This Friday night, Brian Wilkie (pictured) and I return to Finley Dunne's Tavern for three sets of hard-charging jukebox favorites. Brian will be armed with his Telecaster and his pedal steel guitar. He's one hell of a picker.
Finley Dunne's is located at 3458 N. Lincoln Avenue, in Chicago's Roscoe Village neighborhood. Showtime is 9:00 p.m., and there is no cover. Hope to see you.
For the past six months, I've made it a point to watch (or record) "The Marty Stuart Show," which airs every Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. (CST) on RFD-TV -- "Rural America's Most Important Network."
Marty's thirty-minute show is taped before a live audience on a spartan set in Nashville, and it's loaded with live music -- no skits, no interviews, and only a minimal amount of schtick.
Each week Marty and his phenomenal band, The Fabulous Superlatives, play a couple of tunes. Marty's wife, Connie Smith, generally joins the fray for one song. The kicker, however, is the weekly guest. It's generally someone who doesn't surface on TV -- perhaps because there aren't many opportunities (outside of American Idol and the late-night talk show circuit) for folks to sing and play on TV anymore.
In past weeks, Marty has featured legends like Wanda Jackson, The Del McCoury Band, Charley Pride, and Dallas Frazier. Equally important, he's also given airtime to great new acts like The Steeldrivers and The Quebe Sisters Band.
Marty's show reminds me a lot of The Buck Owens Ranch Show -- and that's a good thing. Buck's show aired regionally some forty years ago, and it's now available on DVD at Buck's website.
While I have Marty on the brain, I'll throw out a plug for "Souls' Chapel," his 2005 gospel record, which remains in heavy rotation at my house after four years.
This Saturday night, April 11, I'll be joined once again by my buddy Brian Wilkie (pictured here) for three sets of hard-swingin' jukebox favorites at Finley Dunne's Tavern. Brian is one of the finest guitarists/steel guitarists in Chicago, and it's always a treat for me to play with him.
Finley Dunne's is located at 3458 N. Lincoln Avenue, in Chicago's Roscoe Village neighborhood. Showtime is an extra-early 8:30 p.m. Finley Dunne's has great food, parking is plentiful, and there's no cover charge.
The temperature is supposed to climb to 50 degrees on this April Saturday night. Hope to see you at the tavern.
As we approach Inauguration Day, I keep thinking about one Chicagoan who passed away nine years ago. His timeless music certainly should -- but probably won't -- be filling the air at all the balls and parties on January 20.
Welcome to Chicago, Illinois -- a place long celebrated for its great pizza, beautiful lakefront, and wonderful music scene. It's surely just a matter of time before folks around the country figure out that our city and state are also noteworthy for the dead-fish stench of political corruption that has, for decades, filled the air here in the Land of Lincoln.
The Blue State Cowboys hit the studio last night to record their musical take on this political cesspool:
PAY TO PLAY (But Keep Love In Your Heart)
Matt Farmer
All my life I’ve been a workin’ man On Chicago’s northwest side Livin’ check to check, never gettin’ ahead No matter how hard I tried
I had an old friend from the neighborhood He grew up to do just fine He couldn’t read or write to save his life But I guess his boss didn’t mind
Now, I never quite knew what my old friend did To get that money rollin’ in But life, I guess, can be pretty good For a state committeeman
So, one night over beer at the local bar I said, “How’d you make your dough?” My friend just grinned a wicked grin And said “Here’s all you need to know”
CHORUS You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town If you wanna make that deal go down It’s who you know inside the Big Machine Just find the man that’s behind the man And put some money in his hand That’s how we try to keep our city green
VERSE Well, the liquor flowed and the stories flew And my old friend bared his soul About rigging bids and getting neighbor kids Good jobs on a ghost payroll
He said he’d be happy to help me out If there was anything he could do Like try to arrange a zoning change Or put me on a movie crew
Well, we talked and talked until last call And then I told him I was beat Then he climbed aboard his hired truck To see a man about a Senate seat
And late that night as I lay in bed You know I finally figured it out My friend didn’t need to read or write Cause he had himself some clout
CHORUS You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town If you wanna make that deal go down It’s who you know inside the Big Machine Just find the man that’s behind the man And put some money in his hand That’s how we try to keep our city green
CHORUS You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town If you wanna make that deal go down It’s who you know inside the Big Machine If you wanna standout You gotta know who gets the handout That’s how we try to keep our city green It’s a daily job to keep our city green
Thanks to Mouse and Fig over at Reelsounds Chicago for making time to get us into their wonderful recording studio on short notice. Extra special thanks to my music-making buddies for braving last night's Chicago snowstorm to join me on this project. You guys are the best.
Brian Wilkie works his steel guitar magic.
Peter Strand (bass) and Peter Manis (drums) hold down the bottom.
Stevie Doyle spanks the plank.
Annalee Koehn's harmonies can make even political corruption sound angelic.
Thom "Fig" Fiegle works the big board.
Since this is the holiday season, the BSC gang asks all of you to heed the words of our governor (recently channeling Elvis) and try to "keep love in your heart."
