DBT Week in Review - 8/17/07

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

A couple of pictures and a show review from Tequila Brad.

Sunday night, workweek looming on the horizon, but Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are finally in Denton, and there is no way I am gonna miss this one. Yeah, it's at Hailey's, but I'm going anyway. For those of you not familiar with this particular venue, let me try and explain. Most of you do know, that I try and video record the shows I attend. Hailey's is NOT video friendly. Imagine, if you will, trying to video, in a cave, with only nightlights for illumination. They DO have some spots, but they are trained at about groin level. So either they regularly have "little people" performing there, or perhaps they were having a "package parade" across the main stage, at some earlier point. Who knows?

All that aside, it was Jason Isbell, I HAD to go!! Centro put on a hell of a show, with Jason on guitar for their entire set. When it was time for Jason, he started with Down in a Hole, but the sound was awful. Did I mention that the sound at Hailey's usually sucks too? Then, after they fixed the low hum, they kicked into Grown, Never Gonna Change, Goddamn Lonely Love, and Try. Then Jason played In A Razor Town, and Dress Blues. He then turned the mic over to Browan Lollar for (I believe) Run Runaway. Then over to the keys for Chicago Promenade, with Scotty Danbom taking over about midway through the song, and then staying on for Danko Manuel. We were also treated to Outfit, Please Be With Me, Brand New Kind Of Actress. Jason sang a song by himself, but I didn't recognize it. If anyone else was there, and knows what it is, please let me know. Then Jason called up Scott and Brent for a rocking rendition of Atlantic City. Then they closed with a 10 minute long Decoration Day.

Every ass was thoroughly kicked, and sent home bruised and bleeding. Make sure to get out for your abuse, when Jason comes through your town, you deserve it!

Tequila Brad

Thankee, Brad!

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Via Nine Bullets

Reverend Guitars:

"What are your top 5 favorite records? That's a tough one. In no particular order: 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' by Neutral Milk Hotel 'Exile on Main Street' by The Rolling Stones 'Led Zeppelin IV' 'Love You Just the Same' by Centro-Matic"

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Tubage covers:

Goddamn Lonely Love

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Decoration Day

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DBT! DBT! DBT!

Hilarity on the boards re: Zip City

Nine Bullets:

Post:

"OK... Price of gas in 1984: $1.21/gallon Round trip: 52 miles Total: $6.92 And she ain't puttin' out???!!!

Response:

Damn, when you look at the numbers like that, the price of not getting laid has SKYROCKETED!"

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dbts : Message: Re:Allmans, DBTs and MOFRO

....
During the ABB band show, I looked over behind me and Shonna was standing there watching the ABB. Patterson showed up some few minutes later. I said thanks to Shonna for the DBT's keeping the spirit of real rock n roll alive and she returned the thanks. I also told her I would post to the list about the show and she said they keep up with the list as best they can from the road.

As for some of the other points, the DBT was strictly limited to the time they had on stage. Also, there is a noise ordinace and the ABB had to end at 11 PM. It was a great show all around as the ABB sounds as good as they have in years. Jessica was a tour de force with all elements of rock, blues, jazz and drumming integrated seamlessly. I'd love to see a date where the DBT and ABB would split up a 6 hour show. Now, that would be heaven.

Peace,

Bentz

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Gravity's Gone tubage cover:

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The Drams

Upcoming tour dates:

the Drams:

8/18/07 Springfield MO- The Snorty Horse
8/19/07 Newport KY- Southgate House
8/21/07 Nashville, TN- Five Spot (change of venue)
8/22/07 Knoxville, TN- Barley's Taproom
8/23/07 Huntsville, AL- Crossroads Cafe
8/24/07 Baton Rouge, LA- Chelsea's Cafe"

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Sons of Roswell

MySpace.com: Read Bulletin:

"So, this week we won the Atlantis People's Choice contest. They will decide another winner this week and starting next have a two week contest that will decide if we play in the Industry Face Off and/or play the SynchronicityLive.com showcase. In other news: This past weekend we played three shows in GA (Columbus, Macon & Harrison). We can't even thank EVERYBODY enough! Every time we go to GA it just gets better. We'll be seeing you guys all again in September. Again.... THANK YOU!"

