DBT WIR - 3/30/07

DBT Parts

Update: Check out some pictures.

Highlights from last night:

Via FADER:

Nine Bullets:

"The set was fucking spectacular...

Highlights I remember include:

• Cooley forgetting the 'Daddy's Cup' lyrics and laughing it off.

• Jason jumping into the crowd in mid-solo, playing out the song (forget which one), handing the guitar back up to their guitar tech and climbing back on stage.

• Patterson doing 'Margo & Harold'...My first time seeing that live. Thanks Mr. Hood

• They rocked the shit out of 'Decoration Day'

• Shonna T seemed like she was in a playful mood all night. Looked like she was laughing at Cooley all night.

I'm hitting the sack...tired & in need of sleep. Tonight was a great night in Greenville. Thanks to all parties involved in making the concert happen."

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Take a look at Jason playing with Booker T. Sound quality is rough but you can tell how stoked the boys are at the end of the song. This must of have pretty fucking awesome for Jason and those at the show.

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Patterson let's loose with an orgy of information on his Gibson Blog.

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Via Scott at Parasites and Sycophants:

The Post and Courier, Charleston SC:

"It's one thing to say you're a working band, but it's another thing all together to be the working band you lay claim to."

Blog post from Parasites and Sycophants

Life and How to Live It:

"Blogs aint shit without gimmicky semi-regular features named after songs, so I figured I needed one of those too. Cover Me will be a semi-regular feature (read: broken out whenever I have nothing better to write about) where I take some of my favorite bands and post worthy covers of their material or covers they've done. For the inaugural version, I figured I'd use Life and How to Live It's second favorite band from Athens, GA, Drive By Truckers. If you've never seen DBT live, their show is like a three hour ass whoopin' complete with guitars and whiskey. From time to time, they get frisky and break out some covers. Here are some of my favorites, most of which seem to be sung by Jason Isbell (more on him some other time). Enjoy."

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Via Jayne, the best DBT article spotter on the planet:

dbts : Message: Southern Bitch & DBT:

"A nice article on Southern Bitch, with some focus on DBT.

and

Here's an article from Charleston as they gear up for DBT this weekend. If you're like me, this should make you wonder what would be on your DBT 'Essentials' album if you had to choose.

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Hometown love:

Truckers' guitarist uses tour break for solo projects:

"The Drive-By Truckers are deemed one of the greatest southern rock bands of all time and rightly so."

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Found a random intertube thread on DBT. Some interesting tidbits:

Drive-By Truckers Thread - Forums!

Brent Best

Via, who else, Jayne:

Larry Brown at Oxford Conference for the Book :

"OXFORD, Miss., March 24 — The minimarts in this town are not allowed to sell cold beer, and anyone familiar with Larry Brown or his fiction might reasonably think that he is the reason. Mr. Brown, who grew up in this area, wrote stories with many a compulsive drinker, many a winding road and nary a designated driver.
....
Into microphones or over whiskey, people recounted Mr. Brown’s long letters, his meticulous list of rejections from editors and the tours of nearby Lafayette County he would give to friends, pointing out where one of his characters had found warm beer in a ditch or where a real, live family member had run off the road; how Mr. Brown once, seeing some people he believed had wronged him, climbed on their restaurant table and danced, slowly and calmly, on their food; how he plunked a bong down on the kitchen table to announce to his family that he would not longer conceal his pot-smoking habit; how he loved to play the guitar but refused to learn more than three chords.
.....

The show had been sold out for weeks. In the first set four Mississippians with guitars — Duff Dorrough, Cary Hudson, Tim Lee and Clint Jordan — traded off, mixing their own songs about catfish and hush puppies with Hank Williams covers. Next was the less traditional, younger set: Mr. Weaver, Mr. Chesnutt and Brent Best, of a defunct band from Denton, Tex., called Slobberbone. Last were the headliners, Mr. Escovedo and Mr. Keen, who played with his bassist, Bill Whitbeck.

Umm, NYT, Brent Best is in a funct band now called The Drams. Could of mentioned that.

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Steve Richerson (Trash) and his production company, Concrete Dream have wrapped shooting a short called Mystic Swirl. Check out the MySpace for a trailer:

Also, check out Steve Trash's new website!!!

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A Southern Rock Documentary via somebody on the Yahoo Group that I did not when I grabbed the link. D'oh

Grass roots, fish fry. 'Burn Holes'. Back in Black Solo-funny. "'You can be glad in the same goddamn pants you got mad in".

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Music

The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor :

“If we get two songs out, we get a shot,” said Vatana Shaw, 20, who formed the trio four years ago, “Only true fans are buying full albums. Most people don’t really do that anymore.”

To the regret of music labels everywhere, she is right: fans are buying fewer and fewer full albums. In the shift from CDs to digital music, buyers can now pick the individual songs they like without having to pay upward of $10 for an album."

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I end the post today with the songtress who has been dominating my ears for the past week. I've been listening to Amy Winehouse non-stop. She's a massive talent and I look for her most recent album, Back in Black to be on the charts in the U.S. very soon. It is #1 on the British charts.

Also, I bought her 1st album, Frank, a couple of days ago, and while the heavy had of dip-shit music industry putzs is apparent, it still is a must have from this amazingly, incredible, fucked-up singer.

Amy, will you marry me?

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MC Motherfucker Who Should be in Prison

This boils my fucking blood. So mad I could spit.

How many troops have been killed this month?

How many lives destroyed because of this son-of-a-bitch.

How many citizens of this country so terribly misinformed by a media that worries more about being buddies with the bastards in charge than providing critical oversight that is a necessary function of the 4th motherfucking estate.

That David Gregory, who on occassions looked like he might resemble a newsman of the past, would so whore out his career in this fashion.

