Thursday, September 18, 2008

WOW!!!

Has it really been a month folks? That's a long time you know. Hmmm... What has happend since Aug 17th Pat Green Concert. Well, there was Cash'd out at the Tractor Tavern, and Reckless Kelly and Micky and the boxcars or something like that.

Well the guitarist in Reckless Kelly and the guitarist in Micky and the Boxcars are brothers and Kevin Fowler had to cancel so Micky and the boxcars stepped in.

First and foremost let me tell you that I love going to the Tractor Tavern whenever possible. My favorite beer PBR tallboys are $3 so that is amazing, and also it's such a small personable venue you cannot help but love the bands there.

Back to knocking back tallboys at the Reckless Kelly show, we were killing time watching porn on various peoples phones on the table in the back waiting for the show to start. Me and my friends are pretty good at shooting the shit, and believe me this was one for the ages. I want to say congrats to Pavi for getting engaged to CG(apparently it's F now) CGF, soon to be CGW. Good work Addy. we all found out officially before the concert while watching porno. Great.

the concert was good, nothing out of the ordinary for TX dirt country. Good times, great songs, great aptmosphere, and overall how can you go wrong?

Aug 25th brought us to Cash'd Out show. An amazing JC cover band. He had his hair all slicked back and it was pretty impressive. At first I was thinking no way... blah blah it's definatley a knock off. By the time he got through 3 songs I found myself thinking, man this is SPOT on, I cannot believe I'm watching Cash!!!!!

I highly recommend all the bands that I've seen.

Next up for me in a couple days at the Fisherman's Terminal in Ballard will be Knut Bell, it's a more family oriented venue, but I'm assured he's going to do a little solo action and stuff before bringing in the electric, which should be a nice change of pace. And being that it's not a night show in a crazy atmosphere, it will only get me more charged up for his show on Oct. 10th. Yes people I will be visiting the Hen again to see him play. Only exception to the no hen rule I'll assure you that!

I think that about raps it up for now. Till next time leave me comments and say hello!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Pat Green/ Nathan Chance Concert

People...

Feel free to leave comments so I know you are here ;-)

Pat effin Green… Pat effin Green… Pat effin Green… Pat effin Green…

What a great show. To be at a show that small and see someone that big is always great you know, but the energy that he brings, MAN. I haven’t seen someone so happy and comfortable with himself that he’s “made it”. People know who he is, and he has a strong fan base. He’s set. At a lot of all ages shows they do not serve alcohol… THANK GOD they did. I just love drinking. I also love hanging out with my best friends. I love hanging out with my wife. I love hanging out with new friends… and I absolutely am infatuated with doing them all at the same time!

Chrissy and I were running a little late b/c we had to stop by Northgate AT&T to get our new iphones. They are not in stock unless you get there early in the morning, so we put in to have some shipped… 5-10 business days… yada yada yada. So, done with that, change, pick up Torrie at her condo on Greenlake, and take off in the Bronco with the top off. The perfect summer vehicle, no if, and, or buts about it. Head down to Cappello’s place and have a couple brews, listen to some country and realize that we are too late to start a BBQ. So, Tom cooks us all a corndog. Plow through that and all 7 of us pile into the BKO (Bronco) 2 in front, 3 in back seat and two sitting in the very back against the tailgate. Theme song of the night: “Good Time” by AJ. We blasted that whenever we could, loud and proud.

We get to the concert, 7 of us pile out and go stand in line. There we see the hottest of Asians, Hot Brian. There is nothing more funny than T9 messing up the name Brian and giving a 6’7” White Military man the nickname of Asian. So the rowdy crowd is Wifey, Tori, Cappello, Chris’ friend, Tom. Storey, Hot Asian, Addy, and me. This is going to be great. Get into the show, and whadda you know… Nathan is playing in his new band opening for Pat effin Green. Nathan (http://nathanchance.com/) is our old Karaoke Dj from the hen when we use to go there. AMAZING singer with good crisp vocals, he can belt out anything from Toby Keith to ACDC. He is the one in the picture with me in the Seattle Magazine Best Happy Hour edition.

