Country Music has THREE staple pillars of it’s foundation or it’s backbone if you will. Those are in this order the songwriter, the producer, and the steel guitar in my opinion it takes those three to make a classic Country Music album. My point being Willie Nelson “Red Headed Stranger” and “Wanted The Outlaws” as two prime examples that had all three. Shooter will tell you rapidly “Wanted The Outlaws” was the first platinum selling Country Music album EVER and defied the sough it was initially given by Nashville in the 1970’s.
Local music as a whole contains such a plethora of well rounded steel guitarists and pickers waiting for you to discover them if you are willing to wade through the broken beer bottles and travel the worn out back alleys of America to find them. You have to look in the places most normal people wouldn’t, and you have to listen. You have to brave the heat and cold and discomfort of the fields and farms that spew forth these festivals, mostly you have to study and watch for them.
This edition of my steel guitarist series bring me to talking on a rainy Sunday afternoon with one of local music’s finest young steel players the mighty Johnny Up. I sat with him for just a few minutes and he was kind enough to spend some time with me and answered a few questions for us. So sit back and enjoy this interview with another one of Red Dirt Country’s young guns making Country Music sound so good!
I’ll be honest in this interview he peaks of many people that he looks up to and admires doing things for him and today, he truly passed it on to me by taking a few minutes out to become involved with this project. This is MY intention to bring forth the young people playing steel in the honky tonks of today, and educating people on this whole world of unknown REAL Country Music whether it’s Nashville, Texas or Oklahoma. It’s out there waiting for YOU to support and love on it. And the people that play it are vastly talented and have become very good friends, I never met him yet but we truly connected today and appreciated one another. I must say he was really a great guy!
GHC:
How did you get started playing the steel guitar?
Mr. Johnny:
I started out playing classical guitar, I was moved to an arts high school where you could major in arts programs and that’s how I started learning how to read music and classical technique. I ended up going to the University Of Oklahoma for that. I dropped out of school and didn’t do anything with music for a while. I was living in Baton Rouge and met some guys that were into the same kind of music I was, everything Parsons, and that was the first time the steel guitar really caught me. I joined a band called the Way Goners out of Hammond Louisiana and started playing pedal steel. It took a couple years before I was any good at it, but pretty much from day one I started performing with it. A lot of four hour bar gigs forced me to learn 40 or 50 licks at a time.
GHC:
Do you play pedal steel or straight steel, or both?
Mr. Johnny:
I play pedal steel, yes
GHC:
Whom did you start playing for after The Way Goners?
Mr. Johnny:
I moved to Oklahoma City and started playing with John Moreland out of Tulsa, and Jeff Hobbs out of Ardmore. I made an album with John Moreland And The Dustbowl Souls. It’s called “In the Throes”.
GHC:
You played For Kaitlin Butts too right?
Mr. Johnny:
Yes, and Cody Jinks and Zane Williams, whole bunch of people really…
GHC:
Who influenced most as a young player?
Mr. Johnny:
The album that I remember studying the most was “High In The Rockies” by Jason Boland. You know it’s got Roger Ray on it, and he’s also an Okie. He’s somebody I really looked up to and I got a chance to open for the Stragglers pretty early on in my career. I was playing with Jeff Hobbs and after the Stragglers set he came offstage with people coming at him, trying to greet him but he made a bee line towards me and asked if I was Johnny. I was kind of star struck and said yeah. He told me how much he enjoyed my stuff with John Moreland, told me to keep it up. That meant a lot to me that someone I looked up to was listening and thought I was on the right track. It truly motivated me early on.
GHC:
If someone new came up to you and asked I’m a kid I’m new and I would like advice, what would you tell them?
Mr. Johnny:
I would say don’t think you have to have certain equipment or sound like other people. Until this past year I had yet to take a real lesson on pedal steel. And it was several years before I ever saw anybody play one in person. It all contributed to my sound. I know I don’t sound like other people and I know i probably have bad techniques, but I have always found my own voice through not knowing how to sound like other people. When people hear my steel guitar they know it’s me. I also have a bunch of instructional videos on my personal Youtube page GO HERE to see what he has up to offer you free of charge!
GHC:
That answered my next question, you are very unique you don’t sound like anybody else. Wade Bowen came to town and had Miss Kaitlin with him I was hoping I’d get to meet you. I’m enjoying Country Music even more now from these interviews, because I have a better understanding of people like you.
Mr. Johnny
Hopefully Kaitlin reads this! My first steel guitar was, you know everybody goes out and gets a Sho Bud Maverick that had sixty owners, where as I had a Fender steel with three pedals and one knee lever. I didn’t know it even had a knee lever until I was boxing it back up to ship it to the next guy. There’s so much I didn’t know that I had to learn on my own. Making my own repairs on it, the guitar I bought next I bought seen only in pictures. I didn’t know what to look for, so when it wasn’t until the the guitar arrived that I noticed the under carriage was all gunked up and dirty, levers not pulling true. I took the whole guitar apart and cleaned it. I put it all back together as best as I could not knowing exactly how the changer and tension works. Just getting it to work right made me a better player. I know it had nothing to do with music really but it did help me understand a lot.
GHC:
Are you on the road full time, do you have anybody staple that you play with now?
Mr. Johnny:
I been doing a lot of studio work as of lately, but until the albums come out, you can find me with either Jacob Flint or Wink Burcham. I have an album coming out with Cole Porter Band which has the guitar player from Cody Jinks first four records..so that’ll be a cool one coming out soon. I got to play all the steel on Cody Jinks’ new album ‘I’m Not The Devil’ that’s out right now. Jeff Hobbs new album “Upward” will be released soon. There is some stuff I’ve tracked out I don’t know how far along they are but hopefully there will be new releases with Schuyler Prenger And The Dirt Road Junkies, Dylan Stewart, Johnathan White from Sons Of Strangers, Jonnah Liddell. It was great getting to work with producers like Mike McClure and Wes Sharon.
GHC:
I really enjoy including more Red Dirt into my website program and I love the differences and similarity in our local scenes.
Mr. Johnny:
I never paid much attention to the Nashville scene but to say that filling up the Exit Inn wasn’t a highlight of my career would be false.
This weekend I’m out here in Bowling Green at one of my favorite places to eat and watch music The Spillway Bar And Grill folks this place is always a challenge to decide what to eat. Mr. Josh is one of the few folks from Altamont that we got to see grow into a huge road warrior for local music, there’s NO TELLING where this man and his band is going to end up. He raises his glasses and yells “Cheers To Health And Happiness” as he plays originals in his set like “the Ballad Of Bobbie Jo” whom he wrote about the lady that runs his home bar in Hagerstown Maryland.
He recently recorded a NEW album I’ll be telling you more about later tonight on this article as I warrior on for his cause. HE WAS my 2015 Artist Of The Year and like I said he is one of the few artists from the time we met has grown and become more honed in on his craft. He writes quality songs that make you actually think and feel as a listener and an individual.
His first song was “Devil Shoot Her Dead” afterwards he went into a terrific version of “Okie From Muskogee” of Merle Haggard fame circa 1969. he went into a bluesy slower version of Hank Williams Sr. “Your Cheating Heart” and right now as we listen he is playing “All That I Been Looking For Is Gone”. He is playing Waylon’s ‘Good Hearted Woman” and followed that by a very special beer drinking song “The Bottle Of Whiskey Won”
“Working Man’s Blues” and “Brand New Angel” were next, as he played Ernest Tubbs “Driving Nails In My Coffin” next, followed by Billy Joe Shaver’s “Ride Me Down Easy”. His set tonight also included “Swinging Doors” and in honor of Willie Nelson’s birthday today he played “Whiskey River”.
He is playing Songs off his upcoming record called “Whole Lotta Crazy” and he played one called “Cocaine”. Now you might remember Billy Don Burns new album “Graveyard In Montgomery” off Rusty Knuckles label, guitarist Bobby Miller truly makes this song sound epic up there tonight as they included that in their set.
“Ramblin Man” is what’s up now followed by “Gone Gone Gone”. “Jambalaya” was next, I’ll tell you what this new band setup here truly features his vocals better. Especially on songs like Belle Of The Ball” and others, Mr. Josh stands stalwart as a frontman now better than he ever has in the past. I have truly enjoyed watching him develop a style and a fashion all his own, and burn up the roads doing it.
“Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” is up now, as he takes the intermission break. The band is truly becoming better in tune with his style and vocals complete with Mr. Taylor Hearnly on drums and Mr. Greg Johnson on bass. He began his next set with “Whole Lota Crazy” off his new album. He gave me a good preview in the van in West Virginia and I’ll tell you folks it’s going to be a GREAT new album.
He’s doing a REALLY GOOD version of Crazy Arms wow..followed by “Crying Eyes Of Blue”. He included “Gentle On My Mind” as well as a really cool new song called “Damn These Birds” that he wrote about dope dealers he used to buy from in the past. This video is from the song called “Shotgun Willie”, and also included in this set was “Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down”.
“Cold Cold Comfort” was next after that was “Kaw Liga” and “Old Habits” from Hank Williams Junior. He closed the show with “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and he replayed “Whole Lotta Crazy” which is his new branding direction lately. He followed that with “Merle Haggard Died Today” and Billy Don Burns “Haggard And Hank”, before he closed the show with his usual ‘I Saw The Light”. He always carries one of the last notes in what is becoming his very own signature twist on a well known Country Music song.
Dr. Ralph Stanely’s Hill Of Home happens in Virginia on Memorial Day Weekend, and is one of the nation’s oldest Bluegrass festivals in the United States. In fact it’s one of the TOP 3 oldest festivals and next month it’s in it’s 47th annual festival.
There isn’t ever much advertising or sponsors that make a large hoo-ha about this festival, nor is there much social media about it. But it has withstood the test of time, and even now is still well sought after from folks in Tennessee and Kentucky. It’s only about a five hour ride from my area so you might possibly see me there one of these years!
Here is a map of the are and some local area hotels for your use, as I do this for every festival I cover. As most of you know I cover 175 festivals yearly, and I am always out researching and finding new hotel options for every festival I know about. I do a LOT of research for this portion of my website.
We have food and merchandise vendors, shower facilities, water and dump stations on the grounds. There is a free shuttle to the stage from the parking and camping areas.Please do not bring alcohol or coolers in to the main concert area. Pets are allowed in the campground but must stay on a leash. Pets are not allowed in the concert area.
Country Music has THREE staple pillars of it’s foundation or it’s backbone if you will. Those are in this order the songwriter, the producer, and the steel guitar in my opinion it takes those three to make a classic Country Music album. My point being Willie Nelson “Red Headed Stranger” and “Wanted The Outlaws” as two prime examples that had all three. Shooter will tell you rapidly “Wanted The Outlaws” was the first platinum selling Country Music album EVER and defied the sough it was initially given by Nashville in the 1970’s.
