Getting to open for somebody….

[dhanners623]

After a year in Manchester, I’ve finally gotten an actual paying gig, opening for (or “supporting,” as they say in the U.K.) up-and-coming Sony Music Nashville act Tyler Booth. It’s next Monday night at the Night & Day Cafe, if you’re in town. He’s doing his first tour of the U.K. and Ireland.

He made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry in June. Going from photos and videos, he appears to be a Gibson guy — a J-200 and an SJ. (He also appears in an old photo with a Taylor, but hey, nobody’s perfect….) Strung up my J-35 with some DR Sunbeams this afternoon.

I’m not really what I’d call “country” and I’m not entirely sure why the promoter picked me (aside from my begging and groveling) but I’ve dug out my best “black dirt country” songs — I am from rural East Central Illinois, after all — and I will give it my best shot.

Will report back later….

Edited August 22, 2023 by dhanners623

[Sgt. Pepper]

36 minutes ago, dhanners623 said:

After a year in Manchester, I’ve finally gotten an actual paying gig, opening for (or “supporting,” as they say in the U.K.) up-and-coming Sony Music Nashville act Tyler Booth. It’s next Monday night at the Night & Day Cafe, if you’re in town. He’s doing his first tour of the U.K. and Ireland.

He made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry in June. Going from photos and videos, he appears to be a Gibson guy — a J-200 and an SJ. (He also appears in an old photo with a Taylor, but hey, nobody’s perfect….) Strung up my J-35 with some DR Sunbeams this afternoon.

I’m not really what I’d call “country” and I’m not entirely sure why the promoter picked me (aside from my begging and groveling) but I’ve dug out my best “black dirt country” songs — I am from rural East Central Illinois, after all — and I will give it my best shot.

Will report back later….

Play Folsom Prison Blues, and show them you ain't gonna play no Ken and Barbie Country. Then hit 'em with Sad Songs And Waltzes if you need a tear in your beer type song.

He looks pretty standing by the tractor. I stopped listening after he had to throw every country cliche in the lyrics.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Red 333]

I hope you play some of your originals. They're sure to entertain and impress. 

Congratulations and enjoy yourself!

Red333

 

[dhanners623]

1 hour ago, Red 333 said:

I hope you play some of your originals. They're sure to entertain and impress. 

Congratulations and enjoy yourself!

Red333

 

Oh, my set will be all originals. I’ve got 30 minutes, and as a good friend always reminds me, “When the promoter says, ‘30 minutes,’ think 25.” I think I’ll be able to fit in six songs and it leaves time for reasonable introductions to the songs.

Booth and I are both from small towns, so I’ll do a couple small-town songs.

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, dhanners623 said:

Oh, my set will be all originals. I’ve got 30 minutes, and as a good friend always reminds me, “When the promoter says, ‘30 minutes,’ think 25.” I think I’ll be able to fit in six songs and it leaves time for reasonable introductions to the songs.

Booth and I are both from small towns, so I’ll do a couple small-town songs.

Don’t play that one that’s getting everyone pissed off over here.

[rbpicker]

5 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Don’t play that one that’s getting everyone pissed off over here.

That’s exactly the one I would play!

rb

[dhanners623]

6 hours ago, rbpicker said:

That’s exactly the one I would play!

rb

Since I’m doing all my own stuff, that song won’t be on my set list. Besides, Oliver Anthony’s songwriting sucks, and his meteoric rise up the charts is due, for the most part, to rightwing provocateurs and losers. If he had released the very same songs four years ago when a different president was in office, these same provocateurs and losers would ignore him (at best) or roundly criticize him as “un-American.”

Anthony’s songs ALL boil down to a) “my life sucks” or b) “my job sucks” or c) “modern life sucks” or d) “I need to get drunk” or e) “I like to get high.” Usually, it’s a combination of two or more. In his songs, he spends a good deal of his time drunk and/or high, then wonders why he can’t get a good job.  He’s the subject of ALL of his songs, he tells no interesting stories and paints no interesting characters.

