time once again to tell you about The Duck Creek Fall Fest in the Ohio area of the Hocking Hills. This festival is currently in It’s fourth year and is rapidly growing and right now I’m not even sure if weekend passes are still available. I got my eyes on this festival for 2016 and I’m not totally sure if I can make it or not, but I want to tell you about this one because I SURE AS HELL support it.

Duck Creek is located just 40 minutes south of Columbus in the Hocking Hills Region of Ohio. 28508 Murphy Rd. Logan, Ohio 43138. This particular festival has a “party Zone” and a “Quiet Zone” where you can camp and enjoy both whichever you choose, it also offers a 30 dollar NO camping option along with a 40 dollar camping included and 70 for the weekend pass. You can purchase tickets for this event HERE.

There are SEVERAL THINGS about this festival I want to touch on:
1. There is NO ice for sale and NO alcohol sold there. You MAY bring your own but bring what you need!
2. NO GLASS ALLOWED..that includes mason jars.
3. NO golf carts allowed.

Every other rule is just plain common sense..please don’t be rude here or ANY OTHER FESTIVAL.

Henhouse Prowlers
The Hocking River String Band
The Brummy Brothers
The Repeating Arms
The Mamadrones
The Whiskey Bent Valley Boys
The Goldsberrys

IF WE DON’T SIN THAN JESUS DIED FOR NOTHING is what my good buddy Squirrel form the first band of Sunday declared! They talked about dunking a lot of people through their always awesome set at Muddy Roots. The Glade City Rounders have been featured on here before and here they are again! You know last year they amazed me because they brought out my inner geek by playing a song by Ambrose Gaines Stuart, or “Uncle Am” as they called him. Some of the most well renowned and nostalgic music from the EARLY 1900’s the likes of Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner.

So they opened with “Leaving Home” and went into “The Grey Eagle” which is the aforementioned Uncle Am song. In fact quite a few performers today really impressed me like Dom Flemons who I’ll cover in just a few minutes..this time the Rounders played a Gus Cannon song too. I have indeed delved into Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers from the 1920’s and 30’s Blues banjo music for a few months years back, and I really enjoyed their version of “Viola Lee Blues”. In fact in the 1920’s he recorded for Paramount as “Banjo Joe”, see there was MUCH MORE black performers within Country Music before Charley Pride (not that Charley isn’t anything short of an Icon to me).

I LOVE these guys because they leave me wondering WHAT they will pull off next to amaze me. I LOVE ANYTHING Pre-1930’s and I LOVE to learn or be triggered to delve into someone. “Georgia Crawl” was next and through all the jokes and comedy these guys entertain you much like Riders In The Sky or Mike Snyder. It’s just plain fun and it’s FUNNY, it’s just down home simple humor everyone can listen to. The played “Whoa Mule” before the Gus Cannon song and went into “Fly Around” and an Uncle Dave Macon song.

Honestly in my opinion Hank Williams was the first COMMERCIAL superstar Country Music ever had, but the first superstar was Uncle Dave Macon. Even Roy Acuff would agree with me having come to the Opry in 1939 like he did. there is just SO MUCH to delve into form that era like Uncle Jimmy Thompson and Deford Bailey another famous black star. The Uncle Dave Macon song they did was “Don’t Get Weary Children” and they closed their set with “They’re After Me” and “In The Jailhouse Now”. I got a FULL BOOK chocked with stories for you folks as this was the Bluegrass day at Muddy Roots and Mr. Jason outdid himself on this one.

I stopped over to see the County Graves who were on Little Class Records and I’m sad to say they are no longer a band but their set was indeed awesome! I missed their first song but I caught their second song “Sometimes They All Call Back” and their next song was “Arkansas”.

The tent was pretty darn packed for this set and I sat in the back for the duration of this one so I didn’t get to see very well but they JAMMED the place really hard core, as they tore into a song called “Hellfire Victory”. They went into a song called ‘Illinois Blues” and another good song called “Williamson” before closing their set with some old time gospel songs mixed together “I Saw The Light” and “I’ll Fly Away”. Man what a good set they did it’s a real bad shame they are no longer together but you never know what time will ever bring.

Dom Flemons is a former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops who I first found out about on the Marty Stuart Show a few years back. This man KNOWS his history and he PROVES it in his set, I’ll tell you what today’s acts ALL amazed me to a high level of geek as they inspired me to further learn things for myself.

