Eleven Hundred Springs can rehabilitate your country
Denton Record Chronicle - Matt Crider - ‎Jan 30, 2010‎
Eleven Hundred Springs has been making solid honky-tonk music for well over a decade, and the Texas band's sixth full-length release, This Crazy Life, ...

ACM New Artist nominees announced - ACM & GAC partner to let fans pick the New ...
Examiner.com - Chris Young - ‎Jan 29, 2010‎
Eli Young Band (Like Jamey Johnson, the Eli Young Band will also be playing at the Country Throwdown show at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View,

Texas State co-sponsors Rod Kennedy celebration
Newstreamz San Marcos - Hap Mansfield - ‎Jan 26, 2010‎
2 from 7-10 pm Performers at the event will include Robert Earl Keen Jr., the Flatlanders, Marcia Ball, Ray Benson, Bobby Bridger, Ruthie Foster, ...

Concerts for February and beyond
Fort Worth Star Telegram - ‎Jan 27, 2010‎
Brandon Rhyder Feb. 19. Billy Bob's Texas, Fort Worth. $12-$16. Ticketmaster. Big Red Rooster Feb. 20. Cambridge Room at House of Blues, Dallas. $10. ...

Local music fest to aid Haiti
San Angelo Standard-Times - Ami Mizell-Flint - ‎Jan 30, 2010
Along with O'Toole, headliners include Josh Abbott and Mark McKinney. “One hundred percent of the money raised is going to Haiti,” Baker said. ...

Reckless Kelly Celebrity Softball Jam Announced
OurSports Central (press release) - ‎Jan 29, 2010
Following the softball game, the audience will be invited onto the field to enjoy a concert featuring Reckless Kelly and Cross Canadian Ragweed along with ...

Sessions: Ray Wylie Hubbard
American Songwriter - ‎17 hours ago‎
By americansongwriter on January 22nd, 2010 Ray Wylie Hubbard, the bard behind Jerry Jeff Walker's classic '73 cut “Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother,” ...

Guitar prodigy Johnny Cooper already an old pro at 21
LubbockOnline.com - Alan Sculley - ‎Jan 21, 2010‎
Johnny Cooper's birth certificate may say he's just 21, but that's not how he sounded in a recent phone interview. ...

Ryan Bingham Wins a Golden Globe Award
Tonight Ryan Bingham won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song- Motion Picture beating out the likes of Paul McCartney & Bono.
http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/

Tune-slinger rolls into town
(Columbia Daily Tribune)1/15/2010
Jason Boland isn't your typical outlaw. Sure, in taking his cues from the great gunslingers of country music, banditos such as Waylon ... http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jan/14/tune-slinger-rolls-into-town/

It's about music, not labels
(Bakersfield Californian) 1/14/2010
Cross Canadian Ragweed Band is awfully good. Their new record, "Happiness and All the Other Things," is currently at No. 7 and climbing. ...
http://www.bakersfield.com/entertainment/local/x113239773/Its-about-music-not-labels

Putting trust in good country music
(San Diego Union Tribune)1/14/2010
“I told them, 'Quit your job and join my band. We'll split everything even-steven down the middle.  We'll call it the Randy Rogers Band, and we'll make a ...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/14/putting-trust-good-country-music/

Musicfest News
(Steamboat Pilot)1/8/2010
Jack Ingram and Doug Moreland, performing as part of MusicFest at Steamboat...
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/jan/08/jack-ingram-plays-free-concert-today/

Jason Boland & The Stragglers
(Denver Westword)1/5/2010
Too many country-music purists of the past couple decades brag about keeping....
http://www.westword.com/2010-01-07/music/jason-boland-amp-the-stragglers/

Lone Star State Jam announces lineup
(Austin360.com)1/7/2010
The country fest, now in its third year.....
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2010/01/07/lone_star_state_jam_announces.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_music_source

Randy Rogers Band to play Expo Center
(Killeen Daily Herald)
Tickets go on sale Saturday for a Texas country show headlined by the Randy Rogers Band  at the Bell County Expo Center.
http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=38126

Grab your cowboy hat and boots; we’re taking a TXRDR road trip to Pearl’s Dancehall & Saloon in Ft. Worth, TX, home of Tommy Alverson’s latest album, “Live Again.”  If Santa didn’t get you everything on your list and you are looking for some REAL Texas Country music, then look no further.  Clear out 80 MB of space on that iPod you got for Christmas, this new live album deserves a spot in your Red Dirt rotation.  One word of caution, if old school, honky-tonk, Texas country music isn’t your thing, then Tommy is not your guy.

