Gary Allan @ Joe's bar, Chicago

It doesn't get much better than seeing Gary Allan for free and thanks to Chicago's US99, Blue Chip Casino and Coors Light fans lucky enough to win tickets got another great show at Joe's bar. The line to get in stretched down the block and the place was packed early and after Easton Corbin's opening set Gary came out swinging with the title song on his latest album "Get off the Pain" released March 9Th. Playing a few more tracks off his new album including "Today" and "Kiss Me When I'm Down" and he attempted to run through his long list of hits like "She's so California" and "Watching Airplanes" even stopping one song near the beginning to play another, which tends to make things sound like a medley but thankfully Gary didn't fall into that and it was the only time during the show that happened.
Gary may not write too many songs himself but he is so good at choosing his material that its tough to decipher which songs of his were written by other people. He tries to use the same studio musicians on every album and has a very loyal band with him on tour that is very versatile on a variety of instruments. Much has been written already about the tragic events in Gary's life and three years later he has "No Regrets" but you always get the sense that the past will haunt him the rest of his life and that it goes hand in hand as a protagonist for the material he records. I have never seen Gary Allan live before and have been looking forward to that chance for a long time, he is one of the true artists on a short list of people i still listen to in Nashville and he also is well liked by Texas artists often sharing the stage with bands like Cross Canadian Ragweed. I had hoped for a longer show than the hour and ten minutes Gary gave us but all in all it was a fantastic high energy show that left me willing to see him again next time through.

Easton Corbin @ Joe's

I have to admit that i am out of the loop when it comes to most of the Nashville country artists, i don't listen to the radio much at all unless its on somewhere else. So i had no idea that Easton's song "A Little More Country Than That" was the number one country song on the charts right now. Not since 2003 and a guy named Dierks Bentley has a debut artist and debut song risen to the top of the charts like that. I knew of Easton and i bought his album a few weeks ago but i had no clue he was this popular already. I like his music because its instantly familiar, maybe because of all the George Strait comparisons. Some even say he's the next George Strait, i think its way to early to say that and king George has a lot left in him yet but Easton sure does sound like him.
Growing up on a farm in Gilchrist county in the state of Florida he spent most of his time on his grandparents cattle farm which was a mile from the Suwannee river. As a member of the FFA and 4H he showed cattle at livestock shows but he knew he wanted to sing country music long before that. He credits a local musician by the name of Pee Wee Melton for teaching him to play the guitar. Easton honed his skills in local bands as a lead guitarist and earned himself a slot on the Suwannee River Jam festival. Easton also earned a business degree at the college of agriculture at the University of Florida, got married in 2006 and made the move to Nashville.
Easton is on tour promoting his album and at Joe's he played a short set opening for Gary Allan which was mostly acoustic except for the bass playing of Keith Horn. You might recognize Keith if you are a Luke Bryan fan, Keith has left Luke's band to tour with Easton. Keith said that he is married with a family and likes having a little less time on the road. He also likes that Easton's music is real country in the traditional sense and doesn't lean toward the pop country sound that seems to be getting more complaints lately and i am glad for that myself.

The Randy Rogers Band @ Joe's

Thursday March 4th The Randy Rogers Band was back at Joe's and i was looking forward to hearing more polished versions of the new songs they have recorded for their new CD "Burning the Day" which guitarist Geoff Hill said will be released later this summer in June or July but the first single "Interstate" will be released to radio in May. If the songs "Interstate" and "Holding on to Letting Go" are any indication then this is going to be another great album from these guys. Radney Foster produced the last few albums and this time they changed things up and went with Paul Worley. Paul was vice president of Sony BMG records and later was chief creative officer at Warner Brothers Nashville, he is better known as a producer and session guitarist having received Grammy awards for best country album with The Dixie Chicks albums "Wide Open Spaces" and "Fly" and he helped to sign the duo Big & Rich. Paul's recent credits also include production on "Need You Now" from Lady Antebellum.
The guys were nominated again this year by The Academy of Country Music for top vocal group and are back on the road in a brand new custom built from scratch tour bus after taking some time off to record the new album in Nashville and recently completed a successful West coast run through California. I read an interview done a few years ago by Micheal Devers and Lone Star Music magazine that gave some insight into the rest of the band and how Geoff writes some of the darker themed songs but always seems to be the happy guy with the great sense of humor which i noticed was still there even though the guys were pretty worn out from the last few shows. Brady is always up for conversation and meeting new people and we talked a little about his days as a kid on the farm growing up around Amarillo Texas. I didn't see much of Les at all and Randy was around but seemed very tired.
Jon "Chops" Richardson the bass player is the only single guy in the band and so he was downstairs in the crowd and walking around talking to the ladies while we were upstairs talking about music and the good beers that Geoff and i like because earlier in the day i saw a photo he posted on his Facebook page of all the beer in the aisles of the huge Whole Foods market at the end of Weed Street and Kingsbury where Joe's is located. The back of fiddle player Brady Black's T-shirt read "Love Live Music" and these always deliver the goods here in Chicago.

