Why don’t we do negative reviews?

We try to act like a filter in today’s crowded marketplace.  If we dig something enough to write about it, then we hope the brand we’ve established helps you understand it’s something we truly think is worth your time.  After you listen, you may disagree, but all we’re attempting to do is stimulate conversation about music we like.  Our motto has always been “Supporting music we love.”  It doesn’t say anything about ravaging music we hate.

I mean I could tell you that Kristen Kelly’s “Ex Old Man” is recycled trash.  That the dated guitar riff sounds like OMD’s “How Bizzare” and her vocals on it screech like nails on a chalkboard.  Between screeches it resembles some sort of awkward faux-country female rapping on the verses.  Or that Casey Donahew’s Double Wide Dream is a double wide nightmare of cliche-ridden garbage lyrics delivered via nasally vocals that sound like a drunken 18 year old kid that reduces his talented band to a paint by numbers karaoke level of musicianship.  What if I told you that Granger Smith’s music reminds me of a Kevin Fowler album that’s been castrated? (ed. note-Granger’s a super nice guy…just needed another example).

Does that make anybody feel better about themselves?  Or help you decipher what music you really like?

Ripping apart bad music and albums is redundant, negative and does nobody any good.  If you don’t like it, don’t waste your time…move on to something you do like.

Those examples I listed above are having success…playing the Opry, selling out shows, selling tons of albums etc.  Tearing them down is a waste of time.  People are obviously into it or they wouldn’t be having the success they are finding.

We’d rather not waste our time rehashing why we find that success odd.

Instead, we choose to lift up new stuff that we feel needs lifting (K Phillips, Javi Garcia, or Josh Weathers etc) or offer confirmation that something held in high regard is still pretty awesome (Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Turnpike Troubadours etc)

So, to review the review policy here at GW.  We have always had a review by omission policy.  Meaning, we like to accentuate the positive and only focus on the stuff we truly dig.  If we review it, it means we think it is special. In our opinion, it does no good to tell you how awful someone’s record is…we’d rather just share the one’s we think are very cool.

Perhaps some sort of rating system like 3 out of 4 rocking horses would help.  Maybe we’ll look into that.  Also, the reviews we do post aren’t all sunshine and rainbows.  We are critical and we do point out the flaws we find in the records we dig.  Whether that be a quibble with the production or a question about the songwriting.

For example.  The K Phillips record we’re so high on right now included this in its official review:

This is not a perfect record.  The lyrics reek of a little too much romantic wanderlust at times, some of the vocals are mumbled slurrily, and at points it all seems intrinsically indulgent.

Right or wrong, that’s just how we’ve chosen to do things.

Positive energy is always more effective than negative. 

We offer plenty of dissenting thoughts in our opinion pieces and editorial blogs.  Tank, myself and our other contributing writers have plenty of opinions.  We invite you to share yours in the comments of our articles, interact with us via Twitter or FB…or our old dinosaurs of social media interaction the fabled Galleywinter forums.

Here are some that have come up in the past:

Cory Morrow-Love Me Like You Used To Do
Owen Temple-Tennesee Highway
Randy Rogers Band-Like It Used To Be
Jason Boland & The Stragglers-Somewhere Down in Texas
Max Stalling-Blue Eyes
Matt Powell-Ferris Wheel

What would you pitch to George Strait if given the chance?  Jason Eady? Drew Kennedy?  Adam Hood?  Cody Johnson? Hit the comments section or thread and let us know what you think.

They boil country music and southern life down to played out stereotypes that appeal to people too ignorant to know better or care…and advertisers who see dollar signs.  It’s a real life Beverly Hillbillies scenario and the people pulling the strings are real life Milburn Drysdales.

Over the past few years, Texas Music was in a race toward this sort of mediocrity.  Several artists began flying the Texas banner for marketing purposes while hitting the studio to create the type of lowest common denominator crap the fanbase they were pandering to detested.  A sea of frauds seeing the Texas Music market as nothing more than a convenient money grab.  Slyly moving the target to a more commercial and mass appeal location with a cheesy faux redneck aesthetic.

In other words…making horrible music, wrapping it in a Lone Star flag and getting away with it.

Much like the corporate country culture was (is) doing at large.  The kind of trash you see on CMT these days.  They produce a show called Texas Women that features no women from Texas and makes a mockery of Fort Worth.  Ali Dee is a cool chick, but even she can’t save the trainwreck of taste that is the show she’s on.  Yet, much like mainstream music, people are watching this show in droves…and money talks.

People that don’t know better just assume that’s how people in Texas look and behave.  They don’t really care enough or have the time to delve deeper and realize there’s more to our state than the ridiculous rejoinders of guys riding horses through the Stockyards that accompany each DFW nationally televised sporting event broadcast.

