Welcome to part 2 of my Muddy Roots coverage, I hope you have been enjoying this labor of love I have been doing for many years for my old friend Mr. Jason. I’ll be honest here people, I do this for MANY festivals, but Mr. Jason is special to me because I could call him for help anytime and I KNOW he would come help me. I know he would come take me to a doctor appointment or pick my stranded vehicle up if I called him. He just had a baby girl everybody so PLEASE go hop on over to send him some love.
I DO have to criticize him now though on one aspect he changed and I found difficult to deal with, that was the format of the entire festival program. This year it was not all together and was harder to use on the fly, at least for me. I spoke to several others who also concurred with me on that issue.
One thing he changed I DID appreciate was they closed the tower on the wood stage to media ONLY, and during the Goddamn Gallows THAT saved my ass from being crushed by thousands of frenzied fans. I’m going to skip around on the afternoon acts here, because I was so enthused by the new discoveries I couldn’t remember which ones were what time.
Miss Sasha Kaleidoscopia Vallely, Miss Nikki Speake and Mr.Pietro DiGennaro make up this next band that hails from Atlanta Georgia, and they are called The Midnight Larks. They play some mighty fine rock and roll music here, they describe themselves as Surf noir, dark country, garage psych rock.
“Gunfighter” was one of their 2017 singles they released, and then they pretty much went down into their entire album here today. They had some pretty good harmonies, and I think they complimented the rest of the lineup on the early stages very well. “Loner” was a pretty good song here, which was what they were playing when I jotted this portion of the article down.
“Darli’n” was another song they played with VERY good harmonies and sound, I strongly suggest you go pick up their album and check them out on I tunes, or wherever you buy music from. “Shady”, “Shameless Child” and “Drawing Out the Flame” were also played here tonight in their set.
‘Summer Of The Preacher” was my favorite song out of their set, and as I began to mosey onward into the rain for other bands I heard them play songs like “Moontown” and ‘Endless Valley”. This trio really has a unique sound together, and I really couldn’t fit it into any genre myself, it’s just damn good music!
This whole idea for my website is pretty much for that reason, to talk about music I enjoy. I myself have music I don’t care for that I usually simply omit from my articles. it’s NOT MEANT to offend anyone that IS a fan, IN FACT I would rather just respectfully admit I don’t care for it to the fans instead of bashing it to my own fans.
I headed over to the wood stage for one of my personal favorite Muddy Roots alumni bands called The Goddamn Gallows who released a GREAT album in 2018 called The Trial. Now, this album contained a remake of the Mr. Jayke Orvis single called ‘Dreadful Sinner”. You can find the original version on his second solo album called ‘it’s All Been Said’.
The wood stage area began to fill up QUICKLY, and I mean FILL UP. I was VERY grateful they gave the media the tower this year, and as I learned about zoom lenses this weekend, I had FUN up there! The crowd began to get extremely rowdy before the show even began!
“Gutterbilly Blues” from the 2007 album of the same name is one of the first songs they played, Also, “City Of Hell-A” I’m pretty sure was included, from Ghost Of The Rails album. The next song was called ‘Sidewalk Slammer” from my favorite album called 7 Devils, but perhaps the next song called “Pass Me The Bottle” was one of their more well known songs.
The show got absolutely insane, and I’m glad of two things for the media’s sake. 1. IT WAS EARLY BEFORE EVERYONE WAS DRUNK and 2. THE MEDIA TOWER WAS CLEAR. BUT I WILL say that watching the Goddamn Gallows unleash their fury upon crowds is amazing and FUN.
The band consists of Mr. Courtney on upright bass or Fishgutzzz, Mr. Mikey Classic on lead vocals and guitar, Mr. Uriah Baker or the Baby Genius on drums and lead vocals on “In League With Satan” (not on this set that I remember) and Mr. Jayke Orvis on banjo, mandolin and vocals.
