Wade Bowen @ Country Fever

I attended Wade's press conference before his show where members of the media can ask wade questions and after hearing his answers i still belive that he is one of the most honest guys in the business. His integrity is consistently shown in everything he does and writes. he spoke of having some new material completed already for a new release and about the community feel that all the bands share on the red dirt music scene. Although the crowd was sparse, Wade and his band consisting of Gary Wooten on lead guitar, Brooks Robinson on drums, Caleb Jones on bass and Matt Miller on guitar came out ready to get the crowd going with up beat songs and tempo. Wade is just coming off his acoustic tour dates, sharing the stage with Randy Rogers the night before at Joe's bar in Chicago. He said the show at Joe's was a great time as always and had one more show to do on the "Hold my beer and watch this" tour.

No Justice @ Country Fever

The Band No Justice hails from Stillwater Oklahoma, the epicenter of the red dirt music scene. The band is a regional favorite with a clear rock and roll flavor, but they retain their Oklahoma roots in the music. They are in the process of recording a new album and currently have a live album out that was was recorded at Billy Bob's Texas. They have built up a loyal following through relentless touring around the mid southern states and Texas. These guys put on a solid and great sounding show in Pryor on the main stage after Jackson Taylor's set playing favorites like "The Toast" and "Spinning Wheel"Above: vocalist Steve Rice and Jerry Payne on guitar
Below: The band on stage in Pryor

Jackson Taylor @ Country fever

Jackson Taylor Kicked of the festival in Pryor Oklahoma on Thursday June 18th. Jackson is following in the outlaw country footsteps of Waylon and Willie and doing all he can to preserve the music and attitude of that style. Outspoken and brash, Jackson is not afraid to be himself and say whats on his mind. He was born in Texas but raised in Washington state with eleven siblings. Look for his latest release "Dark Days" on Smith Entertainment records. Also look out for his new release out soon "Aces N' Eights"

Country Fever Music Festival

From June 18th to June 22nd i will be in Pryor Oklahoma for the Pryor Creek music festival otherwise known as Country Fever. This will be a big task for me to cover this event but i am doing it because of my love for this genre of music known as Red dirt music. The 37 bands that are playing the two stages in Pryor are bands primarily from Texas and Oklahoma. I am covering this event for the website of Jessie Scott, musicfog.com and i hope to post a photo or two and a write up of each band before the next one takes stage. My friend and fellow photographer Robert Watson will be helping me with this huge challenge and i am looking forward to four days of work with great music and musicians. Click the title of this post to go to the Country Fever website.

Reckless Kelly @ Joe's

This was a show i have been waiting for, i have been a fan for a few years but this was the first time i have seen these guys live. Everyone else i have met has told me about how great their live show is and since they recently won the award for "Best live act" at the Austin music awards there are plenty of fans and critics who agree. I got to talk with lead singer and guitarist Willy Braun who co founded the band with his brother Cody before and after the show, we talked about photographers like Carl Dunn and Todd Purifoy and The next time i will see Reckless Kelly in a few days at Country fever in Pryor Oklahoma. The band consists of Willy on vocals and guitar and Cody Braun on mandolin (sometimes a 12 string Rickenbacher electric) and fiddle, David Abeyta on lead guitar, bassist Chris Schelske (who was the original bass player and then came back replacing Jimmy McFeely) and drummer Jay Nazz. The Braun brothers are from Idaho and spent time in Oregon before calling Austin Texas home. Willy and Cody have a brother Micky who formed the band Micky & the Motorcars and their father Muzzie braun is also a talented musician who still lives in Idaho where every year the "Braun Brothers reunion" takes place. Because of Chicago law, bar patrons must go outside to smoke and so because of my bad habits i was able to talk with Cody Braun a few times too because he also was outside, and while he could have gone out to the bus he chose to instead come out and smoke with everyone else. So we talked about Sarah's great band and how his band has been working on new material for a new album. I think Cody said they had two songs finished already. They played mostly material from their latest release "Bulletproof" starting out with the first song off of it called "Ragged as the Road" which to me maybe is how they feel after touring as much as they do but it sure did not show during their set. They also played my favorite song "Wicked Twisted Road" and plenty of older songs from their years on Sugar Hill records. The band was nominated today for an Americana Music Award for best duo or group, this is their first nomination ever. Click on the title to this post for more photos. The main photo is of Willy and David and the small one is Cody Braun.