That this piece of shit Rove can find the time to laugh and joke and 'rap'.

If there is any justice in the world this motherfucker will have the mother of all strokes and have to be spoon feed the rest of his life while he stews in his own shitty diaper.



A-hahahahahahahahaha!!!! Weeeeeee!!!! Isn't it all fun, destroying the fucking world! Woo-hoo!

Here's a fucking rap for you "Fuck you, KKKarl Rove". Yeah, that's defnitely got a beat that I can dance to.

That about ruined my day. I take solace in the fact that the sold-out MSM is loosing its war with the blogosphere. The 4th estate is being moved, thank jeebus, off of your televisions and radio and onto the internet.

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Meanwhile, in AttorneyGate happenings:

The Nazi bastard's view of the Justice Department:

Aide: Prosecutors fired over priorities:

"WASHINGTON - Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff said Thursday, a standard that Democrats called 'highly improper.'"

Now the view of a true American who respects the Constitution:

Leahy: Justice does not serve at the pleasure of the President:

"'United States Attorneys may serve at the pleasure of the president, but justice does not serve at the pleasure of the president, or any president,' he said."

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I need something to smooth me out. To much rage for a Thursday morning. What would do it, hmmmm, what would do it....

Carmen Electra harbours a lesbian crush on Joan Jett!: "

Washington, Mar.28(ANI): Former Baywatch babe Carmen Electra has grown up nourishing a secret lesbian crush on rocker Joan Jett.

The actress turned model revealed that she has been lusting after the I Love Rock 'n' Roll singer from the age of eight after catching a glimpse of the sexy songstress in a bikini in one of her a rock videos."

Please, oh, please, oh, please, oh, please let there be a leaked celebrity sex tape of this coupling. Mother Earth, you owes us this after the bastard 'MC' debacle above.

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What? Yeah!

Lil' Jon Scores Jewelry Record:

"Rapper Lil' Jon has been added to the Guinness Book of World Records as the owner of the largest diamond pendant ever.

The hip-hop star's 'Crunk Aint Dead' pendant has weighed in as the globe's biggest -- it's 7.5 inches tall, 6 inches wide and 1 inch thick.

The impressive diamond accessory, valued at $500,000, weighs almost 12 pounds and features 73 carats of diamonds -- 3,756 genuine round-cut white diamonds set in 18-karat yellow and white gold."

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Endangered Species

In case you haven't noticed Democrats are busting ass to end this bullshit 'war' the Republican Party has qua-mired us in... giggity.

Yes, the Democrats.

Withdrawal language survives Senate challenge:

"I'm not sure how Reid pulled this one off, but a GOP effort to strip the Senate Iraq supplemental of withdrawal deadlines survived a close vote. The vote was 50-48-2."

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Folks are lining up behind the Democrats, too.

Exhibit A:

An Antiwar Tide on The Rise:

"Within three weeks, the United States could face a constitutional crisis over President Bush's war policy in Iraq. The president and his allies seem to want this fight. Yet insisting upon a confrontation will be another mistake in a long line of bad judgments about a conflict that grows more unpopular by the day"

Exhibit B:

Poll backs subpoenas of Bush aides:

"WASHINGTON — Americans overwhelmingly support a congressional investigation into White House involvement in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, and they say President Bush and his aides should answer questions about it without invoking executive privilege.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday-Sunday, respondents said by nearly 3-to-1 that Congress should issue subpoenas to force White House officials to testify."

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The Republicans are a living parody of 'evil'. It's like they all have greasy thin mustaches that they compulsively twirl as they tie the girl to the railroad tracks because she 'can't pay the rent'.

Fortunately or unfortunately... hard to decide... but they are also the embodiment of Elmer Fudd. Bumbling, incompetent, and just dying to kill that fucking rabbit and everything else in the woods.

Bush Administration’s Secret Plan To ‘Gut’ Endangered Species Act Revealed:

A 117-page document obtained by Salon.com highlights a “secretive plan” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to “gut” the Endangered Species Act.

The law, which is credited with saving the American Bald Eagle from extinction,” would be changed to limit the number of species that can be protected,” curtail preserved acres of wildlife habitat, and “dilute legal barriers that protect habitat from sprawl, logging or mining."

How the South, with all its hunters and fishermen and women, can support a Republican is beyond me.

More on these haters of all living things.

The Blotter:

Bush administration officials throughout the government have engaged in White House-directed efforts to stifle, delay or dampen the release of climate change research that casts the White House or its policies in a bad light, says a new report that purports to be the most comprehensive assessment to date of the subject."

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Good forbid we elect politicians that support science. I mean, what the hell can science fix:

Docs fix hearts with stem cell injections:

Doctors have rejuvenated post-heart attack patients by injecting them with stem cells, said two studies released Sunday.

The clinical trials delivered stem cells to hearts whose stiff, post-attack scar tissue kept them from pumping blood as they should, according to the studies presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting of 30,000 specialists in New Orleans, Louisiana until March 27."

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This will be a strange one, but, it is a lifestyle change I'm more than willing to make. I'll be purchasing my hemp grocery tote bags this weekend.

SF supes vote to ban plastic bags in stores:

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 this afternoon to make the city the first in the nation to prohibit petroleum-based plastic checkout bags in large markets and pharmacies."

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Good Dog! Atta boy!!!

Dog Performs 'Heimlich' on Choking Owner:

"Toby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, saw his owner choking on a piece of fruit and began jumping up and down on the woman's chest. The dog's owner believes the dog was trying to perform the Heimlich maneuver and saved her life.