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MySpace.com: Read Bulletin:

" We're playing the 1st Ever Gateway Music Festival in Mt. Sterling, KY on September 28, 2007. It's a new 4-day music/camping festival. Tickets for Thurs/Fri or Sat/Sun is $30 presale | $45 at the gate. 4 day passes are $50! There are a ton of bands playing, mostly up & coming artists, but also Seven Mary Three and Nappy Roots. Check out their MySpace through our Top Friends or go to their website at www.gatewaymusicfestival.com for more information on the location, other artists, etc."

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Lauderdale

MySpace.com: Read Bulletin:

"Hey everybody, If you live in the ATL area, let us know. We're playing a show at Smith's Olde Bar next month and have some tickets that we can send you. The more people we have there, the better. They'll be asking for feedback about the bands, so if we have a bunch of people there to see us it would help us out. Also, our friend Paul set us up with a page on last.fm. I've read about it before, but never used it until this week. It's cool software that tracks what you listen to in your audio players (Itunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player, etc). It will show you which artists and songs you listen to the most in a given week and give you recommendations of other artists to check out. http://www.last.fm/music/Lauderdale So if you use last.fm, it will now track Lauderdale! One last thing... we got a van last week, so we're gonna be booking some more shows out of town in the very near future. Let us know if you think you can help set us up with something in your town. Thanks! Corey -Lauderdale"

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Creative News

blog.myspace.com/nucisspace:

" Want to donate to Nu�i's Space but don't have the $$? Here's how you can raise money without spending any of your own! SunTrust Bank will donate $100 to Nu�i's Space every time someone opens a new Personal or Business Checking account from now until October 12, 2007. Here's how it works: # Go to a SunTrust branch office and open your NEW SunTrust account # You must make at least one purchase on your new check card by November 15th. # After you've made at least one purchase, visit www.suntrust.com/mycause # Click on 'MyCause Redemption Form.' You have to fill this form out by November 15th. # Select 'Make $100 donation' # In order to select Nu�i's Space as your cause, in the Keyword field enter the word: Nuci # The Nu�i Phillips Memorial Foundation Inc will show up. # Click on Nu�i Phillips Memorial Foundation Inc. # Click on DONATE NOW Congrats! You've just donated $100 to Nu�i's Space without spending a DIME! "

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dbts : Message: No DBT - Movie Spam:

I just got an email from our friend Walton Goggins (from The Shield, and The Accountant) that says to check out this movie:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/the11thhour/trailer1/

I did, and it looks good, so I thought I'd share. It's good to support. -Jenn"

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Nirvana's 'Nevermind' baby feels like a porn star:

"LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Nearly two decades after becoming the music world's most famous naked swimming baby, California high school student Spencer Elden says he feels like a porn star. ADVERTISEMENT The 17-year-old Los Angeles teenager was the centrepiece of one of the most iconic record sleeves of all time in 1991, when a photo of him swimming underwater graced the cover of Nirvana's hit album 'Nevermind.'"

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Graceland Makes Way for Elvis Clones:

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Finally welcomed by Graceland after all these years, Elvis Presley impersonators need to keep one basic rule in mind _ respect the King. Managers of Presley's home in Memphis plan to anoint their first-ever official Elvis 'tribute artist' this week, as they mark the 30th anniversary of his death there. But they don't want tacky, they don't want kitschy and they don't want a ridiculous spoof."

