Watermelon Slim Works the Room…
Watermelon Slim and The Workers at Pearl, Dallas, Texas
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Watermelon Slim has got to be to be livin’ the life these days.
He’s got quite a bio, hard knocks, hard times, hard work and all the while “making sure the boss gets paid.” Now that his own dues are paid- in spades, he says he finally gets to practice his true vocation. Bluesman.
And if you go see him play, you get to hear all about it.
I got hipped to him by a friend who sent me his second CD, The Wheel Man, for Christmas. It had me with the first spin.
He played Pearl in Downtown Dallas Saturday night with his band, The Workers, to a pretty impressive crowd.
If Bob Wills Were Alive Today…
The Old 97s and The Drams
New Year’s Eve at The Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas
There’s something about the Longhorn Ballroom.
Something that hits you the minute you walk through the door. The room just permeates history from every corner and crevice. It’s an awesome place, in the truest sense of the word awesome. For one thing, it’s as big as an aircraft hangar. For another, it’s the real thing.
Any performer who was anybody in country music played there back in the day. Bob Wills owned the place in the 50s and 60s. Later, it was resurrected briefly in the 80s as a live music venue banking on its biggest claim to fame that it hosted The Sex Pistol’s Dallas show just a few short days before that band broke up.
Having seen a number of shows there through the years, I can personally attest that just being on that enormous stage, where so many came before and made history, seems to inspire bands to go above and beyond what anyone would expect of them.
I had all that in mind and more when we went there on New Years Eve to see The Old 97s, The Drams and The Boys Named Sue.
It’s Christmas In Fallujah All Over Again
By now, you may have seen Billy Joel’s new song, Christmas In Fallujah, on the internets. There’s been a lot of commenting on blogs both pro and con. Much is being made of the fact that he enlisted a young singer, Cass Dillon, to do the song since Cass is the same age as a typical soldier serving in Iraq.
I only mention this because about a year and a half ago Naomi reviewed a uniquely poignant and sometimes bitterly ironic protest CD by Jefferson Pepper titled, coincidently or not, Christmas In Fallujah.
At the time, Slacker Country didn’t know that the song had been inspired by Jefferson Pepper’s neighbor, Army Medic David Maples.
After Billy Joel released his song/video, David’s mother Lisa put together a video of the original Christmas In Fallujah and posted it on YouTube.
I’m certainly not arguing that Billy Joel stole Jefferson Pepper’s idea here. I don’t know. Maybe he thought up the title and wrote a song about being stuck in Iraq for the holidays from a soldier’s perspective entirely on his own. I’m only posting this so the original song isn’t forgotten in all the fuss and furor…
Now that the haze is starting to dissipate…
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What can I say- that Tequila Brad sure knows how to throw a damn party. Saturday night at Dan’s Silverleaf was a total liquor fueled, pull-out-all-the-stops, crank it up and rock this place throw down. With cake. Todd Mankin and his band started things off. We got there in the middle of his set and he was already in full rockin’ mode. He’s got a great voice, some good songs and a kickin’ band behind him. He closed his set with Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold. Austin’s Band of Heathens were up next. I’ve heard their fine debut CD, Live At Momo’s- and it’s good, but I was still surprised by the full force of their set. Read the full article »
Kid’s Night Out
The little kids almost stole the show from The Gourds Thursday night at Central Market in Ft Worth. They hit the dance floor early, by the first verse of the opening song. Two little girls at first, cute as all hell, waltzing and twirling to “Dying Of The Pines.” They were soon followed by the all the rest of the kids there and by the end of the second song, the highly danceable “My Name Is Jorge,” it looked a little like first grade free form dance class out there, only with better music.
My friend who turned me onto the place once described it as “the only bar in town with a playland.” So when the Gourds faithful showed up, they brought the kids. And the kids seemed to love it.
Of course at a show like this, it’s easy to forget you’re at a grocery store, not a bar. Even with a half dozen toddlers hamming it up.
What Light?
My favorite track from Wilco’s "Sky Blue Sky" (and one that hasn’t found it’s way to a VW ad, yet)…
Stalking Todd Snider
Don’t you just hate it when one person has to ruin it for everybody?
I’m sure it was nothing, probably just a fan who wanted to ask Todd Snider to play a favorite song. Or something.
But she definitely took the wrong approach Friday night at The Sons Of Hermann Hall.
Amanda Shires @ The Sons of Hermann Hall
Dallas, June 29, 2007
The Todd Snider show at the Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas Thursday night was called off at the last minute when word came that Todd’s flight out of Nashville was cancelled. Damn rain! We arrived early to find the handwritten sign pictured here tacked to the door.
I saw quite a few people leave unhappy but our little group thought, "What the hell? We’re here, the opening act, The Amanda Shires Band, is still playing, there’s no cover and we can come back later in July and see Todd." You know, wherever you go, there you are.
It turned out to be the best possible decision.
God-Fearing Atheists – Rustbelt Sun
One of the more interesting discs to find its way to SlackerCountry’s player of late is something called Rustbelt Sun by God Fearing Atheists, a band from Glasgow, Scotland.
Some of my favorite roots-rock – alt country music has come from UK artists, Jon Langford, Joe Strummer, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello come immediately to mind, and these guys are strong contenders for that list.
At The Races with Robert Earl Keen
April 14, 2007
There’s a big race down in Dallas.
Don’t you wish that you were there?
You can bet your bottom dollar
On that iron grey mare.
Won’t you bet on Stewball? – She might win, win, win.
Bet on Stewball – She might win.
There weren’t any big races in Dallas on Saturday; just a starter handicap, a couple allowances and a bunch of maiden and claiming races. Elsewhere, there was the Arkansas Derby, but that was in Hot Springs.
The big feature at Lone Star Park was the Robert Earl Keen show after the day’s race program.