Local music as a whole contains such a plethora of well rounded steel guitarists and pickers waiting for you to discover them if you are willing to wade through the broken beer bottles and travel the worn out back alleys of America to find them. You have to look in the places most normal people wouldn’t, and you have to listen. You have to brave the heat and cold and discomfort of the fields and farms that spew forth these festivals, mostly you have to study and watch for them.
Crooked Smile festival in Indiana brought me to discover a young steel guitar player named David Mills who was playing steel guitar with Duane Mark. I’ll catch up with Mr. Duane in just two weeks here as I attend Moonrunners festival in Chicago. So when I began devising and planning this project Mr. David was one of my subjects as a result of seeing this performance, as I wanted to delve into the story of the song “Hobo Insane”. This article is going to get to the meat and potatoes of that story and also a little more of what makes this road warrior tick.
This man has played with the Barnyard Stompers, and many more local and touring bands.He has many tidbits of information to share with us and on a lazy Sunday afternoon I sat for a brief moment with him on the phone before he played a show.
GHC:
How did you get started playing the steel guitar?
Mr. David:
Honestly it was all just started accidentally, a buddy of mine who was older got me started in music at a young age actually I was guitar player for many years. He had one just sitting around for years and we chatted about it and one day just asked him to borrow it and it took off from there, and it was for my own fun around the house. I ended up doing one gig with it and everybody started hiring me for it, so it kind of turned into one big thing for me. It turned into being pretty much what I do.
GHC:
With out giving away nay secrets or anything what makes up your sound, what do you use for your rig?
Mr. David:
I play an old 1967 Emmons, push pull and my amplifier is built from a guy out in Frisco and it called Milkman amplifiers a lot of steel players will know who it is. I use his half and half amp it’s a new thing and I quite like it. And that’s about it I really don’t get into pedals or anything too much, it’s just steel and an amp.
GHC:
So, you pretty much play straight steel?
Mr.David:
Yep
GHC:
Who influenced you more than anything?
Mr. David:
All of the classic Country stuff my dad raised me on the all that he was a redneck deadhead that’s what I called him, so I grew up on all the old Country. Willie,Waylon,Merle you know all the classics, and I play with a lot of new writers to so I have a wide variety and range of influences. I listen to a lot of the new stuff to, and I know you just interviewed Brett and I got into them real heavy when I first started playing steel. I stole a bunch of licks off him, and Cody Jinks and all them.
GHC:
Well I did Austin Tripp too. You know part of what started this is Chuck Mead put up something one day and I’m sure it wasn’t directed AT me BUT I used it to my advantage a negative criticism and it said if you’re going to write about Country Music in Nashville at least know about the steel guitar. And I thought you know what I need to learn more myself, I knew what C6 tuning was but I really don’t know a lot about the guitar itself. And there are so many of you underground players so talented that a lot of people don’t even know about.
Mr. David:
Oh yeah, I mean a lot of people don’t even know what the instrument is and that’s a popular question I get at my gigs is people will come up and ask “What’s that you’re playing”? They heard it a million times they just never actually SEEN one, and don’t know WHAT it is. Almost every gig they ask me what it is or tell me I am a great keyboard player one of the two.
GHC:
Who else do you play for, I know Duane Mark because that’s how we met. And I know the Barnyard Stompers,
Mr. David:
I played a few shows with them before they recorded their album, but I mostly do the hired gun thing. I really bounce around a lot, there’s a guy in San Diego now he is in Nashville named Jake Loban, I played a little on his album. A lot of artists hire me when they come to the southern California area and I play with all of them on and off. Usually four or five different bands a week, I don’t have a set band out here because it’s a little different out here than everywhere else. There’s a few Country artists out here but they too always bounce around so the hired gun thing works for me well, and a lot of session work.
GHC:
OK, one thing I’m more interested in more than anything is this..tell me about the Duane Mark “Homeless Dave” story and how he wrote Hobo Insane?
Mr. David:
It’s not as exciting as it actually sound honestly (we both laughed) he actually wrote the song before he met me. I’m not exactly sure the entire story of how he wrote it I think it’s just from his travels and stuff. The way it came about where I BECAME a part of it was a random joke that got carried away through the years. The first tour we did together, it was two or three days in we were on the road and I was in the back of the van sleeping. It was mid winter and freezing I was all wrapped up in a blanket and my hair was ragged out everywhere, I had gloves on with holes in the fingers. I looked homeless and they took a picture as a joke and put it on Instagram and jokingly said “Oh We found this homeless guy on the side of the road and he had a pedal steel, and we’re going to give him a shot”. Well, people went CRAZY online over it all..half said “Oh you’re the nicest band ever”, and the other half said “Get him out of there he’s going to murder you”.
Even the people they told when Duane Mark said he was taking a steel guitarist on the road with him, they said “WHAT, it’s not the homeless guy that plays steel?” And they put up another post saying “We bought him a new shirt and he plays really good”. And they kind of ran with it after that and it all took off from there.
GHC:
One of these days I’m going to write a book about my adventures, and that’s going to be in one of the chapters right there. Because people really did believe it one gal said “Oh Yeah he really is just a vagabond”.
Mr. David:
Well, yeah and through the years he really added to it and then made up the story of how he picked me up on the side of the road and he got so many pats on the back for saving me.
GHC:
If somebody younger that wanted to play steel guitar came to you for advice, what would you tell them?
Mr. David:
Honestly I would tell them that’s it’s not as hard as it appears. Don’t ever really get frustrated and give up, I mean as far as I was concerned I was pretty much on the road a few months after I started playing the darn thing. You know now people learn all kinds of things by getting on Youtube, and back when I started I utilized YouTube and the internet. I learn a lot of things by playing with guys like Duane, and that comes in time, hell I’m still learning things every day now. The internet really made it easier for guys like me to progress so quickly.
GHC:
Yeah Austin Tripp said he was playing for Luke Bryan within a year, and believe it or not pop country has a lot more steel guitar than people give it credit for.
Mr. David:
Yeah it’s really tucked in there but it does exist.
GHC:
As far as a left handed person like me, is there options for left handed steel?
Mr. David:
I think I have seen a few models but they are few and FAR between. I have seen some out there but honestly I don’t think I could name any major players that were lefty.
GHC:
I plan to get Mr. Andy Gibson soon, he lives close to me and I think people approach him wrong. He’s also really busy and I hate to bother him, and I don’t want to ask him any direct questions about personal things. It’ll be a manner that will be more comfortable answering what I ask him.
Mr. David:
You know one time I was with a guy and I got to go to his house and once we got to talking I really got to see how talented he truly is. You know he also builds guitars and he shapes the wood and all that. You really don’t meet too many private guys that are truly luthiers. And the work that he does is absolutely amazing.
Folks this edition bring us to the great state of Minnesota where on May 26th-29th the Revival Music Festival will transpire. Where car camping is a new option, let’s delve into that in a moment here. This festival looks to be close to another that I feature so I spaced out their coverage to prevent confusion of brands. So folks THIS LINK bears some important information you need to read. The early bird special is a good deal, and this appears to be a reasonably priced festival. All of the rules are pretty much common scene that I post for EVERY festival! This is a rain or shine outdoor two stage festival located at Harmony Park Music Garden, and it has many amenities including:
Permanent shower building with filtered soft water
Large Rainbow playground
Filtered water bottle fill up station
Firewood and ice available for sale on site
Beer and liquor sales at Lucky’s Pub
Community fire ring area near Lucky’s Pub
Shaded wooded campsites
Lakeshore access
Stunning sunrises from “the point”
THURSDAY EARLY CAMPING: Gates Open 3pm on Thursday, May 25. – Must have a general admission and Friday pre-party ticket.
FRIDAY PRE-PARTY: Admission at 12pm on Friday, May 26.
GENERAL ADMISSION FESTIVAL TICKET: Admission 10am on Saturday, May 27.
HARMONY PARK CLOSES at 3pm on Monday, May 28.
ADMISSION: If you arrive early before admission time on any given day, you can come in and pay for the previous day’s ticket.
RE-ENTRY: After you have been admitted and have your wristband, you are welcome to leave and re-enter the event at any time.
Join us on Memorial weekend at the Legendary Harmony Park Music Garden for Revival Music Festival. REVIVAL is an intimate, diverse musical affair, with its primary focus on improvisational funky grooves, jam sessions, string pickers and epic storytellers of all types! It is our intention to create a peaceful playful energy that inspires individuals to share their magic. By limiting the size of these gatherings we allow the subtle spirits of “Home” to come out and dance with us. Its enough of a treat just to be “Home”… that we get to be in celebration with so much talent and kind family is indeed a blessing…
HERE is a complete list of local area hotels for those of you like me that do not camp and stay indoors for the event.
So last year I got up at 4AM and stood in line to get what would end up being my number ONE album of 2017 Billy Don Burns a Night In Room 8READ ABOUT IT HERE. Well this year I left at 8 AM and found what I wanted and still had fun, like every year my buddy Shooter Jennings and his label Black Country Rock or BCR released TWO albums you can only find in stores for today’s festivities.
The weather prohibited outdoors live music so there were sets inside the store and I’ll be bringing you the set from my good friend Dean Collier AKA Captain Deen and although it’s not Country, I am pretty sure many of you will indeed enjoy his local music in this unique style here. I had fun today and wore myself out pretty hardcore from running around record hunting.
I first went down to Mellow Matts in Bowling Green to buy my first round of new ones I was telling you about from Shooter Jennings and they are Shooter Jennings and Waymore’s Outlaws LIVE, and the Waylon Forever reissue. I also bought some used albums and other things. This is from BCR Facebook page:
Waylon Jennings – Waylon Forever – BCR042:
Waylon Forever consists of Waylon Jennings’ recordings that took place in the 1990s, and later rediscovered and reworked by his son, Shooter Jennings. Shooter joined forces with producer Dave Cobb, and reworked the songs to bring us Waylon Forever in 2008. Shooter used his backing band, the .357’s, to recreate these works and revision them into country/rock versions of some well-known and unheard tracks. Now, Black Country Rock will be releasing the production on a limited number of clear orange vinyl, and for a limited time for Record Store Day 2017.
Shooter Jennings & Waymore’s Outlaws Live – BCR043:
Black Country Rock is happy to announce the ONLY live recordings of one of the most sought after tours of its time. Shooter Jennings has paired up with Waylon Jennings’ original recording and touring band, Waymore’s Outlaws, on what has been an unforgettable round of live shows. This will be available for a limited time on clear vinyl for Record Store Day 2017.