People say, “I like his music because it’s raw and unvarnished.” It’s also amateurish and unedited. There are LOTS of better “raw and unvarnished” acts out there that make much better music. I get the concept of folk art, but his songs are the musical equivalent of sticking your 7-year-old’s painting on the fridge and calling it “Art” with a capital A.

And of course he complains about “rich men” not caring about American miners (and by extension, American jobs) and plays the song on a guitar built in Asia. I guess he’s unaware there are entire companies in the U.S. that hire American workers to build guitars — in America. Maybe if he cut back on his weed consumption, he could buy one.

Edited August 23, 2023 by dhanners623

[Murph]

Your original music will stand on its own.

Wishing you the best, my friend.

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 hours ago, dhanners623 said:

Since I’m doing all my own stuff, that song won’t be on my set list. Besides, Oliver Anthony’s songwriting sucks, and his meteoric rise up the charts is due, for the most part, to rightwing provocateurs and losers. If he had released the very same songs four years ago when a different president was in office, these same provocateurs and losers would ignore him (at best) or roundly criticize him as “un-American.”

Anthony’s songs ALL boil down to a) “my life sucks” or b) “my job sucks” or c) “modern life sucks” or d) “I need to get drunk” or e) “I like to get high.” Usually, it’s a combination of two or more. In his songs, he spends a good deal of his time drunk and/or high, then wonders why he can’t get a good job.  He’s the subject of ALL of his songs, he tells no interesting stories and paints no interesting characters.

People say, “I like his music because it’s raw and unvarnished.” It’s also amateurish and unedited. There are LOTS of better “raw and unvarnished” acts out there that make much better music. I get the concept of folk art, but his songs are the musical equivalent of sticking your 7-year-old’s painting on the fridge and calling it “Art” with a capital A.

And of course he complains about “rich men” not caring about American miners (and by extension, American jobs) and plays the song on a guitar built in Asia. I guess he’s unaware there are entire companies in the U.S. that hire American workers to build guitars — in America. Maybe if he cut back on his weed consumption, he could buy one.

99.9% of what is called Country Music now is a joke. It has been for a long time. Most are clowns acting a part the music company that signed them wants them to portray. Your song has to mention a beer, a tractor, a Ford F-150, a hot country girl in booty shorts, fighting, whiskey, a gun, and let's not for get mans best friend your pooch.

And you better have your country uniform on when on stage. One guy in a documentary said it best. The guys on stage look they the guys that work at the oil changing places with a hat on. Many now with the mesh back bubba trucker ball caps.

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[scriv58]

Best wishes from another Illinois boy - go out there and tear it up!

[Larsongs]

Best of luck!

[fortyearspickn]

4 hours ago, dhanners623 said:

Since I’m doing all my own stuff, that song won’t be on my set list. Besides, Oliver Anthony’s songwriting sucks, and his meteoric rise up the charts is due, for the most part, to rightwing provocateurs and losers. If he had released the very same songs four years ago when a different president was in office, these same provocateurs and losers would ignore him (at best) or roundly criticize him as “un-American.”

Anthony’s songs ALL boil down to a) “my life sucks” or b) “my job sucks” or c) “modern life sucks” or d) “I need to get drunk” or e) “I like to get high.” Usually, it’s a combination of two or more. In his songs, he spends a good deal of his time drunk and/or high, then wonders why he can’t get a good job.  He’s the subject of ALL of his songs, he tells no interesting stories and paints no interesting characters.

People say, “I like his music because it’s raw and unvarnished.” It’s also amateurish and unedited. There are LOTS of better “raw and unvarnished” acts out there that make much better music. I get the concept of folk art, but his songs are the musical equivalent of sticking your 7-year-old’s painting on the fridge and calling it “Art” with a capital A.