By nature, people are lazy.  There’s a reason why there are more McDonald’s and Starbuck’s than places where you make your own burgers and coffee.  We respond to what’s easy.  If Texas Women or Luke Bryan is what’s put in front of you  repeatedly…then sadly,  that’s what the majority of folks are going to dig.  Most don’t want to look deeper than that.

Texas/Red Dirt/Americana Music fans are usually different.  We’re always seeking that next big thing or responding to what is an alternative to what we despise.  Sadly, over the past few years there have been those few acts pulling the wool over the collective eyes of fans.

Fortunately, there has been an ever so subtle rippling of rebellion from underneath the current top threshhold.  A fresh crop of young talented songwriters including  Ryan Beaver, William Clark Green, Ben Danaher, Rob Baird and several others.  These guys are sticking to their creative guns and making music on their own terms.  When paired with the massive commercial successes of Turnpike Troubadours and Jason Eady, the notion that folks still crave a genuine alternative to what passes as country music these days has never been more apparent.

Lowest common denominator fads and rip-offs fade away quickly and have done so since the days of the traveling medicine show.  Legitimate businesses and entertainment ventures with something worthwhile to say stick around.

So, let the masses flog the last vestibules of our beloved southern culture for all its worth.  At some point they’ll look around and realize what they’ve been missing.  Until then, there’s more room at the shows for the rest of us.

MINOR CHORDS:

-Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Eady and Josh Abbott Band certainly seem to have grabbed the zeitgeist by the tail at the moment and are throwing it around at will.  Congrats boys…enjoy the ride, it is well deserved!

-A young lady at LJT informed me that I needed to get a new Brad’s Corner photo and update the layout.  “That’s my brand…man.”  It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.  I’ve blubbered about for nearly a decade with the same format.  Why change now?  At least when folks see that photo and caption now they know they’re in for at least 1,000 words of thought-provoking nonsense.  One drunkard at LJT even told me I was “a cross between Lefsetz, a calmer Hunter S. Thompson and Chet Flippo.”  Huh?  Thanks…I guess?

-I barely survived the Texas Music gauntlet of LJT and Bowen Classic in back to back weeks. I fared much better than most people I saw and hung out with at both events.

-Odd to not see Cody Canada, Stoney LaRue or Bart Crow out at LJTs.

-So good to see so many folks in one place for the Bowen Classic.  It never happens like that.  Usually people rushing to the next event or spread out over several days.  Too many people to get around to everyone.  Need more time!

-Not many nicer guys in music (or life) than Wade Bowen.  Genuine is the word that comes to mind.  What he’s done with his charity event is admirable and indicative of the type of person he is.

-Beware of ghosts in Archer City.  That’s all I’m going to say.

-Still bummed about the loss of MCA.  As I read in one piece…as awesome as they were in their heyday, they later became more precious to us because they were a version of growing older than didn’t seem that bad.  In fact, they grew cooler.  RIP MCA.

-Greenfest is shaping up to be another ridiculously great weekend of music.  Josh Weathers is blowing up right in time, the main event is stacked and Drew Kennedy has a special night of music planned on the banks of the Guadalupe at Lone Star Floathouse.  Right on!

-Jon Daniels is way more patient than me.  I’d already have Josh Hamilton locked up on a 5 year deal and have sober life coaches on speed dial.

-I need to eat salads for about 3 months straight to undo the already substantial damage the bbq/festival/fried circuit has done to me in the past month alone.

-8 days past deadline on this month’s corner and it will probably be worse next month as between now and then my wife should give birth to our baby boy.  Over the moon.  My daughter has me wrapped around my finger…excited to have a little buddy join me on this journey too.

-This month’s recommended album: Six Market Blvd-Shake It Down.  These Clayton Landau-led cats out of Stephenville are the real deal.  Shake it Down is a more diverse record than its predecessor and toils in more mature lyrical themes.  This is the kind of music that gives your foot a thump and your brain a scratch.  These kids are going places.  And, of course…if you haven’t picked them up yet, I can’t recommend Jason Eady-AM Country Heaven, K Phillips-American Girls, and Turnpike Troubadours-Goodbye Normal Street enough.

-”Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.”-Mark Twain

~ Jalys.

As with the band’s first two albums, Goodbye Normal Street is anchored by frontman Evan Felker’s songwriting.  Felker has cultivated a knack for boiling the most complex human entanglements and emotions into tight tunes full of descriptive lyrics and catchy melodies.  Over three albums, along with bassist RC Edwards, Felker has created a distinct musical brand.  Turnpike songs have a specific vibe, mood and structure that makes them truly unique.

Their is a darker edge to the songs on this record when compared to the previous two albums.  Whether that was intentional or the result of a more hectic lifestyle and touring schedule, is not clear.  What one can be certain of is that it’s a welcome new element to the band’s repertoire.