I wanted to point out this LIVE album was recorded in one of my favorite venues the V Club in Huntington West Virginia and also the Grey Eagle in Asheville North Carolina. That gas station food across the street in that place called Sheetz was GREAT FOOD for a quick mart type place. And Mr. Don Duncan that runs the door and merch out there is a VERY nice man, that crew is VERY kind to my website when we go up there.
TRACK LISTING FOR LIVE ALBUM:
Are You Ready For The Country
Luckenbach, Tx
Good Ol’ Boys
Outlaw You
Don’t Wait Up (I’m Playing Possum)
Manifesto No. 1
The Song Is Still Slipping Away
Can You Come Over?
I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
Gone To Carolina
4rth Of July/Good Time Charlie (for Jon)
TRACK LISTING FOR WAYLON FOREVER:
Jack Of Diamonds
Outlaw Shit
I Ain’t Livin Long Like This
Are You Ready For The Country
Lonesome On’ry And Mean
Waymore’s blues
White Room
I Found The Body
Then I took a quick detour to go to The Great Escape where I bought a bunch of used albums at great prices and ran into Miss Mary Sparr, and caught up with her. She manages my 2016 Artist Of The Year Colter Wall who is busy on the road with Cody Jinks and others.
I’ll be featuring his new self titled album VERY SOON and also I’ll be featuring his set at the Tumbleweed Festival in July in Kansas City.
Then I ventured back to Mellow Matts for some Heavy Metal with my friend Captain Deen from Bowling Green Kentucky. He’s doing a pretty unique type of metal with his bass guitar and I’ll feature some videos here and here was his setlist today:
El’ Astronauta
She’s The Devil
Parasites And Pesticides
Euphoric Acid
Me And The Raven
Horse Face
If Happy Was A Drug
Adios Muchachos
Chem-Alien
Well folks I covered this festival last year and it was the first time I encountered them, but this is the fifth annual Charm City Bluegrass Festival in the Charm City of Baltimore where many of my music friends are from. You can buy tickets for this one day multiple stage outdoor festival on that link.
This article has videos and maps as well as the full schedule included within my website. Many of you know and are familiar with how I work things and my 175 festivals I cover yearly. I have covered many of the sets from these fine Bluegrass bands on other occasions and festivals all over America.
This website strives very hard to include all of your favorite local, Americana, Bluegrass, Red Dirt bands and more!
I have researched local area hotels HERE and since this only a one day festival there isn’t any camping information like I usually have for you folks.
If you’ll remember last year Country Music Legend Loretta Lynn earned my TOP 2 SPOT on my Top 50 albums of 2016, and this year on Friday August 18th she will release an all new album called “Wouldn’t It Be Great”. after a long lapse of time since her latest release of “Van Lear Rose” we didn’t have any new material at all. Now in a brief two year span we have TWO mega albums and a TON of concerts from one of the eldest and most active Country Music Legends.
At the age of 85 she has recorded an album comprised entirely of songs written and co-written by her and was recorded in Hendersonville Tennessee with producers Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash. She performed two sold out shows at the Ryman Auditorium and will return in August on the 25th and 26th.
The track listing for Wouldn’t It Be Great is:
1. Wouldn’t It Be Great – (Loretta Lynn)
2. Ruby’s Stool – (Loretta Lynn, Shawn Camp)
3. I’m Dying for Someone to Live For – (Loretta Lynn, Shawn Camp)
4. Another Bridge to Burn – (Loretta Lynn, Lola Jean Dillon)
5. Ain’t No Time to Go – (Loretta Lynn, Patsy Lynn Russell)
6. God Makes No Mistakes – (Loretta Lynn)
7. These Ole Blues (Loretta Lynn, Patsy Lynn Russell)
8. My Angel Mother — (Loretta Lynn)
9. Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ – (Loretta Lynn, Peggy Sue Wells)
10. The Big Man – (Loretta Lynn, Shawn Camp)
11. Lulie Vars – (Traditional, arrangement by Loretta Lynn)
12. Darkest Day – (Loretta Lynn)
13. Coal Miner’s Daughter – (Loretta Lynn)
Well now, here I am bringing you a wonderful festival in Scranton Pennsylvania called the Susquehanna Breakdown and it happens on May 19th and 20th 2017. Like all of my 175 festivals this one is privately run and features original local REAL music from local bands, you know how it goes. I’ll research hotels and the info about the event. These six hotels are all about thirty miles or less from the event for those of you like me that cannot camp.
For those of you that are more hardcore than me and do camp,this festival does indeed require you to purchase a seperate camping ticket for either or both days. You will NOT be allowed to park by your campsite and you CAN have fires. The venue will open friday at 4pm for early campers, and ALL campground after 2AM quiet time will be strictly enforeced until 8AM.
NO PERSONAL ALCOHOL is permitted for this one folks, you can bring all else. NO GRILLS either folks. But hey guys camping isn’t much but 20 dollars more for the weekend so this is indeed a VERY inexpensive festival on my list ran by some truly fine folks.
Well it’s time to write about a festival that Isn’t really that far from me, however I haven’t got the chance to catch this one in person…yet. You see I cover 175 festivals yearly and I do go to 8 a year. Two or three of them I usually rotate to better acknowledge the music it features and the scene that usually involves itself with every different festival. I truly enjoy meeting folks from all walks of music and different states, this one being in my home state of Kentucky and only a few short hours from me.
I present to you the fourth annual Moonshiner’s Ball in Irvine Kentucky off of Hwy 75 south of Lexington, located in the Daniel Boone National Forest area and near Renfro Valley as well. The address is on the Jenkin’s Farm 4405 Red Lick Road Irvine Ky 40336. You can go HERE and get tickets.
About camping from their website:
Camping is included in the price of your ticket, assuming it is a full-weekend pass. Camping is not an option for those entering on day passes. You must have a full-weekend pass to camp. You will be allowed to park beside your camping space. There will be three distinct camping areas – one in front of the stage for those seeking maximum late-night debauchery, one directly behind the stage for a middle-path kind of experience and one in the very back of the field behind the stage reserved for families.
So now folks you know I shall research my usual format hotels in this area for those of you like me that do not camp. HERE is whole long list of area hotels and I found one that I will be using next year because 2018, I plan to bring the website there!
From the website concerning alcohol sales:
OK, so this is a silly question. Of course there will be alcohol. There will not be alcohol FOR SALE, however. Alcohol cannot and will not be sold at the festival venue. Estill County is dry outside the Irvine city limits. Therefore, it is critical that you bring with you whatever you want to drink. Having said that, it won’t be long before you run into smiling regulars offering you sips from the jar.
Folks this one is one of the many festivals I include in my LONG LIST of them because of one reason, it’s NOT corporate. If you’ll notice many of my festivals I endorse aren’t and they feature the ONLY kind of music this website looks for..original. So what’s the lineup…Let’s take a looksee.
Last night I went on down to Nashville for some exciting music at the Basement out there in East Nashville to see the show from Hayes Carll and backing band The Band Of Heathens. As always I have to thank the many people whom help me make these articles possible My friend Mr. Jason Buchanon who has shows coming up at The Basement you can read about HERE.
The Band Of Heathens released their new album “Duende” this year and it easily earned a spot on my TOP 50 I’m pretty sure I can say that already,as rapidly as I could tell you Hayes Carll earned a spot last year on mine. They began their fast paced set with a song called “DC9” and an outright jam off their new album called “Sugar Queen”.
These guys are simple and easy to understand from a lyrical standpoint and all you have to do is come ready to jam to some good old fashioned southern rock type Americana whatever you want to call it music. You can attempt to classify them into whatever genre you want, nobody can argue with the fact they tear venues apart and spit them back out.
“Carry Your Love” and “All I’m Asking” were next followed by the song I took video of called “Green Grass of California” which equally has a video of their own for. Basically a good song about reefer out there in California, not really my cup of tea but it’s a damn good song, this band has some truly wonderful harmonies. The whole band unleashes some perfect timing and all five members are in tune with one another and bring their own talents to the table here.
“Jackson Station” was next before they played a song made popular by Gillian Welch called “Ruby”, that everybody knows really well. My favorite album they have was called Top Hat Crown And The Clapmaster’s Son and it has a song called “Hurricane” that they played. It’s by far their most popular song among their audience, and garnishes the best response overall, “Last Minute Man” was also included in their set list.
They closed their wonderful set tonight with “Trouble Came Early” and believe you me if you happen to attend one of the many festivals they are playing or are nearby when they are playing a local venue, go catch their show because it TRULY is one NOT to be missed folks. Please tell them my website sent you there and make sure to buy some stuff from their merchandise booth, which is exactly what I did before Mr. Hayes Carll got up there.
I honestly didn’t recognize a small few of the songs that Hayes Carll played last night, but I got a pretty darn good list of the ones I did recognize. In 2002 he released his debut album on Compadre Records called “Flowers And Liquor” and came from the Austin Texas area. Later on in the set he told some stories that better acquainted us with his past jobs with the song “I Got A Gig”. Now I don’t usually skip around on the notes and set list BUT…
There exists a little place in Texas called “Bob’s Sports Bar” where he got started out and he said the name is a lie because it’s NOT a sports bar, but he played 4 and 5 hour sets of covers before he began forming his own songs and his Red Dirt style of music. Often times he is indeed placed within the genres of what’s been called “Texas Country” or “Red Dirt”, I have been delving into that scene for some time now. He told stories of Genies 1 and 2 and other small joints he started out in with 1.25 Bloody Marys for ladies nights, and a place with a neon wagon they rolled out into the street with a sign that said 4.99 fried chicken and Hayes Carll. This show was indeed a splendid tidbit of information for someone like me that enjoys studying just where these people came from.
As the music from “Deep In The Heart Of Texas” ushered in the entrance of this man he began his set with “Love That We Need” and ” My Friends”. As the Band Of Heathens also backed him tonight, like they have for some time now he displayed some fine showmanship tonight. He possesses a mighty fine stage presence and exquisite leadership skills as he whips us into a frenzy with slow paced acoustic songs like “Sake Of A Song” and faster songs like “I Got A Gig”.
I thought his set list placement was really good tonight and the strategic array of up and down tempo complimented one another very well, with songs like “Things That You Don’t Know” and “Beaumont” preceded the slower ballads like “Jealous Moon” from his newest album that made my TOP 50 last year.
He amazed me and entertained me as he brought out Allison Moorer for some songs, she sings SOOOOOO pretty and she is absolutely gorgeous in every way, I LOVE HER and all her albums. She sang “Jesus And Elvis” with him as he told another story about a bar called “La La’s” where she had Christmas lights that never turn off. This is because she promised her son she would not turn them off until he returned from Vietnam and sadly never did come home, I tell you I didn’t know he had this many wonderful sad and happy stories. I’d like to personally thank him for sharing these stories with me as a fan, you truly blessed my Easter weekend by helping me forget my own troubles and including me in YOUR world. She sang “Love Don’t Let Me Down” with him as he went into the next portion of his set.