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Elvis fan dies during Graceland commemorations :

"MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- A woman was found dead near Graceland on Wednesday as thousands of fans filled the tourism complex to mark the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death"

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Violent Femmes embroiled in NY lawsuit:

"NEW YORK - Fresh off their latest tour, 1980s folk-punk favorites the Violent Femmes are headed for a surprise gig in federal court. ADVERTISEMENT Bassist Brian Ritchie sued lead vocalist Gordon Gano on Wednesday, saying he was deprived of credit for some of the group's songs and a proper accounting of its earnings. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, also accuses Gano of trashing the band's reputation by allowing its signature hit, 'Blister in the Sun,' to be used in a Wendy's commercial"

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Pitchfork: Wu-Tang Cover Beatles With George Harrison's Son!?:

"Turns out the biggest Beatles news today isn't the John Lennon catalog going digital. It's the latest tidbit from the ever lively camp Wu. As the RZA revealed in a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, the Wu-Tang Clan will tackle a freakin' Beatles tune on their forthcoming longplayer, 8 Diagrams. And not just any Beatles tune-- 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', which, last time I checked, doesn't exactly bring the motherfuckin' ruckus. Still, lest you think this some idle flight of Wu fancy, the Clan have stepped their game up, enlisting none other than Dhani Harrison-- the 29-year-old son of 'Guitar''s late scribe, George Harrison-- to play acoustic on the track. 'He's the biggest Wu-Tang fan in the world,' RZA enthused to Rolling Stone. 'He knew all the kung fu shit! That's deep! I told him I would be honored if he played his father’s song.'"

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Impressive.

Amy in rehab for heroin - Latest - Showbiz - Mirror.co.uk:

"Amy, 23, was taken to hospital in the early hours after taking a cocktail of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, the horse tranquilliser ketamine and booze."

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Gigantic Flying V - Viral Videos - SPIKE Powered by IFILM

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DBT Lyrics Tour - Metropolitan Buttholeville or.....

... On My Way Home....

UPDATE: Steve Richerson (Trash) has put up some footage of the DBT show on Thanksgiving on Youtube. Check it out:



UPDATE AGAIN: Damn, we got all kinds of good stuff coming this Saturday. Here's the "Aftermath USA" video I reference in the Cooley's Birthday post. Looks like it just went up on Youtube:



Welcome to Metropolitan Buttholeville....

Where we fry our turkeys and taste our food before we salt and pepper it...

(actually we salt the piss out of it before we taste it. We just know and we don't need our damn-fool taste buds tellin' us otherwise. It needs salt. Period. End of discussion).....

Where the women start sassing you at age 6. (couldn't resist putting my little neice in the tour. Obviously, she's got a lot of her uncle in her)....

... And when those southern women ask you to play some Dylan, by god, you better play some Dylan.

Where Cooley might not have a need for brand new set of golf clubs... but you just might if you come visit 'cause we've got some mighty fine golf courses and some of the best hustlers in the world.

The following is a hole on the "School Master" course that's part of the Robert Trent Jones golf trail in Alabama. It is named after President Woodrow Wilson whose nickname was the "Schoolmaster" because he was once a teacher. Wilson Damn is also named after President Wilson.

It is located in Colbert County along the bluffs of the Tennessee River. There are two courses and both are amazing. I'm sure a PGA tournament is bound for these courses sometime in the future.

Our hometown PGA Tour member is Stewart Cink. I grew up playing golf with Stewart at Florence Country Club.

Where the woods in Alabama don't see no light.... well, in the fall and winter they see light and plenty of color..... and I'm sure the occassional moonshine still even to this day. The following pictures were taken on a walk-about on my buddy's land in Colbert County:

Where the Tennessee River coughs up the occassional dead body... but mainly supplies the region with much beauty and expensive lake front property. Doctors, lawyers and musicians.....

Where a world famous architect built a home for a family.

Below is a home in the neighborhood I grew up in which has recently been turned into a historical museum. This home was built by Frank Lloyed Wright for the Rosenbaum Family back in 1939. I remember being a wee lad and playing with a granddaughter of the Rosenbaums in this house.

The style is called Usonian and only 26 of these type of homes were built in the U.S. This is the only Frank Lloyed Wright structure in Alabama.