Goodbye Normal Street kicks off with lead single, “Gin, Smoke, Lies”.  A rolling banjo paired with a pounding kick drum turns the classic cheating song on its ear.  This is no barroom weeper.  This is an adrenaline fueled ride through the ruins of a relationship.  Followed by Kyle Nix’s rapidfire fiddle breakdowns in “Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead” and it’s quickly apparent that the Turnpike Troubadours have struck musical gold once again.

The intelligent, world weariness found in previous tunes like “1968″ and “The Funeral” show up in “Blue Star” and “Southeastern Son”.  And the pace slows down on songs like “Gone, Gone, Gone” and “Wrecked”.  It’s classic country heartbreak reformatted into the Turnpike wheelhouse.  Jamie Wilson even pops up for a moving duet on “Call a Spade a Spade” and her Emmylou Harris wail is a nice complement to the song and Felker.

As a vocalist, Felker has always been adept at conveying what the song called for, but now he’s added an extra layer of authenticity and believablity to his vocals that makes the listener feel each syllable as if it were their own autobiography.  When paired with the beastly and versatile lead guitar playing of Ryan Engleman, it’s a potent mixture.

Goodbye Normal Street solidifies Turnpike Troubadours as the next great band in the Red Dirt canon and ensures that they’re going to be at the top of the heap for a while.  They’re producing the type of authentic consistency that fans of Texas/Red Dirt crave and mainstream fans can’t help but fall in love with.

The comparisons to festivals like Bonaroo and Coachella are completely apt.  This thing grows more massive every year.  Thousands of people show up to Melody Mountain Ranch to hear over fifty artists perform over five days.  Yet, the Texas/Red Dirt scene is still underground enough that when some co-workers asked me who was going to be playing at this “thing you’re going to”, they were only familiar with two of the dozen I named.

That is one of the things that constantly amazes me about the power of this type of music.  It’s still underground enough that a majority of folks have never heard of most of the performers…yet it’s popular enough to draw 50,000 people from all over the world together for five days of music and camping.  Powerful stuff.

THURSDAY

The festival officially kicked off on Tuesday, but due to prior obligations our crew wasn’t able to arrive until Thursday morning.  Based on people I talked to that were there for the entire duration, it seems as if The Dirty River Boys stole the first couple days.

While Josh Abbott Band solidified their place as the hottest thing on the scene and current top Texas draw by headlining Wednesday night.  Folks also mentioned Cory Morrow’s set as being rather outstanding and The Great Divide reunion as something everyone should check out if given the chance.

Unable to sleep like a kid on Christmas Eve while all that fun stuff was going on, I went to bed early Wednesday night but still woke up about 4:30AM full of adrenaline and anxiety.  After last minute stops and fueling up, we were on the road by 8AM.  We pulled into the grounds about 10.  When you first make that turn off the highway onto the tiny FM road that heads to the festival your anticipation starts growing immensely.  By the time you reach the top of the hill about midway down and see the mass of humanity, campers, tents, stages and hoopla awaiting you just moments away…it’s pure jubilation.  You’ve made it another year and so have thousands of your friends.

For the second straight year we pulled up to our campsite to find someone squatting in it.  A huge Prevost bus was in our spot complete with a Harley trailer.  After a couple hours and golf cart rides with camping staff, we located the owner and had our spots back.  Quickly plugging up the camper and unloading three days worth of party supplies was no easy task, but in our eagerness to get the LJT experience underway, we were rather efficient.

Our first stop was the acoustic stage.  The music had just started with Zac Wilkerson and Chuck Pyle on the acoustic Allsup’s stage.  One of the first things you have to do  at LJT, even if you’ve been there every year is get your lay of the land.  Survey new carney food options on vendor row, locate the friends you only see once a year etc.  During this process we ran into Geoff Hill and Brady Black from Randy Rogers Band doing the same thing.

After a trip to the Chicken on a Stick stand (gotta put the cajun seasoning on it), we all headed back to camp to toss some washers.  Sidenote about the Chicken on a Stick.  They were $7.  After my buddy was handed his first one and told it was $7, he asked the guy if that was because the stick cost $5.  The guy did not find this as funny as everyone else in line.

After Brady whipped everyone for about an hour, we determined that we know how he spends a great deal of his downtime between shows.  If he ever stops fiddling, he’s got a secure future on some sort of washers/horseshoes tour.

After a couple hours of just chilling, we ran into Brant Croucher and The Grievous Angels from Houston.  They came by with their guitars and played some tunes for about an hour.  Brant’s one of my favorite young singer/songwriters and the Angels sounded a lot like The Trisha’s.  Both have bright futures.  And, the coolest thing is they kicked off what is my favorite LJT thing…the small acoustic campsite jam.  If you stumble around out there long enough you’re going to bump into a guitar pull that just might change your life.