Debbie Parkhurst, 45, of Calvert told the Cecil Whig she was eating an apple at her home Friday when a piece lodged in her throat. She attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver on herself but it didn't work. After she began beating on her chest, she said Toby noticed and got involved."

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Tragedy in Buttholeville

Tragedy struck Buttholeville (aka Florence, AL, my hometown) Friday when a blue hair mistook the gas for the brake and ploughed into one of the best BBQ joints in North Alabama. Bunyan's is located about a block from where I grew up. It was a weekly staple... sometimes twice and thrice weekly.

3 injured when car crashes through Florence restaurant | TimesDaily.com

FLORENCE – Three people were injured just after 11 a.m. today when a car crashed through the west side window of Bunyan’s Bar-B-Que on College Street in Florence

They do BBQ Florence style with mayo and/or hot slaw. Smoked meat, no sauce. Inside or outside meat. I always went outside. You can get a side of sauce that is vinegar/sweet based. They use soft, white bread buns that are warmed and smashed. They do hot dogs with their slaw, too. Bag of Golden Flake chips.... a Coe-Cola.... My mouth is watering just thinking of one.

This really sucks ass. I hope the 3 Bunyans BBQ Nazi ladies are OK. They've been working the counter from my very first memories. They don't fuck around, either. You better know what you want to order when you walk through the door or you'll find your ass at the back of the line, quick.

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OK, a 22 y.o dude and a 20 y.o. chick... on a cruise.... fell of a balcony.... want the 'circumstances to remain private'.... what do you suppose they were doing? (que porno music) Just sayin'.

Not only did the motion of the ocean get them.... the size of the ship almost killed them:

Ship passengers who fell seek privacy:

The 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman had only minor injuries after falling into the Gulf of Mexico from a balcony on the Grand Princess ship, said Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises. They have asked that the circumstances remain private and requested that no personal information be released."

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Don't suppose booze was involved with Mr. and Mrs. Shipwrecked, do you?

Drink 'more harmful than drugs':

"Alcohol is ranked almost as harmful as heroin in a controversial new drug classification system proposed by a team of leading scientists.

The class A drug Ecstasy, possession of which can result in a seven-year prison sentence, is placed near the bottom of the league table which lists 'harm scores' for different substances.

LSD, another class A drug, is also considered relatively safe despite its powerful hallucinogenic properties.

Cannabis, recently downgraded to class C, occupies a middle position. It is rated more dangerous than Ecstasy, LSD and the dance floor drug GHB, but less harmful than tobacco."

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Speaking of booze and drugs, this article recently ran in S.F.'s paper.

Any dude that would do this needs to be strung up by his balls. But, the story is a great one. Two vigilant chicks and a bartender totally stopped a date rape. All three should be given an award. No joke.

Date in jail for drugging beer / Quick-thinking S.F. pair nail man slipping his companion a mickey:

"It looked for all the world as if the couple on a date -- he was darkly handsome and a little older than the pretty, petite blonde with the Russian accent -- were having a great time together."

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Oh, religion. Without fear, what do you really have.

God-fearing villagers snub "satanic" bar codes:

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - A hundred residents of a Russian village have refused to switch to new passports because they believe the documents' bar codes contain satanic symbols, state television reported Wednesday.

'We believe these new passports are sinful,' Valentina Yepifanova, an elderly resident of the village Bogolyubovo, told Rossiya television as she clutched an old, tattered passport she said she wanted to keep.

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I said its hard out here for a pimp. Even 'Pimp of the Year'.

'Pimp of Year' Draws Lengthy Jail Term:

A man who touted himself as 'Pimp of the Year' was sentenced Friday to more than 23 years in federal prison. Matthew 'Knowledge' Thompkins pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to transport minors to engage in prostitution and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Authorities said that the Bronx, N.Y., man had prostitutes working for him in New York; Atlantic City; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; Youngstown, Ohio, and other cities.

When he was arrested in December 2005, authorities found two huge trophies in his home proclaiming him 'Pimp of the Year.'"

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This one if a week or so old. I had to post it though because I wanted to get all Chappelle:

Mars, Bitches!

Immense ice deposits found at south pole of Mars:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A spacecraft orbiting Mars has scanned huge deposits of water ice at its south pole so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 36 feet of water if they were liquid, scientists said on Thursday."

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Going Down

Before we begin our decent into a couple of Dante's circles of hell I must shed some light on some decency reappearing in the halls of Congress.

THESE are the type of people and THIS is the type of party I want running my country:

Liberal House Dems Get Standing Ovation Behind Closed Doors:

"This morning, when Dems met behind closed doors to get ready for the vote, members gave a standing ovation to the three key liberals who helped make this bill possible: Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey and Maxine Waters.

The kicker: All three were preparing to vote against the bill, and everyone there suspected as much -- but the three were applauded anyway."

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Okay, then, let's take a little trip south, shall we?

Circle Two - Lust

Or, how fucked up is most of Texas. I'm sorry, Texas. I know several amazing people that hail from inside your borders. I even have relatives (shitty ones) that live in Texas. But, folks give California hell all the time for some random law some random politician from some random, backwater shit hole in the Central Valley comes up with. So, here we have Texas wanting to pay for babies. The state legislature... W. T. F.:

Anti-abortion bill raises baby-buying worries:

"AUSTIN — Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick wants the state to pay $500 to women who give their babies up for adoption instead of aborting them, an idea some say borders on baby selling."

It gets even sicker. What the fuck are these people's issues with sex?

Do other people not shiver in disgust as I do when reading this? What kind of fucked up, maladjusted, sociopath cluster fuck are these people unleashing upon the world.

Whole new meaning to 'daddy's little girl'. *shudder*

No sex please, we're daddy's little girls:

"It has all the ingredients of a wedding. The proud tuxedo-clad father, the frosted white cake, the limousines and an exchange of vows.