Drive-by Picture Taking

Let's take a trip out of Buttholeville proper to visit some good friends. First we'll cross O'Neil Bridge heading south.

The following picture was taken as we're driving over O'Neil. You can see the old railroad track, the new bridge and behind that Wilson Damn.

They converted the old railroad bridge into part of a walking trail that cuts through what was once called South Florence on the Colbert County side of the river. You can still find old curbsides and roads that were created for what was to be South Florence. The reason for South Florence was that Henry Ford came to town back in the early 20th century and he almost decided to build his car making factory here. Fortunately, he decided on Detroit.

As soon as you cross O'Neil Bridge and enter Sheffield there stands what was once Club XIII. Club XIII was the largest club in the Shoals for several years.

The original, original Club XIII was located just past the Alabama border in Tennessee. My aunt would tell me tales of waking up on the dance floor with the birds chirping in that particular locale.

A generation later.....

I worked as a bar back, bartender, doorman, DJ, contruction, etc. starting at the ripe old age of 19. Essentially, myself and my good friend and roommate at the time, Woodham, ran this joint when it first opened. Mike O'Rear owned the place but was never there as he was a talent agent/music manager and most of his business was in Nashville. Mike is a great man and the last I heard of him he was struggling with cancer (as so many in the Shoals are/were. Fucking Ford Plant/Reynolds Metals/TVA and all the other industries that used this place like a toilet. Again, fuck all of you). I hope he is still alive and well. If anybody has any info on O'Rear drop me an email. I'd like to know.

XIII was the best part of my existence between the ages of 19-22. We had a huge dance floor and in between live band sets we'd play dance music so you could get your grove as well as your rock on. Virgil Kane, Baghdad, Velcro Pygmies, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Atlanta Rhythm Section, shit, about a million other cover and original bands whose names I've already forgotten played there. We even talked O'Rear into booking Kyper for a show. Anyone remember the song 'Tic-tac-toe'?

The fire code was about 450 people but we would consistantly put between 700 and 800 in the place.

Club XIII was the major reason that I was a sophmore in college for a good 3 years. It was also one of the reasons I got out of Buttholeville. I was having too much fun at the club and not much fun anywhere else in town.

After I moved to Birmingham to attend UAB I'd come home on the weekends and work the door or bar or spin records... whatever was needed. By that time O'Rear had changed the main building, seen in the picture below, into a country music joint and the old car wash in the same lot was converted into a Rock Bar named Woodies.

The only time I've ever spent a night in jail occurred with my arrest just to the left of the red awning. Of the several times I should have been arrested and wasn't, this was the one occassion I should have never of been arrested. Luckily the prosecutor saw it the same way when I took those fuckers to court and settled before we even saw the judge.

But all good things come to an end and the bar is now a loan center. *Sigh* You can never go home again.

Where we've got good help down in....

They'll hunt you like a dog.... (These are two of Jenn's mom and stepdad's pooches trying to figure out how to climb down a bluff in Frog Pond, Franklin County, AL)

Where tornadoes are birthed 5 miles north of......

After a nice visit to Franklin County let's head on back across the crick to Buttholeville proper and hook up with.....

Hwy 72....

Where the Great Car Dealer Wars were as much fact as the artistic fiction Patterson presents in a song with the same name..

Below are pictures of Nelda Stephenson's Chevrolet located on Florence Blvd (Hwy 72). This lot use to be named Bobby Mitchell Chevrolet. I don't have direct confirmation from Patterson on this but I do believe Jim Stephens in GCDW may partially represent the tale of Bobby Mitchell. Bobby Mitchell was gunned downed.....

In the door way right in the middle of the picture below.

Bobby and his wife were friends of my family. His wife baby sat me once during an emergency though I have not memories of it. Bobby was rumored to have been dealing drugs on the side. Hell, if you've ever lived in The Shoals chances are you've dealt some drugs... or at least consumed some.