Speaking of ACDC, he followed up some great normal country, and some stuff off their album with a nice rendition of a little ACDC. When Nathan sings it shakes me all night long, almost as much as the PBR Tall boys, or the shots of Hornitos. During the in between part we meet up with my best friend in the world, John Bradwin and his wife Mary Kelly, and to my surprise!!!!!!!! Rogers in town for a wedding!!!!!!

Now, Roger (MK’s dad and John’s father in-law) is a great man. He is not only a good ol’ boy who likes to kick it like the rest of us… but he also came to my Bachelor Party. That alone should tell you how much of a fun loving guy he is. Mix that with the commanding respect demeanor of a retired colonel and you have one HELL of a man. I cannot wait for my Bachelor Party Reunion Tour next year to have a beer and a dirty love burger with this man.

John, MK, Colonel, Jim, Tori, Chrissy, and I have some brews, shots… little of this little of that and then the show starts. I’m not the hugest fan ever, but I sure do enjoy me some Pat Green. I’ll leave Bradwin to the actual set details but lets just say we all rocked out, slow danced with the wifey, got some great pics of my wife being a drunk bond girl… and just plain ol had a blast. Look forward to seeing everyone soon at:
Tues, Aug. 12
Square Peg Concerts presents
RECKLESS KELLY
JASON BOLAND & THE STRAGGLERS
8:30pm ~ $12adv/$15dos
www.recklesskelly.com
www.thestragglers.com
Tickets available from TicketWeb & TicketMaster

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Pat Green

Countdown is beginning. Tomorrow is PAT GREEN!!!!

Most of you who read about country know who this guy is. He got famous with “Wave on Wave” and almost went a little Dave Mathews on us. But, his old stuff is absolutely incredible. He is one of the first waves of TX country boys included among the likes of Cross Canadian Ragweed (CCR), Jason Bowland, Kevin Fowler, etc.

I can still remember sitting up in “The Den” & “Red Door” with Bradwin during “that” summer blasting the song “college” and “Everclear”. Those two songs definitely have a special place in my heart. Wow, I’m about to reminisce about reminiscing, but we used to reminisce in the “sports bar” about that summer and crank those songs with Plebe Carlson when we all lived in that room together. At the very least you have to listen to those two songs…

If those two songs don’t get you hooked, then please click the “X” at the top right of the screen. Maybe, if you are into a little more poppy stuff you could check out “Wave on Wave”, or if you are in a nostalgic relaxing mood put on a little “Dixie Lullaby”.

I just went to this site: http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Green,+Pat/a/Pat+Green.htm and you can click on the CD and view the songs. It’s interesting how much you forget about the old CDs when you haven’t listened to an artist in a while. This is an extensive list highlighted by the CD’s Lucky Ones, Three Days, Cannon Ball, Wave on Wave just going through it I was overwhelmed the amount of good songs he sings and then I came across “Live at Billy Bob’s” CD… It does not get any better than that.

So tomorrow at the Showbox tickets are $25 at the door. I’ll be cruising down there with the top off the bronco and blasting some “Good Time” by AJ. If you need a ride, give me a call and see if I’ve filled up all my seats yet, and I’ll see you there.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

KNUT BELL!!!!!!!!!!

That was a lot of Knut Bell (knutbell.com) packed into a tight package.
The aforementioned concert definitely went down like that…
Good handshake, man’s man, cheap drinks, shout out and boner… and YES Marty was there.