Jack Ingram Acoustic Motel Tour @ Joe's

If you ask anyone that is really into Texas music to name some of the best albums in Texas music, Jack Ingram's Acoustic Motel record often gets named as one of the best, Just Jack and his guitar. Joe's bar was the intimate setting revisiting those days and more on a "Acoustic Motel" tour that took Jack to audiences like here in Chicago, Minneapolis and New York state. Joe's bar set up candle lit tables and the stage was set up with a couple of couches for fans to sit on behind Jack if they got the nerve to jump up there and be in the spotlight. After the first few people dared to do it it wasn't so hard for a few other groups to take their place and take turns in one of the best seats in the house only a few feet from Jack. Starting off with a song he said he was doing lately, a Patty Griffin song called "When it don't come Easy" and he does a fantastic rendition of it. Jack also has a song on his most recent album "Big Dreams and High Hopes" with Patty called "Seeing Stars" which he did later on in the show. Its a great song that should have received much more airplay than it did. The second song he played was the title to his "Hey You" album from 1999. Following that up with His song "Biloxi" about how his father often wasn't around when he was growing up and he stated "I wrote that song when i was 25 years old, before i got married, now i am married and i re-thought that song a little bit, then i had a couple kids and i thought well man maybe my dad wasn't such an asshole after all, probably doing the best he could under some pretty intense circumstances" he then said that around that time he found another song, which was a song that his friend Radney Foster sent him one day after he had heard "Biloxi" and thought of him. He sent a shout out to Chicago's US99 radio saying that if you listen to them you probably heard this song and he played "Measure of a Man" and after that song Jack said "I couldn't help but notice that after i mentioned Houston and Texas that i got an audible response" and he said "I'm from Texas too" and he preceded to talk about high school football and played the song "Great Divide" off the "This is it" album. Next he said "I got a daughter at home, her name is Ava Adele" and he launched into that beautiful song written about her after saying that he used to dislike songs about other people's kids and that he cant get away with playing the song at home because he isn't Hannah Montana.
The night went on with some great stories between the songs that only an acoustic show like this one at Joe's can afford. Shots were being passed to Jack on the stage and beers were consumed, songs were sung and laughs shared. Jack also performed "Make a Wish (coming home again)" and "Seeing Stars" which he said that after having chart success with many songs written by other people that he convinced his record company to let him have a go at it with that song and he said sarcastically said that it shot all the way up to number 56 but adding that he considers any of his songs a hit if they make it into the double digits and passed the triple digits. Jack has a recent release which is the first track on "Big Dreams and High Hopes" that he released at the start of this acoustic tour called "Free" its a perfect springtime and summer rocker written by Jay Knowles and one of my favorite writers, Trent Summar, request it on your local radio, it sounds like a hit. At the end of the show Jack came out to the edge of the stage to sing "Goodnight Moon" without a microphone encouraging everyone to sing along.
Jack studied psychology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and i think some of the songs he chooses or writes have that kind of insight and fascination into the human psyche and when you meet him it seems like he looks at you as if he is trying to read into you a bit and see what your all about. Jack announced that he will be back this summer with his band at Joe's so if you get the chance come to the show you will be entertained because like i have said here before, he is one of the best entertainers in the business and gives it all he's got. Jack is off to Australia in March and then he's on the bill for the "Country Throwdown" tour that will be coming around this spring. Click here for more photos. Some of them will be in the March 15th issue of Country Weekly magazine!