Off 7 Devils they played ‘Ragz And Bones” and also off the Swappin Spit album they brought out Mr. Gary Lindsay from Black Eyed Vermillion to play “Born To Lie” with them. THEN THE BEST ONE CAME called ‘Ya’ll Motherfuckers Need Jesus”. That pretty much brings out all of our fury to go nuts on that one.
“7 Devils” was next followed by the song called “load Yer Guns’ off the 2014 the Maker album. Now, they went to their new album called The Trial with a song called “Down With the Ship”. Toward the end of their set, they called out the entire group of the New blood Tubs, which is a great bunch of guys and gals that have a firearm club associated with the Muddy crowd.
They have always been truly nice to me, and even though I do not get to see them as often as I’d like to, they always remember me and appreciate my work. Sadly, they lost their brother Mr. Mikey this spring to health issues during his sleep. We spoke often about medical issues, the two of us online and in person. I have many things in common with the NBT including my love for firearms, and firearm safety.
Now, I’m not exactly sure how many of them exist, and I haven’t truly met all of them but the Gallows are members of their group, and they wanted to bring them out to have a brief party for their fallen members by spreading their ashes onto the crown during the set, and having an onstage mosh pit!
It truly WAS INDEED a fun and touching tribute for their loved ones, and as they played “City Of Fools’ from the new album we all remembered Mr. Mikey in the fashion HE WOULD HAVE WANTED….beers flying, shoes flying, people flying and FUCK THE WORLD!
“Raise The Moon” was next, WE ALL KNOW THAT HE’S COMING SOON, and after that Mr. Jayke played “Dreadful Sinner” as I previously stated. One of the pinnacles of their show, was the new song called “Shitwish” which I like, because I used to say that to my daughter ALL THE TIME. Wish in one hand and shit in the other, which one fills up first.
This was the memorial they had, and the spreading of the ashes into the audience that afternoon and I’m very thankful that I was allowed to document this portion of the event here at the Junebug Ranch. I think I used a pretty good opportunity to play with my new camera as the action commenced this afternoon.
The Gallows ended their set with “The Maker” and another from the same album called “Howli’n Winds”. It will probably be a few months before I run into this band again on here, so folks enjoy this while you can. Mosey on over to their website and purchase some stuff from the band..and tell them I sent you!
All the while they were playing I had my new friend up here in the tower mr. T Rex making fun of me. He was a real pesky nuisance (not really), he was defiantly here to PARTY!
I wandered around a while to gather my notes and rest awhile, this heat was absolutely draining me. In fact all year the heat has been draining my energy, I cannot wait until the fall weather comes finally. All of these summer jobs have been absolutely draining this year.
I got to meander past another one of the stages, where I got to catch Miss Rachel Kate play some of her set including songs like “Dancing Shoes” and the other one I recognized was “Hell Is Your Home”. I stopped to get a bite to eat and visit with my Rusty Knuckles friends before the next big major show of the night for me, O’l Munley and his crew!
My next act I covered was called Slim Cessna’s Auto Club which always puts on a terrific show, that draws a HUGE crowd. This is a very unique band from Denver Colorado that has two lead singers named Mr. Slim Cessna and Mr. Munley Munley, and they take turns hurling insults and lyrics at each other.
One of the BEST bands in the local touring circuit they absolutely captivate the heathens and covert lost souls to follow “Commandment Number 7” and that is THERE IS A HOLE! Their second song was called “Mouth’s Gone Dry”.
As both Mr. Slim and Mr. Munley brought forth their tales of doom and darkness smothered with Heaven’s light and redemption, we jammed in the heat to songs like “Americadio” and enjoyed Mr. Slim’s romp through the audience along with Mr. Munly strangling himself with his cord.
Their song called “Magalina Hagalina Boom Boom” from the SCAC 102 album preceded that ordeal as they began to bring us heathens the gospel, fitting this show should happen in a revival tent. As their next song was “Jesus In My Body, My Body Has Let Me Down”.
