The Gobblers Knob

 Sunset @ LJT Festival 2007.  One of the “pre-baby” high-points.

I could do a “Best of 2007″ or even a Top Albums of the Year kinda thing, but it probably wouldn’t be that great.  Why?  Just cuz, I guess.  In fact, I am not even reviewing the entire year, but only the part of the year that I have been blogging up in this mutha, which would be since May 1st.  So, you wanted a woefully incomplete and illiterate retrospective on the partial year that was (you did, I heard you ask)???  Well unwrap this little present below (no special order or progression, this review is as out of order chronologically as it is incomplete):

• Bleu Edmondson, Adam Hood, Ryan Bingham, Drew Kennedy

Proof that The Texas/Red Dirt is as fertile now as it was when the only “Green” we knew was Gruene Hall.

• Ned Van Go, Band of Horses, The Beauty Shop, Ted Russell Kamp -

Non-Texans that continue to expand the boundaries of Alt-Whatever.  These folks aren’t just being Country, or just being Rock, or just being Indie, they’re just…being (being pretty awesome).

• Wilco, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Cross Canadian, Ryan Adams -

Big names, big record releases.  While these twangy favorites produced solid, focused and tight albums that had various flashes of brilliance, they each fell a tad short (some more or less than others) of some of their previous works that provided them with their big names.  What most bands wouldn’t give to have an offering as strong as these discs as their second, third or fourth best productions in their catalog. 

• Great Concerts in My Great State-

Between great in-store gigs, seeing old faves, getting up close and personal with legends and jammin’ on a patio with the sun beating down, I was able to get my concert fix in before a delivery from the stork would alter my fall concert plans just a tad.

• Porter Wagoner (1927 - 2007)

The Wagonmaster rides out in style.  The Thin Man from West Plains astounded and confounded me with his “don’t call it a comeback” album that gave us a riveting farewell simply by reminding us all where he had been.

• Entertainer of the Year:  Cash Dearmore -

My Baby Boy (Sorry, I had to, go read Country Weekly if you don’t like it).  July 23rd saw my life change forever, and there isn’t a concert or CD in the world that could entertain, delight and make me smile the way that Little Cash does. 

Some of the folks in and around the Dallas area may be aware of the Shiner Rising Star Contest hosted by KHYI 95.3 and Shiner Records.  For those of you who aren’t, please refer back to my previous ranting on the subject.  Next week will see the crowning of a new champion as The Mo Robson Band, Truckstop Junkies, Nate Kipp and another act to be determined this Thursday will battle it out at Love & War in Texas - Plano on Oct. 25.  What is significant about this final and the possibility of any of these acts winning is that they are all true, authentic, hard working, dues-paying bands that have forged their sounds with constant gigging and will produce a great CD with the guidance of whichever top notch producer the winner gets teamed up with (Gurf Morlix and Ray Wylie Hubbard have been past producers).  Each of the three named finalists have a sound that differs from the others.  Kipp has a honky-tonk vibe reminiscent of Aaron Watson, while Truckstop Junkies favor the whiskey soaked southern rock of previous Shiner Rising Star winners Miles From Nowhere, and tying the two vibes together is The Mo Robson Band.  Switching from Billy Joe Shaver’s more rocking gears and tales of life from the left-of-center to the laid back tales from the road, Robson represents the best of both worlds from which Kipp and Truckstop Junkies reside.  For those of you from outside of Texas, please note that the music from these bands is widely available on-line and can be requested on internet and satellite radio.  There can only be one winner next week, but there isn’t any reason all of the finalist bands can’t be a member of your CD changers rotation. 

Steve Earle “Hardcore Protesting Troubador Stage” - Condi Condi

 My favorite picture of Me and Brent Best (lead singer, The Drams), not my favorite over-all picture, mind you….

There are tons of concerts this weekend… good ones, ones that you should know about and go to.  For info on those, go here, here and here and here too.  I got a baby, and something much more needy, a baby momma.  That means that I will likely not hit any of these great shows (Sorry guy in the picture at the top of the post) this weekend since I have hit a couple decent gigs in the fairly recent past (that’s fine, I’m not gripin’…sort of).

