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.