Soon it was time to fire up the grill and make dinner before heading to the stage in time for Turnpike Troubadours.  As usual, these guys did not disappoint.  Blazing through old favorites like “7&7″ and “Long Hot Summer Day”, they also peppered their set with blistering takes on new songs like “Gin and Smoke and Lies”.  The crowd was at a fever pitch for Aaron Watson, but I didn’t catch any of his set.  I took this opportunity to go see what was happening in the NFL draft.  Thanks to a buddy, I was able to plop down in front of the tv just in time to see the Cowboys jump up in the draft and pick Morris Claiborne from LSU.

AT&T cell service was so hit and miss out there, that had I not seen this happen on tv, I may not have found out about this pick until June.  The cell service was the worst I’ve experienced out there.  It was some sort of cell phone deadland.  Which isn’t bad for being off the grid, but makes finding your buddies or communicating with folks you need to catch nearly impossible.  Sprint customers were down and out too.  But, props to Verizon because those folks were rocking and rolling all weekend long.  Anytime I needed to desperately call or text someone I borrowed a Verizon phone.  Shout out to Blam-O.

About this time, it was Wade Bowen’s turn on the big stage.  The sun had completely set behind the drum riser and things were starting to pop off in a figurative and literal sense.  Bassist Caleb Jones energy was a nice match for the raucous crowd as the WB crew had the crowd engaged early and often in a set that featured hits and new stuff.  The entire band was decked out in some sweet black shirts and ties in honor of Mark McCoy.  A somber reminder of the lives lost recently in this scene and a beckoning to soak up the LJT atmosphere for everything its got.

Thursday night at LJT has meant one thing the past few years…a headline set by Randy Rogers Band.  Randy’s grown a lot over the years.  From timid singer/songwriter playing with a patched together band…to a confident showman and entertainer completely at ease as he leads thousands of people in a bouncing, rollicking party of off rhythm fist pumping, inane beer tossing and off-key scream alongs.  The festival’s growth over that time mirrors RRB’s growth.  Once just a singer/songwriter haven it’s turned into the biggest thing around and has gotten pretty good at throwing a party.

As the last notes reverberated through the hills of Melody Mountain, a campsite tour was already being planned by Josh Abbott.  Soon, Larry Joe was piloting a convoy of ATVs and golf carts that had Randy, Geoff and Brady from RRB, Abbott, Evan from Turnpike, Dave from Tejas Bros, Courtney Patton, good ol’ Lovey and about half a dozen lucky fools like me.  We wound our way through the friendly confines of the campgrounds singing tunes, telling jokes and swapping stories.

Down bumpy gravel roads that jostled your beverage like a roller coaster and around each sharp turn we were met with a welcoming chorus of “whoooo’s” that would’ve made Ric Flair proud.  When LJT saw one that looked particulary inviting or cool, he’d pull our train of good times to a halt and we’d pile out around a campfire as a few pickers would be plucking out something.

The confused look of amazement on the inebriated faces we encountered at the campsites was pure gold.  At first, they just recognize Larry Joe, then they slowly notice the roster of talent standing in front of them listening to them sing.  Their face is a wash of bewilderment, embarassment and pride.  Pretty soon guitars are handed over to the pros and before you know it Evan is busting out “Long Hot Summer Day” for the second time today.  Except this time he’s joined by Dave Perez playing the melody on his squeezebox and a chorus of scratchy throated backing vocalists.

Campsite jam (Photo credit:  Brad Beheler)

As Josh Abbott wraps up his very cool take on Fun.’s “We Are Young“  you know the folks at that campsite have a story for generations.  The time Randy Rogers and Brady Black played songs on their guitars at their campsite.  It doesn’t get cooler than that.  It just doesn’t.

Through a few more miles of campers, motorhomes, tents, trucks, boats and even guys sleeping under the stars to the hum of generators it becomes bus call for a few of the guys and our night has come to a very memorable end.  As we stumble back to our campsite around 4AM, I think to myself…LJT 2012 has already exceeded any expectations I may have had.  If I left right now, it wouldn’t get any better.

FRIDAY

Internal clocks don’t understand the concept of moonlit guitar pulls that last until 4AM, so we were up around 8 cranking out breakfast tacos and shoveling down caffeine like a miner in West Virginia pulling a double.  We were awake but moving slowly.  Upon having a shower so cold that it made the Guadalupe River seem like the Hot Springs of Arkansas, I was ready to tackle the day.  It just so happened to be time for the Damn Quails to kick off on the acoustic stage.  Soon, I was parked under a shade tree center stage with about half the crew while the other half decided to “power nap”.  Power naps that lasted until 3PM…they’d be sorry!

The Damn Quails set up their full contingent onstage.  They brought some ferocious passion to the early proceedings, but it wasn’t until they brought out their big radio hit “Fool’s Gold” that they had the crowd’s full attention.  From the first measure, you noticed the crowd beginning to nod their heads and sing along.  By the time he said “turn it around”, everyone was a buyer on Damn Quails…as they should be.

