Category Archives: Red Dirt: Live

Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses – Mescalito

Posted on by
Reply
Ryan Bingham - Mescalito

Ryan Bingham - Mescalito

To get everyone geared up for the Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses show at the Wormy Dog Saloon on May 21st, I popped in Ryan Bingham’s new album… well, kinda new album. Released in October of 2007,  Mescalito is his first album unless you are lucky enough to get your hands on “Dead Horses”, an album that was a limited release from LoneStarMusic in 2006 and is no longer available.

I first was turned onto Ryan Bingham seeing them perform live on Conan O’Brien and came across Mescalito digging through the KKNG music vault in 2008.  I can’t think of anything that isn’t on this album. From banjo’s to accordion’s, this album has an array of instruments. The crazy thing is this album was a coin flip away from not even happening at all.  Mescalito has gotten raves from the like of Rolling Stone and a three page feature in the Los Angeles Times and another performance on The Tonight Show.

The album grabs from the beginning with the track “Southside of Heaven”. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get with this track. It’s that feeling you get when you are riding down the road on a peaceful evening, catching the wind in your hands I guess. It keeps going to with “Otherside” and his first radio single “Bread and Water”. After listening to “Baracho Station”, if you don’t feel like a troubadour, a modern day “outlaw”, then you made need to have your ears checked. Mascelito is nothing short of genius. The album grips you and makes you want to hit the road like a “traveling jone’s”.

I look forward to his show.  It will be the first live performance I will get to see of this bull riding, Spanish speaking, modern day outlaw. Bingham will also be performing at Country Fever in June as well. This is an album you don’t have to put much thought to in buying it. Just do it and thank me later. It should at least tide you over until Roadhouse Sun comes up out on June 2nd.

Rooster

Notable Upcoming Red Dirt Shows

Posted on by
Reply

CAN YOU FEEL IT?! Summer is almost here which means plenty of outdoor music festival and concerts to check out. Here are just few notable ones for the month of May.

Reckless Kelly 5/9   Wormy Dog Saloon
Shooter Jennings 5/14 Wormy Dog Saloon
Ryan Bingham 5/21 Wormy Dog Saloon

CCR’S MUSIC AND MAYHEM CONCERT FEATURING GARY ALLAN
5/24 Eufala Cove Amphitheater

Bart Crow Band 5/29 Wormy Dog Saloon

5th annual Wormy Dog Spring Jam featuring Randy Roger’s Band and Eli Young Band
5/30 Parking Lot W@ Walnut St. Bridge in Bricktown

Shiner Bock Celebrates 100yrs in Stoney style

Posted on by
Reply
Stoney Larue at The Wormy Dog Saloon

Stoney Larue at The Wormy Dog Saloon

I was back home at my old stomping grounds this last week for Shiner Bock’s 100yr celebration at The Wormy Dog Saloon for a FREE show. That’s right a free show and this was a show not to miss.

The night started off with great openers Daryll Lee Rush and The Dirt Drifters who know how to put on a show. Amongst the elbow room only crowd and the rowdy fans waiting in line to get even with each other at midnight, I sat and watched Stoney do what he does best and belt out one great song after another. He covered Norman Greenbaum with ease. Stoney LaRue and The Arsenals played all the crowd favorites “Empty Glass”,”Down in Flames”, “One Chord Song” and the huge hit for him everyone in the place knew. There’s wasn’t a soul not dancing or singing along myself included to “Oklahoma Breakdown” (written by longtime Oklahoma music scene icon, Mike Hosty of the Hosty Duo).

Stoney grew up listening to his father play bass and after watching this show I don’t think there’s anything else Stoney wants to do. His music and live shows deliver every time. Stoney fired up the crowd playing some new songs that are coming out on his new album. I got goose bumps just thinking about it. If you have a chance to hear him cover a Willie Nelson song it’s as though Willie himself is there singing. Amazing. So far hands down my favorite show from start to finish that Stoney LaRue and The Arsenals have done.

This week I get to jump on the wicked twisted road with Reckless Kelly so stay tuned for that. In the meantime go check out some of Stoney LaRue and the Arsenals live performances on youtube or at stoneylarue.com and wipe the tears from your eyes. He’ll be back soon for Country Fever.