“Bible On The Dash” is a song he wrote with and it’s on the album “Cabin Fever” from 2012 go check that album out and buy it because it’s a classic. “KMAG Yo Yo’ was next followed by the song “Drunken Poet’s Dream” also cut by the Legend Ray Wylie Hubbard. That song never fails to get the crowd rowdy and singing along, heck even I was singing along with him last night.”It’s A Shame” was a good jam that also had the crowd singing along with. “Bad Liver And A Broken Heart” was close to the encore, his encore was three songs. One of those songs was “Wish I Hadn’t Stayed So Long” which is his timeless song of living in Nashville many can relate to. There is a timeless struggle of tension between Texas and Nashville scenes and lifestyles, I myself have a perfect balance of BOTH on my website here,as you can easily ascertain from reading it for a few days.
All in All I gave this show an A+ form all standpoints, the sound was ABSOLUTELY perfect even though there was a slight microphone mishap it was easily fixed. I applaud the entire crew for an enjoyable evening last night, and my first time covering a Hayes Carll show, I’m truly glad I finally got the opportunity to bring him to Garyhayescountry.com and I’ll be more than happy to usher in his return on this website ANYTIME.
After 20 Years Jerry Jeff Walker Returns To Nashville
Sunday May 21
Doors at 5:30 Show at 6:30-10:30
Seat Reservations $15 – $45 HERE! or www.opry.com
The evening kicks off with local “Honky Tonk Tuesdays” revivalists from the American Legion Post 82, East Nashville’s very own The Cowpokes!
Event: Grand Finale to the Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender
Venue: Grand Ole Opry House
Date: Sunday May 21, 2017
Time: 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Cost: $15-$45
Ticket site: www.opry.com
Looking to attend the rest of the festival? It is $135 for Thursday through Saturday which includes 90 bands, an indoor car show, a vintage market, western fashion show, pinup contest, and a vintage western slide show. You can come to the car show and vintage market for just $5 if you don’t have a festival ticket. We have a cool record convention Sunday from 9am to 6pm at the Nashville Palace which is included in your festival pass or just $5 to the public. ALLBANDS AT THENASHVILLEPALACEAREFREEADMISSION! 10 am to 2am.Day and weekend passes available at: http://www.nashvilleboogie.com/
This is what happens when locally owned Muddy Roots Records takes over the Grand Ole Opry House Mr. Jason brings rare and obscure Legends nobody within the realms of what the normies call “Country” even know exists anymore. Country Legend Bobby Bare has played the main Muddy Roots field twice now, but Country Legend Jerry Jeff Walker hasn’t played a full show in Nashville in over 25 years.
Often called The “Gypsy Songman” Jerry Jeff Walker almost claims total responsibility for creating Jimmy Buffet’s entire brand, as he drove Jimmy Buffet to Key West Florida while they co wrote “Railroad Lady”. Members of Jerry Jeff’s ilk include icons such as Guy Clark, Tompall Glaser, Jerry Foster, Billy Don Burns and Townes Van Zandt as the songwriters of the Outlaw Era of Country Music took form in the 1960’s.
He is most popular for writing the song “Mr. Bojangles” which was recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their most famous album Uncle Teddy And His Dog Charlie. That vinyl album contains a very rare 15 page fold out poster collectors deem valuable and critics deem politically bad because it features old pictures not acceptable in today’s society. He recently performed with the NGDB for their 50th anniversary at the Ryman Auditorium for their groundbreaking album 50 Years Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
That song was entirely truthful and albeit hard to imagine he actually did meet a white wandering minstrel in the 1960 that he befriended in jail in New Orleans, at one time he pointed out in a radio interview jails were segregated then and this vagabond was white. He also gained fame for writing “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother” for another Legend Ray Wylie Hubbard as well as songs for Guy Clark and Gary P Nunn.
Bobby Bare was quite possibly the first and most vastly overlooked member of the Outlaw Country Music movement with some boasting Waylon and Willie and have no clue to what contributions Bobby Bare actually gave this theme of self creative control over their own music. Bobby Bare often joked he BARED no resemblance to the Outlaw look but released album like “Drunk And Crazy” and made writers like Shel Silverstein famous by recording entire albums of his work.
Bobby enraged the industry at the time by recording a John Denver song in rebuke to their attempts to market John Denver as an answer to rapidly climbing album sales from Outlaw artists. He often invoked ire from venues for smoking on stages and encouraging crowd participation during his song “Song Of The South”. He also recorded a song by my friend Tom Ghent whom is also deemed a Legend called “Easy As Dreaming” included on the album Drinking From The Bottle.
Joshua Hedley is currently on tour now and I visited with him recently at his performance at the Nashville Palace and also appearing will be J.P.Harris who along with his band the Tough Choices are a sure bet for Honky Tonk fun and a often visits Muddy Roots events.
Deke Dickerson, Billy Harlan and Big Sandy are also staple members of Nashville Boogie appearances and I very much enjoy coming down there to see them play. I wrote some fine articles for Billy Harlan you can read HERE. I have included all three of their sets during my Nashville Boogie coverage in the past two years.
This afternoon Chris Stapleton released a brand new single called Broken Halos that will be on his forthcoming album called From A Room Volume 1, and this will be available May 5th. You CAN go over and pre order this album now, and you find his tour dates HERE.
Down below I have embedded the youtube official single and I am one of the first that has offered it for websites, there were seven total. I haven’t been able to turn it off…It’s THAT GOOD.
Now folks I’m NOT going to lie if you think you are going to just walk up to the ticket office the day of the show and get one…you won’t. THIS ticket is one of the hottest on the market right now. Chris Stapleton is blown up into a hot commodity right now, despite 80 percent of the mainstream that doesn’t know who the Steeldrivers are.
Recently a while back I had the pleasure of catching up with Mr. Joseph Huber during a house appearance at the Amulet Farm where he treated us to two new songs. I got to actually sit and talk with him as a friend and I appreciated that more than anything that we got to have a friendly conversation and learn from one another. Everything from where to find good chicken fried steak near Knoxville to festivals, I enjoy letting musicians pick my brain for festival help, while I pick theirs for venues and eating places. I mean WHERE do you think I learn all my good hotel spots in Baltimore and Jacksonville Florida…etc..It’s a work together kind of deal. I mean honestly I consider him a friend too, he’s a really nice guy with a friendly smile and a very smart demeanor.
One of those videos below are from a song called “You Showed Me” off his forth album coming out April 21st just in time for the Moonrunners Music Festival in Chicago. I’ll be there live with coverage from that one to bring you my first peek at him playing his new music there.
So initially what did I think about the album? Well I’ll say this at first glance it was exactly like he said, the songs were smaller in number but greater in length and a little bit more in depth than his last album “The Hanging Road”. This new album brings out his inner self rather than focusing on the outer smile and more bare naked jam songs we associate Huber with. Overall I am well pleased with this album and I would rate it pretty high on my TOP 50 list so far, I was taken aback at his courage to veer away from the typical Joseph Huber we know so well.
“Sons Of The Wandering” although it’s a fast paced song with a good beat it is actually a song of economic sorrow from a young man in a city like Milwaukee that struggles financially. It’s also almost seven minutes long which is uncanny for him to have songs that long, however as he proved with “Wanchese And Manteo” he can write a viable song despite it’s length. Much more stripped down and simple, but it ends with confidence and you have to really listen to it’s meaning and interpret it to your own mind. He’s opened up WAY more on this album than EVER and you should take advantage of it because he may not always be this personal with us. Silver spoons and a million gelded rooms point their finger at a million hanging on a string was a powerful and political line that made me applaud his sharing with me his views.
The album opens with “Playground- Battlefield” which initially was a beginning classic Huber style song but the lyrics were already different on this one, I was a clean slate ready to follow this new direction he was about to take me on. My old neighborhood is a bad area now in the same city he is from…Milwaukee. So I could relate to his song here even if I missed the meaning entirely. See I identify with him truly well because I was THERE and my hometown is a battlefield.
“The Suffering Stage” is a song that compels the listener to become more apathetic toward everyday life and all the world around us. Humanity is always busy living their own lives to stop and become concerned with others, basically stop and take a moment to check on your neighbor tonight. Stop and call someone and tell them you love them before it’s too late. Open the door for a stranger or help the hungry tonight.
“You Showed Me” was what I personally was waiting for which was steel guitar laden song of lament of a love gone, fueled with a haunting melody. This song showcased his vocal in the Joseph Huber fashion I’m used to but at the same time it completely complemented the other seven songs on this album. It was a twist because you think You Showed Me could be construed as sarcastic or it could be construed as Wow You Showed Me…I’m sure we have all said that about an Ex. This was clearly my favorite song on the album and one of the more cleverly written ones in my opinion.
TRACK LISTING:
1.Playground-Battlefield
2.Sons Of The Wandering
3.Diminished Things
4.The Suffering Stage
5.16-10
6.You Showed Me
7.Sea Of Night
8.Souls Without Maps
Folks I am constantly checking on local venues in Tennessee And Kentucky to bring you the BEST possible list of bands and artists to see. This does NOT include my festival articles you must go to them and check on who’s playing where for that. Have a show YOU want to report to me? You can email.
I get emails from literally hundreds of sources to compile this list for you and every day I devote usually up to an hour checking all the venues around and bands. I also patrol social media as best as I can to find shows in the Tn/Ky area for you.
Turnpike Troubadors
The Old 97’s
Marathon Music Works May 18th
Trace Adkins
Renfro Valley May 20th
Sean K Preston
Layla’s Inn June 2nd
Marty Stuart
Ryman Auditorium June 6th
Colter Wall
The Cannery Nashville Tn June 7th
Ray Wylie Hubbard
3rd And Lindsley June 18th
The Steeldriver
Yellow Creek Park Owensboro Ky June 21st
Pokey LaFarge
3Rd And Lindsley June 22nd
Blackberry Smoke
Kentucky Bike Rally-Sturgis July 15th
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Ryman Auditorium July 20th
Cody Jinks
Skypac June 28th
Jimmy Fortune
July 29th Kentucky Opry
John Conlee
August 12th Kentucky Opry
Old Salt Union
Friday After Five Owensboro Ky August 18th
Hello everyone, we are all here in Huntington West Virginia at The V club for the fourth annual anniversary party of W.B.Walker’s Old Soul Radio show where I came down to help him celebrate his accomplishments once again. This man’s podcast that he broadcasts from his little backyard bar in Dingess ,West Virginia has grown into a household name here, as well as nation wide. I attended his third one last year and you can read that HERE , I hope we pack the house again tonight.
