Americana Fest
Muddy Roots
Crooked Smile Fall Fest

This festival takes you out to a beautiful state I had the pleasure of visiting this spring, West Virginia. The Deep Roots Mountain Revival takes place in Masontown West Virginia on Marvin’s Mountaintop September 15-18th 2016. Wait until you see THIS lineup folks I’ll tell you what if I wasn’t busy with other ventures I would for sure take a ride out there.

So this festival is just a tad bit different HERE are the parking options and fees you CAN camp by your vehicle if you choose that payment option. THESE are the ticket options for you camping is included but you must purchase both options. I’ll post a link here with area hotels if I find any in the area, I’m always researching hotels for my own use in the future as I have these guys on my radar. It’s way up there in the corner near Pennsylvania which is an area my website presence is weak, but I have a huge reader base there.

OK there ARE showers available and there IS a campground store here, plenty of water stations. HOWEVER outside food and drinks are NOT allowed near the stage area, but they ARE allowed in the camping area. Just a little different than what I’m doing this weekend but you know me I don’t drink while reporting on music. Common sense folks, leave your pets and firearms at home, and bring your chair.

So let’s take a good look at the lineup here of music we are dealing with 5 stages here
Main Stage A and B
Roots Stage
Revival Tent
Marvin’s VIP Stage

Megan Jean & The Klay Family Band

Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns

Rus Reppert

Jakobs Ferry Stragglers

Ginada Pinata

Fletcher’s Grove

Hillbilly Carnival

Rumpke Mountain Boys

I-Vibes

The Kind Thieves

Dale Watson Live Chicken Shit Bingo:

Dale Watson could more than likely be my FIRST ARTIST to be on my TOP 50 for two years in a row! If you’ll remember last year I announced Dale Watson was recording a LIVE album….well..it’s HERE! This album is one hell of a wild night with Dale and his Lone stars from Big T’s Roadhouse in Texas. Now one thing you will always remember about Dale Watson’s show are the Lone Star commercials and also on this album the BEST DOGS IN THE LAND and ALSO you can learn where “Out Yonder” is, right through the door that says “Out Yonder”.

You know Whitey Morgan covered ‘Where Do You Want It” really well, but nobody sings and plays it better than Dale himself and on this album his band is in top form for absolute sure, because “Everybody’s Somebody St. Hedwig Texas”.

One of my favorite songs he has ever played was the popular “Honky Tonkers Don’t Cry” in my opinion that is the best song he does ever. I’ll always love it and I don’t believe he will ever be able to beat it. There are a few Merle Haggard covers on this album including “The Bottle Let Me Down” and “The Fugitive” and many other Dale Watson classics like “I Don’t Rock No Cradle” and a fabulous steel guitar song called “Don Don Boogie”.

You know Dale Watson has Don Polluck one of the finest steel guitarists in the business today I’m getting to know tones and things like E9 and what they mean when added to the music through what he does for  Dale. In a nutshell this live album is truly an awesome piece and NEEDS to be added to YOUR collection NOW!

Dolly Parton Pure And Simple:

2016 keeps throwing curve balls at me for absolute sure, this one will for sure be one of my top 5 picks on this website for DAMN SURE…It’s JUST that good, in fact it’s beyond good.  The songs on this album are basically Pure And Simple, well written and perhaps some of her finest work in the last ten years.

The opening self titled song is so positive and uplifting  and to be honest it made me choke up it moved me that much. The next two songs were just absolute pure Country Music masterpieces, and in her forty plus albums under her belt this one tore off the britches and socks. “Never Not Love You” was a more contemporary sound than what I like but it for sure complimented this album.

“Kiss It And Make It Better” was a story of her childhood and growing up much like “Coat Of Many Colors” was. This new album is also one of her finest albums vocally in MANY years and was produced VERY WELL. I don’t believe there was a bad song on the entire album.

“Head Over High Heels” was a very good song about falling in love and was pretty self evident of what it was about. “Can’t Be That Wrong” was almost all acoustic and honestly it was my favorite song on this album. Her voice has not faltered in all these years in ANY way. The only negative thing I had to say about this album was that there are only ten tracks and not fifteen or more! I am absolutely blown away this year by the COUNTRY albums being flung at us by the handfuls!

Julian Davis: Make America Great Again.

Alright folks I am HIGHLY and eagerly awaiting this young man’s set at Muddy Roots next week and to see what he brings to the table, WOW! He absolutely astounded me at the Nashville Boogie this past spring and I missed his set during The Westport Roots Festival. He’s been burning up the independent Roots Music circuit and is pretty much the talk of the music world right now.

This young man made me ashamed of my own playing abilities being half my age and he displays the most amazing guitar playing you will ever see. He was one of my top acts at the Nashville Boogie and I’ll say that there are a few artists in the underground circuit like Rory Kelley and Dallas Moore that can pick like Julian Davis but not many can pick LIKE him…

This album is full of wonderful versions of songs like “Little Maggie” and “Call Me” I do not believe I ever heard anyone cover a Blondie song like this. Along with a good ol’ western swing song called “Kansas Plains” and you can see so many of his influences on his covers of Pokey LaFarge and the Allman Brothers..heck I remember him covering a Motorhead song!