‘Thy Will Be Done” or ‘Commandment 4″ was next with no shortage of razor sharp guitar strikes and steel guitar laced, keyboard filled madness. SCAC wrapped up their set with “This Is How We Do Things In The Country”, which is by far one of my favorite songs they play.
There certainly isn’t enough stage for those two guys to dance around and go crazy upon one another up there. I enjoy their energetic show, every time they appear at Muddy Roots. Their last songs I noticed were “Port Authority Band” and they finished with ‘That Fierce Cow Is Common Sense In a Country Dress”. Once again courtesy of our friends over at Hobolight Photography for some of these following pictures.
I went to bed early Saturday and I missed a few of the later sets that day, but Sunday I was up EARLY to have a nice breakfast at Scooter’s bar, and do a little shopping at noon when most of the vendors opened. OF COURSE I HAD to hit the Third Man Records rolling record store. I bought the new Margo Price album and some stickers.
This was definitely a record year for attendance at this festival in my opinion. I haven’t spoke with Mr. Jason on official turnout and numbers, but he did say there were around 1200 NEW ticket purchases. I know I’d like to THANK some of the guys from work that came for the first time.
So on Sunday on the wood stage comes a band I wanted to spend quite a bit of time on called Grassfed, and they hail from the Kansas City area. They are wildly popular in my Kansas City scene friends community and frequent the Westport Saloon. Mr. Jake Keegan sent me their new album not long ago, and I waited until now to tell you about it. If YOU LIKE what you see, go download it!
This band absolutely blew my mind folks, they have LIGHTNING FAST chops and play like a tightly wound well oiled machine. In fact this new album might just be TOP 50 material, I’m NOT KIDDING you people, this band is VASTLY overlooked.
Their new album is a bit autobiographical and brings us closer to the band itself, with songs like “Stacking Up Dimes” and “Gone, And I Ain’t Coming Back”. This grassroots Bluegrass band can definitely hold their own in the solo department, with some mighty fine licks on the dobro and guitar.
The band consists of my friend Mr. Jake Keegan on dobro, his brother Mr. Josh Keegan on guitar and Mr. Cameron Keeling on the upright bass. They also played off the new album called Moovin Down The Road the song called “Gas Tank”.
New Album Tracklist:
1.Chili Dog
2.Not So Lonesome
3.Dear Lyla
4.Stacking Up Dimes
5. Way Down The River Bend
6.Gas Tank
7.Gone,And I Ain’t Coming Back
8.Long Hard Winter
9.Little Maggie
10.Yard Work
In come the Smoky White Devils a rock band from Nashville consisting of Mr. Richie Owens (also has the band Farm Bureau) with bassist John Reed and guitarist Mr. Nick Kane. Their drummer is Mr. Mike Ferguson and together they make up the side band that Mr. Richie does.
I’ll always remember the pleasant conversation he and I had at Muddy many years ago about Mr. Riley Puckett, and other prominent Country Music historical figures. I got to see them perform songs like “See You On the Other Side” and a few more.
I truly enjoy Mr. Richie’s signature slide guitar rock music, and he always brings a damn fine band along with him on the stage every time I get to see him. One of their signature songs called “Goin Down South” was played today on their set. I could easily tell that this band was an early favorite for my Muddy friends each year.
Other songs they played included “She Thinks She Runs This Town” and another called “PaPa John”. So the next time you are around the 5 Spot in Nashville or any local area go check out this man and his bands, you’ll readily agree that he has good music.
I am extremely exited today to bring you the rest of these wonderful bands I am about to cover here. One of them is a GREAT band from Chapel Hill North Carolina called Sarah Shook And The Disarmers. She recently released an album on the Bloodshot Records label called Years, and I promise you that it WILL BE on our TOP 50 of 2018.
I haven’t ran into her since last year when W.B. Walker had her on his fourth anniversary show in West Virginia, and back then she had some lineup changes. But now her band is completely secure and sounds absolutely KILLER together with the lineup of Miss Sarah Shook – songwriter, vocals, rhythm guitar Mr. Eric Peterson – Electric guitar Mr. Aaron Oliva – Upright bass and Mr. Phil Sullivan – Pedal Steel.