Four years ago he was starting out poor and not knowing how to do things like he does today, this man put forth TONS of effort to better his style and his presentation. He now knows how to market his brand and his use of language and catchy phrases are what earned him MY personal nickname “The Paul Harvey Of Podcasts”. If you ever have the distinct honor to be a guest in his bar you’ll quickly see like I did once he trusts you you ARE family, and there is more love in his heart than my words can type on here. He and his wife Miss Fallon are BOTH damn fine people that distance doesn’t hold back true friendship..I’d be the first sumbitch in my truck on my way if they needed our help and it was an honor to witness this madness he has created with the help of so many others and a belief in a dream. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your religion and your personal love, this man has a deep love for God like me. I believe if YOU do ALL THINGS to HIS glory you WILL achieve your dreams and you WILL die a blessed man, W.B.Walker does that. I pray often and while I have friends that are Jews and Atheists I practice my faith and you’ll see me have a beer with an Atheist any day, the world needs more brotherhood and MUSIC is where it CAN happen.
He began his one year podcast birthday in his living room with four guests and even back then I was covering his action, until I finally got enough gumption to come up and see for my own self what the deal was..and I have been a member of his family ever since. Year 3Year 2Year 1. There’s a little recap of his past four shows for you to enjoy the GREAT MUSIC he has been featuring.
MANY people help him do what he does and some of them aren’t the musicians he features. Tonight the wonderful Melissa Stilwell Photography doing some awesome social media work and pictures, and my buddy Mr. Josh Green for helping everything run smoothly and managing the stage area. Miss Melissa is rapidly becoming a prominent force on the local music scene with her coverage of Appalachian area artists, doing work for Colter Wall, Tyler Childers and many more from this “scene” (if you want to call it that)…I just call it damn fine music, I call ALL of them regions the same thing DAMN fine music.
I already got a private show in the green room upstairs as Country Music Legend Billy Don Burns played some songs for us all. That video of him down below is from his playing upstairs along with Mr. Josh Morningstar who was also up there with me, I just wandered up to see who was there and was greeting everyone.You know this music business isn’t what you think, we don’t all hang out at each others houses every weekend. Sometimes it can be months or even a year before I see someone again, because like the Highwaymen said “The Road Goes On Forever And The Party Never Ends”.
I stayed at the Days Inn at Ashland Kentucky, it was off Hwy 64 and State Route 180 on exit 190. And I’ll let you in on a little tidbit of info, if you are planning on attending the Jewel City Jamboree this hotel is ideal. It’s about 20 minutes from downtown Huntington and one exit from the airport ALL for under 100 bucks a night! THIS WILL NOW be MY go to hotel for this area from now on.
Right now the first act up is Tim Lancaster who is outstanding in his own right as an Americana folk style singer. His unique style and grace up there onstage was impeccable and a terrific way to begin tonight’s festivities.
He opened his set with a Jimmie Rodgers song called “Mule Skinner Blues AKA Blue Yodel Number 8”, and then off of his album “My Times With You” he played some songs called “Something Like Trout” and “Let Me,Let You”. He represents this area’s musicians extremely well, by spinning tales of lore from days long ago and songs like “Sugar Pie”. This young man was an absolute honor to shake hands with and get to know as a friend, he IS one of the real deals of his genre.
This video that I took here was from his song “Medicine Man” which was also an original off his album and he followed that by playing one called “Dear Lord” and closed his set with “Can You Hear The Sound?” Which he performed with two sets of mule jawbones. This Florida native is indeed inventing his own style and even his own appearance and will soon carve a niche in the local music scene. I’m sure that by the end of this article you too will appreciate this man’s music, I look forward to being more involved into his music in any way I can.
He has an honest and real demeanor and his presentation of his music was extraordinary on every level, and he is an absolute pleasure to watch perform. Truly already O’l W.B. has outdone himself in choosing talent for this show. He never fails to amaze me with what he chooses, and this honestly is becoming one of my favorite trips to make. Usually the weather is gorgeous the Daniel Boone National Forest is in spring mode and the Lord blesses me with a good trip up.
Now everyone this is my FIRST TIME to use my new laptop on a job AND my I pad together linked so I’m trying to bring you better quality videos and I’m learning how to use it better so please bear with me I didn’t get every band on here on video. The battery is not lasting long and I had other complications as the night went on…give me time to mater my craft with every job I do.
Some of the videos crashed and the laptop I thought was DONE updating busted out with one at the venue, to my dismay. I literally bought this laptop the day before the show, and I’m still learning Windows 10.
The Local Honeys hail from various parts of Kentucky and their harmonies are absolutely wonderful. I would have not have found them if not for W.B.Walker and his radio show, we exchange music quite often. They began with “Cigarette Trees” a truly fine song of pretest and coal miner’s despair. As I have said many times about this region the main source of income is truly and sadly a dying form of energy…coal. It gets very touchy and political in many ways and once you visit you can identify with them how imperative it is we save this natural resource’s use for energy.
They barreled into “Hares On The Mountain”, this time they had a trio as a third gal named Megan Gergory joining them, and she was from Alabama. Miss Montana Hobbs and Miss Linda Jean Stokley complete this lineup of lovely ladies with harmonies as smooth as the honey in their name.
This venue began filling up so fast, I couldn’t get up close to the stage again like last time. As they played a song called “Train” they vividly displayed their mountain music talents as they wove a tapestry of East Kentucky music to us here in West Virginia with a song called “Bonesky Folk” and a popular Bluegrass tune “How Mountain Girls Can Love”. My favorite version of that song is off Ricky Skaggs And Kentucky Thunder’s album “Ancient Tones”.
Their set also included “Tight Wad” and one called “I Can Tell” as they once again came forward with their wonderful harmonies. In my opinion ALL of these acts tonight absolutely killed it and it was difficult to decide who was the best, but they were one of the top ones tonight. Their last song was called “Huntington” as left the stage in tears upon commanding it tonight up there, they get a LOT of attention from O’l W.B. and I can see why.
You might remember The Horse Traders as their steel guitarist Mr. Travis Egnor Recently kicked off my Steel Guitarists Series with a wonderful interview on the phone this past winter. And there’s also news on their new album release in that article as well. Their first song was called “She Calls Me” and they followed that by another great song called “Ain’t No Ash will Burn”.
You know one thing I always notice about this band is how well they play together, like clockwork. Each one of them knows exactly what the other is doing and where they are within the song. One of the finest and most well groomed bands that is always featured every year here, and always a downright pleasure to write about. They brought up Sam Williams to sing his sister Holly’s song ‘Woman Like This”.
Patrick Stanley,Taylor Jones and Mr. Brandon Mooney complete this foursome of rocking Country boys and whatever else you wish to call them, Daggum I just call them some REAL music. They are seasoned veterans of this particular show having been on the three shows that were LIVE ,from this particular venue. Like I said the very first one was from his own home before any of this bloomed into the juggernaut it is today.
“Cheap Wine” was next followed by “Drinki’n” which displayed some powerful vocal from. As they traded leads with Mr. Travis on the steel guitar they closed their set with “Watch Your Speed” and “Foot Of Rain”. One hell of a damn fine display of talent here tonight by a truly fine band I am blessed to call friends!
The youngest son of Country Music Legend Hank Williams Jr. stopped in to see us all tonight and we enjoyed a nice set of his original material and some of his father’s hits as well. Samuel Williams began with his own song called “Darkwater” and as he is still developing his own style and trying out different ventures, we got a little taste of his influences.
As one would easily distinguish about any member of the Williams family he was heavily influenced by his father and sister Holly, and performed two of her songs tonight “Death Train”. Along with his Grandfather Hank Williams Sr, who he brought alive tonight with his rendition of “Kaw Liga” and the ever popular “Long Gone Lonesome Blues”.
“Let You Go” was next followed by “Rambli’n Man” and two more of his father’s songs that had the crowd singing along which was 1979’s OD’D In Denver off the Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound album and “Dinosaur” from the 1980 album Habits Old And New.
Josh Morningstar is one of the finest people I ever met in my music tenure here on Earth, and perhaps one of the few from my Altamont history that have evolved into the amazing man that he is today. Under the direction of great management and maintaining his own creative input he has accomplished more in a short period than anyone I know.
This man lives in Maryland but he IS one of the toughest road warriors I have ever met and is on the go so hard that he tires me out just watching him. This guy is in Detroit one night and the next he could be in Atlanta for all we know, he spreads out faster than shingles. He is constantly grooming his sound and experimenting with different appearances, while always succeeding to amaze his crowd…know WHY?
Because his is OUT THERE and burning up the roads and constantly on social media promoting his brand. He is always studying the market and much like me he notices detail and utilizes EVERYTHING toward his music and his business.
He played many new songs tonight from his upcoming album and one of them was “Whole Lot Of Crazy To Live Up To” followed by “Went Back To Selling Drugs To Pay The Bills” both of which are original songs. He now travels with a seasoned band of talented road warriors called the Pickups, which just days ago played the Hagfest show at the Southgate House. They are Bobby Miller on lead guitar, Michelle Lucas on bass, Greg Johnson on steel, and Taylor Hernley on drums.
He covered Billy Joe Shaver’s “ride me Down Easy that David Allan Coe wrote and also Waylon J ennings recorded it on his Honky Tonk Heroes album of all Billy Joe Shaver tunes. “All That I Been Living For Is Gone” was next another original followed by “The Legend Of Miss Bobbie Jo” and “Cocaine”.
This man ALWAYS ends his set with “I Saw The Light” where he carries a LONG note and usually has the crowd whipped up into an absolute frenzy, but not before playing “Brand New Angel” and one of my favorites “Crying Eyes Of Blue”. I said it before and I’ll say it again, this man has nowhere to go BUT UP and he WILL go DOWN in history as a Legend, you mark my damn words on that…it’s a promise.
Tyler Childers is the only one of the bunch that has been around for all four shows from W.B.Walker. He is from the Appalachian region that W.B.Walker and all of the Honky Tonk Heroes identify themselves with with pride. His unique style of vocal delivery sets him leagues above many others on his level of this profession. He sometimes travels with his band called the Foodstamps but tnoight he is solo.
He is releasing a new album in September for sure and I’m quite adamant on it’s outcome…awesome. This man represents the hard working blue collar coal miners of the region, and despite his youth he sings with experience of hard living and hard times. He had this club packed today and hundreds of people crying out his own lyrics because he has amassed an impressive following in this region.
He began with “Rock Salt And Nails” an old Utah Phillips song, and quickly went into “Nose To The Grindstone,mind Off The Pills”. One of the many songs the entire place goes ape shit nuts over singing along to, with lyrics that every hard working American can relate to.
“Clovis” was next along with another one they all sing to “Follow You To Virgie” and “Bottle And Bibles”. I say this all to often this man has a special gift for distinguishing his voice out from other people, you can pick it out easily. You can SEE the hurt in his eyes and the blood flow from cuts in his beat up hands. He is sixty years old trapped in a thirty year old’s body.
