Category Archives: Live Music

by | November 2, 2014 · 8:00 am

Fayette County Country Music Opry

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.05.57 AMEvery third Monday of the month at 7:30pm, the Fayette County Country Music Club holds their very own Country Music Opry at the La Grange Knights of Columbus Hall. A house band of local musicians play each month along with the occasional out of town musicians who stop by to play for publicity and experience in front of a crowd of about 300 to 400 people.

Even though the set up is nothing fancy, the musicians that play are usually not very established, and the average age of the people who come to watch is probably around 65, the Fayette County Country Music Club Opry was a big part of my childhood days. Because my dad and grandpa are a part of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charity fraternity, they would often have to work during the opry. I can remember as early as age three or four watching the musicians sing old country songs, from Hank Williams to Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton. I can probably sing almost any traditional country song that is thrown at me word for word, and I have the opry to thank for my impressive skills.

When I was younger, I remember my older brother, Chase, and I giving my mom the hardest time about going and after dragging us there, we were always more interested in playing “wall ball” and eating hamburgers in the back room than sitting with all the “old people” and listening to “ancient country music.” We stopped going to the opry with my parents when Chase got into middle school and they trusted us to stay home alone for a few hours by ourselves. The last time I attended was probably my sophomore year in high school to watch my friend, Briana Adams, play.

I recently thought about the Fayette County Country Music Club Opry when considering what to blog about. I got really excited about the opry because it is actually perfect for this class. When I called my mom to see if it was something that still went on, she was surprised about my new interest in it.  Looking back now I wish my juvenile self had realized how cool it actually is that little La Grange puts on the Fayette County Country Music Club Opry (at the point in my life where this tends to be happening more and more). I plan on going to check it out again soon, which I know will make my grandma happy, and I am not ashamed to say I am truly excited to hear some good traditional country music!

I wanted to share some footage from the opry, so I found some videos on YouTube. The videos are a few years old, but I feel they give a good sense of what the Fayette County Country Opry is like! Also, you should check out my friend Briana Adams! She’s so talented and definitely has a very traditional country feel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2vGxR7QCo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMs-lCzjbvY#t=571

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Filed under Dancing, Live Music, Texas

by | October 30, 2014 · 8:00 am

Small Time Country: Texas Style

I have been exposed to a lot country music in my time growing up Texas, but something that strikes me is the fact that a lot of people these days don’t seem to listen to as much Texas country music as one might think, especially those that live here. I have only recently been immersed into the Texas Country music scene and over the past 2 or 3 years its has grown on me like wildfire. For me at least Texas country has the flare and rhythm that Nashville and big time artists are missing.

Steamboat

Last year I went to Music Fest in Steamboat, Colorado. Don’t ask me why there is a giant Texas country music festival in Colorado. There just is. And it’s a ton of fun. But I digress, while at Music Fest I saw many performers from Turnpike Troubadours, Cody Johnson, Randy Rogers, Cory Morrow, Jack Ingram, Roger Creager, Kevin Fowler, etc. and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard these people before. They were all so good and I found myself no being able to get enough. There was something about the voices, the messages, and the fiddle that captivated me.

I learned that I loved the Red Dirt sound with the over-powering fiddle and the drunken lively audience that made Texas country so much more fun to listen to and dance to, among other things. I realize that not everyone likes a good ho down but I just couldn’t see how people wouldn’t like this music or at least appreciate it. The Texas country music scene has slipped back under the radar from its glory days in the 70’s with Willie and Weylon and perhaps many of the artists prefer it that way. Willie and Weylon were known as outlaws for a reason.

I suppose that could be a factor as many Texas country artists consider themselves outlaws refusing to conform to the industry standard that Nashville has set. I understand this and trust me, it makes the whole experience a lot more fun for those of you looking for a good time and a rowdy crowd.

Cody JohnsonA few artists I recommend for those of you wanting to dip your toes into Texas country check out Cody Johnson who’s hit single “Me and My Kind” is at the top of the Texas charts and Kevin Fowler who’s “100% Texan” and “Beer, Bait, and Ammo” are classic. Also, check out the Josh Abbott Band who gained some national attention for their single “Oh, Tonight”.

I realize that a lot people do, in fact, listen to Texas country music, but I want to get the word out that Texas country is more than just music its a life style, a story, a wild ride, but more importantly a good time.

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Filed under Live Music, Texas

by | October 27, 2014 · 8:00 am

5 Reasons Why the Dixie Chicks Need to Have a Reunion Tour

I love the Dixie Chicks. They’re possibly my favorite band and what’s sad about this is even though they’re my favorite, I’ve never seen them live. I constantly check their website to see if they’ll ever tour again and every time I check is a disappointment. I need to see them live. For this reason, I have decided to make a list of five reasons why the Dixie Chicks need to have a reunion tour.

