July 31, 2022 Garth at AT&T

I had never been to a concert in a domed stadium, so yesterday, I saw Garth Brooks at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Tickets were just under $100, which is a lot more reasonable than some of the young hot shots who haven’t accomplished nearly as much.

There were no opening acts announced ahead of time, but songwriter Matt Rossi was the opener. He sang one of his songs, plus a George Strait song, a David Allan Coe song, and closed with Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight.”

Trisha Yearwood was the second opener, and her hits were very well received by the stadium full of fans. Many fans sang along to every word.

Garth Brooks put on quite the show, with his early hits featured most prominently. He had a huge number of band members on stage (I didn’t count, but he introduced probably twenty or so), some of whom have been part of his touring band since the very beginning of his career. Additionally, there were several members of the “G Men,” studio musicians who played on his classic albums, but were not on the road with him then. Garth performed several audience requests. Trisha came back out and sang some duets with Garth. Garth said his performance was being taped for a live album. Garth also spoke highly of legends who influenced him, such as George Strait, Randy Travis, and Keith Whitley.

Mini keytar?

July 29, 2022 1947: Invasion of the Hillbillies

2022 is the 100th anniversary of the Robertson and Gilliland fiddle recordings, but today, we look back 75 years to 1947. There’s no hard line that separates the “hillbilly era” from the “Nashville country music era,” but 1947 was a particularly strong year for country music impacting popular culture.

The Grand Ole Opry performed at Carnegie Hall. Ernest Tubb starred in the movie “Hollywood Barn Dance,” which advertised “Hep Hillbillies! Rural Rhythms! Slick Chicks!” Hank Williams made his first appearance on the country chart in 1947 and Eddy Arnold was the dominant artist on the country chart from 1947-1949. Please do take a look at the country charts before this. Before this, most of the people on the country charts were not based in Nashville. You don’t have to take my word for it. Look at the earliest Billboard country charts, both the well-known “folk chart” that began in 1944 that is widely accepted as the beginning of the Billboard weekly chart, and the intermittent publication of Billboard’s hillbilly hits from 1939-1942. There’s not a whole lot of Nashville on those lists. Yet, from 1947 on, Nashville has dominated the country charts.

Speaking of country charts, too little attention is paid to the Cashbox charts of the 1940s. As a fun fact, Esmereldy released the song “Slap Her Down Again Paw” in 1947 and it was a five-week number one on the Cashbox country chart in 1948. Many credit Kitty Wells with the first country number one by a solo female artist for “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” which topped the Billboard country chart in 1952. Esmereldy’s Cashbox number one is largely unknown or ignored. Patsy Montana’s “I Wanna Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart” in 1935 probably would have been a number one, but the charts didn’t exist back then.

We should also look at the pop charts, because there are some really interesting dynamics in 1947. Red Ingle and the Natural Seven with Cinderella G. Stump had a number one pop hit with “Temptation (Tim-Tayshun).” Red Ingle was especially known for his work with Spike Jones. Cinderella G. Stump was the hillbilly alter-ego of pop singer Jo Stafford.

An even bigger pop hit was “Smoke!Smoke!Smoke! (That Cigarette) by Tex Williams and His Western Caravan. This was a multi-week number one on both the pop chart and the country chart, the most dominant song of the year. As a fun fact, the B-side was the “Round Up Polka.” Tex Williams had a number 4 hit on the 1946 Billboard country chart with “The California Polka.” Western swing always had a strong polka connection (acknowledged by Milton Brown and other western swing pioneers), but in modern times, this often gets overlooked. Tex Williams mostly charted in country music over the course of his career.

Dorothy Shay made history in 1947 as the first woman with a number one album. “The Park Avenue Hillbillie” topped the Billboard pop album chart for weeks. Some individual songs also charted in country, most notably “Feudin’ and Fightin,'” a number 4 hit on the country chart. Later country artists such as George Jones covered this song. Dorothy Shay was also a regular on the Spike Jones radio show, which was very popular at the time. One might recall that Spike Jones had also worked with Cindy Walker and other artists of interest to western swing and country. Dorothy Shay is largely unknown to country fans today. As with Esmereldy, she was popular and made history, but they’re mostly forgotten because Nashville historians pretend they never existed, because they weren’t part of Nashville.