It ain't the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, but as far as holiday traditions go, I've had a good thing going for eight of the last ten years. I’ve managed -- with my wife's blessing, of course -- to kick off the long Thanksgiving weekend by playing an after-work gig in a Chicago tavern, and I've been lucky enough to have a lot of my musically-inclined friends sign on for the event.
One of the highlights, of course, has been the willingness of the St. Louis Horns, my music-making compadres from Missouri, to make the 300-mile trip to town for the near-annual November bash. This year, however, scheduling issues and a global economic meltdown have conspired against such a large-scale musical onslaught. So I've implemented Plan B -- which means adapting and getting back to the basics.
This year, be sure to jump-start your holiday weekend on Wednesday, November 26, by joining me and my guitar-pickin’ buddy Stevie Doyle (pictured above) as we knock out hours of jukebox favorites at McKellin’s Pub, 2800 W. Touhy (at the corner of California and Touhy), in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. We’ll cover a lot of musical ground (e.g., Hank, Haggard, Prine, Kristofferson, Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee, Buddy, and Carl) and we may even have some special guests.
Mr. Doyle -- an honorary Blue State Cowboy, whenever I can get him on a gig -- has been working his Telecaster magic for over twenty years with numerous Chicago bands, and some of you have probably learned a few things from him through his classes and private lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Over the years he’s shared stages with folks like Pinetop Perkins, David Bromberg, Dale Watson, John Primer, and Smokey Smothers.
McKellin’s is a great neighborhood tavern, and there’s plenty of parking. It’s an early start time. We’ll play from 6:30 p.m. until about 9:30 p.m., and there is no cover charge. Hope to see you down the line.
A couple of days ago, while having my morning coffee, I e-mailed "Crawl Back To Crawford" -- my band's musical farewell to George W. Bush -- to Joe Nick Patoski, a guy I consider the dean of Texas music writers.
Now, I'd never met Joe Nick, but I've been reading his work for decades. (In fact, I highly recommend his recent biography of Willie Nelson -- a perfect gift for any Willie fan in your family.) Truth is, I sent Joe Nick the song on a lark, thinking it might be nice if someone in Texas dug it.
Turns out he dug it and quickly asked me if he could post the song on his blog. That was a no-brainer for me.
I don't know who visits Joe Nick's blog, but it did make my week to know that a writer whose work I've enjoyed for a long time wanted to post my tune (along with a very cool song -- "Do The Soul President" -- from some serious studio cats in Dallas) on his cyber-forum.
I was in musical heaven last Saturday night. Booker T. & the MGs hit Chicago, along with Mavis Staples and her fine band.
And my wife and I had third row seats.
Now, over the years, I've been lucky enough to see a lot of my musical heroes play live -- e.g., Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Bo Diddley, Albert King, B.B. King, Andres Segovia, Dan Penn, Kris Kristofferson, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Palmieri, Gil Evans, The Temptations (w/ Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin), Jay McShann -- but I've never been able to catch a performance by Booker T. & the MGs. I don't think they've played a lot of Chicago dates during the last couple of decades.
The guys are obviously a little older and grayer than they were when they served as one of the greatest house bands ever (see clip below), but old age hasn't slowed them down on the bandstand. They still bring it.
As for Mavis Staples -- a fellow Chicagoan -- I have been fortunate enough to see her perform over the years, and she still sounds great. Her new record, which was recorded live at The Hideout in Chicago and released this week, captures the feel of the show I saw on Saturday. Her current band features a fine guitarist, Rick Holmstrom, who obviously absorbed a lot of Pops Staples's playing.
If I die tomorrow, I'll die having seen Booker T. & the MGs perform live. (And, yes, I'll look up Al Jackson, Jr. when I get there.) Pretty cool.
The Blue State Cowboys offer their musical farewell to George W. Bush.
CRAWL BACK TO CRAWFORD (Matt Farmer)
VERSE Well, for eight long years we’ve been payin’ your rent But now your lease done run And all our money’s been spent So pack up your bags And take a last look around At how you drove a great nation straight into the ground
CHORUS And don’t let the door Hit you in the ass on the way out Don’t bother with the goodbyes Just make sure that you stay out There ain’t no need to call No need to write We don’t even need you to turn out the light Just crawl back to Crawford, brother Promise that you’ll leave us alone
VERSE Every step of the way, your story’s been the same Just cruisin’ through the world On your daddy’s name You had the oilmen friends You had the Skull and Bones But it never would have happened if your name was Jones
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE Slam dunk, privatize, deregulate Tax cuts, trickle down The politics of hate Flag pin, waterboard Intelligent design You were handed your throne by just five of the nine
REPEAT CHORUS ____________________________________________ Thanks to my friend Don Grayless (pictured below) for recording this song on short notice.
Thanks, too, to my music-making friends Brian Wilkie (guitar), Stevie Doyle (guitar), Peter Strand (bass), Peter Manis (Drums), Diana Laffey (background vocals), and Gerald McClendon (background vocals) for their work on this tune.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get The St. Louis Horns to town in time to record with us -- not that they would have even wanted to get involved with these partisan antics . . . .
