Thursday (day three) at the Musicfest in Steamboat.

Well i tried to keep updates going everyday when i could, about what was going on but because of another horrible Internet connection (time to get a broadband card) i had to give up and wait until i got home. So going through all the shots i took, i realized just how many shows i did miss that i wanted to see. It is nearly impossible to make every show, even if you only stay for a few songs just to get some photos, by the time you get to another venue and wait in line its just not worth it. So i went to the shows i was interested in as much as i could, i still missed a lot and what photos i did take did not turn out as good as i had hoped, here are a few that i like.Thursday the 7th was a tough day to decide which shows to see, i was out till the early morning the night before and really didn't get around to anything until the afternoon, so that made the decisions a bit easier since i had already missed some good shows. I ended up going to the Grand and staying there. The line up there was full of bands and musicians that i either really like or haven't seen before like Walt Wilkins and later that night Chris Knight but Ray Wylie Hubbard, Wade Bowen, Lee Ann Womack, Dean Dillon, Randy Rogers, Cody Canada and Stoney LaRue were also on hand. So i felt pretty confident about my decision and after a song or two i knew there was no second guessing.
Walt Wilkins, Ray Wylie and Wade sharing the stage together was a great start. Ray Wylie Hubbard released a new CD at the Musicfest called "A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment Hint there is no C" and i just love that guys deep dark gritty blues mixed in with his great sense of humor. The Wylie Lama played "Drunken Poet's Dream" which is a Hayes Carll song that is now on Ray's new release. Wade played a new song that i have heard he has played elsewhere but i had yet to hear it called "Matches" and i finally got hear Walt Wilkins perform "Trains i Missed" which is one of my favorite songs.
After a short break Chris Knight, Stoney LaRue, Randy Rogers, Cody Canada, Dean Dillon and Lee Ann Womack stepped onto the stage. Stoney started things off with the song "Straight Faced Clown" and Chris Knight did "Heart of Stone" and "Crooked Road" and Dean Dillon, who has written over 50 songs for George Strait alone performed "The Chair" and "Set em up Joe" which nearly brought down the house but it was Cody Canada and his son Dierks singing "Bluebonnets" complete with Dierks introducing the song and then singing it along with his dad for the first time ever that had everyone talking, smiling or crying. I also tried to take a lot of videos of some of the performances and you can view video i took of this and some of the other songs played at this show here on my other site i have set up for this just click here:
http://secondaryamp.blogspot.com/ Lee Ann Womack performed "Last Call" and "I May Hate Myself in the Morning" and "I Hope You Dance" with Stoney Larue and Randy Rogers singing harmony that sounded absolutely beautiful. Randy Rogers performed the bands new song "Interstate" and "Don't Tell Me the Truth" one he wrote with Dean Dillon. Stoney also sang "Empty Glass" by Gary Stewart with everyone playing guitar at the same time. Cody Canada also performed "Brooklyn Kid" before Bruce Robinson and his band took the stage and i went out to talk with friends and meet some new ones. Texas music fans are some of the most passionate music fans i have ever met, and i think i made a lot of new friends.I ran into Stoney probably at least twice a day going in and out of condo's and venues and he is such a phenomenal talent and such a nice guy, always willing to stop and say hi.
Seeing Walt Wilkins and especially Chris Knight perform for the first time was also one of the highlights of the festival for me, Walt is one of the nicest people i have met and Chris is just as intimidating as the dark themes running through his songs.
I also really liked how Dean Dillon explained to the crowd that the real country music was there with him on stage and coming from places like Texas and not Nashville.