Stoney LaRue 3.19.11

 March 18, 2011 Grizzly Rose, Denver, CO

Jen, Stoney & Meghan

An all-time favorite of mine, Stoney LaRue.  His voice is full of soul and spirit and he does not put on a bad show.  Ever.  This set included a lot of much anticipated and welcomed new music. Among the new tunes, ‘Velvet’ a beautiful ballad ‘Come down and watch your first step, don’t do anything you might regret, you’re much too innocent to suffer, and it wasn’t all sunny days picking through your memories, the rain came down and you covered me in velvet.’, ‘Us Time’, a simple but soulful lovesong….the kind that melts my heart right down to nothin’.   ‘I got a place just down the road where we could watch the sunrise and after a night of lovin’ on you I love that look in your eyes, I’m needin’ some you, havin’ a drink, shootin’ the breeze just bein’ around you, a joke to make you smile, I’m needin’ some me, actin a fool, tryin’ to impress you, oh it’s time for some us time’. 

 He also did a really catchy new Spanish tune, but since I don’t speak Spanish, I couldn’t tell you what the Spanish words are, but it sounded great and now I want to learn Spanish.  Something about, ‘I will carry you’….really great tune.  This gives us all something to look forward to in May when the Stoney album is released. 

The new songs replaced popular picks such as ‘Downtown’, ‘Texas Moon’, ‘Shot Full of Holes’ (recorded and written with Jason Boland), and ‘Going Down in Flames’, though he didn’t fail to play crowd favorites, ‘One Chord Song’, ‘Idabel Blues’ and the always amazing Brandon Jenkins tune, ‘Feet Don’t Touch the Ground’.  He closed his set with the infamous ‘Oklahoma Breakdown’.  The encore performance was comprised of 3 tunes including the Gary Stewart cover, ‘Empty Glass’, ‘Oklahoma’ co-written with Cody Canada and previously recorded by the late Cross Canadian Ragweed with a thorough and intricate instrumental jam in the center of the song.

What was missing:  It was a great show and I love the new music but I would’ve liked a couple of acoustic songs…..just Stoney – guitar and voice.

If you still haven’t seen a Stoney LaRue show, well (well, well), it’s time you do. www.stoneylarue.com

-Meghan♥

Easton Corbin 3.6.11

March 6, 2011 Grizzly Rose, Denver, CO

Close call Easton Corbin.  I bought tickets to this show because I love his traditional sounding deep country voice and his radio hits, ‘A Little More Country Than That’ and ‘Roll With It’.  He reminds me (and probably most of everyone else) of a George Strait Jr.  I’ll start with the bad:  11 covers in the set.  Now, covers aren’t all bad and with a perfect deep country voice and a steel guitar in his band I assumed his covers to be in the likes of Vern Gosdin, Conway Twitty and Waylon Jennings.  However, my assumption failed to consider that the average age of the audience was about 19 thus, many of his covers were newer songs.  He opened with ‘A Little More Country Than That’ and after that I started to question, ‘A Little More Country Than What?’ as his next covers interspersed with his own album songs included:  Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Gary Allan, Alan Jackson again, and then finally, an oasis, a Merle Haggard cover of ‘Silver Wings’.  This was only to be followed up by a Kenny Chesney cover but then another Merle tune, then Conway Twitty’s, ‘Love to Lay You Down’.  He punctuated the covers with a couple more of his radio hits were, ‘Roll With It’ and ‘Love You Back’ and an interlude in one cover of Jerry Reed’s ‘Amos Moses’.  He started his encore performance with an amazing acoustic rendition of George Strait’s ‘The Chair’.  He closed with 2 newer George Strait hits.  ‘Ohhhh, I like you too but to tell you the truth’……..you should’ve ended at ‘The Chair’…..you just can’t top that.

What was missing:  more traditional covers (less new country pop)

-Meghan♥

Casey Donahew Band 3.4.11

March 4, 2011 Midnight Rodeo, Austin, TX

This was my first time seeing the Casey Donahew Band and my first trip to Austin.   The Midnight Rodeo is a smaller venue and it wasn’t too crowded, benefits on both accounts, in my book (however it’s a little ways outside of the downtown area).  The band performed their prevalent hits, among them, ‘Nowhere Fast’, ‘Let Me Love You and’ and ‘Next Time’ from the Moving On album released in 2009 and ‘Shine on Me’ and ‘Love Me Right’ from their self-titled album released in 2006.   Casey Donahew might fall into the category of Outlaw County or Texas Country, thus Texas is a reoccurring theme in his lyrics.  His songs are energetic and maintain a country sound and feel.  His lyrics, while simple, have a striking rhyming scheme that builds momentum in each song.

“Gonna take a stand and draw the line
Find a bottle and drink you off my mind
Find somebody new who
Don’t look a thing like you and
Spend all night and half a day
Lovin my blues away
Oh but you know that I’ll be fine
Cause there won’t be a next time” (Next Time) 

 

 

 

 

“Now it’s been a long 25 years
Living life with all these fears
I’m holding on for a better day
Pray the sun will come and stay
Shine on me, shine on me” (Shine on Me)

My personal favorite, ‘Angel’, the story of a women at the mercy of addiction.

“She’s an angel that’s lost her way,
She’s an angel from another day,
She may be the devil, sent to lead me a stray
But I think she’s an angel that’s lost her way” (Angel)

What was missing:  Jen

If you are reading this blog and you don’t understand any of it then you need to check out some Casey Donahew Band music ASAP.  You can listen for free on his website:  www.caseydonahewband.com

Casey Donahew if you are reading this, please add some Denver tour dates to your schedule.  That would be great, thanks.

-Meghan♥

Cody Canada and The Departed 3.3.11

March 3, 2011, Cowboys, Colorado Springs, CO

I fell in love with the original Cross Canadian Ragweed because it’s nothing like the Nashville pop country taking airwaves hostage these days.

I group myself amongst all the other avid Ragweed fans, disappointed to see them break up. So it’s with out question that I had high expectations for the new band. And the question on everyone’s mind: what is the difference between this band and Cross Canadian Ragweed? I saw The Departed perform a few times at Musicfest back in January, shortly after their debut, raw and uncut! I have to admit, I wasn’t sold.

I attended their March 3^rd show in Colorado Springs with more of an open mind. They played most of the songs from their upcoming album “This is Indian Land”, a tribute to Canada’s original influence and Oklahoma-based songwriters from the 1960s to early 2000s whose sound is called Red Dirt. I really like the song Skyline Radio:

“Step on up right this way if you wanna see the show we’ll help you out, fix you up, mend your fence and fill your cup, ……til you check your local listings for the skyline radio…….Someday im gonna take that ride, wanna have you go by my side, you’ll be Bonnie, I’ll be Clyde , with no particular place to go, get the key, let the motor run, talk about it in the mornin’ sun, be the best thing we’ve ever done, youand me and the skyline radio”

I strongly believe the new band behind Canada brings a lot of talent to the stage. Original Ragweed members, Cody Canada and Jeremy Plato are joined by two Oklahomans, keyboardist Steve Littleton and drummer David Bowen and Texas guitarist and singer-songwriter Seth James to form The Departed.

It’s obvious these guys love what they do and that is what makes fans fanatical about them. In the middle of the show Cody addressed the crowd saying “thanks for showing up, not knowing what to expect, and giving our new songs a chance. We’ll try to play a few of the old songs ya’all know and love.” I left the show feeling like I was there at the beginning of a something legendary…..yet an unquinching thirst for some Ragweed tunes remains.

Jennifer♥

 

 

Cody Canada & Jen