Robert Earl Keen @ Joe's

Back in September or so there was the possibility of Robert coming up to Chicago with Todd Snider and Bruce Robison on their acoustic tour and i was hoping that would happen at Joe's but it ultimately did not so i was thrilled to hear that Robert was coming up in February with his whole amazing band and so was everyone else because the place was packed. Robert Earl Keen is revered by his contemporaries and is someone to look up to if your an aspiring Texas musician. If you want to learn about great songwriting you do not have to look any further than any Robert Earl Keen song. Nearly all of the songs Robert has written since his days of hanging out on the front porch with Lyle Lovett can be used as movie scripts or the basis for a good novel. He packs so much detail and so much character study into his songs that they offer a visual picture in your mind of what the land, the people and the conditions are like that inspired the songs. He may not have lived out each one but trying to figure out which ones he has and has not is not easily done. Trying to write something about Robert Earl can easily take up the whole page and trying to say something that hasn't already been said is nearly impossible so all i can do is write about what i know, which is good advice for songwriters too.Bobby Bare Jr. opened the show for Robert and i have to admit that i just don't get that guy, i have tried, i liked his dad's music but maybe there is just something i'm missing when it comes to him but i heard that the crowd was disrespectful to him and it affected his performance unfortunately but it made me want to have Robert on that stage even more which is actually sometimes a good thing as far as an opening act is concerned because you don't want the openers to be better than the headliner right?
Robert has been in a great mood lately, he's happy and it shows in his stage presence and in his song choices, he dug back all the way to his first self funded independent album "No Kinda Dancer" from 1984 right up to his latest release "The Rose Hotel" on Universal Nashville records. Robert is on a major label but this one seems smart enough not to mess with his creativity so things seem to be going well. Robert has retained his sly sense of humor throughout the years and its as sharp as ever but he can also convey a serious side as good as anyone through some of my favorite songs like "Mariano" and "Shades of Grey" as well as "Flyin Shoes" which is a great cover on his latest album originally done by the great Townes Van Zandt and i was thinking that if Townes were still with us maybe he would play a show at Joe's one day.The crowd seemed to be very familiar with Robert's music and when he mentioned "I always have to play a fishing song after i play a love song" everyone immediately yelled out "Five Pound Bass" and a lot of people seemed to connect with his between songs story telling about life in Texas. Robert lives the life as close as he can and he lives on a working ranch with his wife when he is not on tour so a lot of the Texas borderland and rural Texas experiences come through in his songs.Robert Earl Keen's band is absolutely top notch with Tom Van Schaik on drums, Marty Muse offering up some phrases on the Pedal steel guitar, Bill Whitbeck on Bass and the fantastic playing on lead guitar by Rich Brotherton. Rich has lent his talent to everyone from Eliza Gilkyson to Rich O'Toole and many more as a musician and producer. Bill Whitbeck has contributed to albums by Aaron Watson to Rodney Hayden and also has his own record out called "Radio Caroline" which was released back in November to good reviews. Marty Muse has been featured on many recordings too, ranging from Robbie Fulks to Bruce Robison to Dwight Yoakam and as of 2009 he is working on his own release. Tom Van Schaik was the original drummer with the Dixie Chicks for over 6 years before joining Robert. Each of these guys have their own websites or Myspace sites. Robert came out to sign merchandise for fans and i bought a copy of "Undone" for him to sign and he also signed my hat and that just about completes that one and its about time to start another and i also got to talk with Robert after the show for a while. I would highly recommend "Undone" to anyone who is new to Robert's music or to long time fans because it really puts Robert's songwriting skills on display as each song was chosen by his peers and performed acoustically at a tribute to Robert at the Musicfest in Steamboat Springs Colorado back in 2008. Just like Charlie Robison stated on stage next to Robert at the Musicfest "ive been out hatted by Robert Earl" no one can out hat REK. Click here for more photos from the show at Joes in Chicago.