I had a great 4th of July, hung out on the boat with Chrissy’s parents, watched some fireworks… the usual. Then on the 5th, my mom came to join me for the weekend. We went to the Seattle Beer Festival. We were late, because we hit up “Prost” with Anthony and some friends and passed around 3 ½ Boots, and had liters. Then we got our first beer at the festival and walked up to hear the last 3 songs from Knut. Good, good, and good. Now I’m a HUGE fan of intense songs like Chicken Gizzards, or Wicked Awnry Mean ‘N’ Nasty, etc etc. But Knut wrapped it up nicely with “Yakima Girls” which is definitely a fun song. After the 3 song end of the concert set, we proceeded to get 1 ticket 4 OZ beers till the end. By the time we showed up to the Little Red Hen (Yes, I know I’d never go there again, but my one condition was Knut Bell playing) it was and still is a haze.
I remember hearing a song or something.
I remember being cut off.
I remember Storey closing my tab.
I remember dancing with my mom to family tradition.
I remember leaving “Beth’s CafĂ©” cause they were being HUGE D BAGS.
I remember going to Shari’s, and playing Credit Card Roulette with Storey and losing.
I remember getting outta Marty’s car and going into the apartment.

What a night! What a show (2 of ‘em)! And what a weekend.

Next up for this upcoming weekend is going to be Pat Green at the Showbox. Tickets are ~20, and well worth it. Hopefully he doesn’t play to much of his D-bag stuff and more great stuff like “college”.

See ya’ll then!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Knut Bell Rides Again (and again)

So Nic took Jim and I to a sweet little seedy bar on Hewitt Ave in Everett Friday night for a little Knut Bell action.

Not to surpass the "concert"s merits, but you can get drinks for uber-cheap at the Anchor Pub. Jim bought a round of two beers and a redbull-vodka for $7 - that's like paying normal price for a redbull-vodka in yuppie town, and getting the beers for free!

I can't pretend to recite the set list like Nic has done in the past, but the band put on a good show, and Jim and I proceeded to get extremely intoxicated on our cheap ass drinks. Knut has an amazing deep voice, and rattles off lyrics stylisticly similar to the late Johnny Cash. I think he may have even done a Cash cover, but as the night wore on my drunkenness affected my memory.

When we arrived (and before we discovered the cheap drinks) Knut was on a set break and Nic introduced us all - honestly, a good firm handshake goes a long way in my sliding-scale of respect, and Knut is definitely a man's man. We shot the shit for a few minutes and then the band reassembled. I have heard a few of thier songs - and some were even recognizable: especially toward the end of that set when Knut gave Nic a shoutout and played "Chicken Gizzards and Ice-Cold Beer." I think Nic got a little chubby as a result. I'll leave it to Nic to round out the review; I also have to give a quick shoutout to Marty, who was at the whole concert, and bought me a couple rounds to boot!

P.S. It is time for the summer/BBQ version of this:

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Alan Jackson

the long awaited 3/4 of the story...

Sorry for the long delay and the sporadic at best updates. I have been on a whirlwind of travel and decided to update before I go for round two.

So, it all started with the “man weekend’ in Canada for the Alan Jackson concert. The trip started out for all intents and purposes in Marysville. Now I’m not going to tell you if we pounded all of them or broke some laws but our driver was 100% sober and the 4 of us finished 41 beers from Marysville to Vancouver. Fun times fun times. We picked up my soon to be uncle and his buddies in Bellingham on our way up to throw his impromptu Bachelor Party! What a great combination this made. Alan Jackson, Beautiful women, Bachelor Party, and some great friends to boot.




Right after the border we get the “dude, I gotta go” look and talk from Danny. We didn’t have anywhere to stop… so he had to pinch it off… AFTER finishing a 32oz. Gatorade bottle!!!!!!!



So, after finishing the “lets black out Danny game” (seriously, you have to try this game… it’s so much fun) we made it, finally parked, unloaded and made a drink in the hotel room. This is where we met Johnny. They call him Johnny shots because upon entering the strip club (he was the first one in) there were freaking something like 15 Jaeger Bombs! (Went nicely with his new hair cut, but he wasn’t very jacked and tan) We honestly didn’t spend much time here because we had to get to the concert.