But there is no groom and the girl in the long gown is no bride. She's daddy's little girl, there to take a vow of chastity.

In what is becoming a trend among conservative Christians in the United States, girls as young as nine are pledging to their fathers to remain virgins until they wed, in elaborate ceremonies dubbed 'Purity Balls.'"
......
They also point to studies showing that the majority of adolescents who take purity pledges break them within a few years, often by engaging in risky and unprotected sex.

One study conducted by researchers at the universities of Columbia and Yale found that 88 percent of pledgers wind up having sex before marriage

Teens may pledge with the best of intention... and then as they break their pledges they are so shamed and embarrassed that it's unlikely they will go for help."

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Seventh Circle, Inner Ring - Violence against nature

No comment necessary.

9/11 remains possibly used on roads: court papers:

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Debris that may have contained bits of bone from victims of the World Trade Center attacks was used to fill potholes and pave city roads, according to court papers filed on Friday.

The charge was made in an affidavit filed in Manhattan federal court in an ongoing case filed in 2005 by family members of those killed in the attacks against the city. They say the city did not do enough to search for remains, denying victims a proper burial."

D'oh, a deer, a female deer.... dead.... that this guy, um... well... fucked.

Man gets probation for dead deer sex:

"SUPERIOR, Wis. - A 20-year-old man received probation after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. The sentence also requires Bryan James Hathaway to be evaluated as a sex offender and treated at the Institute for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minn."

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(eyes shut-tight) Please, please, please let there be another world out there better than this one. A world, say, in the middle, where fellowship and honor still reside.

Sweet!

Tolkien Jr completes Lord of Rings:

"The first new Tolkien novel for 30 years is to be published next month. In a move eagerly anticipated by millions of fans across the world, The Children of H�rin will be released worldwide on 17 April, 89 years after the author started the work and four years after the final cinematic instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, one of biggest box office successes in history.

The book, whose contents are being jealously guarded by publisher HarperCollins - is described as 'an epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism"

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DBT WIR 3/23/07

Jason Isbell

Jason hits the road:

Metro Spirit, Augusta, Georgia:

"Jason Isbell is one busy guy. With a new solo release looming on the horizon, Isbell looks to spend the next few months winding solo performance dates around acoustic and electric shows with his main gig as guitarist and vocalist for Athens’ Drive-By Truckers."

A couple of review from his early gigs:

dbts : Message: Jason Isbell:

"Last night's Jason Isbell show at Common Grounds in Gainesville
Florida was outstanding.Crowd was probably 100 to 150 in number.Along with alot of very good new solo material,album out in june they say,songs played were DBT's,Tornadoes,Goddamn lonely love,Never gonna change,Dress blues,Outfit,Decoration day,Danko/Manuel and covers of
Atlantic city,Psycho killer,and Jail break.I didn't reconize quit a bit of the songs,new or covers?,but it was loud,clean,and very well mixed.A damn good show.Oh,and he was sellin' tee shirts.A whole lot of fun."

Nine Bullets:

"Holy Batshit Robin that was a great night of Rock and Roll.

The Assassin (sp) was like a crazy horse fest of crunch and swagger "

Isbell all over the place:

dbts : Message: Jason Isbell Mention-Rolling Stone:

"Does Timothy Dawe post here?

I ask because he got his letter to Rolling Stone published in the most recent issue. He was responding to their last issue in which David Frike listed his 'Top 20 Modern Guitar Gods'. Timothy wondered why Jason Isbell of The Drive-By Truckers was not listed. Pretty cool, huh?

Another guy said Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys should be in there, too. I agree with both of them. What's kind of sad is John Mayer was the marquee feature in this article. Have I completely missed the boat on this guy? Can someone back up the claims of this article? Is he really the second coming of Jimi & Stevie Ray?

Ant"

dbts : Message: AJC Braves Blog Mentions Jason:
Via Jayne Clamp

This was on a Braves blog for the AJC:

'Jason Isbell was in fine form: Took a few hours away from work last night to see the Drive-By Truckers' guitarist do a solo show at a great dive in Orlando. By solo, I mean without the other Truckers. But he has a crack band playing with him on this little tour, and the material is excellent, both the solo stuff off his upcoming album and, yes, a bunch of DBT songs."

DBT

The Braves loves them some DBT

dbts : Message: BRAVES/DBT

Got a happy suprise while listening to the Braves spring training game online--the Braves broadcast team was using DBT music during their lead ins between commercials. Coupla songs from Dirty South.

Ah, yet another reason to welcome spring--radio baseball and DBT. Now,if it will just get warm here in Indi-fuckin-ana, we can sit out backin the yard, drink beer, have friends over, and listen to both over the speakers!

Ryan

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ABC loves them some DBT

Nine Bullets:

"Terrible, terrible movie on ABCFamily the other night, but my 6yr old nephew insisted on watching it, so i'm sitting on the couch reading and trying to tune out the vapid dialogue, when suddenly I hear something familiar. 'clouds started forming, at five o'clock PM...'

edited 'cuz i relized i muffed the lyric-i do that when i sing john henry too!"

Speakin of which:

5 Deadliest Tornadoes in North Alabama | TimesDaily.com - Florence, AL


Edjumacated DBT

Via Jayne Clamp

Friday, March 16, 8:00 am,
MEGA-REGIONAL MUSIC SOCIETIES CONFERENCE

Hugh Hodgson School of Music
University of Georgia
16-17 March 2007

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia will host the joint annual meetings of three regional music societies, March 16-17, 2007. Music Theory Southeast (MTSE), the American Musicological Society South Central Chapter (AMSSCC), and the Society for Ethnomusicology Southeast and Caribbean Chapter (SEMSECC) will meet together for the first time. The two-day conference will feature talks and research presentations from the three branches of academic musical inquiry. The final event on Saturday will be a keynote address by Lawrence Zbikowski, a theorist on the faculty of the University of Chicago whose recent scholarship embraces all three of these branches.