Next up was Josh Weathers.  Quite simply he put on the set of this festival or just about any other festival.  After having talked to his road manager the night before I knew we were in for something special as Josh knew this was a big opportunity.  I’ve been a fan for a while now, so I was interested to see how folks would respond to his rootsy, bluesy, funky soul style in a setting that resembles a NASCAR infield during the day.  Luckily for us, the acoustic stage is a haven and Josh Weathers delivered the set of a lifetime.

Decked out in an unassuming blue checkered, longsleeve pearl snap shirt and featuring a wafting pompadour atop his head, Weathers strode to the microphone with a yellow Tele strapped on and a grooving band behind him complete with saxophone.  From the moment the first note left his mouth and guitar, all of us there knew we were in for one hell of a ride.  The acoustic stage is a listening room, but he wasn’t into his second song before people were unknowingly dancing, swaying, bopping, clapping…and before you knew it he’d gotten a standing ovation after his second song.

Josh has been a veteran of the DFW scene for a while, but in the past few months has begun growing his audience outside of those constraints.  He attained some renown back in February after the passing of Whitney Houston when his cover of “I Will Always Love You” became one of the most shared in Texas Music social media circles.  I wasn’t sure if he’d choose LJT as a place to perform this song.  But, much like with Sean McConnell and “Dirty Diana” it has become a signature song.  Owing to his DFW roots, Josh cleared the band off the stage and began a moving anecdote about the late Joe Avezzano.  He said, “Coach Joe was really excited about us finally making it to LJT and was planning on being here with us today.  But, as you all know…he couldn’t make it.  This one goes out to him.”

And with that said, he proceeded to do this:

As good as it sounds on that video, it still doesn’t do it justice.  Chill bumps and an ovation that lasted for nearly three minutes.  He played a couple songs after that, but it was all a blur at this point.  Josh Weathers had made a statement.

I had to return to camp to recover after such a mesmerizing set.  As I was relaxing and contemplating a nap myself, I began to hear the unmistakable strains of a Max Stalling song and immediately bolted back to the acoustic stage.  Max is one of my favorite songwriters and the opportunity to hear him in what was now an electric environment thanks to Mr. Weathers was too much to pass up.

Mentor, veteran and role model to just about every guy in the Texas scene, Radney Foster was up next.  Foster regaled the crowd with the tales behind his biggest hits.  There were two standout moments during Radney’s set.  The first being “Angel Flight.  I saw an older gentleman in a tattered Vietnam Veteran’s cap standing at attention on an artificial leg throughout the song with tears streaming down from behind his sunglasses.  The other moment that sticks out was much more lighthearted.  Radney had been witness to Josh Weather’s greatness earlier in the day and brought him back out.  Like all the rest of us, Radney was so blown away he wanted to hear more.

As the crowd hopefully rumbled about a guest vocal appearance from that night’s headliner Pat Green, Radney popped a couple strings on his guitar.  He then said something to the effect of “I’ve always dug the Clash and the Sex Pistols…so here’s the punk version of ‘Texas in 1880′…on 2 strings.”  He proceeded to make it through the entire song in the most unique way I’ve ever heard.

By the time Radney was finished, it was time to head back to camp to fire up the grill one more time for some grub and freshen up.  We were on a time crunch to get all that done and get down to the mainstage in time for Six Market Blvd.  Luckily for us, we made it.

Six Market Blvd strode onstage also paying honor to Mark McCoy with white shirts and ties.  They would later tell me it was quite the adventure to find matching outfits on short notice…but was the least they could do.  The first song of their set was their latest single, “Say It” which can be heard on The Drop.  These hometown boys had a huge fan contingent on hand.  They’re very entertaining and probably my favorite younger act on the scene.  Watch for them as this new release nears street date and throughout the summer.  I predict they’re about to hit that vaunted next level.

Mike McClure followed 6MB with his second trip to the mainstage.  This time he was playing in his familiar trio format after having done the Great Divide reunion show earlier in the week.  McClure is sober and sharper than ever.  His songs are a nice match for the LJTs environment and crowd.

Another guy who is tailor made for an environment like LJT is Roger Creager.  It seems to bring the best out of him and reinvigorate his set.  The one thing serious music fans want to watch out for during Creager’s LJT set is beer being sloshed around so fast and often that it seems like a fire hose is being sponsored by Anheuser-Busch.

Reckless Kelly were obviously the closest to Mark McCoy on the bill and they paid tribute to him with the shirt/tie idea.  I’ve seen bassist Adam Odor perform in various bands in numerous settings, but this might have been the craziest set I’ve ever seen him play.  Crazy in a good way.  He was doing jumps that would make vintage David Lee Roth question the safety of it.  I got sucked into a conversation during the latter half of RK’s set and freed myself just in time to see Pat Green.

