Saturday, July 25, 2009

Frankie Ballard rocks and rolls through Kalamazoo


Frankie Ballard came back up from Nashville on July 23rd to play at the Taste of Kalamazoo on Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) old tour bus, and when i say old tour bus i only mean that it used to belong to him, the bus was amazing. The crowd was there to see him on a Thursday night, and it seemed like everyone was there to see Frankie back with his band in our hometown. During the show he played some new songs he has been working on down in Nashville with songwriters like Rivers Rutherford and Paul Overstreet. He slowed things down for a few songs with a nice acoustic break and even gave away a guitar to a lucky young girl he picked out of the audience. It was great to see him on a bigger stage again with Eddie Robinson on guitar, Bill Justice on drums and Jarrod Sturgis on bass. It wont be long before he heads out on tour, look for him near you soon. Click on the title to this post to visit his myspace page and hear a few songs. Frankie Ballard is signed to Warner Brothers records in Nashville.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Lady Antebellum @ Joe's bar

Verizon Wireless has been sponsoring free shows around the country to lucky subscribers of their services and Fans of Lady Antebellum were treated to a great show Friday June 10th at Joe's bar in Chicago. This was the second show in a row for me that was standing room only in a bar that i am told holds eight hundred people. Everyone was in good spirits including Lady Antebellum and Charles especially seemed upbeat as he was recently married. Alison Bonaguro writes for CMT and was on hand to review the show. Her article can be read by clicking on the title to this post and i was happy to be able to colaborate with her by providing a photo that fit well with the theme of her review. Lady Antebellum has been receiving numerous accolades and awards including Top new duo or group by the Academy of Country Music and two grammy nominations and three CMT awards nominations, but most recently they achieved their first number one song with "I Run to You" written by all three members with the moral support of Nashville songwriter Tom Douglas.

Montgomery Gentry @ Joe's bar

As i drove by the lot where tour buses park on my way to the hotel i saw more vehicles than i have ever seen for a show at Joe's. I counted four tour buses and two semi trucks and then there were a few more out front. This was going to be another huge show. Montgomery Gentry was formed after Troy Gentry won a Jim Beam sponsored national talent contest but he was unable to find a record deal until he teamed up with John Michael Montgomery's brother Eddie. Their partnership with Jim Beam continues to this day as they were on hand to sponsor this show at Joe's last Thursday July 9th. The most recent inductees to the Grand Ole Opry on June 23rd, Montgomery Gentry received a warm welcome inside Joe's with a large banner covered with signatures congratulating them on their achievement. Then with Jim Beam race cars and giant inflated bottles decorating the front of the building Montgomery Gentry launched into a high octane set of all their past and present hits including their most recent song written by Texas singer and songwriter Kevin Fowler "Long Line of Losers" you can hear the original version done by Kevin by clicking on the title to this post.