Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Jack Knifed and Wasco'd

When Junior Brown first appeared on Austin City Limits back in 1995, he probably had no idea that one of the best male country singers to come along since George Jones was sitting right behind him on the stage, playing drums.

I can't really blame Junior for the oversight. I've been guilty of the same thing myself.

Paul deLay and I both had Jeff Minnick in our bands. We'd let him sing one, maybe two songs a night. The dance floor would invariably fill right up, but I guess we thought that was just because the songs had a good groove. (Shows how much we knew.)

I did know Jeff was a good writer. Artists like Gary Primich had recorded his tunes. I even sang one of them myself ("This Place Has Changed") on my last CD, Serve Me Right to Shuffle.

Now Minnick has really gone and done it. He's got his own band together, and it's top-notch. The outfit calls itself The Wasco Brothers, and they record for Portland's brand-new PsycheDelta Records label, where they know what they're doing.

The talent in this band is deep and wide. You can hear a couple of tracks on their web site, or you can go straight to CD Baby and get a copy. Trust me, you're not going to find this album in the cut-out bins.

By the way, the CD is on iTunes as well.

Hardly anyone is writing songs this good, nobody could sing or play them better than these guys do.

I didn't really expect records to ever sound like this again.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Takin' a Trip Down Highway 99

This coming Friday, Nov. 21, I'll be playing in Seattle at Highway 99 Blues Club. Last time I played Highway 99 was a few years back, with Paul deLay.

This time I'll be joined onstage by Jim, Les & Jeff from Becky Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies, one of my all-time favorite bands, plus Peter Dammann from the deLay band on guitar.

We plan to get started at 9:00 p.m. and rock on "as long as the flavor lasts."

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Open Door

Why would anyone need to plow through an open door?
"If there is an open door in '12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plow through that door."

-- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), quoted by the New York Daily News, courtesy of Political Wire.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

How Does it Feel?

"I feel like I've died and gone to America."
-- Barry Franklin (the poet, not the composer)