Hogleg & Stu (Photo credit:  Stu Huffman)

I was with a couple friends who hadn’t seen Pat Green in over a decade.  And the fact that brother Hogleg had made the trip up from New Braunfels for the spectacle was fuel to the anxious fire.  While PG’s live sound isn’t the same without Brendon Anthony on the fiddle, his band still knows how to hit you with an enormous wall of sound.  The setlist seemed to ping pong between early album classics (“Carry On”)  and late album yawners (“Baby Doll”).  The crowd seemed to mirror this.  On certain songs they were super intense and on others they backed off.

At some point during Pat’s set a few idiotic kids that couldn’t handle their liquor decided to square off and audition for the UFC.  Pat’s sage experience helped him calm the situation down before it turned into a riot.  He stopped the band down, and said “Hey fellas…we’re trying to have a good time up here…you should too…ain’t no place for fighting out here…let’s love each other.”  Soon, the PG g0od times were back in full swing and he blazed through the rest of his set with abandon.

Now it was time for our Ultimate LJT Giveaway campsite concert.  A manufactured version of what I’d just bore witness to 24 hours earlier.  Featuring Six Market Blvd, Josh Grider, Courtney Patton, Nick Verzosa and some surprise guests that got lost, it was quite the event.  At one point the crowd was 6 deep around the jam.  But, some of the folks around our winner’s campsite weren’t very neighborly or obliging.  Generators on full blast and a location right off a main road made hearing things difficult unless you were in the right spot.

Galleywinter Ultimate LJT Giveaway Campsite Concert (Photo credit:  Nick Hammond)

By now the wind had picked up to an uncomfortable degree and everyone was getting drenched with dust or smoked like bbq from the campfire.  Josh Grider even changed the words to “Smoke on the Water” to “Smoke…in my eyeballs…makes me want to cry…”.  The party was a good hike from our campsite, so around 2AM and on 2 hrs of sleep in the last 45, I hit the bricks back to our place to wind down.  I encountered a party roaring at full blast.  I had one last sip and hit the hay.

SATURDAY

After slowly rolling out of the rack on Saturday morning and eating whatever we had leftover from the past couple days for breakfast, it was time to venture up to Crazy Ray’s campground for Mike Mancy’s infamous Saturday morning wake up show.  It wasn’t long and the clock had hit 12 and it was time for Josh Grider to crank out the jams and kick things off for the final day of LJT 2012.

Grider’s Saturday morning shows are quickly becoming LJT fixtures.  While I’d love to see him rock a mainstage slot, his acoustic stage spot his hard to beat.  With a full band behind him, there was nothing acoustic about this wake up call.  Despite the fact that he got shocked a couple times by a faulty mic, Grider tore through a set that had people amped up and clapping their hangovers off over their bloody marys.  “Dollar Tree” brought him yet another standing ovation and long merch booth line.

(photo credit:  Quinda Smith)

I spent the next few hours playing catch up with old friends and doing a couple interviews.  Before I knew it, Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros were onstage.  Walt’s show is a hill country preachin’, soul stirring tour through the American west.  His music speaks to people that are familiar with it just as easily as it does to newcomers.  The Mystiqueros just might be the coolest band to have played LJT this year.

(photo credit:  Dave Hensley)

Before rounding up for one last trip to the mainstage it was back to the campsite to prepare.  If you’ve been to LJT, you know it takes quite a bit of preparation to make sure you get to the stage with all the necessities.  We weren’t planning on coming back to the site until late, so we missed the start of William Clark Green.  But, the songs we heard were rather good and the growing afternoon crowd was digging his sound.  I even had some chicks come up to us after his set and randomly ask us if we knew where he’d be later that night.  Sorry ladies!  But even more so, sorry WCG…they were hot!

Cooder Graw was due up next and were quite possibly the most anticipated show of the festival.  Matt Martindale and the gang hit the stage with reckless abandon and left little doubt why they were such a big band in the formation of the modern Texas scene.  There was very little evidence of rust as they tore through hits like “Llano Estacado” and “Dirty Little Hometown Girl”.  It was a treat to witness this reunion and it made me excited for what’s in store.

Over the past few years, the Tejas Brothers have established themselves as one of the preeminent live acts in Texas.  Never is their show more awesome than at LJTs.  After a week spent playing campfires and jamming with other folks, Dave Perez was in fine voice as he led the thousands of LJT revelers through a medley of toe tapping hits.  From Doug Sahm’s “She’s About a Mover” to their own “Say It Again”, folks were eating up every second of it under the scorching Texas sun.

Despite the severe wind and dust, people were still having a good time.  There were girls pole dancing and hippies playing hacky sack during the entirety of Tejas Brothers performance.

I caught a bit of Brandon Rhyder.  The Rhyder crew was pulling double duty with another gig a few miles away.  They had the record for fastest tear down and load out I’ve ever seen at a huge festival.  Kudos to their man in charge, Eddie Kloesel for getting that crew down the road like a pro.