We get to the show and Nolan is hyped. We get into the show and we make it to our seats and just a couple rows up nobodies there. So we go up and chill and all sit together. Nolan finds some honeys with better seats and goes off with them. He comes back to tell us about it and let’s lose (video in a previous post) so we move a little to the side to get away from it, and he goes back down to his “seats”. Miranda finally gets off stage and Richy and I hurry down for some more beers (you can actually see the stage in beer line and take your beers to your seats!) and on comes AJ. Seriously, who’s better than AJ? I mean I have my prejudice about whom I like better, but I mean Garth, and Strait are the only reasonable arguments for who’s better than AJ. He plays his normal stuff and quickly gets into Drive. Arguably one of his best songs EVER. I was belting it out, it was beautiful live. Everything was great. He sang some love songs, and I started to think about my woman just long enough to tell her I loved her and missed her. And then right back into man weekend with some “good times” man this is one of my new favorite songs for sure. Now, not that I care, cause I stood there with my hat over my heart saluting with my buddies, but in his Encore he ended the night with “Where were you” and the Canadians just looked at us like “HUH?” didn’t understand why we were saluting, the song meant absolutely nothing to them and just kinda bummed em out. HEHEHE.

I guess I will end this blog with:

USA USA USA


Friday, May 23, 2008

Nic here...

yeah yeah.. I've been lazy with No Alan Jackson updates. Believe me they are coming.

On the agenda is that I'm flying out tonight at 8:34 to VEGAS!!!! woowoo... unfortunatly the greatest show of the year is tonight.. and I wont be able to attend. It is at the place we will not go anymore. The Hen. This however as I said in earlier blog is the one exception I'll make. Knut Bell. His website is down right now so I cannot direct you there. He doesn't have access to his myspace right now, but you can still myspace music search "knut bell" and he's the top submission click on that and listen to a couple of his songs. The first song to play is "Wicked, Awnry, Mean N Nasty"

Seriously, don't go to the hen... but please do attend Knut tonight... He has taken or at least tied my top spot of favorites right along with Trent Willmon. Rounding out my top 5 to:
1. Knut Bell / Trent Willmon
2. George Straight
3. Alan Jackson

after that it starts to get a little hairy. If it's live I love Dirks Bently / Eric Church. If not live (since I've never heard live) would be Ray Scott, Trace Atkins, Brooks N Dunn, etc.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

At my request...

Nic added me to the Seattle Country blog! I'm excited to share my biased opinions on music and life and share some fun new (and old) artists with y'all!

Here is the spiel i tried to put in my profile "about me" section, but wrote too much to fit:

"I'm passionate about music, I really like it all: raised on CCR, the Moody Blues and the Beach Boys, with some Michael Jackson, Clapton and Satriani thrown in the mix. I've got respect for all genres of music. My teenage years witnessed the birth of Seattle grunge and I developed an affinity for punk rawk - Bad Religion, NOFX, Pulley, Pennywise, Reel Big Fish, et cetera. Currently I've moved back toward my youth and love for rock'n'roll - with a focus on Southern rock.

My path to southern rock was not direct, I have spent the last decade learning and appreciating the nuances of country music. Country as a genre incorporates everything I love in music - amazing vocals, the sound of acoustic guitar (a weakness of mine), and a variety of subject matter that varies from the "In Da Club" genre. ...and, thanks to a big, loud asian kid named Brandon I made the switch to "countrified" early in my college career.

The southern trend stems from the movement in Texas country toward "red-dirt" style music - it started under the country umbrella but has established itself more in the vein of icons like CCR, Elvis and Lynyrd Skynyrd. This is cyclical for me, having grown up with these names under my parents' roof and finding new artists like Johnny Cooper, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Eli Young Band that remind me of rockin' out with my pops. Even my favorite 'true country' man - Gary Allan is credited in the Texas music scene - with influences from all across the South; from his hometown in southern Cal, to Texas, to Nashville."
I forgot to mention I like this dude too - Neal McCoy (of "redneck yacht club" fame), here's a little sample of his new single "Rednectified" - feels like summer to me!!