Tommy takes you right to the front row of 302 W Exchange Ave, with his first song “Anytime, Anywhere.”  If you aren’t on the dance floor by now two stepping, then this album probably isn’t for you.  I personally have never seen Tommy and his band play live but there is no mistaking that this is REAL Texas Country music!  Every song is dripping with some of the finest steel guitar and fiddle you’ll hear, courtesy of Ray Austin and Thurston Selby. 

Surprisingly, Tommy wrote only 3 of the 11 songs, but don’t be mistaken, the set list that night was a fantastic mix of true country classics.  After the first 4 songs have worn holes in your boots, sit back and relax while things slow down with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “I Wish I Was Thirty Again.” 

Track number 6, in my opinion is the best of the album.  Tommy pulls off a great cover of Bob Dylan’s 1969 hit “Tonight I’ll be Stayin’ Here with You.”  If you can’t get the entire album, at least do yourself a favor and borrow 99 cents and buy this song. (As of last week, this song was up to #24 on the Texas Music Chart.)

Up next on the set list, Tommy continues to pay tribute to past greats, covering “Poncho & Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt, “Southwestern Pilgrimage” by Michael Martin Murphey, and “Boot Heel Drag” from Bob Wills, “The King of Swing.”

It’s almost closing time at the Ft. Worth honky-tonk as Tommy wraps up the evening with his very own “Fallin’ Off a Log.” 

However, the night is not quite over…  Fast-forward to 3:24, and enjoy the bonus track titled “Pretty Boys.” Tommy gives his assessment of today’s NEW Texas Music scene.  Whether you agree with him or not, it’s a fun song in which he does some serious name-dropping.

 Hope you enjoyed the Red Dirt road trip to “The Gem of the Stockyards” to hear some Texas Music Royalty in Tommy Alverson’s latest release “Live Again.”

Keep supporting live Texas Red Dirt Music, and here’s to 2010!

~Scot

Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not TXRDR LLC; TXRDR LLC is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by TXRDR LLC regarding the qualifications of Experts.

“Crazy Heart” is a movie that maps out the crossroads of generations while pulling the curtain back to expose the dark and smokie carnage the music business can leave behind.  Bad Blake, played by Jeff Bridges, is a singer trying to survive today by living off yesterday.  Bad Blake is a harsh reminder that for those who choose this business, the road does in fact go on for ever and the party never completely ends, it’s just that eventually it goes on without you.  In a lot of ways, the character of Bad Blake visually resembles a mix of Kris Kristofferson and the late Waylon Jennings.  This is not to say that the character is based on them, rather I would say it is unfortunately a simple yet intense example of a story that has been lived many times.  Jeff Bridges provides a more than convincing effort.

Actors are like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.  Take a simple 1,500 square foot home and drop it into Beverly Hills and it will look like something scraped off the bottom of a cowboy boot.  Take that same home and set it down in a nice middle class neighborhood and it will have all the charm in the world.  Maggie Gyllenhaal was perfectly cast as Jean Craddock, a writer who is searching to discover the real Bad Blake and along the way manages to find more than she ever imagined.  If you felt like she was miscast in “Dark Knight” then you will love her in “Crazy Heart”.

Next time you get outside of town on a clear night, take a minute and look up at all the beautiful stars in the sky, and if you are lucky maybe you will see a shooting star.  Why is it that the stars themselves garner only quiet and subdued admiration while the site of a shooting star will make us all ten years old again as we excitedly call out its rare appearance?  I would wager it’s because we take for granted the steadiness of constellations which in turn makes us take notice of something unique like a bright star shooting across the heavens.