She started her set with a song off her new album Years called “Good As Gold” , and moved to her album Sidelong to play the song called “Heal Me”. The next song called “Parting Words” displays some truly fine steel guitar work from her band.
Even in the direct sunlight heat this band was absolutely ON POINT this weekend, standing in the heat playing. It was so hot all the bands had to stop to take water breaks. The next song called “Fuck Up” was from the album Sidelong including the song “Nothin Feels Right But Doin Wrong”.
“Lesson” was another song included tonight in her set, as well as “Keep The Home Fires Burning” from her first album. You know, she doesn’t really move around much onstage, but still has a really good ambiance up there. I was truly impressed with her for not even needing to move around to keep everyone’s attention.
Now “Dwight Yoakam” does indeed move around a LOT, and that’s a good song there, and she closed her set with the song called “New Way To Fail”. I wandered around a little bit to the third stage to catch this Ohio based band with my friends called The Tillers.
I HAD TO go stop and see my friends Mr. Chase Humphrey and his lovely wife Miss Lauren, whom own and operate the Music City Wienery. They have some of the BEST bratwursts I have ever eaten! Then I went on over to the merch booth to buy some shirts and stickers. I’m ALL ABOUT band stickers.
Mr. Michael Oberst on vocals and banjo, Mr. Joe Macheret on fiddle, and brothers Mr. Sean and Mr. Aaron Geil make up the Ohio based quartet The Tillers. Perhaps one of Roots Music’s finest original bands, I view the LIVE at the Southgate House in 2012 as one of the integral Roots albums of all time.
“Revolution Row” was a song from the new self titled album, along with the next song called the “Riverboat Dishwashing Song”. Now folks this band will indeed be on my next festival coverage series from last weekend as well, where they played another stellar set!
“Like A Hole In My Head” was next followed by “Dear Mother”, so we got a pretty good taste of the entire direction of their new album here today. It’s been a few years since their 2013 release called Hand On The Plow, with some wonderful new songs!
One of the only covers on their new album is called ‘All You Fascists Bound To Loose” and their next song was one that featured Mr. J.D Wilkes from the Shack Shakers fame called “I Gotta Move”. The last two songs of their set was from the album Hand On The Plow, one of them was called “Road Never Ending” and they closed their set with a song called “500 Miles”.
Mr. Joshua Black Wilkins is one of the few that I can say so many great things about personally. He is one of the nicest folks in the business I have ever run into, and one of the most talented. I have been messing with my new camera all weekend, just infatuated with new attachments for it and the science of lenses and such.
He is A VERY talented photographer, and his work is featured on many television shows and magazines. I look up to him as an artist, and I admire his passion to get others off their ass to vote. Even though I wouldn’t agree with everything we discussed on politics I would have a LOT of respect for his passion.
Musically, he has recorded a TON of albums and songs for the MANY years he has been performing shows. The first song he played was called “Bury Me Not” from the album called Rogue. He brought his rough around the edges harmonica laced music to Muddy Roots once again, with serious grit.
The next song called “Western” was on his album called Fair Weather, and from one of his very early albums called 17th And Shelby I remember him playing the song called “Sucker Punch”. I did have to cut his set short for me to go back to my camper and take some more insulin for the evening.
I got to hear him play “I Tremble” and the song “I Heard You Whisper” was on the album Settling The Dust, that’s the vinyl of his that I own, and it needs to be played on a different speed. I thought that was quite unique. I also jotted down the song “Church On a Hill” from an album called The girlfriend Sessions.
Left Lane Cruiser is another Roots band that quickly fills up the Muddy tent wherever they play, the last time I ran across them was in Chicago at Moonrunners last year. This Fort Wayne Indiana high powered duo always puts on a damn fine show.