Stoney LaRue @ Joe's bar

February 5th after Micky & The Motorcars opened the show Stoney LaRue took the stage. What can i say about Stoney LaRue that i haven't already said in writing about him here many times before? He's one of the most infectious and enthusiastic entertainers in Texas music. He is also one of the most talented with one of the best voices in the business. Stoney recently released a live acoustic CD of mostly covers from artists like Mike McClure (Tie My Boat) of The Great Divide a groundbreaking band from Oklahoma and John Hiatt's "Train To Birmingham" as well as a song he co wrote with Mike McClure and Tom Skinner (Love You For Loving Me) that is one of the new songs he's been doing lately. Stoney is also working on a album of all new material, and we have all heard that before but it will happen, just be patient. After seeing Stoney play a few acoustic shows lately i was looking forward to seeing him with his amazing band again and i will just talk about them here right now. His keyboard player Steve Littleton has quite a set up, combining old technology like a Wurlitzer keyboard with a rotary horn speaker with modern technology like today's latest synthesizers. Steve is also a keyboard player in an Austin Texas band called "Live Oak Decline" and Live Oak Decline recorded an album and were talking about recording their second which i'm not sure has been done yet. Jesse Fritz is the bass player for Stoney LaRue, he is responsible for laying down all those funky bass lines like the one in the Mike Hosty song "Oklahoma Breakdown" and he is an avid motorcycle rider often going for rides on his Harley Davidson with Stoney when they are not on the road in a tour bus. Kevin Webb is Stoney's lead guitarist and he's the one who plays that distinctive slide guitar intro on "Oklahoma Breakdown" and he also has various side projects and produces bands now and then. He is from Norman Oklahoma and you can hear some of his cool music on his Reverbnation.com page. Jeremy Bryant is Stoney LaRue's solid drummer, Jeremy also has lent his talent to various other artists like Mike Mancy on his album "Blue Sky" and he also drums for a band called "Willis Brownstone" a jam band made up of Waco Texas locals including Wade Bowen's bass player Caleb Jones. Jeremy Watkins is the fiddle, mandolin and harmony vocalist for the band. Jeremy also has performed with another fellow Oklahoma singer and songwriter by the name of Travis Linville and back in 2003 Jeremy was involved in an auto accident with Jason Boland heading back to Stillwater Oklahoma, thankfully they both were ok although Jason had to have some major surgery to repair his leg and hip. Stoney and the band played a great set returning for an encore that became a jam session weaving in and out of songs by the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd which really showed off Stoney and his band The Arsenal's love of classic rock.

Micky & The Motorcars @ Joe's

After seeing Micky & The Motorcars for the first time in Steamboat at the Musicfest but only listening to their music occasionally before that i was looking forward to seeing them in Chicago because i think their "Live at Billy Bob's" CD is one of the best live albums i have heard, it just has a great sound, and it was recorded right. After reading the liner notes and credits i found out Adam Odor (Austin recording engineer and mixer) and David Abeyta (Reckless Kelly) and a few others were involved. If you listen to some of the older "Live at Billy Bob's" recordings the sound is often not quite as good as recordings done at other venues so Micky & The Motorcars were aware of this and were able to get around this by bringing in their own crew to record and film this special occasion. Micky & The Motorcars (if you are not familiar with them) consist of Micky Braun on lead vocals and Gary Braun on rhythm guitar and vocals, mandolin and harmonica (you maybe more familiar with two more of the Braun brothers, who are founders of the band Reckless Kelly) other members of the band include Kris Farrow who studied at the Berklee college of Music and also is a very talented Sax player and lead guitarist. Shane Vannerson on drums and Mark McCoy on bass round out the rest of the band.
The band writes their own songs and they also carefully choose songs from their favorite songwriters and their versions fit their style so well that you would have a hard time figuring out who wrote what. Songs by fellow Idaho songwriter and musician Pinto Bennett (Carolina Morning) Austin's own John Dee Graham (Twilight) and co writes with Kevin Welch's son Dustin (Bloodshot) which is one of my favorite songs and Kevin's daughter Savannah who is part of the Trishas also co wrote one (Amber) with Micky. There are also some other covers that they have done live but have not recorded like The Faces "Stay With Me" and Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and Todd Snider's "Looking For a Job" help to round out the recording which has 25 songs in total on two discs along with the complete show included on DVD. My only wish is to have the band come back and play a longer headlining show but as openers for Stoney LaRue the crowd was ready for him to take the stage. The Braun family is incredibly talented, Muzzie is the talented father of the family and Kathleen his daughter is also a singer and songwriter and the whole family holds the ever expanding Braun Brothers Reunion music festival in Idaho in August and it is drawing more and more people each year.

Jason Boland "High in the Rockies"

Jason Boland & the Stragglers recorded a new live CD entitled "High in the Rockies" over the course of four scheduled tour dates in the west including Laramie Wyoming at the Cowboy bar, Ft. Collins at the Aggie theater, The Musicfest in Steamboat and the last show at the BlueBird theater in Denver.
I was at the Musicfest but i didn't make that show because i didn't want to leave the show at the Grand Ballroom but i did make the show at the Bluebird and had all access to photograph the show. The Bluebird theater is a very small old theater off Colfax and seems like it will only hold about a hundred people but they have a very impressive and steady list of bands that roll through.
I talked with Roger Ray about the shows and he said that
all of them have gone very smoothly, no songs had to be stopped and re started and if any mistakes were there they haven't heard them yet and they can be corrected later. The first single to be released to radio which Jason stated that "Its not like it matters, they wont play it anyway" will be their cover of the old Danny Flowers song "Tulsa Time" which was made famous by Oklahoma's gentle giant, Don Williams. Each show had the band playing some different songs each night so i cant say that the songs they played in Denver will all make it onto the new CD but i know they were pulling out some good old tunes as well as some songs off the latest "Comal County Blue" disc. Cowboys in Laramie Wyoming was mentioned as their favorite place they visited out of the four stops and they mentioned how good the crowd was and the energy they returned to the stage. I was asked to submit a few photos from the Denver show so i am hoping at least one will be used in the packaging! Click here to view a video of "Proud Souls" shot that night and my You tube channel has a few more videos from that night too.http://secondaryamp.blogspot.com/ UPDATE: Two of my photos from this show have been chosen to be used in the packaging on the new "High in the Rockies" CD to be released 4/20/10 and one will be this shot above used as the back cover!