Hopefully, today’s post shines some light on the history of country music 75 years ago.

July 26, 2022 Yodelblitz and Off The Grid

I recently saw a couple of “Oktoberfest” bands in Texas.

Yodelblitz is a trio of yodelers who play multiple instruments. The two ladies have performed in groups together since 1993. You can find some videos of “Schatzi und Lorelei” from over a decade ago. The third member of the trio is Schatzi’s brother Gary, who was in groups such as The Sauerkrauts for years and worked at the German section of EPCOT. At the Yodelblitz show at Krause’s in New Braunfels, Texas, Gary played flugelhorn, mellophone, baritone horn, tuba, alphorn, cowbells, electric guitar, upright bass, and a homemade instrument with a hose and funnel. Schatzi played mostly clarinet and saxophone and did much of the speaking and joke telling, and Lorelei mostly played accordion and sang lead on many songs (though all three took the lead on different songs). The two ladies also played a set of cowbells. Why am I covering this group on a country music blog? Well, Lorelei also has a solo career as western artist Lori Beth Brooke. She won the IWMA (International Western Music Association) yodeling award in 2016 and the cowboy and western swing album of the year in 2020. She is also scheduled to perform at this year’s IWMA awards in Albuquerque in November.

On Sunday, we drove to Fredericksburg, Texas to see the Off The Grid trio at Altstadt Brewery. Altstadt is a huge, impressive complex. There’s even a tractor museum. Off The Grid is primarily a polka band, but they tinker with every genre, including classic country. Their slogan is “polka roots and scoot the boots.” The trio has an unusual guitar, a Roland combo accordion (one of those fancy deals that doubles as an accordion and a keyboard), and a zendrum. I had never seen anyone play zendrum before this. Their country covers included Ernest Tubb, George Strait, Freddy Fender, Doug Kershaw, Moe Bandy, and The Mavericks. Where else are you going to hear classic country with a zendrum?

In other news, the IBMA award nominations were announced today. The next big bluegrass event I plan to attend is Bloomin’ Bluegrass in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in October. Some of the scheduled performers are among this year’s IBMA nominees.

July 19, 2022 Recent Shows

I’ve enjoyed a good lot of live music lately, so here are some of my observations.

I won free tickets to Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic. It was over 100 degrees, and ten acts played for about an hour each: Asleep At The Wheel, Steve Earle, Particle Kid, Charley Crockett, Midland, Brothers Osborne, Allison Russell, Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, a fireworks display, then Willie Nelson. Most of these acts are pretty familiar to most, so I won’t bore everyone with a lot of detail. I did notice Jason Roberts playing fiddle with Asleep At The Wheel. Crockett and Midland both featured a good lot of steel guitar. The Particle Kid set was quite odd, as Micah Nelson was wearing a cape and screaming the word “life” repeatedly. Allison Russell’s music is the sort of Americana that the Americana scene likes, but not my thing. One of the biggest crowd reactions of the evening was when Tyler Childers took the stage. I got the sense that his crowd was much more into the idea of seeing a “current indie scene superstar” than the music itself. Some fans bailed after Childers and before Isbell. The extreme heat was a major factor throughout the day.

I saw the Malpass Brothers at the Texas Theatre in Seguin at an afternoon show sponsored by Heart of Texas. The set was 100% classic country covers, and very w well executed. They had a mandolin from the Louvins and a hat from one of Ernest Tubb’s Troubadours. The one big downside is the show was only one hour. They did stick around for meet and greets. I’m spoiled, I suppose, but I can see acts doing classic country covers for three or four hours for just tips any day of the week in this part of Texas. You can do the same at Robert’s Western World in Nashville.

I went to Krause’s in New Braunfels this weekend and saw a couple of acts. Cactus Country is a central Texas act that plays mostly classic country covers, but they also covered some neotraditionalists like Jon Pardi. The four-piece group featured fiddle and steel guitar. Although their set was nearly all covers, they did a nice original song called “Little Country Dance Hall.”