“Honky Tonk Flame” was one of his new ones along with “Feathered Indian” and “Adam” but the other one that absolutely SLAYS this venue was “White Bridge Road”. The ambiance of that song alone is as poignant and dark as the lyrics themselves, I mean what better to spend a weekend night drunk and singing along with songs about self destruction and despair? THAT MY FRIENDS IS Country Music, from one of the most honest regions of the great nation. All too often they get swept under the rug and this man pulls it up off the floor and snaps the rug dust in your face.
There really isn’t much I can say about Country Music Legend Billy Don Burns that I haven’t already said as I named him my 2106 Number one album of the year that was produced by Shooter Jennings. I mean for Gods’s sakes this man wrote songs for Connie Smith,Harlan Howard and Willie Nelson, the list goes on and on. And even at 68 I don’t see him stopping as he released a stellar new album from Rusty Knuckles label called “Graveyard In Montgomery”.
“Talk About Crazy” was the first song on his VERY LONG set list tonight as he took us on a trip through a slight taste of his entire catalog of albums tonight. “Outlaws At The Cross” was recorded on two of his albums previously and he followed that with a song about Billy The Kid called “Dead Or Alive”.
I truly wish I could have been older and around in his heyday when my favorite period of Country Music history was unfolding, that transition of the 50s and 60s into the Outlaw movement. It seems Mr. Billy was a product of both, and I study those changes with uncanny vigor. How it would have been to ACTUALLY SEE a short haired Willie Nelson sing Hello Walls and an elder Ernest Tubb on stage singing Rainbow At Midnight and my favorite Filipino Baby in the 1960s. He was 21 when I was born, and writing songs for Connie Smith while my mom was changing my diapers, but nonetheless much like Ol W.B. Walker, Billy Don Burns is probably one of the last living pieces of my infatuation during my youth with records. We CANNOT and MUST NOT loose him because NOBODY could fill that void, him and Whispering Bill Anderson and Jerry Foster and the many of his likeness brought Country Music to it’s splendor.
My personal favorite song was one about addiction called “Dark Side Of The Spoon” which laments the shameful side of addiction. He flips over to a more upbeat song about “Running Drugs Out Of Mexico” while Dark Side Of The Spoon is more slower and poignant. It truly hits home for many of us that have previously faced the struggle of personal addiction in some form.
“Rock On” and “Hank Williams Lonesome And Keith Whitley Blue” were next tonight as he and Josh Morningstar tore the place apart. Mr. Billy did an absolutely astounding job of bringing us toward the close of the show. I appreciate him for the history of this genre that he represents and to me…for me personally he represents the tradition of the older days because he was there. When the magic filled the air man, he was there. We just don’t have many storybook people left anymore that actually remember Bob Luman, and as he sat with me I showed him my profile. Pictures of me with Lynn Owsley who brought him on the Opry in the days of old to play with Ernest tubb, things like that are what makes him so special to us.
He played “Freight Train” and the title song from his new album “Graveyard In Montgomery” before closing with the ever popular “Desperate Men”. You know I’ll tell you what folks this man has more stories and tales than anyone I know because he was there, and he lived every moment of it all. He is one of the last of his ilk and he knows it but at the same time he’s not afraid to be just that, and he wears it well. He appreciates all of our love and our respect of him and what he represents…timeless classic Country Music that will never die. I know it’s inevitable that God will call us ALL home one day but the music he leaves behind will no doubt always be a prominent piece of Outlaw Country Music.
Arlo McKinely And The Lonesome Sound was an Ohio based band I have also never covered before today. Tyler Lockard, Brian Pumphry, Zac Roe, Sylvia Mitchell, and Sarah Davis make up the band The Lonesome Sound. They label themselves folk rock/soul but Like I always say I don’t care about genres or label I just promote GOOD music so promote them I shall!
They played an eleven song set tonight beginning with “Don’t Need To Know” and “All Night Long” both of which I was told they have performed on the Red Barn Sessions up there in Ohio. I am very familiar with that organization and was sent some CDs from there by my Ohio friends. There exists a VERY powerful scene up there with people like the Tillers and Dallas Moore and I could go on and on.
“Time In Bars” was next as they displayed a very soulful sound that I thought their band name aptly described quite well here. “All That I Could Do” was next followed by “Just Like The Rest”, I thought their vocal deliveries and solos set them apart from any of the styles of music tonight. We were treated to various styles of music however most of it was from the same region in one way or another.
“Where You Want Me” and “Wishing” were two of the songs I was familiar with from my research of this band in my preparation work for this event. As with ANY of these bands you can ALWAYS catch O’l W.B. Walker playing this music for you on his podcast.
They played “Dancing Days” before going into some Hank Williams Sr songs tonight as well as taking us into “Wishing On Wild Horses” and finally closing with “Dark Side Of The Street”. Absolutely a knock out stellar set tonight as we got ready for the main event tonight.
Sarah Shook And The Disarmers from North Carolina have an album coming out on April 28th from Bloodshot Records called SIDELONG, now I owe her an apology because of my misspelling of that on my TOP 50 OF 2015. She released the album independently and I was turned onto them by a mutual friend. Honestly back then I was just beginning to form my style and I wasn’t as educated on the computer as I am now, and my articles were not as informative or beneficial back then as they are now. Time makes you better and knowledge makes you stronger.
Eric Peterson – Electric guitar,John Howie Jr. – Drums, Aaron Oliva – Upright bass and Phil Sullivan – Pedal Steel make up the rocking Country Honky Tonk sound of the Disarmers. Bloodshot is releasing singles off of this album at a slow pace right now as they just released “The Nail” they played that one later in the set.
Sadly I missed a few of the songs due to packing up equipment and such but I managed to enjoy “The Road Leads To You” followed by “Nothing Feels Right But Doing Wrong”. “Heal Me” and “Fuck Up” were next followed by my favorite drinking song she does called “The Bottle Never Let Me Down”.
One of the first times I got to see her videos were from the Blue Plate Special series if you have never saw that series I strongly urge you to go check that out, and I thought of that series as she played the title track called “Sidelong”. They truly did a super fine job tonight up there and I had to do some digging but found out that “Home Fires Burning” and “Dwight Yoakam” were next followed by the closing songs.
As I previously stated “The Nail” is her newest single to be released off the Bloodshot release of this album and the last song was “Misery Without Company”. I don’t compare her to any of the female artists in ANY genre although she is typically classified as Americana I believe she stands out on her own. Her vocals are easily distinguished as her own and she’s not trying to sound like anybody but herself, and she’s not trying to impress anybody…she doesn’t need to.
She’s very proactive in her personal beliefs and her family life while balancing a road band and for THAT I completely commend her on, it’s NOT easy for a single man like me let alone having children. Balancing a mainstay in her son’s life and how proud she is of him makes her a person you can look up to in this industry…you don’t find these qualities in the music bushiness as often as you should.
Folks it is indeed that time again where YOU can come out to the Nashville Palace to see the 6th Annual Sons And Daughters Of Country Legends, and you can order tickets HERE for this ongoing event. I must say I have the pleasure of being really good friends with many of the families of the Country Music Legends, many of the families are really good to my website and my cause.
One of them is Donnie Winters, I have a TON of vintage collectables and rare things of his father’s I have acquired through the years, like a T shirt from their merch booth I bought at their backyard jam over 17 years ago. Still in good shape and I wear it seldom because I want to preserve it. I have his obituaries and newspaper clippings from his father’s passing framed in my home, which is a Country Music museum chronologically arranged in time periods room to room. I once found his father’s records on Songbird and found TWO COPIES of each in good condition in Illinois and I presented Mr. Donnie with copies of them, as his were destroyed in a fire.
Miss Seidina Reed will finally get to see her father Jerry Reed inducted into the Country music Hall Of Fame later this year and she will also be a part of this fantastic show. I strongly urge you to attend if you are in the Nashville area and find the time to do so, you will not be disappointed in any way here and this will be the lineup for the show:
You might just remember a few weeks ago I ran really nice article about a Roots band called The Hooten Hallers and their new album out on Big Muddy Records and you can read that article HERE. They are going to be coming to my area on April 29th at the Basement in Nashville with another band I’ll soon be covering at Moonrunners Festival in Chicago and that band is Left Lane Cruiser.. Also appearing with those two bands will be The Low Volts.
Left Lane Cruiser will be coming down from Fort Wayne Indiana and will join the Hooten Hallers in supporting new albums they both have coming out. Left Lane Crusier has entitled their new album Claw Machine Wizard and it will be released on Alive Natural Sound.
The door price for this show will be only 7 dollars and the price at the door will be 10 on the day of the show and is sponsored by Tennessee Brew Works and Goat Fest. Here is some information about the upcoming Goatfest:
Goat Fest is a heavy blues and roots experience held in the heart of the delta and the home of The Crossroads: Clarksdale, MS. Held June 2nd and 3rd at both the New Roxy Theatre and the Shack Up Inn, Goat Fest is not your typical blues fest. This is heavy blues. Hard blues. Garage blues. Punk blues. Fire and brimstone blues.
Online tickets for Goat Fest IV are only $40. Sorry, but tickets do not include lodging.
The lineup for Goat Fest IV is as follows:
Friday Night Shows at The Shack Up Inn (Doors, 8PM)
* Cedric Burnside Project
* Lightnin’ Malcolm
* Robert Kimbrough Sr’s Blues Connection
Saturday Early Shows at The New Roxy Theater (Doors, 2PM)
* Husky Burnette
* Catl.
* Rest^vRant
Saturday Night Shows at The Shack Up Inn (Doors, 8PM)
* King Mud
* Mark “Porkchop” Holder & Mph
The Country Music Association created the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1961 to honor artists who have significantly impacted country music. Currently there are 130 members on the Hall of Fame roster, including icons such as Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, George Jones, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. The official induction ceremony for the new members took place today April 5th 2017 .
The new members will be inducted into three different categories: Veterans Era Artist, Modern Era Artist and Songwriter. A Veterans Era and Modern Era artist are both inducted into the Hall of Fame each year, while the Songwriter category rotates with the Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980 and Non-Performer categories. The Class of 2017 will be the 57th group of country music artists to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Formal induction ceremonies for Reed, Jackson, and Schlitz will take place at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in the CMA Theater later this year. Since 2007, the Museum’s Medallion Ceremony, an annual reunion of the Hall of Fame membership, has served as the official rite of induction for new members.