The instrumentals on this album are almost as fantastic as his knowledge of classic songs and his appreciation of history for music.

Let me begin by first saying I LOVED this album however this Country Rap stuff doesn’t exist to me so I didn’t pay much attention to the re-make of “Trashy Women”, in fact I only listened to a small portion of it before turning it off. Would I make fun of you for liking it…no…I would not. Yeah I know what you’re going to tell me people like Charlie Daniels country rapped in the past, and maybe so but I’m more backwoods country and old school than what they call country rap.

The album opens with two truly good down home honky tonk songs filled with good beats and steel guitar reminiscent of their first album way back when. In fact it’s almost better than any album they ever put out. “If I Ever Cross That Line” is possibly the best song on the album with it’s awesome slow dance tempo and well thought out words.

Twelve songs of Country Music greatness fill this album that you MUST HAVE in your collection at home, because this includes their LIVE cover of Roger Alan Wade’s “Psycho Bitch From Hell”. “Fast Cars Guitars And Fine Tuned Women” was a song with a more modern sound I thought was kind of out of place on this album but it was a good song nonetheless.

The album closed with another song called “I Ain’t Falling For That” which wasn’t bad but also fell short of really arousing my ears for what I was waiting for out of a Titan such as Confederate Railroad. Overall this album WAS indeed a home run for me in most ways indeed.

Kelsey Waldon: I’ve Got A Way

This woman’s second album is another absolutely amazing venture and if you don’t have ALL of these albums you are crazy. It’s been a pleasure to writer this one, in fact “False King” has one of the best lines in the chorus I have heard all year. The mix job on it is fabulous and the music is equally good.

It opens with “Dirty Old Town” and the title track “All By Myself” both of which were fast paced toe tapping Country music goodness. That steel guitar pops and the beat has a 70’s Honky Tonk sound much like Margo Price’s masterpiece released this year in spring. This woman is one of the top acts I am waiting for at Amercianafest this year, and is one of my top female Country acts around today.

“Don’t Hurt The One” is a slower song and it has REALLY good vocals on it, she has such a gorgeous voice. I first heard about her on the Texas Music Scene with Ray Benson her 2014 album Goldmine was really good. This follow up album took some time to release but she is forming her own sound with songs like “I’d Rather Go On” and “Let’s Pretend” she is blazing a honky tonk trail across our speakers.

The album which once again only has twelve songs on it gets forgiven because songs like “Life Moves Slow” come right out of the good old days when songs made you want to drink….a LOT……

Well folks it’s time once again to help them promote the 5th Annual Jerry Reed Celebration right here in Nashville on September 7th at a truly great venue here in town 3rd And Lindsley. I mean honestly you HAVE to LOVE this bar for live music and beer even I whom usually doesn’t drink while working enjoy a beer at this place.

“If it has more than three chords it’s jazz”….yeah we all know where that quote came from…old Cledus “The Snowman” Snow himself and most notably the fastest guitar picker Nashville has EVER saw, Jerry Reed. In fact he was dubbed that by none other than one of the creators of the “Nashville Sound” era, Chet Atkins. He is rivaled only by the ever popular Lower Broadway figure Johnny Hilland who is a hell of a picker too and was rated as the top 2 fastest players. He also appeared another of the most iconic “Country Music Films” of the 1980’s Stroker Ace as he appeared as himself, hell he’s even been featured on Scooby Doo.

This tribute show contains an iconic entertainer that recorded one of his first hits in 1960 Miss Brenda Lee as she enjoyed success covering his song “That’s All You Gotta Do”. In the late 60’s and early 70’s Elvis Presley recorded many of Jerry Reed’s songs and he went on to star is many movies from what I call the “Country Music Films” back when movies were truly good. In my honest opinion Jerry Reed and Sammy Davis Jr. and Terry Bradshaw MADE movies like Smokey And The Bandit and Cannonball Run the hits they were, the cameos and sidekicks were the funniest and BEST.

This year some very wonderful entertainers will combine their talents to throw the 5th annual Jerry Reed celebration in true Country Music style. Here is a list of people included in this event as well as the Jerry Reed Tribute Band.

Thom Bresh
Seidina Reed
Evan Twitty
Parker Hastings
John Knowles
Buddy Greene
Darrell Toney
Brent Mason
Richard Smith
Steve Wariner
Brenda Lee

You know folks I have been an avid collector of Country Music merchandise like posters and shirts, in fact my entire home is adorned with most of my collection. I bought stuff at auctions and estate sales, E Bay and other various outlets and every time I have  paid for the items honestly and to my best ability to further benefit whomever I bought it from. There is a admirable quality of the public from me if they honestly hunger for items with Country Stars on them, especially in the last 8-10 years where many people my age (43) are infatuated with Waylon Jennings and many of the other artists from the 1970’s Outlaw era.