TXRDR could not offer a review of this movie without including some discussion about our star of the movie, Ryan Bingham.  Knowing that Ryan played a major role in writing the title track of the movie, “Weary Kind”, I looked up at the screen expecting one thing and came away with much more.  As noted earlier, the lead character visually resembled the great Kris Kristofferson.  Let it be said that Ryan Bingham will be his generation’s rendition of Mr. Kristofferson.   Not that Ryan is currently on the same level, it’s just that he has “it”, that thing that makes unsuspecting people stand up and take notice.  You combine his “it” quality with the fact that people all over the world are discovering him both on stage and screen and it’s easy to see that he has only scratched the surface of  a well filled with tremendous potential. It’s ironic that a movie about a broken down musician who’s lived life from easy to hard would star a musician that has lived the life of Bad Blake, only in reverse.  Here is to hoping this will continue to be the case for Ryan and many others.

I will assume that if you are on this site then you are a fan of Texas Red Dirt Music, and if that is the case then I will hope that regardless of your age you have or will expand yourself by experiencing today’s up and comers while showing some respect to the trailblazers of yesterday.  Very few things are wholly original anymore with some artists borrowing a riff or a line from another, or unintentionally allowing the mental marinade of great music to give flavor to their contributions, we can all be thankful for those that have come before us and what they continue to leave behind.

Just as pre-driving teenagers have to watch those gory movies about auto accidents, singer songwriters should have to watch “Crazy Heart”.  It’s all fun and games when you’re ten feet tall and bullet proof, but it’s brutally harsh and unforgiving when you’re flat on your back and the regrets of  yesterday begin to outnumber the opportunities  for tomorrow’s repentance.   For those who consider themselves to be more than a casual observer of  Texas Red Dirt Music, “Crazy Heart” may leave you with mixed emotions, but as the song says, “ This ain’t no place for the weary kind.”