This "Mega-Regional" conference represents the first time that the regional societies are meeting together and suggests a renewed interest in interdisciplinary scholarship and musical inquiry. The selection of Athens as the host site for this conference recognizes the emerging strength of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music as a regional and national center for music scholarship and education. Several presentations at the conference will pay homage to Athens' own musical culture, with papers from all three societies that focus on topics ranging from Southern musical traditions to the B-52's and the Drive-By Truckers.

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People talk about Cooley

Via Jayne Clamp

Stylus Magazine
Drive-By Trucker
January 30, 2007

Mike Cooley is one of three guitarists in the Athens, Georgia-based,Alabama born-and-bred rock band Drive-By Truckers. All threeguitarists (Patterson Hood and Jason Isbell are the other two) havepenned and sung the tracks for the last three records, starting with Decoration Day. While Hood is the primary songwriter, Isbell, who didn't join until Day, seems to get just as much attention from reviews, while Cooley, who usually provides two or three tracks each
record, never seems to get the praise he deserves, despite the fact that he's the best songwriter of the bunch.

Mystery link. I saved this link for some reason and I haven't gone back to check to see what the thread was about so, we'll call this the myster link.

dbts : Message: Re: [dbts] Road songs

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The Drams

slackercountry.com - Brent Best at the Barley House:

"While his bandmates Jess Barr and Tony Harper worked the bar, Brent engaged the faithful with lots of banter, played a surprising mix of covers and originals and slammed down a few drinks."

The Drams at SXSW 2007 courtesy of Sheryl Gould:

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New Tours Dates for the band

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I posted 3 new clips this weekend. They are on page three of my video section, on my myspace page. I think ya'll will like the new Waning clip.

Brad aka TequilaBrad

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Oh, Drams. Dontcha know that if you take a silly picture it will find its way to this blog.

I'm not really sure if the black and red go with the orange. Nice try, though, Keith. Always fearless to try new fashion

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Other Music News

Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne at SXSW. Pic courtesy of Sheryl Gould.

Nice tits, dude.

Rocker David Byrne making sense at SXSW fest :

"AUSTIN, Texas (Billboard) - Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne wants record labels to focus more on marketing than on manufacturing and distribution in the face of increasing digital album sales.

Byrne gave a presentation entitled 'Record Companies: Who Needs Them?' at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, Thursday. He offered a slide show that predicated digital sales would outstrip CD sales by 2012."

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Please keep Internet radio alive! Petition:

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Here is a discussion thread started on the Timesdaily.com re: Chris Quillen:

The Legend of Chris Monster Quillen

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They will soon ban people from Alabama from participating in any national talent search competition. Alabama dominates these things:

Angela wins ‘Star’ | TimesDaily.com | Florence, AL:

As the 2007 “Nashville Star” winner, Angela Hacker will receive a contract with Warner Bros. Records, a new Chevrolet Silverado pickup and a chance to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Rick Hall, founder of FAME Recording Studios, was there to watch his songwriter become country music’s newest star.

“I think it says Muscle Shoals music is alive and well, and America loves what we’re doing,” Hall said.

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slackercountry.com � A Tale of Two Todd Snider Shows

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First rappers make Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has finally admitted its first rap act.

'After receiving their first nomination in 2005, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five finally became the first rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year,' Ballerstatus.com reports."

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Paranoid Popper Popped:

Blues Traveler's Popper arrested:

"SPOKANE, Washington (AP) -- Blues Traveler singer and harmonica player John Popper was arrested after the vehicle he was riding in was clocked going 111 mph, the Washington State Patrol said Wednesday.
.....

Inside the black Mercedes SUV, officers found a cache of weapons and a small amount of marijuana, the Patrol said. A police dog searched the vehicle, finding numerous hidden compartments containing four rifles, nine handguns and a switchblade knife. Authorities also found a Taser and night vision goggles. The vehicle was seized.

Popper, who lives in Snohomish, Washington, is the owner of the vehicle, which was being driven by Brian Gourgeois, 34, of Austin, Texas, said state patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney. The vehicle also had flashing emergency headlights, a siren and a public address system, the Patrol said.

'Popper indicated to troopers that he had installed these items in his vehicle because (in the event of a natural disaster) he didn't want to be left behind,' the Patrol said in a news release. He also told officers he collected weapons, the Patrol said."

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Continuing the meat-liquor discussion

Via Nolan Voight

eG Forums -> The birth of weeniecello

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So Wrong.... About Everything

It is not surprising that the similarities to Watergate are being discussed. Shit, half of Bush's staff were involved in Watergate. The other half were involved in Iran-Contra.

We've got some quality criminals in the White House. The best of the best.

Missing eighteen-day stretch in Justice emails recalls infamous Watergate tape gap:

"First spotted by a commenter on the blog Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall reports there is an 18-day gap in the over 3,000 emails released by the Department of Justice pertaining to the attorney firing scandal.

The gap covers the days between November 15 and December 4, 2006. So far, only one email has been found dated within the 18 days among those released in Monday night's document dump. The lone email, from November 29, 2006, was one forwarded by Justice official Michael Elston to a fellow staffer asking for an attached review document to be printed.

'The firing calls went out on December 7th. But the original plan was to start placing the calls on November 15th,' notes Marshall. 'So those eighteen days are pretty key ones.'"