The cover of my all time favorite album Wide Open Spaces

The cover of my all time favorite album Wide Open Spaces

1. Their music is timeless
You know those songs that you hear on the radio over and over again and get so annoying that you can’t stand to listen to them? I don’t think a Dixie Chicks song could ever be one of those. I could listen to their songs one hundred times and still not get tired of them. I don’t know what it is about them, but their songs are catchy, meaningful, and, in my opinion, true country (but more on that later). Seeing the Dixie Chicks live would make these songs even more timeless for me because there’s just something different about hearing a song live and not just on recording. For some reason, I think hearing them live would make me want to listen to them even more.

 2. The Dixie Chicks are true country

Yes, there is some pop in many of their songs, but I still think the Dixie Chicks are true country. They use country instruments like the banjo, fiddle, and steel guitars. Their songs are about country living, love, and nostalgia. They also just have that country sound and twang to them that makes them so connectable. Country concerts are my favorite because, well country music is my favorite kind of music, and country concerts are just so much more fun. You can dance and sing and really connect to the artist in ways you can’t with pop artists.

The girls at one of their last concerts in 2003

The girls at one of their last concerts in 2003

 3. They are great performers

It is hard for bands and artists to sound just as good live as they do when recorded, but the Dixie Chicks are very good at this. Natalie Maines has such a cool and unique voice and it sounds just as amazing live as it does recorded. I can only say this based on the recordings of their live performances, but I’m going to go ahead and assume she truly does sound that amazing. The girls also love their music and love performing it for people and you can see this in any recordings of their live performances. I would love to be able to experience this talent and love for music in person, but I can only do that if they have a reunion tour.

4. They need a comeback

Ever since “the incident” in 2003 when Natalie Maines insulted President George W. Bush, the Dixie Chicks have really struggled to win back the approval of the huge fan base they had in the late 90s and early 2000s. A think a reunion tour will allow the girls to reintroduce themselves and get some of their fans back. I think that if the girls came out and performed their songs and made no statements on the past and simply played their music, people could look past “the incident” and remember why they love the Dixie Chicks. They make great music and I don’t think it is fair for them to not be able to make music because of one mistake they made.

An example of the negative reactions the girls got after "the incident"

An example of the negative reactions the girls got after “the incident”

5. I have never seen them perform live

I know this is selfish, but it’s probably the most important reason why I think the Dixie Chicks should have a reunion tour. The last time they performed in Texas, or even in the United States, was December of 2006. That was EIGHT years ago and I was only 12 years old. At this point in my life, I never really went to concerts and the Dixie Chicks weren’t a huge part of my life. So basically, I never really had the opportunity to see the Dixie chicks because they stopped touring in the United States before I ever really wanted to go see them. I am absolutely obsessed with them now so I think it’s only fair that they tour again so I can see them.

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Filed under Lists, Live Music, New Country, Texas

by | October 24, 2014 · 8:00 am

Rebel’s Honky Tonk!

703918A few weekends ago, I ventured out with a few of my girlfriends to Rebel’s Honky Tonk, which is a country dancing bar on 5th street. (It apparently now changed its name to Rowdy’s Saloon and made a few changes, but I went there when it was called Rebel’s Honky Tonk, so that’s how I refer to the place now.)

I have been to Midnight Rodeo a few years back, which is pretty much a similar concept as Rebel’s, so this was my official second time to get my two-stepping on. As someone who grew up overseas and mostly in the north, Country music has never really been my thing until I moved to Austin for school. My first time to a country dancing bar, Midnight Rodeo, was definitely an experience; I was a little freshman that did not really know much, and this huge dance floor in the middle filled with everyone who already knew how to two-step was too overwhelming.

Since this was my second time to a country dancing place, I already knew what to expect. I remembered to put on my cowboy boots, and started listening to some country songs a few hours before heading out as my “pre-game.”

When my friends and I got there, it was about 10 p.m. and it was not crowded at all. There were a few people on the dance floor, and others scattered throughout the bar, just drinking beer and chatting. The first thing I noticed was that the dance floor was not as big as Midnight Rodeo’s, and there was a huge mechanical bull! My friends and I first got a few drinks and started chatting up, and shortly after, the bar started to get pretty crowded. I could tell a lot of the people there were much older than us, and I spotted some serious cowboys, with their fancy shirts, Wrangler’s jeans, boots and even the cowboy hats.