Anyway it wasn't the drugs that did him in. I believe Bobby was killed by a mentally disturbed man.

Now, all the songs written by DBT that reference events that occured in North Alabama aren't 100 percent true. They're based on local lore then a fictional account is built around that base.

Let's take a look a Decoration Day/Boys From Alabama.

There was a back woods, country-ass gang in Lauderdale county called The Dawson Gang. Rumor has it that The Dawson Gang were the ones who put the hit out on Buford Pusser. The Dawson's may also form the basis for The Lawson's in Jason's Decoration Day. I asked all my relatives if there were aware of a feud between the Dawson's and any Hill's or similarly named group. None of my people could recollect such a feud.

It was interesting to see the reaction some of them had to a mention of the Dawsons. My granddaddy on my mom's side had a fisceral reaction and stated that those were the meanest boys he had ever come across. This man served in WWII and at age 82 killed a deer while I was home for Thanksgiving and drug it out of the woods. Badass! Another relative stated that they weren't nothing but petty theives whose reputation was far greater than anything that they could actually pull off.

It would be interesting to trade stories with Jason and Patterson regarding what they've been told about the Dawson's. I'm sure that legend has several version.

If you think DBT cherry picked the best myths out of the Shoals then you be thinkin' wrong. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Florence/The Shoals is one of the most fucked up places in the world. Sometimes it is like living in a Stephen King novel. Southern Gothic doesn't even begin to describe it. There's another good 5 albums of wild ass stories that could be told but DBT is being gracious and leaving those for another band....

Movin' on down Hwy 72......

Where you better not be caught in Kendale with a wealthy man's bucket of paint...

Where the daughters of this fair city....

....are full of soul and lay down kickin' beats....

Shonna and a few of my cousin's high school in Killen.....

Where loneliness might set in on this mean 'ol highway. You just might need a friendly outpost...

Where on your way home from a rock concert you most assurredly will get pulled over in.....

(Seriously, Rogersville cops don't mess around).

... hopefully you aren't sporting a half ounce of weed and a case of Sterling Bigmouths.

Where you can lay in our outdoor spas until your lilly white skin peals....

Where you can sit on your porch and eat yourself an apple... while you enjoy the sunset over the Tennessee River...

DBT - News from the Web

Jayfrombama on the Yahoo group had some interesting DBT News:

Received an interesting New West publicity sheet last night. A few tidbits to share.

First leg of US tour listed. I'm only going to mention one, because as we all know, nothing's official until Jenn posts them. According to this fact sheet, the tour starts in Baton Rouge on April 27th, the day before the first weekend of Jazz Fest. No venue listed, but I'm assuming "The Varsity". Hope to see some of y'all there.

• "Easy On Yourself" released to "Rock" and "AAA" radio today(3/14). If you have one of these in your area, call or email them!
• -Full CD released to College radio today (3/14) Call your college radio stations!!!
• -The 40 Watt Turner South's Music Road Show to air in early May
• -Conan "secured" for street week
• And lots of features and reviews, including: GQ, Spin, Billboard, Playboy, Penthouse , Amplifier, Paste, Blender, Fader, No Depression, Relix, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Oxford American, USA Today, NY Times and the LA Times.
• -And a COVER story in Harp!

Corey over at Ninebullets directs us to this awesome version of Decoration Day:

Acoustic ''Decoration Day''

Want to hear a great acoustic version of "Decoration Day"? Go here. Be sure to add FAME as a friend as well!

DBT's MySpace will let you listen to "Wednesday" off the new album. Great song! Gonna be a perfect follow up hit to "Easy on Yourself".

.357 on Ninebullet's discussion board finds this gem. Cooley's golf lyric:

Well your wishes and your feelings
Your bad dreams and intuitions
Are about as much good to me right now as a brand new set of golf clubs

Mackay is Lefty's right-hand man: "Another of Jim's regular listens: Drive-By Truckers."