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Elections have consequences.... thank jeebus they do. Maybe, maybe we can turn Bush's Titantic around before it's too late:

Who's watching the president?:

Hurricane Katrina, the chaotic occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, the breakdown at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the FBI's abuse of Patriot Act powers, the troubling dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys — everywhere, the administration has been plagued by an epidemic of incompetence."
.....
The answer begins with Bush's management style. He combines a distaste for details with a tendency to prize loyalty over performance.

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Conservatives portray themselves as the serious-minded adults who are responsible.

Ummmm, not so much:

Conservatives Cost a Lot of Money:

"The real attention-getter about conservatives is that they are so damned expensive."

What costs more--a vast middle class who can support themselves and their towns and cities and schools and children and elderly relatives, or a vast class of working poor who can barely support themselves and certainly cannot take care of failing schools, deteriorating housing stock, surging crime, and chaos proliferating all around them? Just because the conservatives don't want to pay for something doesn't mean costs are not incurred; they are simply put off for another day, when they will be geometrically higher.

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They simply aren't right about anything. I mean anything. Not even historically. You can't find one instance where these guys have been right. They ooze wrongness.

Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Don’t Cry for Reagan:

"As the Bush administration sinks deeper into its multiple quagmires, the personality cult the G.O.P. once built around President Bush has given way to nostalgia for the good old days. The current cover of Time magazine shows a weeping Ronald Reagan, and declares that Republicans “need to reclaim the Reagan legacy.”

But Republicans shouldn’t cry for Ronald Reagan; the truth is, he never left them. There’s no need to reclaim the Reagan legacy: Mr. Bush is what Mr. Reagan would have been given the opportunity."

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And they don't give one wit about the Constitution. That's the scariest part. This is just chilling... or it should be fucking eye-opening.

If the Republican expressed how they truly felt about matters then they would never, ever win another election in the U.S.

Sometimes it slips out:

'Free speech is subject to policy':

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) issued a startling rebuke to the NASA official, disputing his assertion that taxpayer-funded scientists are entitled to speak freely.

'Free speech is not a simple thing and is subject to and directed by policy,' Cannon said, according to the Times."

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The U.S. pays a dear price for having these fools in power. It took them 6 years to wreak so much havoc.

These people are criminal dangerous:

The Price of White House Ineptitude:

"The White House that was once seen as muscular-even invincible-is being tagged as something else: incompetent. How else to explain the ham-handed Justice Department management of the dismissal of U.S. attorneys? Or the lack of oversight of conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center? Or an FBI that abused intelligence-gathering powers provided for in the Patriot Act? 'The whole thing just isn't competent,' a Republican senator close to the White House tells me. 'It looks like the wheels are coming off.'"

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If it's on motherfucker, then it's on!!!!!

If it's on motherfucker, then it's on!!!!!

Bush defends offer to allow Rove, Miers testimony behind closed doors; Will block any efforts to subpoena White House officials

Q Is today's offer from Mr. Fielding your best and final offer on this? Are you going to go to the mat in protecting the principle that you talked about? And why not, you know, since you say nothing wrong was done by your staff, why not just clear the air and let Karl Rove and other senior aids testify in public under oath?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well --

Q There has been a precedent for previous administrations doing that.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Some have; some haven't. My choice is to make sure that I safeguard the ability for presidents to get good decisions.

Michael, I'm worried about precedents that would make it difficult for somebody to walk into the Oval Office and say, Mr. President, here's what's on my mind. And if you haul somebody up in front of Congress and put them in oath and, you know, all the klieg lights and all the questioning, it -- to me, it makes it very difficult for a president to get good advice.

What kind of fucking advice are you getting? And haven't you been telling the America public since you've been ass raping our freedoms, spying on your own, pissing on the Constitution that if we ain't doin' nothin' wrong then we don't have anything to worry about?

Call your Congresspeople today and tell them you wish to remain living in a democracy not under a facist dictatorship and that they better do their motherfucking jobs!


Daily Kos: Time to break out the powder - NOW:

"Well, Democrats, it looks like the moment has finally arrived. Here you stand at a precipice, protecting our constitutional form of government, and there’s nothing beyond it but a black, gaping void of fascism and corporatocracy.

In his press conference today, President Bush made it abundantly clear what he thinks of Congress, the Constitution, and the will of the people."

What folks are saying:

Atrios:

The only reason to refuse to be under oath or even have a transcript is because you plan to lie and you want to do it with impunity.

Any executive privilege claims can only theoretically potentially limit the scope of questioning, not prevent them from testifying at all. Working for the president doesn't give you magic immunity from everything.

Americablog:

You see, no one did anything wrong. It's all just Democrats being political. Yeah, well, then why is Bush so anxious on the stand, I mean the podium? And why is he so terrified about having White House staff sworn in under oath, like regular Americans?

Reid:

“After telling a bunch of different stories about why they fired the U.S. Attorneys, the Bush Administration is not entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Congress and the American people deserve a straight answer. If Karl Rove plans to tell the truth, he has nothing to fear from being under oath like any other witness.”

Kos:

Update: The emperor hates being challenged, huh? He was furious at the notion that he and his administration should be held accountable.

Update II: I'm a bit relieved that Bush is stomping his feat and holding his breath on this issue. He could've killed this story dead by having Gonzales resign, but his petulance ensures this story goes strong into this coming cycle.

Republicans in Congress can't be too happy about this.

Josh Marshall - TPM

Bush: My aides may speak to Congress, as long as they don't have to tell the truth.

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Gotta Get Political, Political I Gotta Get

Gotta Get Political, Political I Gotta Get
Arrested Development - Give a Man a Fish

To those who believe, "I don't have anything to hide so I don't mind if the government looks at my phone calls or snopes into my internet browsing", I say to you, "You don't understand how a representative democracy works, and you attitude in this issue is what causes nations to go down a path that eventually leads to a facist take-over".