LynnMarie is a five-time Grammy polka nominee based in Nashville, and this was her first time to play Krause’s. LynnMarie and her husband Eddie Rodick III were joined by Craig Ebel from Minnesota and by host Alex Meixner, who moved to New Braunfels a few months ago. Kathy Zamejc Vogt from Ontario also made a surprise appearance for a few songs. All of these people are very well respected in polka. LynnMarie’s “home base” is the Bavarian Bierhaus in Nashville. I saw a polka group called Toby’s House there last month. Some of the members of that group regularly play in country bands, also. The Bavarian Bierhaus is in the Opry Mills shopping complex, so it’s a great choice if you’re going to the Opry. Although polka was the main attraction of LynnMarie’s set at Krause’s, there was also some country mixed in, from Hank Williams to Garth Brooks to Tennessee Whiskey.

The July edition of “Texas Polka News” magazine has a feature on western swing music, and the great influence that polka music had on Milton Brown and other western swing pioneers. Unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall, so I can’t link it.

On Sunday, we saw local western swing act Big Cedar Fever at Devil’s Backbone Tavern. We’ve seen this act several times, from Black’s BBQ in San Marcos to Americanafest in Nashville to Ameripolitan in Memphis. Usually, I’ve seen the group as a trio, with Georgia, Nick, and fiddler Ian. Ian wasn’t with them Sunday, but the two new guys did a fine job. James Gwyn is a drummer and the Greg Harkins is a singer, songwriter, and guitar player. In any configuration, Big Cedar Fever is worth checking out, especially if you like Cindy Walker, Bob Wills, etc. Big Cedar Fever recently opened several shows for the Quebe Sisters.

July 9, 2022 Regional Scenes Update

Last month, I spent a week in Nashville and a week in Branson, and I live in Texas. Although some acts make the rounds everywhere, many acts spend most of their efforts in one place.

Let’s catch up with some of the regional scenes.

I’ll start with my old hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama (though most or all of the people I mention here are actually in the suburb Northport). My cousin Bill and his wife Sharon have a bluegrass band called “Bounds and Determined” and they are featured in this month’s The Bluegrass Standard . Although the group is new and preparing its first record, every member of the group has played bluegrass for decades. Adam Hood’s recent song features Miranda Lambert. You can also find videos of Adam and Miranda collaborating over a decade ago. Adam is probably better known in Texas than in Alabama, since Alabama’s music scene is not well known or promoted. The Tuscaloosa area has a lot of young country singers, too. 15-year old Sadie McClendon recently released the single “Eloise.” I first saw Sadie perform when she was 9 or 10, and she has performed in Nashville, with the Last Honky Tonk Series in Louisiana, and on stage with Jamey Johnson and other major artists. Jackson Chase is another teenage traditionalist from the Tuscaloosa area to put on your radar. Earlier this year, the high school sophomore recorded a duet with John Anderson, and his debut EP will also feature collaborations with John Schneider and Tayla Lynn.

One of the members of Sweet Tea Trio is from Tuscaloosa, though the act is based in Nashville now and managed by Kid Rock. They released the EP “Sugar Rush” last month. One of the members of Restless Road is from Tuscaloosa. The pop-country group is on Kane Brown’s label and is enjoying some mainstream success.

The Heart of Texas folks in Brady are very committed to traditional country music. In addition to the museum, they’re on radio and RFD-TV, and sponsor assorted events. For instance, this week, the Heart of Texas booked the Malpass Brothers in Llano and Seguin. Next week, the Heart of Texas Roadshow will bring ten or more acts to Nashville, and later this month, there will be a Heart of Texas Roadshow event in Ontario.

Bloomin’ Bluegrass is the biggest annual bluegrass festival in Texas and one of the best values anywhere. I’ll be there in October. Check out the stellar lineup!

Experiencing music live is the best. Here are some event calendars of interest:

Western Swing calendar

Western Music Association calendar

Polka Beat calendar