His first song was “Have I Stayed Away Too Long” and another song off his album called “Hot Chicken”. He played “Polly Put The Kettle On” before going into a Roy Acuff tune called “Lonesome Old River Blues”. I LOVED Roy Acuff and I’m truly sad I didn’t get to meet him in person before he died, but I have gotten to talk with June Stearns who sang with his Smokey Mountain Boys”

Then he brought out “Big Head Joe” which was a HUGE banjo fitting for the Muddy Roots HUGE banjo we all enjoy taking our pictures by. He played a song called “Milwaukee Blues” now this song was one I learned about, I learned about Charlie Poole who died in 1931 at only 39. Many regard him and the North Carolina Ramblers as the Godfathers of Stringbands although they only recorded from 1925 to 1930. Although Charlie didn’t actually write the song his rendition of it was one of the best ever done.

“I Can’t Do It Anymore” and the really cool song “But They Got It Fixed” were the closing songs before he played “Keep On Truck’n for his last song. He left me wanting to rush home and start learning about all these songs and people he talked about. Some of them I knew and some of them I didn’t, and I will SURELY be going to see this man again!

Before I finish my final portion of Muddy Roots coverage with the big three powerhouses of Bluegrass Music the big stage was filling up with droves of people FAST. It was one of biggest daily attendances I ever witnessed at a Muddy Roots Festival of all the years they have occurred in my opinion. I’m not quite sure what the sales were (I don’t ask the directors that stuff) but I tell you what…it was jammed up pretty hard. But, before I cover those three let me tell you about underground Legends Cincinnati’s own The Tillers.

They are on tour right now with J.D. Wilkes from the Shack Shakers and they are touring along the Ohio River, running all the way to J.D.’s home turf of Paducah Kentucky. This from their website:

We are proud to announce our next great adventure. The Tillers will be back on tour this fall, spanning the length of the entire Ohio River. “The Great Ohio River Tour” will feature JD Wilkes of the Legendary Shack Shakers, and will storm cities from the river’s northern source in Pittsburgh to Paducah near its southern terminus, October 15-23. We will meander along river roads, bringing our trademark stomp and holler to small towns, big cities, and various refuse along the way. It’s a tribute to the tributary that birthed our hometowns. Hear us pay it back in song. Let the great river rumble!

-The Great Ohio River Tour-

10/15- Pittsburgh PA / Thunderbird Cafe

10/16- Pomeroy OH / Court Street Grill

10/17- Huntington WV / Heritage Station

10/18- Newport KY / Southgate House Revival

10/20- Madison IN / Red Bicycle Hall

10/21- Louisville KY / The New Vintage

10/22- Owensboro KY / International Bluegrass Music Museum

10/23- Paducah KY / Maiden Alley Cinema

I’m having to skip this tour to attend a festival in Indiana so I will not be able to hit any of their shows but this IS a tour NOT to be missed if you can go GO!

They opened this second set (I covered them during the pre-party) with my favorite song they have EVER done “Willy Dear”. This song is so well written I’d say it’s one of my favorite songs in the last ten years of ANY genre and they followed that song with “Migrant’s Lament”.

“I’ll Be Calling” was another really good song as I can tell they changed their set list around to be a little bit different from Thursday’s set and that was an awesome thing to me. I truly enjoy their music and their album “Live At The Southgate House” is a classic album in my opinion.

“Georgia Street Beat” was one I noticed both sets form both nights and they played “Shanty Boat”. Both were truly good choices. They played my other favorite song called “Old West Side” and closed with “We Shall Be Reunited”. So sit tight folks because my final portion contains three Bluegrass Legends that you don’t see combined on the same stage too often! O DEATH IS NEXT PEOPLE!!!!!!

OK Folks right now I am currently in the process of finishing my coverage for another festival and I have decided to travel up to Winchester Indiana to cover Crooked Smile Music Festival Crooked Smile Music Festival, so in two weeks I shall embark into territories I have never been. In the spring I promised you readers I’ll be covering some NEW ones and I chose this one for many reasons.

This festival will take place October 16th and 17th at the Circle X Ranch once again this is in Winchester Indiana. I’ll be providing you with a lineup and some local information, and upon talking with the director of this festival because the ranch is a non-profit organization there are NO vendors. The link to purchase tickets is up HERE.

So let’s look at the lineup you’ll see this weekend and REMEMBER to tell them I sent you if you learned about this one form me ok?

WYMER DESIGN & PROMOTIONS PRESENTS:

CROOKED SMILE FALL FEST 2015

20 Bands * FREE Tent Camping * All Ages Welcome * BYOB is OK

Weekend Pass $50 adult… $60 at gate

Kids under 13 $20… $30 at gate

Only 120 total tickets will be made available
RAIN OR SHINE!