Rooster

Aaron Watson Running Up The Stairs To The Top

Posted on by
Reply

After failing to scrounge up some Texas Mardi Gras tickets, I decided to head to my favorite saloon…The Wormy Dog to check out Aaron Watson.  I have been meaning to catch one of his full length show’s. Last time I saw Watson, he opened for Big & Rich, so called “next big act” Lo Cash Cowboys (what a joke) and halfway through the show all the Aaron Watson fans had cleared out. I’m not sure if that’s because they loved Aaron Watson and he had already played or if they didn’t like bad music. Probably both.

Aaron Watson is one of those guys that oozing with Texas music talent. His music is honky-tonk through and through and with his eighth album Angels and Outlaws under his own independent label, Big Label Records, I knew his set would be solid. With honky-tonk songs like “Love Makin’ Song”, “3rd Gear and 17″ and crowd favorite “Reckless” Aaron Watson kept the ground in it from start to finish.

If you have a chance to see Aaron Watson go do it! There is no absence of steel guitars and fiddling in this show, just the way country music should be. I’m glad I brought my dancing boots for this one. Whether it was one of his infamous honky-tonk, steel guitar driven songs that make you want to just dance and twirl the night away or a slow dance with “Off The Record” or his top 10 song on the Texas Music Charts: Top 50 Songs of 2008 album “Hearts Are Breaking Across Texas”, Aaron Watson knows how to put on a show. Not only did he take requests from fans, but like every good country singer/song writer he has a song about his granddad “Barbed Wire Halo“, my personal favorite.

Well, I need to run to store and pick up some more Coke for my whiskey since, here in this small town, everything shuts down at 11p.m.  So, I’m signing off to ride into the sunset once again till next time.

- Rooster

NO JUSTICE AT THE WORMY DOG

Posted on by
Reply

I’m excited about this review because I’m a HUGE No Justice fan. These guys deserve a lot more praise than I could ever give them.

The night at the Wormy Dog started off right with Turnpike Troubadours, a band out of Tahlequah, Oklahoma who look to be headed in the right direction. After a great set by TT, No Justice took the stage. No Justice know how to put on a show. With a stunning light show and fog machine it felt like a rock show. Usually a lot of smoke and lights are to just make up for bad music but that’s not the case with No Justice.

Recently joining forces with Smith Music Group these guys have come a long way from Stillwater, Oklahoma. With energy, they opened the show and closed the show the same way.  No Justice did not disappoint their fans (The No Justice Junkies) by playing crowd favorites “Red Dress”, “Horseshoe Lake”, “Never Come Back” and ending the night with my personal favorite “The Toast”. No Justice left the packed house cheering for more. Bottom line is these guys can put on show and have the music to back it, so sorry if you missed out on one of the best shows I’ve seen this year.

Now it’s late and I’m tired and heading off into the sunset with my whiskey in hand, cause if I was a six-gun I would be breaking my parole…that’s a joke folks! Until next time, never trust a man with shiny boots.

- Rooster

HAYS CARLL’S “TROUBLE IN MIND” by The Rooster

Posted on by
Reply
Hayes Carll

Hayes Carll's Trouble in Mind

As much as Oklahoman’s pride themselves in saying how Red Dirt music is what ever you want to label it, as long as the can call it their own, I’m still surprised how many people aren’t sure what to label Hays Carll.  I decided to pop in his new album Trouble In Mind and review it for you. If you could look back at some of the revolutionaries in music you find that they were always pushing the envelope.

Trouble in Mind pushes the boundaries of what most of us would consider “traditional” country music, but no one complained when Willie, Waylon, or Cash did it. Maybe some complained at first but the wild of today’s country singers still pay homage to them. Hayes Carll followx in their footsteps painting a picture via song, which is what a good songwriter should be able to do. The opening track, written by Carll and a legend himself in the red dirt/Texas music scene, Wylie Hubbard, “Drunken Poet’s Dream” sets the mood for the whole album. In “Bad Liver And A Broken Heart” Carll paints a picture of any 20 something man’s battling everyday struggles with love and life and even pay’s homage to Oklahoma. “Faulkner Street”makes you want to gather up your old buddies and hit the town for a good time and some trouble.

Trouble In Mind is a solid album. My favorite tracks are “Wild As A Turkey”, “Don’t Let Me Fall”,  and “Knockin’ Over Whiskeys”.  If you are offended by some of the songs on this album just wait for the final cut “She Left Me for Jesus”. The title alone is sure to offend.