Mr. Freddy J and Pete Dio have been around since 2004, and were included in the first few Roots bands we had. Of course they played “Black Betty” and some Muddy Waters tunes, while rocking out to some hellacious guitar solos.
As they continued their alcohol fueled insanity of punishing their instruments they played a Jimbo Mathus song called “Mule Plow Line”. Mr Jmibo was a co founder of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and has been a Roots Music Legend .
They played “Claw Machine Wizard” the title track of their 2017 new album of the same name. I didn’t jot down as many notes on their set because I was very busy enjoying their music tonight, it was STILL HOT and STILL muggy outside. I had over 20 pages of notes to sort through for this job.
Mr. Pat Reedy And The Longtime Goners is another name you will be hearing on my TOP 50 of 2018 in a few months. I recently spent some time with him at both festivals I covered, as well as his bassist John R. Miller.
This man and his entire band is nothing more than straight up pure Honky Tonk goodness, from the New Orleans area. However I first found out about him from my Kansas City friends out at the Westport Saloon area, and became an instant fan of his.
He opened with “Nashville Tennessee At 3AM” most of his set today was from his second album called That’s All There Is And There Ain’t No More. Now, he also played the title track in this set of the same name, toward the end of the set.
This man is not only my friend, but he is the REAL DEAL FOLKS I mean he works construction by day and Honky Tonks by night. He just gets up there and has a good time playing good music, and that’s basically the format of his situation folks, it doesn’t get any more honest.
‘Burgundy In The Rain” is one of my favorite songs he plays, and it is always included in his sets. His set is always laced with sweet toned steel guitar, and his band is always top notch. ‘You Don’t Have To Tell Me Anymore” was another great song in this set today.
The heat carried on into the night and it was one of those change your clothes every couple hours weekends. I was pretty close to my camper, so I went back to change and get ready for the act I wanted to cover later tonight called Cutthroat Shamrock.
Cutthroat Shamrock is a Bluegrass styled Irish based punk rock outfit, that has also been around a long long time. They come from the Great Smokey Mountains of Tn and are pretty much Appalachian Punk Bluegrass…I just call them good music.
Included in their set was “Long Gravel Road” from the Blood Rust Whiskey album in 2009. Other songs they played were “Fly Away” from that album toward the end. I’m not sure about any lineup changes from this band but I haven’t covered them for many years, so I couldn’t say.
They had a TON of energy here tonight, and I stayed for their entire set. I went back to the camper after this set because I was exhausted and drained from the heat.
From the 2013 EP called Dead Wind, they played the song “Sick Of The Times”, and from their album The Wake they played “Hell’s Shovel”. They displayed so much insanity here tonight it was really fun to see this band once again, as they steamrolled into “Cod Liver Oil” from the before mentioned EP.
They went on into the night with other songs, and other bands but I had to get up early Monday morning to go back to life, so I had to call this an evening. There were later bands both nights I didn’t get to cover, and other bands earlier I didn’t get to cover as well.
It’s NOT that I don’t care for them, It’s just hard to cover a multi stage festival by myself and I didn’t have my partner Mr. Joshua here this weekend with me. To visually witness EVERYTHING and write it all down isn’t easy, and to be honest I think I do a pretty good job…but I miss things. I missed all of Thursday’s shows, I missed Mr. James Hunnicutt among others I missed were The Calamity Cubes! and another late late act Those Poor Bastards.
As a whole, I was pretty impressed with this year’s Muddy Roots Music Festival and I saw a few small drawbacks. But overall I was truly glad that it has grown to another echelon, with so many new patrons. Everyone came together to have a truly blessed time despite the horrible heat.
Muddy Roots Music Festival is one that I will pretty much cover EVERY YEAR without fail, because it was pretty much one of the factors that grew my idea into becoming a reality. I don’t see my website going anywhere but UP and you can damn sure bet I’ll be around many other music scenes all over America AND overseas I want to THANK EVERYONE for taking the time out of their busy day to read what I have to write year after year.