Alan Jackson is one that achieved my TOP album of 2015 READ THAT HERE with his latest album Angels And Alcohol. He is one of the few mainstream acts that I relentlessly cover on this website due to his elegant stage presence and his tireless pursuit of Traditional Country Music, his respect for the Legends of it, and his overall style of his music. The ordeal he endured during the awards show where he stood up for the injustice of the late George Jones showed his brazen love for the honor and dignity of it all, and the duet with another Legend George Strait the Larry Cordle penned “Murder On Music Row” equally proved his worthiness of this honor. Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Modern Era Artist.
Of his 16 studio albums he has amassed 66 Billboard titles and 35 number one hits. He has sold over 80 Million records worldwide total. I firmly believe he has pretty much been awarded every possible accomplishment Country Music can bestow upon an artist, and has worked hard to deserve this honor.
Jerry Reed, what can I say..I been waiting to hear this name for many many years now. Rumors swirled the industry all month of possible inductees and he was one of the staple possibilities. Many years of embellishing what I call “The Country Music Movies” of the 70’s and 80’s bringing us such comical characters as Cledus Snowman Snow on the iconic movies “Smokey And The Bandit”.
Out of his 49 studio albums 4 of his 59 single garnished number one hits however his signature songs like “Amos Moses” are timeless classic Country Music songs and are never overlooked by people like me. He is a two time CMA Award winner for instrumentalist of the year and a three time Grammy Award winner.
Jerry Reed was one of Country Music most celebrated guitarists and talented musicians, and are often coined as perhaps the fastest guitarist ever next to Larry Collins and Chet Atkins. All three had a humble respect for one another in their own right. Jerry Reed will be inducted into the Veterans Era Artist.
Don Schlitz is a hit songwriter known mostly for writing the Kenny Rogers hit “The Gambler” in 1978. Among others like “Forever And Ever Amen”, and “When You Say Nothing At All”. He has over 60 major cut songs but national artists and has amassed 3 CMA awards,2 grammys and 1 acm award for his work.
Mr. Don is a member of the North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame and regularly plays songwriter nights all over Nashville, and is regarded to be a hero among songwriters.
You know folks I got to thinking I haven’t talked about an iconic Roots Music band that I am quite sure many of you are familiar with from Wisconsin The Ditchrunners. As many of you know I was actually raised in Wisconsin and I was also good friends with the late Owen Mays, who did some work with this band in the past.
Mr. Derrick Maddox stopped by recently and gave me the lowdown on their overseas endeavors, and some plans for the fall of 2017. They recently signed on with Doomstar booking agency in The Netherlands… They have a huge European tour schedule for summer 2018. Upon returning back to Europe they are headlining their second European tour in summer of 2018 making for an all out powerhouse package deal, St. Christopher Webster and The Devils Cut will be making their debut overseas. . They recently picked up Bob Wayne’s former agent Rebecca Baker for all of their United States booking, she represents ZB Booking Agency. Their American tour will begin in their home state of Wisconsin June 3rd and will continue until July 1st at the Heavy Rebel Weekender then they will return home.
They also signed a record deal with Rusty Knuckles Records and you can expect a debut album release in the fall. Their record release tour will commence October 1st and go until November 6th. The Ditchrunners that will take you to their BIO page. They recently landed a track on Comedy Blockbuster Soundtrack called “60 yard line” coming to a theater near you.. This five piece band has been relentlessly laboring along the nations highways and Honky Tonks chasing that musical dream all bands salivate for. So I can assure you folks if you like this band like I do you’ll be looking for their growth both musically and globally as they are quickly becoming recognized as a vital and tangible touring band while maintaining a level of local band presence. Recently they were recognized in their area at the WAMI Awards, by winning Americana/ Bluegrass Band of the year in2016. They were also nominated for this year’s People’s Choice Band of the year at the 2017 WAMI awards.
For those of you that are not familiar with the WAMI organization, you can click on that link up there:
The Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) is a volunteer organization whose purpose is to educate and recognize the achievements and accomplishments of individuals in the Wisconsin music industry. Since 1980, WAMI has worked to:
Improve communication and interaction among members
Present awards to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of the Wisconsin music industry
Produce music industry/music business seminars and workshops
Accumulate information for use within a comprehensive Wisconsin music industry directory
Partner with other Wisconsin-based organizations with a shared mission
Encourage, promote and educate musicians
Hey I had an epiphany the other night while I was working on another project, WHY DON’T I make a weekly list of newly released albums of music that I love, and update it every couple nights.? Much like my list of weekly shows that I publish every week I shall now be posting every other night a good sized list of new albums I find from a TON of sources.
I’m not going to break it down into (what I will consider) my own genres, why should I? It’s just ALL damn good music no matter WHAT you call it, and I think you’ll agree that these are truly champion choices. I find out about SO MANY new bands and festivals every day by scouring the internet and subscribing to mailing lists and word of mouth.
My TOP 50 of ANY year is probably my most popular article of anything I ever publish that gets viewed by tens of thousands of people, my TOP 50 will indeed derive from this list here and I shall update this list several times a week. If YOU have some terrific suggestions for me you can hit me up on garyhayes2@yahoo.com
Sunny Sweeney-Trophy
JonEmery Dodds-Hell Rooster
Billie Gant And Nick Geise-On And On
Richie Allbright-Poets,Prophets,Heroes And Friends
Old 97’s-Graveyard Whistling
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band- Front Porch Sessions
Split Lip Rayfield-On My Way
Natalie Hemby-Puxico
Ags Connolly-Nothin Unexpected
Dale Watson And Ray Benson-Dale And Ray
Band Of Heathens-Duende
Scott H Biram-The Bad Testament
Truckstop Honeymoon-Big Things And Little Things
Truckstop Gamblers-Here
Nikki Lane-Highway Queen
Infamous Stringdusters-Laws Of Gravity
Marty Stuart-Way Out West
Poor Man’s Whiskey-Rock Star On The Weekend
Southern Culture On The Skids-Electric Pinecones
Pert Near Sandstone-Discovery Of Honey
The Gibson Brothers-In The Ground
Cory Branon-Adios
The Traveli’n McCourys-Let Her Go
Tift Merritt-Stitch Of The World
John Hord-The Home You Made For Me
James Scott Bullard And The Late Night Sweethearts-Box Of Letters
William Matheny-Strange Constellations
Black Irish Texas-To Hell With The King
Jamie Wyatt-Felony Blues
Otis Gibbs-Mount Renraw
Austin James-Full Throttle
A.J. Hobbs-Too Much Is Never Enough
Fred Eaglesmith-Standard
Jeremy Steding- Odessa
Whitney Rose-South Texas Suite
Kris Kristofferson-The Austin Sessions
Kate Grom-Heroine
Lindi Ortega-Til The Goin Gets Gone
Drew Holcomb-New Year
Brad Good Band-One Red Light
Pat Waters-Heartbroke
Derek Anthony-Dreamcathcer
Greg Wickham-If I Left This World
Rebeca Loebe-Blink
The Drugstore Gypsies-Self Titled
Buzz Cason-Passion
Great American Taxi-Dr.Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show
Allison Krauss-Windy City
Travis Linville-Up Ahead
Patty Reese-Let In The Sun
Valerie June-The Order Of Time
Richard Lynch-Mending Fences
Koe Wetzel-Noise Complaint
Rodney Crowell-Close Ties
Tanner Fenoglio-This Town
Jess Wade-Country Comforts
Chris Shiflett- West Coast Town
Sam Outlaw-Tenderheart
Lillie Mae-Forever And Then Some
Blackfoot Gypsies-To The Top
Bobby Osborne-Original
Sarah Shook And The Disarmers-Sidelong
Scott H Biram-Bad Testament
Banditos-Visionland
Kody West-Green
Brett Hendrix-Brett Hendrix
Todd Adelman And The Country Mile-Time Will Tell
The String Cheese Incident-Believe
Andrew Combs-Canyons Of My Mind
Tim O Brien-Where The River Meets The Road
Joseph Huber- The Suffering Stage
Angaleena Presley-Wrangled
The Hooten Hallers-Hooten Hallers
Joey Feek-If Not For You
Jericho Woods-Better Now
Leslie Tom-Leslie Tom
Willie Nelson-God’s Problem Child
The Dead South-Illusion And Doubt
Colter Wall-Colter Wall
Delbert McClinton-Prick Of The Litter
Sarah Shook And The Disarmers-Sidelong
Justin Townes Earle-Kids In The Street
Folks I am constantly checking on local venues in Tennessee And Kentucky to bring you the BEST possible list of bands and artists to see. This does NOT include my festival articles you must go to them and check on who’s playing where for that. Have a show YOU want to report to me? You can email.
I get emails from literally hundreds of sources to compile this list for you and every day I devote usually up to an hour checking all the venues around and bands. I also patrol social media as best as I can to find shows in the Tn/Ky area for you.
Nikki Lane
3rd And Lindsley April 9th
Loretta Lynn
Ryman Auditorium April 13th and 14th
Jim Lauderdale
Station Inn April 13th
David Allan Coe
Renfro Valley April 15th
Jason Eady
The Family Wash April 19th
Michaella Anne
The Basement April 12th
Cale Tyson
The Back Corner April 17th
Cory Branon
Exit Inn April 21st
Bobby Bare
Renfro Valley April 21st
Chely Wright
Music City Winery April 21st
Gene Watson
Renfro Valley April 22nd
The Royal Hounds
Dees liquor Lounge April 22nd
Jason Isbell
John Prine
The Ryman Auditorium May 3rd
John Conlee
Merle Travis Music Center May 5th 2017
Mandy Barnett
3RD And Lindsley May 6th
Elizabeth Cook
3Rd And Lindsley May 7th
Vince Gill
The Carson Center May 11th
Stoney LaRue
3Rd And Lindsley May 12th
Jericho Woods
The Basement May 17th
Turnpike Troubadors
The Old 97’s
Marathon Music Works May 18th
Trace Adkins
Renfro Valley May 20th
Sean K Preston
Layla’s Inn June 2nd
Marty Stuart
Ryman Auditorium June 6th
Colter Wall
The Cannery Nashville Tn June 7th
Ray Wylie Hubbard
3rd And Lindsley June 18th
The Steeldriver
Yellow Creek Park Owensboro Ky June 21st
Pokey LaFarge
3Rd And Lindsley June 22nd
Daniel Romano
Mercy Lounge June 24rth
Blackberry Smoke
Kentucky Bike Rally-Sturgis July 15th
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Ryman Auditorium July 20th
The Conroe Americana Music Festival is a grassroots premier festival featuring a mix of Bluegrass, Rockabilly, Folk, Texas Country, Roots Rock, Blues, and Americana music.
Established through the Conroe Downtown Area Association (501c4) the proceeds of the festival will be used to enhance the Historic Downtown Conroe area with improved signing and beautification projects.