And of course he complains about “rich men” not caring about American miners (and by extension, American jobs) and plays the song on a guitar built in Asia. I guess he’s unaware there are entire companies in the U.S. that hire American workers to build guitars — in America. Maybe if he cut back on his weed consumption, he could buy one.

Best of Luck.  You might want to leave politics out of your performance.  

[zombywoof]

Cool!  I never heard of the guy you are warming up for but my take on what passes for country these days is it is more like bad 1970s southern rock. But getting paid in real cash money is truly something andif nothing ese brings you to a whole new level.  The last gig my acoustic blues band did we got paid in free food.  As to what we played our "show stopper" was a song recorded in the 1930s by Georgia White called "I'll Keep Sitting on it (If I Can't Sell It)."  Obviously works best with a lady singer (which we had) but when just goofing around with  it, the bass player liked grabbing the vocal turning it into a Monty Python-esque bit.

[DanvillRob]

Congratz!     And 'Break a leg'!

[AnneS]

3 hours ago, Murph said:

Your original music will stand on its own.

Wishing you the best, my friend.

Ditto—congrats, and go get ‘em. Point us toward a video if you can. 

[MissouriPicker]

Congrats!  Have a blast!  Do what you do on here and they’ll love it……….Mix-in a few of David Alan Coe’s naughty songs and you’ll get lots of attention.

[RvrDxn]

3 hours ago, fortyearspickn said:

Best of Luck.  You might want to leave politics out of your performance.  

How can he when that seems to be the go to for so many people these days? He’s got the rhetoric down, he should embrace it. It’s the UK, they probably love hearing about right wingers and losers.

[RvrDxn]

7 hours ago, dhanners623 said:

Since I’m doing all my own stuff, that song won’t be on my set list. Besides, Oliver Anthony’s songwriting sucks, and his meteoric rise up the charts is due, for the most part, to rightwing provocateurs and losers. If he had released the very same songs four years ago when a different president was in office, these same provocateurs and losers would ignore him (at best) or roundly criticize him as “un-American.”

Anthony’s songs ALL boil down to a) “my life sucks” or b) “my job sucks” or c) “modern life sucks” or d) “I need to get drunk” or e) “I like to get high.” Usually, it’s a combination of two or more. In his songs, he spends a good deal of his time drunk and/or high, then wonders why he can’t get a good job.  He’s the subject of ALL of his songs, he tells no interesting stories and paints no interesting characters.

People say, “I like his music because it’s raw and unvarnished.” It’s also amateurish and unedited. There are LOTS of better “raw and unvarnished” acts out there that make much better music. I get the concept of folk art, but his songs are the musical equivalent of sticking your 7-year-old’s painting on the fridge and calling it “Art” with a capital A.

And of course he complains about “rich men” not caring about American miners (and by extension, American jobs) and plays the song on a guitar built in Asia. I guess he’s unaware there are entire companies in the U.S. that hire American workers to build guitars — in America. Maybe if he cut back on his weed consumption, he could buy one.

Are you sure he wasn’t talking about the Jason Aldean song? 

[Sgt. Pepper]

8 minutes ago, RvrDxn said:

Are you sure he wasn’t talking about the Jason Aldean song? 

Try singing that in a UK town. Its a new offensive hit. 

[dhanners623]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Try singing that in a UK town. It’s a new offensive hit. 

Having actually come from a town far smaller than anywhere Jason Aldean has ever lived, I can attest that those who thought they were taking the law in their own hands generally suffered consequences (legal and otherwise) that exceeded the alleged misdeeds of the person they went after.

As it stands now, the all-original set list includes songs about a coal miner-turned-meth dealer, two murder ballads (one taking place in Guymon, OK, and the other in Shawneetown, IL), a broken-heart song, a slice-of-rural-life song about working at a dollar store and a co-write I did about a farmer. The folks who hired me know what I do, so I’m doing it.

Re: the headliner. I’d not heard of him before this as that strain of country is not one I follow closely. He seems earnest and he’s getting to live his dream. He was good enough for the Grand Ole Opry and that’s nothing to sneeze at. In my teen years, we rode around at night and listened to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. Unless the Cardinals had a night game. Then Butch had to listen to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon on KMOX. Damn Cards….