Go. Back. To. Russia.

To the FBI I say, keep your fucking nose out of my business.

To Congress I say, 'Repeal the Patriot Act, fully, or feel the consequeces at the polls."

Shit makes me so mad, I could spit:

Congress to probe improper FBI spying:

"WASHINGTON - Congress wants to know how the FBI illegally or improperly gathered telephone, e-mail and financial records of Americans and foreigners while chasing terrorists."

"Oh, but there are protections built in... we make sure we only go after terrorist... your rights are safe with us.... we'd NEVER abuse this, promise..... TRUST US"

Fuck. You.

Glenn Greenwald - Salon:

"In essence, the FBI and our nation's telecommunications companies have secretly created a framework whereby the FBI can obtain -- instantaneously and without limits -- any information it asks for. The Patriot Act already substantially expanded the circumstances under which the FBI can obtain such records without the need for subpoenas or any judicial process, and it left in place only the most minimal limitations and protections. But it is those very minimal safeguards which the FBI continuously violated in order to obtain whatever information its agents desired, about any Americans they targeted, with literally no limits of any kind."

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Iraq War anniversary was yesterday. Let's take a time stroll and see if Bush's words match his actions. I'm taking the 'not' on this one:

Daily Kos: Four Years:

" ...my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. - May, 2003

U.S. Casualties: 139"

One things the Repubs don't get is that these here intertubes make for some mighty fine bullshit catching. No longer can you say one thing on a Monday and the exact opposite thing on a Wednesday and there be no easily accessible was to prove what you said on Monday. Not no more, Slappy.

Bush is so goddamn lazy that he uses the same speech year after year to commemorate his war of choice. Look and see:

Bush Recycles Iraq Anniversary Talking Points:

"March 19, 2007: “There will be good days, and there will be bad days ahead.” [Link]

March 19, 2006: “There will be good days and there will be bad days.” [Link]

March 19, 2004: “There will be good days and there will be difficult days.” [Link]"

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So far, we've got the FBI spying on god and everybody, Bush to lazy to even say anything important or original when it comes to this bloody mess in the desert he has gotten us into, and the cherry on top is the politilization of the Justic Department. How perverted can one man and his political party make the United States of America?

Oh, and the 'Clinton did it' defense... Absolute BullShit.

What's really wrong with the Bush Justice Department:

"But what's come out since then makes clear that this targeted removal of prosecutors was different in kind as well as degree from political dramas at the Department of Justice in prior administrations. In the context of other Bush administration assaults on DOJ lawyers, the U.S. attorney scandal confirms the administration's disdain for the nonpolitical tradition of federal law enforcement."

Oh, and what were the Republican saying when Clinton replaced the USAs in a absolute normal and correct fashion? The called it the March Massacre. Nice, huh?

Glenn Greenwald - Salon:

"Associated Press on March 25, 1993:

President Clinton rejected Republican complaints Thursday about the demand that all presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys resign. He called it less political than replacing them one by one.

'All those people are routinely replaced, and I have not done anything differently,' Clinton said during an Oval Office photo session. '... I think the blanket decision (for resignations) is less political than picking people out one by one.'. .

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., issued a statement criticizing Attorney General Janet Reno for a 'March Massacre' and comparing her actions to those of President Nixon during Watergate."
.......

"The beginning of the Clinton administration was really the birth of the all-out right-wing filth and noise machine, and -- working with Republican Congressional leaders....

A
nd, of course, what was a main cog in this noise machine?

Fox hounded:

"Fox cloaks itself in the mantle of objectivity with the nudge-nudge insistence that it—and it alone—provides 'fair and balanced' coverage of the news. Then it advances its financial and ideological interests by promoting lurid accusations from conservatives against Democrats, accusations that are routinely debunked later by the mainstream media. Many Fox reporters are fair. But overall the network—through its language, its news decisions and its hosts—generally functions more like a cog in the Republican message machine than as a conventional news organization that attempts to abide, however imperfectly, by the traditional standards of (yes) fairness and balance."

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Pussy

My liver refused to come to work with me today. Fucking Irish. Bless their whiskey soaked hearts.

Another addition of 'told ya so'.

Officials: Mohammed exaggerated claims:

"WASHINGTON - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims that he was responsible for dozens of successful, foiled and imagined attacks in the past 15 years relies on a loose definition of the word 'responsible.' Officials say the 9/11 mastermind was key to some plots but a bit player in others."

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Do scientific studies just not want me to grow up ever? I'v got a feeling the study was sponsored by Nintendo.

Study: Playing Video Games Improves Eyesight:

"Playing 'Gears of War,' 'Lost Planet,' 'Halo' and other action video games that involve firing guns can improve your eyesight, new research claims.

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Good for him. He's just risen a few spots in my internal Democratic polling. This took balls.

Best quote, "So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do."

It. is. the. right. thing. to. do. More of that, please.

Richardson to legalize medical marijuana:

"SANTA FE, N.M. - Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, poised to sign a bill making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana, said Thursday he realizes his action could become an issue in the presidential race.

'So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do,' said Richardson, one of the candidates in the crowded 2008 field. 'What we're talking about is 160 people in deep pain. It only affects them.'"

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I think we may need to redefine what it means to be a 'pussy'.

Stray cats enter home, attack women, boy:

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - Two stray cats attacked three people after they got into a house in North Platte. 'I thought I had seen it all, but I have never seen anything like this,' Chief of Police Martin Gutschenritter said Tuesday. A call for help Monday took animal control officer John Pettit to the home of Melissa Breva, Gutschenritter said. Breva told Pettit she had captured two cats in a bedroom."