BUT let me tell you folks there are right ways and wrong ways of doing the right thing, and you see many people of that general public group don’t even truly realize how much damage they are doing to the very entity their precious shirt emulates. Folks I’ll spell it out for you in the easiest way possible….It’s FAKE. It’s NOT officially licensed merchandise from ANY of the bands or artists featured on the clothing and the artist-estate-or family of said person is NOT benefiting from the money generated buy this mostly low cost cheap merchandise. In fact many times when you place an order it gets miss shipped or NOT shipped outright. Also, your attempts to call their 1-800 number will not efficiently go through.

At the beginning of August my personal friend and daughter in law of Country Legend Waylon Jennings spoke with our local news HERE about one of the biggest offenders in this “bootleg” merchandise crap called “Teechip”. Now folks not only have they infringed upon musicians and their likeness but also recently they were sent a cease and desist order from the Fraternal Order Of Police over some unauthorized merchandise they were selling.

PLEASE take a moment to sign the FREE petition they created to halt this dishonest company from operating. Because frankly Facebook AND Twitter are generating SO MUCH revenue from the advertisements that they are overlooking the ethics of whether or not this is an ethical thing to do.

Basically this company is preying upon the general public that is pretty much not educated on the facts and outcomes of bootleg merchandise. Sadly the majority of today’s social media is very sight driven and most people take very little time reading facts, and when they see an attractive product they purchase it. In business terms we call it “perceived value”, which basically means we are compelling you to pay MORE for a product that truly ISN’T worth the increased value but you are manipulated into thinking it is from SIGHT AND PRESENTATION.

The honest truth is you will NOT receive what you ordered whether the color be wrong or the logo or the actual shirt or cup will be shoddy in quality. There are order forms for EVERY genre of artist from Traditonal Country Legends and living, pop country like Trace Adkins and Kenny Chesney, and there have been some circulating about rap artists like Colt Ford. This company has also targeted Bluegrass and Folk artists likenesses as well, they maliciously use logos of all types and unauthorized images to make HUGE profits and NEGLECT their innocent customers.

You know not to be badmouthing anybody but lately I have seen a SURGE in the general public going passionate about 70’s Outlaw Legends the likes of Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings and that’s fine but for that reason those two seem to be the center of the company’s products. The general public’s knowledge of the history of Country is somewhat limited to the 70’s for some reason (with the exception of Hank Williams). JUST ONCE I’d like to see that group mention Stoney Edwards or Margie Bowes but for purposes of supply and demand this makes these two iconic Country Music Legends the center of sales. IN FACT this company was ‘cashing in” on the death of Merle Haggard WITHIN MINUTES of the announcement of his death this spring! I mean LITERALLY there were FLOODS of paid ads to sell “In Memory Of Merle Haggard” shirts made from poor quality and poorly placed iron on images.

If YOU have had a horrible experience with this organization you can contact Teechip is a scam and they can help you with information on this issue and PLEASE go like their page and help them shut this monster DOWN!

I would like to take some time out today to give a HUGE pat on the back to the Westport Saloon for their 3 year anniversary celebration on August 31st 2016. I want to tell you ALL of my friends I hang around in the music business have been here at one time or another. Heck they posted pictures of Shooter and Miss Misty eating dinner there with all the kids not long ago.

Mr. Travis Fields has been a good friend to me ever since we met at Muddy Roots a while back, and this year he BETTER bring the family over to the hotel to swim in the pool with my crew. This past spring he and his crew invited me and my crew to the Westport Roots Festival and Miss Kristie and I were treated like true family there. The only thing I missed was getting a Chiefs T shirt but that gives me a reason to mosey on back there. In fact I WAS contacted by Mr. Jody from Middle Class Records to be a presence in next year’s Westport Roots event so you WILL SEE ME THERE.

For many years now this venue has provided a safe place for traveling bands to stay the night for free and a place for them to perform at the saloon and all the surrounding bars. It stands stalwart in the middle of the Country and represents Roots music in a friendly fashion for everyone to enjoy. As you pass through on your way to the east or west coast it is a place to rest and enjoy music of all genres, and a great place to buy stuff from the bands!

Lagunita’s Presents the Westport Saloon’s 3 year anniversary on August 31st 2016 and will feature three great bands for FREE! Folks you MUST GO and try the delicious food there in the Westport district of Kansas City. It is scenic with so much to do and see there.  Happy Hour starts at 4pm(The Brand new tasty and delicious Catfish Dinner from Eat Me Gourmet available at 6pm – get it while it’s here!!!!)

Oh MAN the food in that area was absolutely amazing we couldn’t stop eating food down there, I don’t drink a whole lot while working but I did have a shot of the Four Roses Bourbon in the green room. Here is the lineup for the evening:

Grassfed at 9pm

Carrie Nation and The Speakeasy at 10:30pm

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at midnight!!!!!