Trouble in Mind is Americana at its best… wait did I just try and put label on something? Blender Magazine ranked it 33 on their Top Albums of 2008 and SPIN Magazine says it’s “the tastiest, perched between stadium rockabilly and Dylan-worship folk rock.” Funny thing, but Bob Dylan is one of Carll’s idols.

WHEW! I don’t know if I’m going to be able to follow up this album review so go buy Trouble In Mind by Hayes Carll and thank me later.

- The Rooster

Music Shot Through The Heart On Valentine’s Day

Posted on by
Reply

Well, another weekend spending all my hard earned money has came to an end. This time it is with great pleasure I get to write a review for The Bart Crow Band. If you don’t own either of their albums, then go buy one right now.

This special event was a holiday that Rooster doesn’t celebrate: St. Valentine’s Day. I’m sure of that(lol). What can I say that I haven’t said before about the Bart Crow Band? They are worth every penny no matter where they are playing. Webster’s Dictionary defines love as the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration for the Bart Crow Band. The love is their music. Love, no pun intended, on Valentines day is what you get when you attend a Bart Crow Band show. Devotion and admiration from the band, to the fans taking requests, and jammin out with a crowd favorite Tom Petty cover too.

To end the night, Bart rattled four maracas, in what can best be described as jiving’ to the mellow acoustic set. Bart does make you feel his passion for music. He writes to those Texas sounds that made him famous. The show was a riot from start to finish. The crowd went wild for everyone’s favorite “Wear My Ring” and, of course, I was jammin’ to my favorites “Drifting In The Wind”, “Hollywood”, and “Walk on By”. 

It was a great show as I was pleased. I can still remember the first time I heard The Bart Crow Band, just like my first taste of Jack Daniels.

With that, my friends, I’m headin’ off into the sunset until next time.

Our official pilot shoot is coming up on the 28th of this month with No Justice at The Wormy Dog, so I hope to see everyone there. Let’s sell the place out!

- Rooster

Casey Donahew Band Surprise

Posted on by
Reply

After another weekend out and about for Red Dirt: Live, I caught another Kevin Fowler show which was as good as expected. Maybe the routine needs a little revamping but Fowler’s music is amazing. The night after is what caught my eye.

The Wormy Dog usually books one big draw for the weekend, a great acoustic show for the week, and a band that will ensure at least 300 to 400 people, but it’s not always like a sold out Randy Rogers Show, Eli Young, Wade Bowen or Stoney show where people are lined up at the door to get in. The night after a triple crown Kevin Fowler night, I arrived at the Wormy Dog just in time to catch a few of the songs from the opener, Jesse Jennings Band. The Jesse Jennings band is in no way related to one of the greatest musicians of all time, Waylon Jennings, to my knowledge. They were not too bad from what I caught. Much to my surprise it was more packed than the Kevin Fowler show!

I’m not one to lie and will admit before this show, I knew little of Casey Donahew and his laid back crew. I have had a lot of request for RD:L to do something on these guys for a while, so I did a phone interview that went well. I learned a lot about these guys and their music, so I figured it was time to check out their show. It stood out in my mind how crowded it was and, despite the frat party it was, I enjoyed the show. They had fun with a Vanilla Ice cover and rocked a Kid Rock song (Casey is huge fan) that had the elbow to elbow crowd swaying. “Stockyards” from their debut album, Lost Days, was a big fan favorite along with “White Trash Story” and the big hit that landed them on the Texas Music Charts Best of 2008 “Crazy”. The crowd was in it for the whole show. I didn’t ever see a fan not singing to any of their songs.

They are a young band full of energy and budding talent. If you enjoy a crowd filled with ladies and a few frat guys then Casey Donahew is the show for you. I would pay money to see them again and I am interested in seeing how their next album will turn out.

Anyway it’s Sunday so I’m going to drift off into the sunset, whiskey in hand. I might even try some of those girl fruity drinks but it’s unlikely and, gentlemen, unless it’s a Mexican beer, stop fruiting it!

- Rooster

LAZY-E RED DIRT FESTIVAL Recap

Posted on by
Reply

After a wild weekend at the Red Dirt Music festival and a crazy night at the Wormy Dog Saloon, I am geared up for another weekend of Red Dirt and Texas music concerts.