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Eddie Hinton - Dangerous Highway

Better late than never....

First, I want to say an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Matt (The Matador) DeFilippis, DBT's sound man extraordinaire and to Sloan Simpson of Southern Shelter.

On to the show....

Sunday, March 4, 2007:

Deryle Perryman and Moises Gonazles' documentary on Eddie Hinton, titled Dangerous Highway was shown at the NoisePop Festival two weeks ago. The viewing occurred at the Artists Television Access Center, located in San Francisco's Mission District.... where the hairstyles cost 20 times the wardrobe and hipster doofusism is alive and well (my apologies to all of my Mish brothas and sistas out there, but, come on, you know the hipster doofus label applies.... not that there's anything wrong with it!)

The memories are already a bit blurry (yeah, I know its only been two weeks, but, I work on limited RAM).

Showtime was 2 p.m. and I headed down to the Mission early in order to secure tickets.

The lovely and talented Sheryl Gould of Rock Candy Jewelry Design met me at the venue.

I introduced myself to Deryle and Moises a few minutes before show time. I'd never met Deryle before, so all I did was listen for that northern Alabama accent. Sure enough, I found him through his voice.

Deryle is originally from Florence, Alabama. He went to Coffee High School with a few of my relatives. (I attend Coffee many, MANY years later). More on Deryle and Moises and the documentary here, here and here.

My very short review on the documentary:

A fantastic look into the life and times of not only Eddie Hinton, but the remarkable music scene that occurred in Northwest Alabama during the last half of the twentieth century. Interviews with Jimmy Johnson, David Hood (hell, about all the Swampers) Dick Cooper (a lot of time is spent with Dick Cooper, who sports a Muscle Shoals Sound t-shirt through-out the doc) and a ton of other historical figures from that time and region. The accents were very familiar and comforting and the stories were sometimes sad but often very funny. Not only are these men able to produce amazing music, they are first class story tellers as well.

Speaking of amazing story tellers, Patterson Hood is prominent in the doc. Patterson explains the history as it was passed down to him and clarified many a thing for me that Patterson sings about in Sandwiches for the Road, DBT's song about Eddie.

We saw the 75 minute version of the doc, but other versions have been up to 105 minutes.

It was a great watch on a great, but troubled musician who, like many a talent before and after, passed way before his time.

I'll keep you posted in the event the documentary becomes available for purchase.

Excellent work, Deryle and Moises. I tip my hat to both of you!

Deryle before the screening

Deryle and Moises at the after party

The documentary wasn't the only treat in store that day. The fine folks at the record labels Jackpine Social Club, Well Worn Records, and the NoisePop folks hosted an Eddie Hinton Tribute after party at Annie's Social Club.

Sheryl and I hopped a cab to Annie's with Nick Tangborn, owner of the record label Jackpine Social Club and who also spent the past week awake working on the formal launch of the BitTorrent website (Nick, you brought back so many memories of the Dot-Com heydays of working 100 hours non stop and highly intoxicated. Ah, those raucous late Nineties). Also, Nick's lovely partner Rosemarry Pepper (best name evah) was along for the ride. Rosemary was a main power that be'd for the NoisePop festival. Absolutely lovely people both and it was a pleasure to meet and hang out with 'em. Good damn peoples.

In the cab ride, Nick told me the story of how Spooner Oldham got his nick-name. Really funny stuff.

Once we arrived at Annie's we met up with Sheryl's friend Shana with her bud from New York, James.

Outside Annie's Pre-show

Elvis Wept.

This velvet Elvis was first thing I saw upon entering Annie's. Apparently, a girl who works/owns/really not sure of her titled, is a velvet painter and she had some incredible nekkid lady velvets that, for some stupid reason, I didn't take a picture of.

The Crowd Gathers.

The lights are dimmed.

Here is the line-up of musicians for the tribute:

Mike Therieau Band (Featuring Dave Gleason)

Ray (featuring Chuck Prophet, Eric Moffit, Jon Weiss, Pete Straus)

Bart Davenport

Chris Von Sneidern

Tom Heyman

Eric Shea (ex-Mover, ex-Parchman Farm)

I got to hang out and chat with Mike Therieau, who gave me one of his excellent CDs when the night ended. Also, with Tom Heyman, who also gave me one of his excellent CDs, titled Deliver Me.

Here's a neat story about Tom Heyman. I stepped outside during a break in the music with Nick and Tom Heyman to smoke a grit. The conversation was of course, music. Tom mentioned that he was from Philly originally and I mentioned that I was very much into a Philly band at the moment called Marah. Nick laughs and points at Tom and says that Tom briefly played with Marah in the late 90's. Small musical world, it tis.

The night was filled with great music, great conversation, a great new friends. The perfect evening.

New West Recording artist Chuck Prophet

Raffle winner.

Mike Therieau and Band

If you've never listened to Mike Therieau, you should definitely go grab his album titled 'Living from a Suitcase'. Mike has got a great blues/rock voice and all involved are incredible musicians. My favorite song off the album is 'Midnight Apt. #9 Blues'.

Pat Johnson and Mike Therieau

Dave Gleason

Pat Johnson

Dave Gleason

The next few pictures were when I turned Sheryl loose with the camera. I flipped the flash on 'cause I figured the artist wouldn't get mad at Sheryl flashing them. Me, they'd get mad. Sheryl, not so much.

I'm at a lost for the key board player's name but I was told he's toured with The Counting Crowes and Bryan Adams.

It was a great occasion, particularly having some home cooking in San Francisco. The documentary and the music made me feel like I was back in the Tennessee Valley along the Singing River.

Thanks to all involved!

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