[Lars68]

Best of luck with the gig! If at all possible, a post with a recording of the event would be great.

Lars

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 hours ago, dhanners623 said:

Having actually come from a town far smaller than anywhere Jason Aldean has ever lived, I can attest that those who thought they were taking the law in their own hands generally suffered consequences (legal and otherwise) that exceeded the alleged misdeeds of the person they went after.

As it stands now, the all-original set list includes songs about a coal miner-turned-meth dealer, two murder ballads (one taking place in Guymon, OK, and the other in Shawneetown, IL), a broken-heart song, a slice-of-rural-life song about working at a dollar store and a co-write I did about a farmer. The folks who hired me know what I do, so I’m doing it.

Re: the headliner. I’d not heard of him before this as that strain of country is not one I follow closely. He seems earnest and he’s getting to live his dream. He was good enough for the Grand Ole Opry and that’s nothing to sneeze at. In my teen years, we rode around at night and listened to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. Unless the Cardinals had a night game. Then Butch had to listen to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon on KMOX. Damn Cards….

I just looked an Jason Aldean played there too . . . So. I think they will let just about anyone consider Country play there. 

[E-minor7]

Never opened for or supported anybody, but once played before B.B. King. Perhaps kind of the same thing. And if it is Cowboy Junkies once opened for me. . 

                                                                   Have fun, , , tho it for obvious reasons can be a tough thankless task. 

[dhanners623]

2 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Never opened for or supported anybody, but once played before B.B. King. Perhaps kind of the same thing. And if it is Cowboy Junkies once opened for me. . 

                                                                   Have fun, , , tho it for obvious reasons can be a tough thankless task. 

I think those fall under the heading of, “shared the stage with…” as in, “He’s shared the stage with B.B. King and the CowboyJunkies.” Or, to fluff it up with a great p.r. spin, “He’s shared the stage with acts ranging from blues legend B.B. King to alt-country darlings the Cowboy Junkies.”

There’s always the first verse of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song, “Opening Act”:

You don’t have a backstage room of your own
You just have feedback in your microphone
‘Cause you don’t get a soundcheck
‘Cause you’re not worth the time
You’re gonna have to face it, you’re no better than slime
You don’t know me; I’m the opening act

[dhanners623]

Played the support set for Tyler Booth last night and all went great. I made it through without a problem. The sound guy was wonderful to work with and was very complimentary. I got lots of nice comments afterwards. Played the J-35 with the Baggs M1. The two are a dependable combination.

The headliner, Tyler Booth, was an outright force of nature. If I’m being honest, he’s a very good writer but as I listened to his Nashville-produced stuff  before last night, it sounded like everything else coming out of Nashville. If you’re into that, great, but it generally gives me pause. But alone on stage with an acoustic guitar, there is nowhere to hide and Booth brought it.

To start with, he’s a darn-good writer who genuinely cares about the craft of songwriting, and when he does a cover, he makes great choices. And he has a voice that really resonates. It didn’t really grab me in the videos I’d watched but live, in person, it did. Lastly, he’s a VERY good guitarist. Again, that’s something that doesn’t come across in his videos,  but his set was a master class in how to accompany yourself on acoustic guitar. He may wear a cowboy hat, but he’s no “hat act.” I was impressed and I like to think I’m jaded. The bottom line is, I have no trouble seeing what Sony Music Nashville sees in him.

Guitar-wise, he left the Gibsons at home. He was playing a new Martin D-18 “StreetLegend” with a Baggs Anthem. It sounded really good. (His dad, who serves as his tour manager, said Martin had just provided him with the guitar before they left for the U.K. Their Custom Shop had inlaid his logo at the 14th fret.) He did a lot of tunes in dropped-D tuning and the guitar really resonated. Renewed my lust for a good D-18….