Sarah Pierce @ Joe's

Austin's Sarah Pierce opened the show for the band Reckless Kelly June 5th. Sarah is on the independent Little bear record label managed by her drummer Merel Bregante who played drums for over twenty years with Loggins & Messina. Sarah has released seven albums all on the Little Bear label including one childrens CD called the "Buttercup Princess" which has proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald house charity and her latest album is appropriately titled "Cowboy's daughter" even though she is from Rockford Illinois she spent the majority of her life growing up in Texas and Colorado. Sarah also has a masters degree in medical science and worked in that field until music became her passion. Sarah was discovered by John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt band and he took her on tour as an opening act. Her music combines the best of old honky tonk country and new pop sensibilty with poetic lyrics that translate well to a live audience. Click on the title to this post to see more photos.

The Lost Trailers @ Joe's

Atlanta Georgia's The Lost Trailers have been touring non stop since forming back around the year 2000. After their first performance at Willie Nelson's Fourth of July picnic they released a couple albums on their own and were later signed to Universal/Republic records realeasing the album "Welcome to the Woods" which had a couple charting singles. In 2006 they were signed to BNA records and were set to release their first single "Chicken Fried" which by now you all know was written by and has become a huge hit for Zac Brown and his band. Between those first independent releases and their latest smash "Holler Back" the band went through many line up changes and shuffling instruments with Stokes nielson as the lead singer and Ryder lee on keyboards writing songs together. Then later having Manny Medina re join the band as their bass player and Stoke's younger brother Andrew taking over keyboards which moved Ryder to lead vocalist and Stokes to lead guitar along with drummer Jeff Potter. 2008 was an Incredible year for the band. The Lost Trailers had one of the best selling records for a band since Alabama's heyday. I was on hand to photograph still shots of the band filming their music video for the song "Holler Back" and it was filmed about 45 minutes North of my hometown in Grand Rapids Michigan downtown at Calder Plaza and indoors at the Intersection where i sometimes also shoot photos and for a split second i am in the video. They decided on the name Lost Trailers after the unfortunate circumstances of having had their equipment trailer stolen three times from them. The guys played a somewhat short set but it included alot of energy and feedback from the crowd and they included most of the songs off "holler back" as well as a few covers. This photo is of lead singer Ryder Lee. Click on the title to this post to see more photos, will be adding more soon.

David Nail @ Joe's

MCA Nashville (Universal Music Group) recording artist David Nail opened a show for the Lost Trailers on Friday May 29th. David currently has a song entitled "Red Light" on the charts. In 2002 David was on the Mercury Nashville label and recorded his debut album but it was never released, David then took some time off to work with a local Nashville Baseball team as a coach. Upon returning to music he was introduced to Frank Lidell who has worked with Miranda Lambert, The Eli Young band and also produced Chris Knights debut album. David has his MCA debut set for July 14th which enlists the legendary piano man Chuck Leavell providing some great bluesy keyboard that compliments David's southern soulful voice. David was born in Kennett Missouri and attended the same school as Sheryl crow and Trent Tomlinson and has performed with both. Also dont forget to check out David's cover of Train's "I'm About to Come Alive" which you can find on his website. Click on the title of this post to view more photos.

Jason Michael Carroll @Joe's

As one of the featured eight shows at Joe's, US99 Chicago's country music radio station along with Bluechip Casino treated fans to a free concert on May 27th by Jason Michael Carroll. Jason just released his second album entitled "Growing Up is Getting Old" on Arista Nashville records. It almost seems like a typical thing to hear that a country music singer grew up as the son of a preacher and its no different with Jason, having grown up secluded from secular music it was only when Jason was at work that he started to listen to country music living in North Carolina. He enterered a karaoke contest sponsored by a local radio station and has since gone on to sell a half million records. The show at Joe's started about an hour after the doors opened and lucky fans got to meet and greet Jason before he took the stage. Being that it was a Wednesday night show i could not stay very long so i wont try and review the show but if you were there feel free to leave a comment about it. Click on the title to see more photos.

The Eli Young band @Joe's

Universal South recording artists The Eli Young band took the stage after the Carter Twins and Joey & Rory Friday May 22nd. The Eli Young band has been around making music for about 8 years now and after a lot of work with endless touring and self promotion they are really building momentum with their single "Always the Love Songs" which is number five on the Texas Music Chart as i am writing this.
Formed at the University of North Texas in Denton the band was started by Mike Eli and guitarist James Young and later they added Bassist Jon Jones and Drummer Chris Thompson to the line up. They started playing small clubs and bars in the area and were later signed to an independant label. After releasing a few albums on Carnival records they were signed to Universal South and released their latest CD "Jet Black and Jealous" with the lead off single "When it Rains".
For those who are not familiar with the older work of the Eli Young band "When it Rains" was actually on the live album "Live at the Jolly Fox" a few years before it was on "Jet Black and Jealous" they also performed it recently live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I have seen them live a few times and i thought this show was one of their best, they really rocked this time and the crowd was giving them great feedback. Mike even signed autographs from the stage during one of the songs even signing someones cowboy boot that was passed up to the front. If you ever get a chance to see these guys live you better "Throw and Go".

