College (School) Days
For those of us that are musically inclined, there are few pleasures greater than getting to see a whole bunch of your friends gather in the same place to do what we all do best…pick, grin, and have a good time. The Friday night of College Days was absolutely that. We rolled into Stillwater about 4:15 and got to Tumbleweeds just in time to catch a scorching set by our occasional collaborators and partners in crime, The Turnpike Troubadours. We’re lucky enough to have Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio and Ryan Engleman join us from time to time to lend their musical excellence to the Damn Quails Philharmonic. Nooch was on our first record, sometimes from the front door at the Deli on a marching snare, sometimes in the studio on the last two tracks. Versatility is key. Speaking of versatile, Engleman plays the pedal steel AND the baritone. Usually on Monday nights with us at the Deli. It’s fantastico.
Felker and Co. are working on a new record that’s likely to blow the roof off of every beer joint, concert hall, and festival stage in Texas and beyond as soon as they get it done and out. I got a chance to bear witness to some of the tunes that are supposed to be on there when I saw Evan doing his Acoustic Oklahoma showcase at VZD’s a few months back. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. “Good Lord Laurie” springs to mind first, as it contains a prime example of alliteration that I literally love language wise so damn much. The songs are good, the band is good, you can’t go wrong.
It had to be upwards of 110 degrees on the dark concrete stage and all of the bands were treated to a glorious view of the burning hot sun directly in the line of site. I think Boland was the first to get any form of relief from the bright glowing ball in the sky, which means that the Troubadours, No Justice, and Stoney were good and warmed up about a half second into their first songs.
I finally got to see my homie Justin Morris play some ridiculous thumpin’ bass for the kind fellas in No Justice. Justin has played with some of my favorite Noman groups, not to mention with us for a few fill in gigs along the way. He’s as solid as they come and he’s also kickin’ some tail on the high harmonies. These cats have been travelin’ quite a bit lately and they sound as tight as I’ve ever heard them. The cover of American Girl rocked balls to boot. Steve Rice has a voice that’s enough to make any frontman jealous, and he happens to be one of the kindest of the breed that I’ve ever run into.
Stoney decided to add Randy Ragsdale to his array of Arsenals, giving them a 2 drummer attack that could only be balanced by the rock and roll enigma of Alan Orebaugh on lead guitar. Every since I first saw Al with Mama Sweet, I’ve been in awe of his technique and the eloquence with which he executes it. Dexterity on the guitar is not one of my strong suits, and it’s amazing to see the speed and accuracy of the human hand when the solo’s kick in. Not to mention he can control the effects board with his feet: Probably one of the reasons he never wears shoes.
Stoney played a lot of tracks from “Velvet” that threw me for a loop in a really good way. Gabriel and I got a chance to play on some of these tunes with Stoney during our jaunt down to Peyton’s Place with McClure a few months back and I was impressed with the way they stuck with me, especially the title track. They were well written and memorable, a combination that is greatly lacking on a lot of music that dots the musical landscape. The tunes really starting to come together in my brain with a full band behind them, and the addition of another drummer made them one of the biggest sounding acts of the festival.
Believe it or not, this is my first time to see Jason Boland with a full band. My brother JD was ecstatic to get to watch him from stage right, and I have to admit it was the best seat in the house…minus having a chair that is. But that’s my own damn fault for leaving the chairs in the car the first time I came in. I’ll never go back to the car in that heat, even if it is for moderately comfy $20 camping chairs that are on their last legs anyway. The show was great, the band was nice to be around, and they sounded just like the hard working touring band that they are.
The tension from anticipation in the crowd would have to be cut with a chainsaw by the time Mac, The lester Bros, and Kelley were ready to take the stage. Morgan and I happened to be headed to nab some water and possibly some bar bbq leftovers (alas, only water. The bbq had been subsequently devoured) when the whole entourage came out the door we were waiting to get into. Mac looked at me with a well deserved, slightly cocky (probably learned from his chickens), and confident type smile and remarked “This is my OTHER job.”
Honesty time folks. When I heard those words mixed up with the sense of several thousand people that were foaming at the mouth just beyond the northern ridge, I realized that, along with producer, husband, father, chicken wrangler, basement dweller, engineer, guitar player, picture taker, blog maker, and all these other things that I know Mike as, he is also another thing.
A rock star.
Being as I was listening to Nirvana and NOFX when the Great Divide was popular, I had never had the chance to see them live. I’ve seen MMB a handful of times, but never the original lineup of his first successful musical venture. I’d even played some of the tunes myself during my time playing lead guitar and singing harmonies in Lower Middle Class. They hit with the force of a hydrogen bomb, and the crowd knew every word. I’m not going to review the show, this blog is already too long. Suffice it to say that it’s been a while since I went to an outdoor festival and witnessed the power of a crowd that throws all of the words back to you louder than the PA system can give it to them. It’s almost scary.
Almost.