Hopin' to see you all soon!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Just got back from the Alan Jackson, Man weekend, especial! I am in total recovery mode after drinking till 6 am. So forgive my brief post. I just had to share this video that was taken at the concert. I didn't think you could sneak in video cameras. I was wrong becasue someone took some footage of my buddy Nolan at the concert. Watch till the end.




BTW the concert F in rocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my later posts will include the old guy shuffle, the beat down, and other details about country music. g'night

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Official

F this new owner. This is GARBAGE!

Here is a google Document that me and my boys put together that we will submit to the local newspapers. http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcrnj78h_26csqkt8ft&invite=hk4zthj

If it starts getting to many hits and people start messing with it in a bad way it will be removed.

I doubt that I need to say who this is from:

I am not leaving by choice. I would never do that. I am part of the
cleaning up I guess that the new owner is doing. I am just devastated
by this whole thing. 17 years of dedication and hard work, poof,
gone. One day the bathroom gets painted and the next the employees go
out with the trash. The hard part was being assured I had a job and
then it all goes away. I was totally unprepared to get this news.

Hopefully I can stop crying by Wednesday.

Rally the troops and hopefully my last night will be a good one.
Dress in black or something. Wish I would have had time to get
t-shirts made up. Damn.

Thanks for your support baby and for the valued friendship over the years.


The Hen Crew will be there on Wed IN BLACK. Buying nothing but water, tippin the hell outta Connie. F the NEW OWNER. Time to hit him RIGHT IN THE WALLET as Chris would say.

I'm actually having a hard time getting worked up and pissed b/c it breaks my heart so much... Connie we will definately miss you! I hope you get to read this.
Seriously, the only reason why we can't think of another place to go to is because Connie poured her heart and soul for 17 years making that the BEST place to hang out. We will just have to MAKE another option. as Tij says, "i would've skipped every other night of the week in ugrad if i had to so i could go to the hen on wednesdays.
i did actually. more than a few times.
the beer was cold and the company great and lets face it connie is a fuckin hoot."

Words cannot express what was done last night.

Sad Day

And with a heavy heart I bear the news that has hit our community today.

With a new owner, suspiciously Connie’s last two days working at the hen are tonight / tomorrow. She will no longer work there after Wed. The 30th of April. In an email she wrote:

----- Original Message -----
From: Connie *********
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 2:49 AM
Subject: say goodbye to Connie

Connie Is Moving On'

TO ALL MY SPECIAL RED HEN FRIENDS & CUSTOMERS & BAND MEMBERS & CO-WORKERS
AND ESPECIALLY MY KARAOKE "KIDS”!

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY - April 29th & 30th

WILL BE MY LAST TWO NIGHTS AT THE LITTLE RED HEN

I am saddened beyond words to be leaving,
but,

I would be honored to have the chance to say farewell to you if you
are able to stop in

sure will miss being at the Red Hen for all the fun and frivolity and
great music
it's like being at a party every day

Thank You One And All For All The Experiences

Connie

There will be an official "going away" party on Friday Night May 16th
@ The Little Red Hen Of Course



Boo!

After some investigation by Chris it is found that her Daughter is not very happy about it. Meaning, she was more than likely let go. If this is the case, the “home base” is Home base no longer. *she was let go* this will no longer be Home Base. And besides to see Knut Bell I will probably never set foot in that bar unless Connie is serving me.

Connie you will be missed by us all... you are wonderful. I even said so in a previous blog!






More to come… once Connie emails us

Monday, April 28, 2008

Wow…

What a hiatus I’ve had. I have not posted since Friday April 11th, 2008. It is now Monday the 28th. So, where I left off…
Big Trouble. Wow, I couldn’t tell if they were having going to have a heart attack or another drink. These guys were old, and for some reason every one of their cover songs was tweaked just enough to make it not very enjoyable. I hate slamming people, and I believe that I went a little over board on this one so I’ll end that here. They have been around for a long time at the Hen.