LINEUP:

Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy

Husky Burnette

Filthy Still

Urban Pioneers

Jimmy Swope

Sean K Preston

Smokestack Relics

The Drunken Cuddle

Duane Mark

The Piss Poor Players

Joe’s Truck Stop

Matthew Mule McKinley

P.G. Allin

Matt Olson

Achilles Tenderloin

Mickey And The SOB’S

Joshua Morningstar

Mallory Wymer

Lonesome Red and the Blue Strings

Nick Gibbs

Plus an All Star tribute to Owen Mays

I’ll be staying at a local hotel Randolph Inn And Suites directed to me by the director of the festival. VERY reasonable rates and this whole trip will be affordable. Right now there are promo codes for the remaining 30 tickets that are left so get YOURS NOW! And I’ll see you there.

Hey folks I’ll be honest I have covered Ray Wylie Hubbard before but he REALLY slayed Muddy Roots tonight. HE WINS my number two spot. AFTER his set was another Country Music Legend I covered last year Bobby Bare, and he won my third place for the whole festival! So before day three even happened my personal favorite sets were already sunk into my mind. Now DON’T THINK for ONE moment I have no love for the three Bluegrass giants to come…no no no. But honestly I myself personally enjoyed the 70’s honky tonk era of Country Music the best and like I said it’s JUST my opinion and it’s not meant to take greatness away from Dr. Ralph Stanly or the others. But FIRST a few MORE acts I got to see before the two best sets I saw this weekend.

Now this portion of day 2 includes a gal I have been wanting to cover for some time now Margo Price. She is an upcoming Country Music POWERHOUSE, having been the former front woman for the band Buffalo Clover before venturing out on her own. Now she has lined up a STELLAR band that she has billed “The Price Tags” and has slammed Nashville with some traditional Country Music that is more country than anything I have heard in months.

Jack White has announced that in spring of 2016 Third Man Records will release her debut album “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter”. And from what I have heard at Muddy Roots THIS album has most likely already earned a top spot on my albums of the year before it even launches A FIRST for my website!

She opened her set with “This Town Gets Around” and almost right away I witnessed some of the greatest songwriting and lyric placement this whole festival..heck I was so captivated by her first song and taking so many notes I missed what her second song was. She continued her set with “Weekender” and then her BEST song yet called “Since You Put Me Down”, which was her most well written song yet, combined with whiskey drenched vocals the likes of which this generation lacks in it’s “country music” today.

The last two songs of her set I recalled were “Don’t Say It” and “Heartaches And Hangovers”. I’m telling you she is REALLY up and coming in REAL Country Music and I’m sure she will be featured at this festival again and many other places….like this website.

Now folks I had to meander down to my friends campsite to catch some supper as I was getting very hungry and I listened to the great Chuck Mead play his set on stage 1. As I sat and ate I got to hear him play some really cool hits from his tenure with BR5-49 like “Little Ramona” which was my favorite from their first album.

He touched on many others that were recorded only on live albums like the underground classic “Live From Robert’s” like the song “Me And Opie Down By The Duck Pond”, and the song called “Waiting For The Axe To Fall” was included in one of their live albums. Lately they have been releasing more live albums from their glory days of the original lineup, and have had a few rare resurfaces.

The last song I recalled from his set was “Eighteen Wheels And A Crowbar” from their second album and also this was a staple song during their Robert’s sets. They were known for their multi hour sets on lower broad for tips and donations. When I recall Split Lip Rayfield coming from Bloodshot Records I recall these guys coming from Lower Broad.

Now as I made my way back up to another stage to feature more music for this coverage I passed the tent stage to listen to Joseph Huber’s set. I have featured him many times on here and I often described his music as my “Feel Good Music”. I just love his voice and the way he sings his songs and delivers his lyrics.

I got to catch “Same River For The Second Time” as his show was PACKED, this man drew quite a big crowd in that tent and I always agree with why. I myself really love his music solo even though I enjoy his former band as well. And as I got to listen to “Drop In The Bucket” I sat there and enjoyed his presence.

I did get to greet him and buy some stuff from him and the last song I heard from him was “Hanging Road” the title track from his new album on Muddy Roots Records.

I made it to the main Ol’ Wood Stage to see a true Country Music Legend “Ramblin” Jack Elliott. Now I have seen many many Legends in my time but none as revered as him by Country music and Folk Music historians alike..and many others as well. He was actually born Elliot Charles Adnopoz in the 1930’s from New York, and has influenced many genres of music.

I missed the first portion of his set for others but when I arrived and set up my chair and books he was playing “Don’t Think Twice” while simply seated on a folding chair and holding his acoustic guitar. Simple and basic was the best description of his set this night and he told stories of his life on the road with fellow Legends in a very slow and basic form. I mean there were so many instances and scenarios he touched on and one could tell, he was there. In my opinion he was just as fantastic as Billy Don Burns and many other Legends that lived this life.

