Palo Duro Records

The Americana Music Association released its list of the Top 100 Albums of 2008, and Palo Duro Records is  proud to have several artists in the lineup. Congratulations to these fantastic artists!

• Eleven Hundred Springs, “Country Jam”
• Darryl Lee Rush, “Live From The River Road Icehouse”
• Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros, “Diamonds In The Sun”- (This album is making its 2nd appearance in the Top 100 albums.  It was a top 100 album in 2007)

For the complete list, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

One of the tightest bands in all of country music, and definitely one of the most talented, it’s a shame to see The Derailers making hardly any inroads on the charts despite over a decade of some of the finest Bakersfield country since Buck Owens and his Buckaroos ruled the roost. It only proves what real country fans have known for years: real country is not appreciated on country radio or in Nashville. Sure, they’ll trot out some old legend when he’s near death or when a sympathetic story is called for, but when they’re doing fine physically and there’s no need for a story let one of them release a record and it’s nothing but crickets from the powers that be.

If you were a follower of the band in the late ’90’s when they were having their albums released by Sire Records, there has been a major change within the group. Tony Villanueva, their former singer, is no longer with the band and is now a preacher in the Northwest US somewhere. At first, I mourned the loss of Villanueva, as he seemed to really understand what country music was about and was a great singer and songwriter to boot. With Villanueva gone, it was up to guitarist/songwriter/sometime singer Brian Hofeldt to decide whether the band should keep going. Thank God, he decided to keep the Derailers on the rails! Now on his third album as leader of the band, The Derailers are as strong as ever and if you listened to the Sire albums and this one, there would be few differences other than the sound of the singer’s voice. And while the sameness might be a turnoff to some, great country music is real simple stuff, though don’t confuse ’simple’ with ‘easy’. With the limited palette of country music (especially when you narrow it down even further to a traditional Bakersfield sound, say) it takes real talent to come up with something fresh, but these guys have managed to do it every album. It could be Hofeldt’s love of Mersey pop, as little Beatles touches pop up on every Derailers record since Hofeldt has taken over. It’s funny, because The Beatles covered Buck Owens’ songs on their first albums so it’s come full circle in a way. Like the album title suggests, this great hard-country CD by the best country band in the business today is guaranteed to satisfy your musical desires.  Read review here

Review by Scott Homewood

Check out the music here

To purchase your copy today, buy here

PDR-1204

The Derailers

“Guarnteed To Satisfy”

Produced by Brian Hofeldt

Street date: August 26, 2008

Buy Now!

Listen Now on Last.fm

Although Live From the River Road Icehouse, Darryl Lee Rush’s sophomore effort, has been out for almost a year, a new video for the song “Lot” premiered last week at Trinity Hall in Mockingbird Station.

“Lot” is one of two studio recordings that appeared on the live album, and it may be the best song Rush has written. An ode to a woman accepting her lot in life while barely making ends meet, the song is just another example of Rush’s lyrical skill.

Rush’s debut, Llano Avenue, came out in 2006 and it is still one of the best collections of traditional country music to come out of Dallas in a decade. The live album seemed to be a holding pattern while Rush worked things out with his label, so let’s hope the video release will get things jump started and we can expect a lot more like “Lot” in the near future.

Review by Darryl Smyers

To view the “Lot” video, go to www.darrylleerush.com.

20th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards

BEST BAND: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST ALBUM: Eleven Hundred Springs, Country Jam
BEST COUNTRY/ROOTS ACT: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST MALE VOCALIST: Matt Hillyer, Eleven Hundred Springs

By, Pete Freedman, Dallas Observer

To Listen… To Buy

To the 13 acts and artists that had the misfortune of being nominated into the same categories as Eleven Hundred Springs: Sorry. This was just Eleven Hundred Springs’ year. No hard feelings?

Armed with a pure sound, a widespread appeal, a deserved respect and throngs of loyal fans, the band won every single award it was nominated for—even tangentially. Bass player Steven F. Berg also won the Best DJ award for his work under the DJ Burlap moniker, and past Eleven Hundred Springs collaborators The Tejas Brothers too managed a tie in the Best New Act category.

So, yeah. Pull weight much?

With Country Jam to hang their hat on, though, this isn’t a surprise. Now, a few months after its release to critical acclaim, the disc’s still earning heavy rotation on KZPS-FM Lone Star 92.5, proving what so many around town have known for so long: When it comes to classic country music—the good stuff, as in: country done right, country done well, country done fun (and not cheesy, for crying out loud)—Eleven Hundred Springs is the cream of the crop, local or otherwise.

And Berg, frontman Matt Hillyer, pedal steel player Danny Crelin, fiddler Jordan W. Hendrix and drummer Mark Reznicek all seem astonishingly humble about it, just happy to be playing music for their ever-loyal fans, which they do constantly.