~Russell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelvaxvTaUk

 This year’s Pickin’ for Preemies concert was a first for me. I am somewhat of a newbie to this Red Dirt scene and hadn’t yet attended this event. I can make one promise, though: I won’t miss this show again. Throughout each set, there was a variety of artists who played a mix of familiar songs the crowd could sing along to and new songs we were being introduced to. That variety combined with the differences and similarities of each artist made for an all around awesome evening of music.
 The first set included Bobby Duncan, Johnny Cooper, Cory Morrow and Mark McKinney. This was my first time to see Bobby Duncan acoustic and I was just as, if not more, impressed with his acoustic performance than his full band. His voice is the perfect mixture of entertaining yet soothing and it’s one I could listen to all day long. His CD is one I need to pick up promptly. Johnny Cooper was just as entertaining as he always is… he’s someone I always enjoy watching play. His sound is so unique and makes everyone move. He played three songs from his new album, and by the time he got to his last song, Yes My Love, the entire audience was clapping and moving to the beat. Surprisingly enough, this show was also my first time to see Cory Morrow.  I liked the three songs he played and I look forward to becoming more familiar with his sound and seeing him again. Prior to the benefit, I had only seen Mark McKinney perform full band. I was impressed with his acoustic show because it was less “rehearsed.” I appreciated the raw feel of his acoustic show.
 The next group of artists that took the stage was Sonny Burgess, Jason Boland, Bleu Edmondson and Brandon Rhyder. This line-up was eye opening to me. Each of these artists had a very different style of playing and songwriting. This seems self evident, but seeing the four of them on stage together and play along to each other’s songs was a very cool thing to witness. I had never seen Sonny Burgess play before and really enjoyed his Dallas Cowboys version of Cowboy Cool, a song I’ve heard recently on the radio. Jason Boland opened and closed with songs I wasn’t familiar with, which was surprising but nice to get a fresh spin on someone whose music I listen to quite often. In between those two songs, he played his recent single, Comal County Blue. He was impressive as usual. Bleu Edmondson played two of his signature original songs, Last Last Time and The Echo. In between the two, he also played $50 and a Flask of Crown, which the other guys joined in on and Jason Boland’s guitar additions really got the crowd excited. Brandon Rhyder seemed like a perfect fit for this type of event. The event obviously centered around children, and he writes about his family in more than a few of his songs. The crowd really enjoyed his first two, but the entire audience was captured by Freeze Frame Time. This song is just so easy to relate to, and he received quite a response from the crowd after singing it.
 Lastly, the event closed out with Wade Bowen, Cody Canada, Stoney LaRue and Randy Rogers on stage together. I’ve got to hand it to Justin Frazell, this was an amazing combination. I couldn’t have picked a better group of four artists together to watch. They were fantastic to watch. Being somewhat a newbie to this scene, I am one of the few who had not seen Stoney LaRue and Cody Canada on stage together. Early in the night, they came out together and did Willie Nelson’s Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, which is also on Cross Canadian Ragweed’s newest CD. Cody and Stoney are a great pair to see play together. The other pair, Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers are also great together. They have their annual acoustic show they play together and clearly are on the same page musically. I honestly can’t come up with the right word to describe what it was like to see these four on stage together. Brady Black joined Randy Rogers on stage, and played along to every song each artist played. There’s a reason he’s so popular and it was evident tonight. His additions to each song on the fiddle make even the best songs better.
Wade played three of his older songs which many people in the audience sang along to, but also played a new song he called Matches. He gave up one of his turns to let Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band come on stage and play a song. He chose his favorite song from their newest album Jet Black and Jealous, Guinevere. This song is also my favorite and it was great to hear live acoustically. Wade’s sets are always entertaining, but the new song Matches kept it fresh and his final song, Daddy and the Devil took many back a couple years. Cody Canada picked that song for him. Cody Canada is someone I haven’t been able to see a whole lot of, because he and his band have been touring nationally since I became a part of this scene and only play locally a couple times a year. I really enjoyed his song choices, both old and new. The song that stood out the most I’m going to call Mercy On Me. Stoney helped him out on vocals and guitar and the gospel feel of the song was somethiing I really enjoyed. Stoney LaRue opened with a new song he said he had never played before. Many have been hoping for new Stoney music, so this is more evidence that it’s on its way. Hearing Feet Don’t Touch the Ground was beautiful. This song, written by Brandon Jenkins and performed by Stoney, has become one of my top favorite songs and hearing this song with Brady Black’s fiddle and guitar and vocal help from the other three on stage was stunning. Stoney played another new song he wrote with Jason Boland which talked about the way things have been lately and called love divine intervention. The last song Stoney played was by request – Johnny Cash’s Long Black Veil. It was amazing to hear these four artists play and sing this song together. Randy Rogers opened with his recent single Buy Myself A Chance. After playing a new song of his, he also played a song calling Fort Worth a fabulous waste of time (fitting, right?) and ended with the familiar In My Arms Instead.
 On Stoney’s last go round, he called Justin Frazell, the host of the event, to the stage to sing Every Rose Has Its Thorns. This was by far the most fun part of the show – not sure if it was Stoney and Cody dressing Justin in their head gear of choice and feeding him a beverage or just the fact that I had never seen him play and sing before, but it was very cool to see him included with the artists and be a part of something he is usually closely involved with on a different level. Once Justin was done, he called all of the artists to the stage. Bobby Duncan, Bleu Edmondson, Wade Bowen, Brandon Rhyder, Mark McKinney, Cody Canada, Stoney LaRue, Cory Morrow, Mike Eli, Randy Rogers and Brady Black all did the classic The Weight together. There couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to this evening. Seeing these 12 unique artists perform together and each add their touch of musical genius to the benefit as a whole and to each other’s songs is something I will not forget. Great job, Justin – “Justin Frazell is the shizzle.”

written by TXRDR Member vickylynn07