Since I will not be using this post to provide an in-depth preview for any of the great shows throughout the state, I want to discuss something with you.  After reading this you can talk amongst yourselves, Linda Richman style:  How many times do you use the term, “favorite“??  I, for one, use it a ton.  I use that word like Kenny Chesney needs to use rogaine - a whole freakin’ bunch.  As I began to think about it, I assumed that I was devaluing the term and it’s meaning, therefore making certain things that I have called my “favorite” not that special anymore.  No subject receives my abuse of the “F” word (please tell me you knew I meant favorite there…please??) more than music and the various bands and tunes that I listen to and cherish.  I enjoy a wide array of styles and bands.  Is it so odd for me to have an equally wide array of favorites?  Case in point: I have long considered The Dave Matthews Band my “favorite” band and left it at that (don’t judge, we’re all different people).  By calling DMB my favorite, I by no means am implying that they are more vital or influential than say, Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons or Hank Sr. (three of my favorites), because they are clearly not.  My favorite live band is Reckless Kelly, yet my all-time favorite concert is probably Steve Earle @ Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas (Feb. 2005), with the Wilco show in Ft. Worth (Oct. 2006) a close second.  My favorite act to see at Love & War in Texas (Plano) is Chris Knight, yet my favorite show there was a double bill of Jesse Dayton and Dale Watson (2004).  Mo Robson Band is my favorite group to see at Adair’s, yet the time I caught Brandon Rhyder there (2004) was my all-time favorite concert at the provider of my second favorite burger in Dallas (Twisted Root across the street from there is numero uno). My favorite female solo-artist is Kathleen Edwards, yet I recognize Lucinda Williams as the greatest female solo-artist on the planet. While Williams’ work is so personal and aches with feeling and rawness, Edwards 2 albums resonate with me in a stronger fashion than that of anything  Williams’ has recorded, outside of “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” which I am pretty sure is my favorite CD of all-time, even though my favorite CD to pop in on the way to work is Ray Lamontagne’s “Trouble.”  The diversity and ambiguity of what is a “favorite” is the most fascinating aspect of this train of thought, as far as I can tell.  We are all told the greatest band of all-time is The Beatles.  If they truly are , why aren’t they everybodys fave?  Chances are, they are many, many folks’ favorite band, or perhaps their favorite band-that-isn’t-together-anymore, or favorite band from the 60’s, but not the band that they eagerly answer with when asked who their favorite band is. 

Obviously, there is a greater than zero chance that I am splitting hairs to an unreal degree or being very neurotic, and most likely both.  Ultimately, we have many favorites that represent the many ways we love music and the craftsmen who create this art. Below are some more of my favorites.  Leave a comment and give me some of your favorites…

Ok, ok.  Please listen (well, read I guess).  This Shiner Sunday at Love & War in Texas (Plano) may go down as one of the greatest ones EVER!!!!!  We have known for a few weeks now that Gobblers Knob fave Ned Van Go would be the opener (even though they could’ve headlined in my opnion), but word came down today through my good friend (ok, ok, myspace friend, it’s almost the same) Jesse Dayton that he will be the headliner following NVG’s opening set this coming Sunday.  Jesse Dayton makes 2 or 3 visits to Shiner Sunday every year and they’re all fantastic.  The first time I saw him I almost didn’t stay for his set out of protest of him being the Shiner Sunday headliner over Dale “The Real Deal” Watson.  A few buckets of Tecate cans with lime in my Gary P. Nunn koozie later, and I was convinced that I needed a ride home (thank you Michael)….AND that Jesse Dayton put on one devil of a show.  His best selling album doesn’t even have his name on it.  It’s a concept album that he wrote and performed as “Banjo & Sullivan” for the Rob Zombie directed flick “The Devil’s Rejects.“  Thankfully, he usually plays a couple of cuts from the disc in his live set, with “She’s out getting nailed” as my favorite choice.  This Sunday represents a great combination of the concert-going experience.  A band from out of state that I have wanted to see for quite some time, but haven’t yet, along with a tried and true barn-burner that satisfies everytime. 

Look next week for a review, video, and an interview with Ned Van Go.

Jesse Dayton - Somewhere overseas it seems…