I think Rebel’s tried to play mostly country songs, with a few modern dancey songs here and there, to please both younger and older people. Since I already made it clear that I don’t know much of the older country songs, there were only a few songs I recognized that night. I can’t remember all names, but I remember singing along to Eli Young Band’s “Drunk Last Night,” and Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel.”

At one point my friends tricked me into going on the dance floor with them, and I attempted to two-step to some country song that I’ve never heard of, and this old-ish gentleman who looked like serious two-stepper helped me out, which was very nice of him. As the bar got more and more crowded, I could see more people two-stepping on the dance floor, and more people using the mechanical bull, overall just enjoying themselves with some good ole’ country music with friends.

I had much fun that night at Rebel’s. I think it’s really awesome that you can see find a spot to get your country dance on in downtown Austin. Being inside and hanging out with people there made me feel like I was in some small town Texas, fully experiencing “the South” – the music, the mechanical bull, friendly people, and the whole atmosphere.

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Filed under Austin, Dancing, Live Music

by | October 21, 2014 · 8:00 am

Still a Fujiyama Mama

Wanda Jackson

This past August I caught the legendary Wanda Jackson performing at Austin’s Continental Club. It was a memorable show, but it left me with mixed feelings about her legacy and popular culture’s general lack of interest in female musicians once they reach “a certain age.” This is probably why it has taken me well over two months to write about the experience. Conveniently, yesterday was Jackson’s birthday. She turned 77.

Known as the “Queen of Rockabilly,” Jackson rose to fame in the late 1950s as a kind of female version of Elvis Presley. In fact, she and Elvis toured together and even dated for a time. She gives him credit for convincing her to leave the honky-tonk music she grew up singing in California and Oklahoma for the rockabilly songs that would eventually land her a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (she was inducted in 2009).

Wanda Jackson & Elvis Presley

Wanda & Elvis (c. 1956)

The most successful rockabilly performers tended to be men (Elvis, Cash, etc.). Jackson did not ever top them in radio play or record sales, but in her songs she found the room to put their masculinist worldview in its place. “I Gotta Know” (1956), for example, pokes fun at Elvis’s dancing, with the narrator complaining that “[w]hen you’re on that floor you’re cool man cool, but when it comes to loving you need to go to school.”

Furthermore, in songs like “Fujiyama Mama” (1957) and “Riot in Cell Block #9” (1960), she brings into plain view the topic of female sexuality, which the male rockabillies avoided. In these songs, sexual desire is a dangerous and unsettling force–powerful as an atomic bomb or a prisoners’ revolt. In “Riot,” she describes female inmates overpowering their guards and cat-calling the male militia members who are sent in to calm them down. The song had been a hit for the Robins–an all-male R&B band–in 1954, but when Jackson performed it,  it became a kind of transgressive, feminist response to Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock” (1957).

In the 1960s, rockabilly began losing its commercial appeal and Jackson moved back into country (and later, gospel) music. In songs like “The Box It Came In” (1966) and “My Big Iron Skillet” (1969), she continued criticizing philandering men, even threatening them with violence. But her bigger hits from this period were more often about heartbreak and standing by your man whether he’s right or wrong, which makes it hard to argue that there is any kind of feminist message unifying her many, many records. Colin Escot, in the book accompanying Bear Family’s 8-CD collection of her country recordings, chalks this up to Jackson’s never having the kind of major hit that would bring her the power to choose the best new songs. In a sense, she made a career making the best she could of the leftovers.

Dusty's Wanda Jackson ShowOn one hand, the Continental Club is a perfect place for Jackson to perform. Open since 1957, it has hosted some of the United States’s greatest musicians, from Tommy Dorsey to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The owner, Steve Wertheimer, has honored Jackson with tribute shows, and she clearly feels at home there. The performance I attended lasted a little over an hour, which was understandable given her age and that there were 2-3 other acts also playing that night. She was surprisingly energetic, shrieking into the mic like a crazed inmate at one point and later yodeling her way through “I Betcha My Heart I Love You.”

But on the other hand, I couldn’t help but think that after rocking for six decades the Queen of Rockabilly should be playing someplace a little nicer–someplace where the audience has sense enough to shut up when she talks about grabbing sodas on her dates with Elvis Presley. For all its history, the Continental Club is a little shabby around the edges and is exactly the sort of place Jackson must have had in mind when she admitted to Escot that she wished she didn’t have to play honky tonks anymore. I would think that Wanda fucking Jackson wouldn’t have to play anywhere she didn’t want to anymore.

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Filed under Austin, Bakersfield Sound, Classic Country, Live Music, Reflection, Rockabilly

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