Friday the finale of the Musicfest

Friday came way too quick, i could have easily stayed for another week in Steamboat, i didn't feel like i met everyone i wanted to meet although i did meet most of the people i have been talking with for the last two years on Facebook but have never actually met in person. I also met plenty of new people that shared the same passion for this music as i have and made quite a few business contacts that may pan out later on down the road.After Jack Ingram played his outdoor show, i rushed over to the big tent to check out a band that all my friends in the Carolina's and the rest of the Southeast have been talking about called Sons of Bill and their manager contacted me to ask if i was able to catch their show and maybe get a few photos. I was impressed with their tight harmonies, musicality and versatility, playing many styles of music ranging from Americana to good ole southern rock & roll. Sons of Bill recently started to venture into the state of Texas and are receiving positive press from Texas media outlets and from music fans. Sons of Bill are from Charlottesville, Virginia and are five guys of which three are brothers hence the name Sons of Bill. Hayes Carll was scheduled to open the day in the tent but had to leave the Musicfest because of the flu which unfortunately also put Billy Joe Shaver out of commission earlier in the festival so Sons of Bill got things started.
Johnathan Tyler & the Northern Lights took the stage after them and i missed their shows in other venues during the week so seeing them on the big stage in the tent was something i was looking forward too, they too are another group i have heard great things about but have not seen yet. A few minutes into the first song i realized that these guys just plain rock, big time seventies southern rock and blues influences with a slight jam band feel. I saw Jonathan walking around in Steamboat at some of the venues and you could not help but notice him with his white fur coat and long hair.


These guys can do a power ballad, a blues standard or a straight up rock and roll song with with attitude and mojo. Reckless Kelly was up next, i had to leave to go back to our condo to get my laptop because i was out of space on my cards. I thought i could quickly take the shuttle up to Storm Meadows Christie Base, get it and head back but the shuttles were pretty slow and not at all on schedule like they claimed, one driver said that another one would be by in five minutes and 20 minutes later i was still waiting. When i got to the condo ambulances and fire trucks were still there after just responding to a fire in our complex and the alarms were still going off. I decided to just unload my cards then so that i didn't have to do it in the tent but i still brought the laptop back so i could do it again.
I made it back just in time for Katie Key and her Best in Texas and the Texas Music Chart awards presentation with Chicago Cubs baseball player Randy Wells. Randy is a recent convert to Texas and Red Dirt music and thanks to Stoney LaRue he has discovered many other bands in the genre. Randy is a frequent concert goer at Joe's bar in Chicago and i got to talk with him after they handed out awards to Cross Canadian Ragweed (twice) and Jack Ingram and also John Dickson of Dickson Productions who's company spends all year prepairing and working to put on the Musicfest as well as many other festivals in various parts of the country such as the Big Music Cruise.Cross Canadian Ragweed then took the stage rocking out crowd favorites like Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Wanna Rock & Roll" who later joined them on stage ith his son Lucas on guitar along with Stoney LaRue, Willy and Cody Braun, Micky Braun, Adam Oder, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights. Lee Ann Womack joined Ragweed on stage too and later Cody and the band played an all star version of "Boys from Oklahoma" with various guests including KNBT, New Braunfels Texas radio's Mattson Ranier making up words to the song on the spot.After the finale in the big tent i made it to see Wade Bowen and his band do their finale in the Grand Ballroom, Lee Ann Womack joined Wade on stage for a song and Sean McConnell also sang along on his song "Somewhere Beautiful" and later an all star line up gathered together on stage to sing "Hey Jude" as the final closing song to what many have said was the best Steamboat Musicfest yet. Dont forget to check out all the videos i have taken everyday too by clicking here.