The following weekend I made it out for the Joe Slick Band. It was my old roommate Ryan’s Wife’s Birthday! Hooray Lisa!!!! Happy Birthday!

Bad A$$ is what that was. Doing some covers, a little of this and a little of that. Upbeat, Fun, and to the point. I would recommend seeing them at least once more if not a lot more. Both weekends were spent with a couple good friends and my beautiful Wifey. She is an amazing woman and has loved me for a long time…



Now onto May, 2008. BIG month for me. I will not be able to attend a single show at the hen this month. I will be busy for the first weekend, second weekend is Alan Jackson concert in Vancouver, Canada, then my cousin’s wedding in Boise, and then Vegas with the Wifey. Fun times, good times, and busy times.

Speaking of Vegas. The Friday that I leave for Vegas Friday 23rd May, 2008. Knut Bell and the Blue Collars (knutbell.com) will be playing at the Little Red Hen. As any of you who know me can attest this kills me. I wish I would have scheduled my flight for Sat Morning. He is one of my favorite Country artists and has been giving Trent Willmon a run for his money as of late. Please anyone who likes country music go to the show and enjoy the hell outta yourself. The website of his hasn’t been updated for a year and a half even though it says it’s on its way. But you can Myspace search for him. Which also hasn’t been updated as of December ish. If you want his music before hand, give me a call and I’ll let you borrow his CD until the concert. But no stealing… buy your own damnit! Believe me there wont be much of this going on


But a lot of this


He will be Wicked, Awnry, Mean N nasty and THE best show. Eat some Gizzards N Beer and enjoy the show. P.S. Chris and Bradwin will you take some pictures for me?

Till next time. Probably an update after Man weekend in Canada for Alan Jackson.

Peace, YITB, and CAB

Nic

Friday, April 11, 2008

Forgot

Hello Everyone,

I forgot to mention. Kell's is a shitty bar downtown, and if you get to go to it... DON't. Unless!!!!!! it's Kelsi's Birthday, she lights up a room like nobodys business, and is definately a blast to hang out with. It's not so much the bar she's hanging out at, it's that you get to hang out with her. That being said, she isn't turning a year older this weekend, and I will be attending Big Trouble tonight. Friday. April. 11th. (http://seattlecountry.blogspot.com/2008/04/ruby-dee-snake-handlers.html) <-- from earlier blog

Booyah Little Red Hen, Booyah.

Kelsi leftNic right
Concert Update:

So far I have a brief list of concerts I will be attending this year. Most of the summer concerts haven’t been announced yet so this list is far from complete.

May 10th Alan Jackson – Vancouver BC:
My friends and I decided a nice little road trip up to Canada would be a nice change of pace. My wife didn’t want to go because we have a VERY FULL month of May. We made it a “guys weekend” and will be limiting it to 5 people (already have the list) who will be piling in the back of my Bronco with the top off and driving up, piling in a hotel room and having a helluva time. We decided that since I’m married I don’t want to have to take my ring off, and all the other guys except Richy are single, so that leaves Richy to be the “bachelor”. No he’s not really getting married, but if you have the opportunity, you MUST have a bachelor party on guy’s weekend. Look out people, this ones going to be one for the ages. Along with that Alan’s new CD is amazing, and I want to cross him off “my list” of people I haven’t seen and MUST.

July 11th Pat Green – Seattle (showbox):
He used to be a lot more “TX underground” but then got his big break with Wave on Wave and others. I really am hit and miss with this guy. He is an amazing artist and I love TX dirt country, but some of his songs hit me as TX country mixed with Dave Mathews. Nonetheless, this will be amazing and I cannot think of a better way to spend July 11th (Friday) night.

August 16th (Sat) Cash’d Out – Seattle (Tractor Tavern):
I really love this venue, and I really love Johnny Cash. This is a tribute (cover) band to the late and great man in black. If you cannot get excited for this show, then click the “x” on the top right of the screen.