The day started at 4pm with local Stillwater musicians, Exit 174. And what a surprise, they got their start right there in the “Still” just like so many others we have come to know and love (CCR, Boland, No Justice). Mark McKinney was there laying down the law on partying, as usual, and setting the crowd straight on what is or isn’t a proper party foul.

The biggest surprise for me was the Jackson Taylor Band. He’s just a solid performer who rocked the Lazy E Arena, a real outlaw in the Texas music scene. (Note to self: bring some Jim Beam if you want to party with Jackson Taylor.)

Johnny Cooper stole the show for me. So much energy for such a young and already accomplished artist. Along with Cody Shaw, and the new line-up in the mix, Cooper has been working on a new album up in Nashville and he personally promised this one would turn some heads.

The Bart Crow Band made their performance like always, about the love they have for their music and their fans. They’re another local band… well, a band that started in none other than Stillwater, once again.

No Justice ended the night in a packed Lazy E arena floor. I was impressed with their light show. It was good to see Ordinary Outlaws and Nick Gibson as well as it had been a while since I had gotten to see them perform.

We should be posting interviews from Red Dirt Music Festival this week and, if you’re lucky, you might get to see me ride a mechanical bull for a whole 3 seconds. Till next time, I’m riding off into the sunset with my whiskey bottle in hand: “Quote the Rooster Never More”.

ALBUM REVIEW:
In honor of one of my favorite bands having recently played the Wormy Dog Saloon, I’m giving the latest Kevin Fowler scoop with his new single off his latest album Bring It On. “Cheaper to Keep Her” is climbing the Texas music charts. Released in 2007, this album is solid from start to finish and includes the 2nd most requested song of 2008 “Best Mistake I Ever Made”. The song gained him national recognition as well. With 13 solid tracks, if you have ever had that feeling you’re behind in the game of life just a little then “Long Line of Losers”, “What’s Your Point”, and “Slow Down” just may hit home for many. Then there those honky-tonk songs that Kevin Fowler seems to bring on every album “Me and the Boys”, “I Pulled A Hank Last Night”, “Honky Tonk Junkie” just makes you feel like throwing back a few brews. When Kevin Fowler takes the stage he doesn’t have to demand your attention because he has it already as soon as the first riff is played. Expect nothing less than perfection from a Kevin Fowler show with him dropping hits from start to finish. Last time Fowler was in town he was little under the weather and there is no way you could of seen that as he worked the crowd, flung the microphone around and he even busted out some classics.

**Don’t Miss No Justice at THE Oklahoma Red Dirt Destination, The Wormy Dog Saloon, on 2/28**

-”The Rooster”

New Feature: “The Rooster” Blogs All Things Red Dirt

Posted on by
Reply

Our home state of Oklahoma has produced its share of musical talent over the years. From Woodie Guthrie to The Flaming Lips, Oklahoma has been home to many genre-defining artists that have reached the pinnacle of their field or even changed it forever. Whether they have been inspired by the state’s rustic geography, rugged individualistic culture, or laid back lifestyle, it has been typical for Oklahoma musicians to reinvent the sounds of the past to create something new for today.

One of the latest examples of Oklahoma’s musical ingenuity is found in what is known as Red Dirt Music. Much like its indie rock counterpart, sometimes it is easier to define it by what it is not than to try and nail down one or two characteristics of the genre that set it apart. While Red Dirt is always country music, it is not of the TOP 40 variety you hear in heavy rotation on your FM radio. While the latter seems to have worked hard to polish out or completely ignore its roots, Red Dirt embraces many forms of Americana that have influenced or been influenced by country music, including rock and roll, blues, dixieland, swing, bluegrass, and more. The result is country music that seems more genuine, more real, and more raw. Basically, it is country music with its soul still intact.

Modern Red Dirt has grown past its Stillwater, Oklahoma roots and is now a staple of thriving music scenes across Texas, Tennessee, and throughout the region. To keep up with this exciting and evolving genre, Tony “The Rooster” Brown has graciously agreed to blog about all things Red Dirt for us, including interviews, reviews, and trends while keeping us up to date on the events surrounding his show Red Dirt: Live that is currently in development. You can read Tony’s first post and all his subsequent posts in the Red Dirt: Live section. Take it away, Tony…