“There’s an old adage that says you’re only as good as your last show,” says Hillyer, who also takes home this year’s award for Best Male Vocalist, “and we play a lot of shows. I try not to look forward or back.”

Thing is: Looking back is exactly what Eleven Hundred Springs’ sound inspires. There’s an honesty to it all, a realness that inspires instant nostalgia, a genuine quality that transports its listeners into a slower, easier, gentler time and a place where the moonshine is served by the bucketful and everybody line-dances like a pro.

“People respond to country music because there’s a lot of truth to it,” Hillyer says. “And it’s simple too, one of the genres of music where you don’t have to be angry all the time.”

So does this signal a return to form for a genre that’s seen better days? You bet, says Hillyer. “Country music never went away. It’s just that it makes people feel good, and right now, people seem to appreciate that.”

As far as Eleven Hundred Springs’ abilities to elicit such a response, Hillyer credits the band’s latest lineup: “We all have our heads in the same place, and we’re in it to win it,” he says, laughing, “as cheesy as it sounds.”

Cheesy? Sure.

Accurate? Best Band, Best Album, Best Country/Roots Act and Best Male Vocalist resoundingly reply “yes.”

More…

We are excited to announce the musical lineup for the debut Chattahippie Music Festival, featuring the best talent in Americana, Rock, Blues, Jam, Country, Folk and Bluegrass from around the nation! With over thirty artists from ten states, this promises to be a great celebration of peace, love and music!

Northwest Georgia Bank presents the 2008 Chattahippie Music Festival featuring: Pure Prairie League, Chris Knight, The Derailers, Charlie Louvin, Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros, Two Tons of Steel, Elizabeth Cook, Dallas Wayne, The Gougers, Gary Nicholson, Jason Eady & The Wayward Apostles, Laura Cantrell, Buzz Cason & The Love Notes, Beggars’ Caravan, Lou Wamp, Roger Alan Wade, Dane Varese, Joe Moss, Trent Summar & The New Row Mob, Jimmy Davis, Michael Johnathon, Band of Heathens, Doug & Telisha Williams, Miles from Nowhere, Michael Hearne & South by Southwest, Tommy Alverson, Billy Block, Whitey Johnson, Penguin, Tressie Seegers, Darryl Lee Rush, and The New Binkley Brothers.

(more…)

Make it Blue Monday: A monthly event where Williamson County Democrats gather, network, exchange ideas and HAVE SOME FUN - while raising awareness and funds for the WCDP. Admission door donation is $20. Special Saffire menu is available.
Call 790.3659 and leave voice message with your phone number to reserve tickets.

Saffire Restaurant in the Factory 230 Franklin Road

voted best restaurant in Williamson County by the Nashville Scene 5 years in a row.

If you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you know that I am just a bit
partial to live albums. My belief is that you get more of who an artist
really is when you hear them live and a live album is the closest thing to a
live music experience that you can get without being there. “Darryl Lee Rush
Live from the River Road Icehouse” from Darryl Lee Rush is the perfect
example of this. Darryl Lee Rush is not only a great songwriter but is one
hell of a performer. As the first artist ever signed to Shiner Records, the
pressure to deliver great Texas music is intense. But he does it. And he
does it with such enthusiasm and energy that just listening to the album
makes you want to call into work the next day because you are “not feeling
well” from the night before.

True to the unconventional nature of DLR, the lead track on this live album
is not live at all. “Lot” is a studio cut, usually reserved for the tail-end
of albums, that highlights DLR’s ability to communicate a snap shot of a
desperate life in thoroughly convincing fashion. When the live cuts start on
the album, I would suggest that you return the tray tables to their upright
and locked positions and extinguish all smoking materials. DLR pays homage
to his hometown right off the bat, with the tune, “Town Too Tough To Die,”
giving the story behind the song without missing one raucous beat. He
follows it up with the Matthew Ryan penned song, “Irrelevant,” which will
cause even the most casual listener to lose their minds at DLR’s talent for
song delivery. There are only two other songs on this album that come from
the pen of others — Steve Earle’s “Johnny Come Lately” and Sam Baker’s
“Truale.” The rest are pure unadulterated DLR. “Uncle Freddie Drove a
Tractor,” “White Trash Paradise” and “Smuggler’s Prayer” run the gamut of
themes and emotions and further remind us why we love live Texas music.
Speaking of Texas music, DLR gives us his ode to the genre that we all love
with the song, appropriately titled “Texas Music” that hits on themes that
all lovers of this music will be able to identify with.

Bottom line: Darryl Lee Rush gives us a pure Texas music album that is at
times rowdy, at other times serious and reflective. It makes us want to
consume copious amounts of Shiner beer and should be added to the collection
of any true Texas music fan.

by El Presidente

http://www.lonestarmusicmag.com/

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