I guess that is really not very angry for a cash picture, but we are having a great time!!!!!

HIT THE X


September 20th David Allan Coe – Napavine (Napavine amphitheatre):
Classic nasty country, and by nasty I mean he gets down right crude. My friends and I had a blast listening to some of his disgusting music in college. These nights usually consisted of a can of dip, Jack Daniels, broken fish tanks, broken faces, broken knuckles, brick wall fights, etc, the list could really go on forever. I really look forward to going to this show with friends new and old, and staying at my mom’s farm on the way. New and old friends are fun and there is nothing more fun that being on my mom’s farm. The two mix perfectly for a really fun time.

Those are all we have planned so far. I would really love to see Jason Aldean, Halfway to Hazard, Kenny, Tim, etc but they are all scheduled for Tuesdays or Wednesday, WHO DOES THAT?! People have to work! I cannot take two days off work to go to a show in southern Washington in the middle of the week. Boo on them. I will really miss seeing Aldean, and Halfway to Hazard.

JUST IN:

Brooks and Dunn, with ZZ top and Rodney Adtkins!

One of the better concerts announced so far. They only have the dates up so far, but tickets go on sale this Sat. April 12th. Learn about it!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Ruby Dee & The Snake Handlers

Hello guys,

I want to let you all know that I did get a chance to make it to the Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers Show. Just as expected, they were upbeat fun Honky Tonk music. They were perfect for live music. I only got a chance to make it to the last set of the night because I had a party to attend to.

This party was ridiculous. First drink beer, then finish one beer and then open a new beer. Second, duct tape empty beer to the bottom of the full new beer. By the time I had shown up my friends had big staffs and were claiming to be level 10 wizards. Then they proceeded to staff fight. I finally decided to leave because it was starting to wind down, and I wanted to catch the last set of Ruby Dee. So, as leaving there were two really tall guys staff fighting that ended with the ripping of staffs and wrestling. The funny thing happened with the piece of broken staff being used as a projectile “fireball”. The amazing thing is that these people don’t play magic or D and D so they have no clue what they were talking about.

Now, back to the Ruby Dee show. There were a couple covers of songs, a nice mix of fast danceable music. Sprinkled in between the line dancing were slow songs. It would have actually been a nice show to have my Wifey at, but she was asleep at home. During the fast songs they mixed it up and gave the musicians their own solo. The Guitarist jumped off stage and got crowd interaction with a beautiful solo that could be described as nothing less than Keith Urban esc. Some of you might be doubting my judgment right now because Keith Urban makes pussy music, but he is an absolutely amazing guitar player. I know because I saw him open for Kenny back before he was well known and doing “tonight I wanna cry” songs. Next to go off was the Bass Guitar, how do you do a Bass Guitar solo and make it sound good you ask? Go to Ruby Dee show. Obviously, the drummer solo was good, but usually if you are good enough to get a drum solo it’s going to be great, because that’s what drummers do. I wasn’t impressed enough to buy a CD, simply because usually, unless your George Strait, this type of music does not translate well into CD music. I made it there late enough to where the crowd was either non existent or had died down enough so I could belly up and enjoy a couple rounds. It was very nice.

This weekend’s band at The Hen is “Big Trouble” (BigTimeTrouble.com). They are a mainstay here and definitely should be. They are a cover band. They perform here a lot because why shouldn’t you when you can on command play every single person in the bar’s favorite song. Whether is it “Honk if You’re Honky Tonk” by Strait or “The Thrill is Gone” by BB King. I love bands like this because it gets rowdy, everyone knows the song and everyone is just having a great time. How can you go wrong?