The Carter Twins and Joey & Rory @Joe's

Nashville's The Carter Twins and Joey & Rory started the night off at Joe's bar in Chicago on May 22nd opening for the Eli Young band. The Carter Twins are Zach And Josh from Akron Ohio who later relocated with their family to South Carolina and now call Nashville home. They have been busy writing songs for their debut album due out this Summer.
One of the finalists chosen for CMT's television talent show "Can You Duet" was the husband and wife duo Joey & Rory. They played a set backed only by Rory's acoustic guitar playing and sometimes a backing track that was recorded. Joey & Rory have been receiving a lot of positive press for their debut album "Strong Enough to Cry" on Sugar Hill records. Joey & Rory play country music as it should be with good songwriting and classic country style in a timeless form. Rory has written songs for Blake Shelton, Clay Walker and more. They live in Nashville now and operate a restaurant outside town called Marci Jo's Mealhouse, stop in for a good down home meal. Click on the title of this post to see more photos. The Carter twins

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Martina McBride @ Joe's

US99 Chicago's country music radio station along with Bluechip Casino, Coors Light and Best Buy sponsored another one of the "8 Shows at Joe's" putting on a free concert by none other than Martina McBride. The crowd was standing room only and as the rain outside stopped the show began. Martina has a new critically acclaimed new release out entitled "shine" and shine she did, Martina is a class act who knows her powerful voice is the only thing needed to prove to an audience that she is one of the best in the business. No gimmicks or theatrics just solid vocals and a commanding stage presence. New female country singers will come and go and most do not hold a candle to her raw talent as a singer. Martina performed songs off her new release including "Sunny Side Up" and "I Just Call You Mine" which she dedicated to her husband and also my favorite off the new Cd "Ride" plus many of her hit songs like "Wild Angels" "Where Would You Be" "Concrete Angel" and "blessed" and i am sure everyone lucky enough to attend this show felt Blessed to have been there.

Roger Creager & Cory Morrow @ Joe's

Everyone at Joe's bar in Chicago on May first went "Texas time travelin" with Roger and Cory. After Ashley Ray's acoustic set Roger Creager was enthusiastically greeted by the crowd ready to party on a Friday night with the good timing songs about love, women and beer. Roger played songs from his latest release "Here It Is" including his current single "Good Day for Sunsets" and songs from his past albums which are crowd favorites like "The Everclear Song" and "Love" as well as one of my personal favorites "Late Night Case of the Blues" Roger has a great band that has been with him for quite a while now especially Matt Madearis on the drums, Alan Huff on keyboards and accordian and Stormy Cooper on Bass, creating a tight rhythm section that can play a rich sounding ballad or a rowdy TexMex two stepper.
Cory Morrow who is now a veteran of the Texas music scene along with the likes of Pat Green and Jack Ingram took the stage next. Standing barefoot on a rug he seems to always use on stage, Cory performed songs from his latest release "Vagrants & Kings" which is his ninth Cd to date including "He Carries Me" and "When its all said and Done" which is a lesson in Texas music, naming song titles at a speed like Johnny Cash's "Ive Been Everywhere" and using that line also. Cory also played some old crowd favorites like "big City Stripper" and "21 Days" Roger came back out to share the stage with Cory for the last three or four songs, even borrowing someones camera to compose a shot of both of them hamming it up on stage. I can imagine the pranks that go on behind the scenes and on the bus between the two of them. If you chose not to attend this show all i can say is that you were "Having Fun All Wrong".

Ashley Ray @ Joe's

Universal South recording artist Ashley Ray opened another show at Joe's bar in Chicago after coming off the "Young and Wild" tour with Eric Church. This time she opened for Roger Creager and Cory Morrow on Friday night May first. Ashley has a few songs out right now and will be releasing her first CD soon. She has written songs with Wade Bowen and Performs some Randy Rogers songs in her set as well as songs she has written herself. I think we will be seeing alot more of Ashley Ray in the near future, keep an eye out for her.