Jason Boland & The Stragglers hit the stage next and seemed reinvigorated since the last time I’d seen them live a few months ago.  The rowdy, five day old buzz that most folks had was not stale yet and as Boland powered through a charging set of his best, the zenith was when he reached into his backpocket to pull out their excellent cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Thunderbird Wine”.  It was like a foot-stomping bomb went off as thousand of people were dancing like Jesco White for about four minutes straight.

Jason Boland & The Stragglers (Photo credit:  Dave Hensley)

To close out the festival, it was time for the man of the hour, or 5 days to hit the stage.  Larry Joe Taylor and his band brought their brand of third coast country music to the stage and were joined by friends like Deryl Dodd, Tommy Alverson, Dave Perez, Roger Ray, Jason Boland, Jason Eady, Kylie Rae Harris and more.  There isn’t a better way to end the festival’s music.

As the LJT show was still going on, we headed back to camp to gather our things and prepare for an early Sunday exit.  After some time picking around the fire and playing tunes, we were told by security that there was a burn ban due to the wind.  So, we did what any good rednecks would do and started partying around some Christmas lights somebody had plugged into their RV.  Soon, folks around us were shooting off fireworks and just generally raising all kinds of good natured hell.  Around 2, we called it an early night and racked out as we faced the looming shadow of reality creeping up on Sunday morning.  Another year of planning finished, another 5 days of memories and ideas for next year tucked away.  We sadly crept out of Melody Mountain Ranch in a long line of RV’s around 8AM and by the time we hit Hico on 281 we were ready to turn around.  Alas, we have to wait about 360 days.

 Top 10 Takeaways from LJT 2012

1.  Bass players had the most fun onstage no matter what band was playing…by far.

2.  The fajita tacos were the clear best in show of the vendor food this year.

3.  Verizon should be proud of their cell towers near Melody Mountain Ranch.  AT&T and Sprint need to step their game up.

4.  Chicken on a Stick isn’t always the tastiest option, but is definitely the cleanest since your beer drenched, dusty hands don’t actually have to touch the food.

5.  Picking the right port o potty is harder than winning the lottto.

6.  People that throw whole beers at bands are wasteful idiots.

7.  Generators don’t like acoustic song swaps.

8.  Josh Weathers is going to be a star.

9. Some of the redneck engineering that goes into the contraptions out there would make Einstein proud.

10.  Either I’m getting older or the front mosh pit is getting ridiculously violent and rowdy.

How was your LJT 2012?

I’d seen him once live and was pretty impressed, so When his record “American Girls” came out, I bought it, went directly to my office and gave it a spin. Brad wrote a great review of it here so I won’t bore you with repeating all the great things he said, but I do want to drive home his point about it being a very diverse record. The arrangements are so good you’ll never even think about them unless you’re someone that has to write about how good they are.

After 20 or so minutes “Lincoln City” qued up and it took me from being in my office listening to great music, straight into the life of the song. The words poured out slowly and drew me deeper into the thoughts of a worn down traveler.

As it nears the end, it picks up more emotion and you can feel the buildup. Realization hits and shatters you with

The Devil can’t take ahold
of a man without a soul
and mine, mine belongs to you

So good. Don’t pass this record off as being “new” and therefore not worth it or needing to be proven. It stands head and shoulders above the other things being released out there.

Lincoln City (Keep It Safe) by K Phillips

Download audio file (05-Lincoln-City-Keep-It-Safe1.mp3)

I came down from Medicine Hat
with a bedroll on my back
one good harp,
and a black dobro
I got a dry pair of socks
and your present in a cigarbox
but what matters most
I sent ahead with you

Keep it safe for me

’cause when your staring up
at the moon at night
I aint far behind

Keep it safe for me
Hold it way down inside
I ain’t far behind

Keep it safe for me

There’s whispers in this town
’bout some kids that bedded down
In their van, last time it freezed
Naked as they came, and too cold for shame
a couple love birds wrapped up in their wings

Keep it safe for me

’cause when your staring up
at the moon at night
I aint far behind

Keep it safe for me

Hold it way down inside
I ain’t far behind

Keep it safe for me
When I’m bludgeoned by the sleet
When I can’t feel my feet
I pull out your picture
to carry me through
The Devil can’t take ahold
of a man without a soul
and mine, mine belongs to you

Keep it safe for me
Keep it safe for me

Mortality breeds contempt for life. We know we all have a short time in this existence, and we all deal with it in strange and unusual ways. I, like most of my friends, deal with it in the artistic way: we strive for immortality in stories. And out of those stories, we really just hope for one thing:

To know we are not alone.

~Adam Odor

Please read Adam’s entire post over where he writes at: http://adamjodor.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/life/

Well, the time has come again my friends.  The most magical 5 days within our lovely state’s borders for our kind of music.  Larry Joe Taylor’s 24th Annual Texas Music Festival begins on Tuesday April 24th.  This will mark my 14th consecutive year in attendance.  While the event continues to grow larger, its soul is the same as when I was just an overserved minor that stumbled into that field in Meridian to see what I thought was just a Pat Green show all those years ago.