“Salt Pork West Virginia” was next and followed by “If I Were A Carpenter” and “Cuckoo”. Like I said none of these songs have I ever heard live and in person in my life, for me this was indeed a rare life happening for me. To see this many Legends performing on the same weekend bill was just absolutely GEEK CENTRAL for many people like me interested in Country Music.

“Waiting For A Train” was next and he closed his set with “Talking Sailor” and he was later brought out to join the next Legend that played after him and that man was none other than Bluegrass Legend Peter Rowan.

Peter Rowan’s contributions to music in general date back to the 1960’s where he played with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and for a year he played for Bill Monroe before forming bands like Old And In The Way which included Vassar Clements. He contributed many songs that were recorded by New Riders Of The Purple Sage” which I will mention next.

He opened his set with “Moonshiner” and “Walls Of Time”..and went right into one of his songs the Purple Sage recorded called “Panama Red”. It is one of his most well known songs of his tenure in many genres of music and that was followed by “Midnight Moonlight”.

Many of Peter Rowan’s songs have been performed by people like Emmy Lou Harris and Gillian Welch on some of the most prestigious stages and venues across every genre of music and he is also highly loved and admired by people like me. I was just absolutely in awe of his presence there, and he was in awe of the festival and of our admiration for him in return. His comment to my knowledge of his music was “Remarkable for a young man like this”….

He went on to play a few more before he got to my favorite song he does “Dust Bowl Children” and like I mentioned before he played “Walls Of Time”. Both songs have certainly stood the true test of time and are remarkable timeless classics loved by many. He began to close his set with “Land Of The Navajo” and he brought out Ramblin Jack Elliott to play “Mule Skinner’s Blues” with him. That in itself was something you will ONLY SEE at Muddy Roots, timeless memories I have written in my brain and now I’m sharing them with those who will take the time to read them.

The second place of BEST SET goes to none other than Ray Wylie Hubbard with one of the most blatantly loud and rowdy sets I have ever seen him play before. He just got up there and tore the field apart with his unique sound and tone and slammed right into “Rabbit” for an opener.

Now then folks I would have bet money on him playing the song “Snake Farm” last..but NO he played it next and got the WHOLE crowd going completely bonkers! His dirty blues soaked anthem of his whole set got the crowd yelling SNAKE FARM….yeah it sounds kinda dirty…SNAKE FARM…yeah it pretty much is….

As he played “Drunken Poet’s Dream” the crowd was still riled up from two songs ago before he fired off the other barrel of his weapon. He then played “Down Home Country Blues” and “Train Yard Blues” and a few more before going rocket fast into “Mother Blues” and then proceeded to play his version of “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother” which was played twice by two different acts that followed each other. The other being my third place winner Bobby Bare who was next.

But first he went into random ramblings and stories about road life while the beat and guitar was still red hot slinging out fast paced music as he went into “Choctaw Bingo” that being my other favorite song he does. He left the crowd wanting more and came out for an encore “Conversation With The Devil” before leaving the place in shambles…The show never stopped and it was like a fast paced train ride through hell itself, he stands there and waves his arms while raising cain about life’s struggles and then just burns up the song!

Finally for me this day was ended with my third place winner Bobby Bare who in my opinion was one of the first true Outlaw Country Singers that went against the grain and developed his own style. He performed a longer set this year with more variety than last year and some rare songs you don’t usually hear him play during live sets.

He opened his set with “Ride Me Down Easy” a popular Billy Joe Shaver song, and went right into “Tequila Sheila”. Most of Bobby Bare’s commercially successful hits are from the 70’s Honky Tonk era. He then went into more classic hits from his catalog like “Winner” and “Streets of Baltimore”.

A bunch of Bobby’s hit songs were wrote by the Legend himself Shel Silverstein, in fact he often recorded whole albums wrote by Shel. Many Country Music Legends had writers that provided much of their signature material like Bob McDill did for Don Williams and Bill Anderson did for Connie Smith. He recorded an entire album of Shel’s songs with Mel Tillis, Waylon and Jerry Reed called “Old Dogs” and he played “Still Gonna Die” from that one.

He continued with Classic that everyone knows like “Miller’s Cave” and “Drop Kick Me Jesus” before going into some more rare ones you don’t hear live much like “500 Miles” and “Four Strong Winds”. Another one he played both times he played Muddy Roots was “Quaaludes” and “How I Got To Memphis”.

He had the whole crowd chanting “I Wanna Go Home” and singing along with “Margie’s At The Lincoln Park Inn” before going into “Mermaid” and closing his GREAT SET with “Marie Leveau”. And THAT pretty much wrapped up my Saturday and I packed up and headed back to the hotel for a beer and a swim in the pool.

I got two more coming soon folks with POWERHOUSE Bluegrass Legends GALORE! THIS WAS my personal favorite lineup of all the 6 festivals.