Sunday, March 30, 2008

So, Boo on me. I didn’t attend the Buckaroo Blues show.
My buddy Chris went and he seemed to have a great time. I was stuck at the Birthday party for far too long to make it before last call. He might have had such a great time because it was Connie’s birthday. I will never know, but I will be sure to check them out soon.
The next band at home base is Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers (http://www.rubydeemusic.com/bio/index.shtml). I am not really excited about this band, but who knows. I generally don’t like woman country singers. I am not a fan of Faith, or Shania. I saw Brad Paisley open for Reba in Vegas, but didn’t stay for the headliner. I’m not really a chauvinist, I just really haven’t been able to relate and enjoy woman country music. The few girl bands that I have enjoyed are Gretchen Wilson, Deanna Carter, and Miranda Lambert. In light of me not being excited I am a bit intrigued because as I surfed their website, I downloaded some clips of their new CD. It is a band that doesn’t sound too upbeat. Their music seems like typical Honky-tonk, I just have this feeling that they are a band of high energy, and I have a feeling they are going to bring the thunder.

I know this is a brief posting, but I need to get back to Halo. It is my weekend!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Brief Overview of Country Styles

2nd post ever!

I guess the logical progression would be a journey into what we know and love. I am a lover of a lot of different country and I like to group it into three categories:

Pop Country – Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith. The list can go on, and on, and on and on. (Not Journey however!)
Texas Country – This is its own breed, it is VERY popular and you have probably heard at least some of it. Most of the bands are just far enough under the radar not to be pop and put on country music stations around the country (In TX they do have radio stations that play it). Sample bands include the most popular and trend setting TX country like CCR (Cross Canadian Ragweed), Pat Green (before becoming popular), Kevin Fowler, Trent Willmon, etc. I might even put Willy Nelson in this category if he weren’t so damn big and the same goes for you Mr. George Strait. Some people started out as TX country and just got so big. But a lot of them have styles that aren’t the Dirt Grass style punk country like CCR and company; it’s a very nice mix.
Seattle – This, if we didn’t live here, would not be an even viable category. None of these bands have major CDs out. (You can even find TX country CDs in WA) but you cannot find Seattle Country CDs in WA unless you’re actually at the show. My list pretty small, but it’s always growing. These bands are mostly Rockabilly with a nice mix of everything else. Bands include but not limited to: Knut Bell and The Blue Collars, West Valley Highway, Brian Green Band, $5 fine, Jerry and the Phil Billys , etc.
*there is also another category that besides Johnny Cash and a sprinkle of others I am generally not into it is classic or old country.*


I will be touching on all different categories, and will include show information which for most concert seasons consists of a nice mix of all three.

Please bear with me as I grind through the general concepts to ensure we are all on the same level. That way when we get to the actual fun stuff you can relate to what I’m saying without getting lost in translation, call my B.S., and enjoy yourself in general.

I will start with a weekend show at the Little Red Hen (http://www.littleredhen.com/) This, in Seattle, is like “home base” where most bands play or have played (with the exception of West Valley Highway). This weekend they have “Buckaroo Blues” (http://buckarooblues.com/about.htm) they are a mainstay at The Hen, and have been for some time.



It is wierd to start my blog off talking about a band that I have not heard before. I have generally not been able to attend The Hen on weekends due to me and the wifey having so many plans all the time. This should change because I will be attending their Saturday show with Cappello, Wifey, and maybe some others depending on plans, after my friend’s birthday party at Kel’s (some overpriced Irish bar). It is also Connie’s Birthday. She is one of the best bartenders and she has definitely kept my friends and me happy all throughout college and beyond. Hopefully, I will see you there!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My First Post

Welcome to Seattle Country Blog. I am very interested in doing a couple of things with this. All my buddies and I are really into country music. I am sure there are other people out there looking into upcoming concerts, new bands, new Cd's etc. I will take care of that. I will also introduce you to bands you may have never heard of that are not in the national spotlight. They may hail from Seattle, South Sound, Skagit Valley, all the way across the country to TX, Nashville, and beyond. My thoughts are that it will be a general country blog for people in the Northwest.

I also would like to have a me section where I can update loved ones with what's going on in my life whether its a personal thing like where I hang out every Wed. or an adventure with my new wife, like where we went for Easter.

Appreciate you stopping by!

Nic