We’ll be all over the place yet again.  Video cameras and cell phones at the ready to Tweet/Facebook and film all the coolest stuff we see.  Come meet us at our Ultimate LJT Giveaway winner’s Campsite Concert section A on Friday night after Pat Green wraps up his set around midnight.  Section A, Row L Spots 1-5 to be exact.

At LJTs, there is music going on somewhere just about 24 hours a day. We try to hit as much as we can, but here are some suggestions of sets we will definitely be catching.

Tue April 24

For those lucky enough to be starting their festival experience on Tuesday, the in the round songwriter showcase featuring Hayes Carll, Bruce and Charlie Robison, Deryl Dodd, Dave Perez and Larry Joe himself is something to not miss.  Radney Foster’s set on this night a year ago was the buzz of the festival for days.

Wed April 25

Dirty River Boys-Acoustic Stage approx 3PM. Nobody quite puts on a show like the DRB.  Intense, unpredictable and wild.  I expect them to win over some new fans.

Cory Morrow-Mainstage approx 6:30PM. Morrow is a living legend among the younger set of Texas Music fans. Those of us who’ve been around long enough to see his peak, unexpected stumble and rise back to relevance are equally fond of foot stomping and beer swashing during his energetic live sets.  Morrow hasn’t played at LJTs since 1999 and I expect him to bring his A entertainment game.

The Great Divide-Mainstage-approx 8PM.  The Great Divide are founding fathers of the modern Texas/Red Dirt scene.  Mike McClure is one of the finest songwriters to ever pick up a pen.  Fans have been clamoring for a reunion of this group for a decade.  Seeing the countrier throwback sounds of TGD’s catalog smooth out a bit of Mac’s growl will be truly epic.

Thur Apr 26

Turnpike Troubadours-Mainstage approx 6:30PM. A  year ago, Turnpike made their LJT debut to an early afternoon crowd.  This year, they get the full LJT experience. With a new album coming out soon and momentum that hasn’t dimmed in over a year, Evan Felker and the boys are sure to deliver a standout performance.

Wade Bowen-Mainstage approx 9PM.  Wade Bowen has made a national splash this year with his single, “Saturday Night”.  His band is one of the best on the circuit.  The propulsive rhythm section of Caleb Jones on bass and Brooks Robinson on drums seems to hit another level in front of the LJT crowd.

Randy Rogers Band-Mainstage approx 10:30PM.  RRB are a finely tuned, confident entertaining machine.  Look for a blistering run through the hits and maybe a new song or two.

Fri Apr 27

The Damn Quails-Acoustic stage approx 12:30PM. The most buzzed about new band in the scene debuts at LJT.  For those that haven’t seen them, they’ll see why the buzz has been legit.  For those familiar, they can bask in some “Fool’s Gold” greatness.

Josh Weathers-Acoustic stage approx 1:30PM.  With a big, soulful voice that resides somewhere in the Sean McConnell range, and guitar chops to make any player admire his tone, Josh Weathers make his LJT debut.  Weathers is a longtime DFW favorite who is starting to grow his crowd south of I-20. This could be one of the breakout performances of LJT.

Six Market Blvd–Mainstage approx 6PM.  6MB are on the eve of a new album release and playing in their backyard.  These guys are electric live and will have a ton of energy from the crowd.

Pat Green–Mainstage approx 10:30PM.  Pat made his long awaited return to LJT’s last year.  There were some reported boo’s and hisses that accompanied his initial chords…but by the third song he’d reminded the entire place just who was boss.  You won’t find Brendon Anthony on fiddle anymore, but you will still be bowled over by the wall of sound coming from the PGB as they tear through hit after hit after hit.

Sat Apr 28

Josh Grider-Acoustic stage approx 12PM. Grider returns to the LJT stage after a year away. His Saturday brunch shows have become the thing of LJT legend.  While, I’d love to see him and his band of aces rock some faces off from the mainstage, G-Ride has blown away the crowd each year he’s been at LJTs.  I expect this to be no different.

Cooder Graw-Mainstage approx 4PM.  The Great Divide is just one of two highly anticipated reunion shows at LJTs this year.  The boys from the Llano Estacado are back.  I envision Matt Martindale scrubbing away the dust, dirt, grime of several days of music festival madness with some wicked washboarding.

Larry Joe Taylor-Mainstage approx 10:30PM.  If you’ve never seen Larry Joe close the festival with many of the musicians that have graced the campsites and stages over the previous five days, it’s a must.  From “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” to a certain Rusty Wier jam, it’s a very cool way to start the trip back to reality.

View the entire line-up HERE.

Keep in mind that these are just suggestions and we’ll be attending just about every set. These are just some we feel you shouldn’t miss if you can help it.

Also, remember that each night some of the best music you can hear will be found at campsites…you never know who might be strolling by with a guitar in need of an audience!