The 3 Day Music Festival will feature 50 bands in 4-6 venues beginning Friday, May 5, 2017 at 6:00pm – midnight, noon-midnight Saturday, May 6, and Noon-6:00pm Sunday, May 7, 2017. We hope to increase the size of the festival each year as more music fans come to our home town–“Conroe”.
I have been trying very hard lately to bring the Texas Music Scene into my website by featuring many of the Red Dirt Texas festivals featuring many of the top Red Dirt Acts, when they stop in the Nashville area I always try to attend and support the show.
American Aquarium member BJ Barham has announced his Great 48 Tour which includes 51 shows in 56 days covering all 48 continental states, a feat not many artists can possibly boast. His debut solo release Rockingham made my honorable mentions list for 2016 and is a truly good addition to your collection.
It means some very personal thing to him as a person and deal with tragedies he dealt with and wrote the entire record in a short period of time. The out pour of concern from American Aquarium fans for them under the terrorist attacks paved the way for him to write this album.
I’m going to go ahead and print this from his own website:
B.J. Barham was a long way from home when the tragedy happened.
On November 13, 2015, the singer-songwriter—raised in a small North Carolina town called Reidsville—was in the middle of his fourth European tour with American Aquarium, the rising alt-country act he’d led for nearly a decade. They were in Belgium, less than two hours from Paris, when bad news began to arrive: a series of terrorist attacks, including one in a rock club, had left more than 100 dead. Family members, friends, and the fans American Aquarium had amassed from so many years on the road immediately reached out, making sure the band had been far away.
“The onslaught of text messages, voicemails and everything that came in the next day sparked something in me,” Barham remembers. “In the next two days, the entire record was written.”
The record he’s talking about is Rockingham, Barham’s remarkable and intensely personal solo debut. Not long after the wave of well wishes had passed, Barham found himself piecing together composites of people he’d known since childhood, of those folks and places who had impacted his life in fundamental ways. He sang into his cell phone and scribbled in notebooks, stealing away for quiet moments in order to put the melodies and characters floating through his mind into song.
The shock of the moment and the distance from home seemed to give Barham a crucial perspective on the moments and circumstances that had helped shape him. Wolves, American Aquarium’s much-lauded 2015 breakthrough, had contained Barham’s most honest, vulnerable statements to date. But these songs took the next step, allowing Barham to share stories about those around him. In “O’Lover,” he portrays a hard-working farmer forced to make some desperate decisions to support the ones he loves. In “Reidsville,” named for the place he’d called his home until relocating to North Carolina’s capital, he immortalized beautiful, sweet, doomed souls, stuck in love in the sort of small towns that are disintegrating all across America. You needn’t have been to Reidsville to recognize these elegantly written, expertly realized protagonists.
“This is the first record I’ve ever made that’s not autobiographical—it’s fictional narrative in a very real place,” Barham says. “These songs are human condition stories set in my hometown, Reidsville.”
Barham made these songs his new priority. Not long after he returned stateside, he asked Bradley Cook, the musician and mentor who had co-produced Wolves, to hear them. By afternoon’s end, they had hatched the plan to make Rockingham. Two months later, on January 31, Barham returned from another American Aquarium tour.
On Monday, he and the band he’d built to record Rockingham—himself, Cook, Cook’s brother and multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook, drummer Kyle Keegan, American Aquarium standbys Ryan Johnson and Whit Wright—met for the first time. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they rehearsed. And on Thursday and Friday, they cut all eight songs at Durham’s Overdub Lane. They mixed the results over the weekend, between the sold-out hometown shows and various festivities of American Aquarium’s annual pilgrimage, Roadtrip to Raleigh. Cialis The whirlwind kept the songs simple and the recordings human, reflecting a reality much bigger and less perfect than the vacuum of a recording studio.
These tunes, after all, didn’t need much tampering. Rockingham puts its scenes and scenarios front and center, the beautiful grain and twang of Barham’s voice bringing it all to life. He limns lifelong romance and instantaneous tragedy during the paradoxically heartbreaking, heart-mending “Unfortunate Kind” and details the disappointments and dreams of the blue-collar laborer with “American Tobacco Company.” With its acoustic guitars and pealing organs, ragged vocals and rugged characters, Rockingham is a stunning, personal portrait of small-town America, easily identifiable and familiar.
For the album’s sole autobiographical moment, Barham, now happily married and sober, penned a letter of sound advice and Southern attitude to his daughter-to-be, “Madeline.” It’s too personal to fall under a roots-rock purview, too singular to be swallowed by a larger situation. Like all of Rockingham, it’s not the sound of Barham stepping away from American Aquarium but instead stepping confidently into the thoughts, stories, and feelings of his own thirty years.
“This is just an outlet for a songwriter. It’s me being able to do something different. This is like people who love their jobs, picking up hobbies,” says Barham, “This is an exercise for myself.”
I’m NOT going to lie to you folks,Casey James Prestwood And The Burning Angels much like a few others has secured a HIGH SPOT on my TOP 50 for 2017 already and it’s not even April yet (it WILL BE when I publish this) but right now it’s still March. I go bonkers over REAL Honky Tonk Country Music that makes me want to turn up bottles of beer, and if I smoked again I would burn a pack to it. This album pretty much makes you crave a dirty hardwood floor and ashtray laden tables of spilled, stale booze. To me these sort of albums aren’t “retro” or “throwback” they ARE the type of album that simply SHOULD be billed as Country.
When I talked to Mr. Casey recently he dropped some names to me that proudly display the care and attention to precise detail the likes of Heart Of Texas recording artist Amber Digby on background vocals. This album was produced by himself and his pedal steel wizard John Macy, and was recorded in five different studios. One in Denver Colorado where he is widely known, Macy Sounds Studio, two in Texas, One in Guthrie Oklahoma and finally Cinderella Studios in Nashville.
He came from Virginia and was raised in the south thus the Country Music flows deep within his blood,and at the end of this album one can easily ascertain the tone and twang are embedded deep into him and his band of Burning Angels. They established a huge following in the Denver area touring heavily and gigging all over many scenes and markets, making a name for themselves. He is a household name within my local scene here in Nashville appearing often around town with the likes of Joshua Hedley and Chris Scruggs, J.P.Harris and Margo Price.
The steel players on this album includel:Lloyd Green, Tommy Detamore, John Macy. This album has Guitar contributions from :Eugene Moles, Wayne Moss, and Bill Kirchen. Fiddle was done by :Byron Berlin and as previously stated the harmony:Amber Digby. Mr. Kevin Finn is on the drums and Mr. Jeff Martin plays bass for this band.
The album opens with a journey into the darker side of life with songs like “Blue, Lonely And Wasted” that contains steel guitar licks emanating a sorrowful and somber tone complete with classic sad Honky Tonk lyrics. It’s basically you complete hardcore tear jerk package and if you have a broken heart stay away from this album, it should come with a warning label. “Iv’e Been Ready” is another classic break up song that spoke to me even though I haven’t been in a relationship for many many years, this pretty much sums up WHY I haven’t been. It’s a typical picking up the pieces tune about seeing your EX with another current love, that speaks to pretty much anybody. This is pretty much a gender neutral album as far as targeting because ANYBODY can relate to the subject matter here, I think ALL OF US have fallen victim to the tail end of that situation.
The overall length of this twelve song album had me in a positive grasp for some time, and toe tapping songs like “Jailbird” with hit’s beat and steel twang up in the front helped me enjoy this album even more. This album HAS steel solos and guitar twang solos that elevate the songs even further as Mr. Casey takes you on a rocket ride through his poignant world of darkness. The song “Bury The Bottle” spoke to me as an individual that has been an addict of drugs and this fall I have 21 years clean! I just loved the tone of the crying steel, the lyrics were well written and the production of the overall project showcased his smokey vocals truly well. Bury The Bottle was just a song of hopelessness and despair from a man broken and controlled by the bottle.
“Green Grass Rockies” was a song about beginning a hard journey and I loved the line “Sometimes broken reocrds play good songs” it means pretty much a person with a broken past can bring forward stellar songs. His journey from Oklahoma to Texas is on the forefront of your mind on this song, “Beer Tear Saturday Night” was another song of lament for being born too late that REALLY SPOKE TO ME, I have often by told by my adopted parents my biological parents had me too late. I belonged in the 1950’s watching Ernest Tubb perform because i always beg society PLEASE “Don’t Let It Die”. All of the songs on this album are pretty much cut and dry and easy to understand but at the same time they are complex in their own twisted way if that makes any sense…this album is “Not A Copy” of any album you will ever encounter and I’m VERY adamant that it will secure spots on MANY TOP lists of 2017, if it does not I would seriously question whether or not they have Styrofoam brains?
Even though this album was already on my radar for quite some time before I got a text from an old friend Mr. Adam Barnes who manages both her and Shooter Jennings (who both do a LOT for my website), and they send me everything they possibly can to promote and feature for YOU my dear friends and readers.
Well, I honestly had never heard of her before this album and I had no idea where she came from…I mean her social media pages say Gig Harbor Washington but I mean WHERE she came from, I CAN tell you where she’s going, and by the end of this article you will concur with me about the answer..she’s going UP the charts and becoming a mainstay presence in Americana Music.
This young lady related with me in many ways and I was astounded by her past upon my research of her. After learning about her past she related with me even further, most of you that have been longtime readers of mine know about me. I’m an addict from long long ago, in fact I am twenty one years clean this fall. This young lady served eight months in a county jail for robbing her drug dealer, and eight more in a treatment center. Her past is absolutely astounding and this album makes it evident in many ways, this isn’t just some cliche sounding seven song quickly made deal. I am one of the VERY fortunate former addicts that never had to spend any time in the “Stone Hotel”. This woman is only Thirty One and trumps my age of Forty Six in having lived a tougher life than me in some aspects.
This project is six original songs and closes with Merle Haggard’s 1980 song “Misery And Gin” that Snuff Garrett wrote for the Clint Eastwood movie Bronco Billy. The Hag did a lot of movie work with Eastwood, as did Snuff Garrett and many others from what I call “The Country Music Movies” of the 1970’s and 80’s. You can easily ascertain that she relates with the Hag among others who equally served time for criminal activities and pushed forth in a psoitive manner within the ranks of music.
“Stone Hotel” is what gravitates you toward her poignant past as she declares she’s a thief from way back. Even though some may boast that they spent more time incarcerated, she truly learned lessons from her past and it has influenced her in her writing and her style as well.
“Giving Back The Best Of Me” Had a melody reminiscent of a John Moreland type song, with a sad ambiance to it, followed by “Wasco” which also dealt with prison in her own description. This album put me to mind of another gal she has been compared to Margo Price, from both of their styles of writing to their bold unashamed ways of propelling steel guitar to the fore front. If you delve into her music past this album you will fall even more into her grasp, and I’m sure like me you will inadvertently become a instant fan.
