The Texas Musicians Blog by Jesse Smith

The Tomball Amazon Store

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:40:00 +0000

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This is my Amazon Associates Store. Owned by Jesse C Smith Jr, Tomball, Texas. Check it out and find anyting you want new or used. You can also list your items for sale. Click on the title to go to my store.

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This & that from Liz Talley

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Had a great time Tuesday night at the Broken Spoke in Austin for the Louise Rowe Benefit. Louise was the only female musician Bob Wills ever had, I'd like to sit with her a few days & listen to all those road stories! Great to see this sweet lady again and what a ball of energy! She's struggling with Parkinsons and now undergoing cancer treatments but got up and played upright bass with the best of them! What an inspiration to us all and we wish her the best.   Heres the scoop for the week.....

Friday--Nov 6th/ Ransom's Steakhouse/Montgomery. Our 1st time there, Rave

reviews on the food and setup for live entertainment. Kinda takes you back to

the Texas Tumbleweed Days...but better! Come join us Friday night from 7-11 pm

Family venue       300 CB Stewart Drive, Montgomery, TX 77356

Saturday---I keep hearing from people theres no place to go dancing in town

anymore. Here you go! The Cypress Saloon is back open and under new mgt

from our friend Bill Howard. We'll be there Sat night/Nov 7th from 9-1 pm so

come out for some bootscooting.   Spread the word & support live music!

710 Telge Road, Cypress, TX.

Next Friday....Chet & I will be playing at Gabbys BBQ/Shepherd from 6:30-9:30 pm.

This has really turned out to be a good gig for eating, drinking and listening to live music!

Come join us for all of the above....

Smithville Music Festival Saturday Nov 7th

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Christmas Ball with The River Road Boys

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Hey folks,

It's now November, just a little over a month until our 3rd Annual Christmas Ball at the VFW Hall in Navasota, being held on Saturday, December 5 . Please don't wait 'til the last minute or put it off. Go ahead and reserve your table now by calling Clyde at 281-356-7174 or mailing your check for $20.00 per person to Clyde at the following address:

Make check payable to:

The River Road Boys

mail to:

Clyde Brewer

30719 Kate Dr.

Magnolia, Texas 77355

This ticket price includes food furnished by The River Road Girls. They always do a great job of decorating the hall and serving up the food and snacks.

The River Road Boys

Check out our website www.RiverRoadBoys.com

and please be sure to sign our guestbook!

Leader, Clyde Brewer, Ph: (281) 356-7174

cell: (713) 829-8729

The River Road Boys

Check out our website www.RiverRoadBoys.com

and please be sure to sign our guestbook!

Leader, Clyde Brewer, Ph: (281) 356-7174

Band Secretary: Vivian Howser, Ph: (281) 290-7255

Mailing address:

22011 Rosewood Trail

Tomball, Texas 77377-3505

Stevie Ray Vaughan with Austin Skyline

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:34:00 +0000

Stevie Ray Vaughaun with Austin Skyline
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Stevie Ray Vaughan with Austin Skyline

This week with Liz Talley

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

I had a great time @ Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium in Ruidoso.

Met alot of people, heard lots of awesome music, sold a few cd's.

I was part of the opening act for Mel Tillis who was awesome and a

really nice funny person to be around! Last week the band played at

Sweet Home Hall in Sweet Home. Not alot of people, but the band had

a great time in that ole country dancehall.

This week....

Friday...Chet & I will be @ Gabbys BBQ/Shepherd   6:30-9:30 pm

Sat...The band will be playing the Fire & Ice Cookoff in Montgomery

         from 8-12 pm. Open to the public. For more info check out

         www.fireandicecookoff.com

Sun...The band will be playing Central Market on Weslayan from

         noon til 4 pm. Come join us on the patio for burgers, live

         music and some beautiful weather!

Happy fall ya'll!!

Miss Leslie’s Honky Tonk Happy Hour: blog High-Tech Redneck

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Miss Leslie’s Honky Tonk Happy Hour: High-Tech Redneck

via The 9513 by Miss Leslie

I'm a honky tonk gal. I was raised on the sounds of Bill Monroe and Ray Price. But I'm a nerd. I graduated in the top 10% of my class. I read books for fun. I worked in the Information Technology Industry for 10 years. And I think it's important that musicians today realize that we're living in a different world from even 10 years ago–it's time for all of us to embrace the tech geek within us.
In 2000, SoundScan reported that 785.1 million albums were sold. In 2007, that number dropped to 279 million. I know that this isn't a revelation to you–selling CDs is NOT the future of the music business.
Then what is? Technology. Song downloads have gone from 143 million in 2004 to 844 million in 2007. And that's just the ones that were paid for.
Forget the record labels and the old guard. What's the business model for an artist today? Historically, what has made a musician successful? In any era, it has been connecting the fan with the music. The media changes from era to era. Whether it's fees paid for performances, sheet music, vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, digital song file downloads, the principle is the same. Somehow the music of the artist has to connect with the fan.
Acts like Radiohead, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay have been revolutionizing the music industry with their business model experiments. They've offered free music downloads, "name your own price" for music, "optional" pay for music, free DVDs of the performance to concertgoers and free downloads of live music performances.
You can call these experiments gimmicks, but I notice that the common thread is not about making money, but that the acts are focused on connecting with the fans.
What I find curious is that the same thing is not happening in Country music. I don't see acts revolutionizing anything. Or are they? I decided to peruse some music websites to see how a random sample of us country folks are measuring up.
(more…)

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For Sale Rare black left handed 1993 Gibson Herb Ellis ES-165

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Rare black left handed 1993 Gibson Herb Ellis ES-165. This model ES-165 is no longer made, it is sure to gain value over the years as with most quality Gibson Guitars. This guitar looks and plays beautifully. Lefty guitars of quality are hard to come by.

Comes with OHSC. Will consider nice Astro cargo van for trade. $1600 cash. Sorry no shipping. Serious only please......

Thanks. hairygoomertoo@att.net

TEXAS FIDDLE PLAYER BAD BOB WINS The Academy of Western Artist's 2009 Rogers Awards Cowboy Cartoonist of the Year

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:16:00 +0000

Hey Jesse,

I won The Academy of Western Artist's 2009 Rogers Awards Cowboy Cartoonist of the Year Award! Check out the picture attached! It was because of my comic strip "Buffalo Gals!"

Thanks for thinking of me.

Best Wishes,

Bob.

www.badbobrohan.com

YOUR INTERNET SPEED ARE YOU GETTING WHAT YOU PAY FOR

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:05:00 +0000

HELLO FROM JESSE, TEST YOUR INTERNET SPEED AND SEE IF YOUR GETTING WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Hope your doing well.

Dear Friend,
Americans are charged more for slower internet speeds, and our current high-speed networks don't even reach millions of households. It's time for that to change -- and you can play a part. Testing your own speed will help make our new community research project, SpeedMatters.org, a success.
Are you getting your money's worth? Find out now:
www.speedmatters.org/fastfriend
We're falling behind in the global economy because we won't invest in the technology to bring the benefits of this telecommunications revolution to most of our population. We're the only industrialized country without a national policy to promote high- speed Internet access.
That's why you're getting this email. Testing your connection's speed now will help us better understand the American average -- and craft an effective public policy and awareness campaign.
Take the speed test:
www.speedmatters.org/fastfriend
High speed Internet means more than smooth web videos or fast downloads.
Advanced high capacity communications networks can increase democratic and civic participation, improve the delivery of health care, education, job training, public safety and other vital services.
What are we waiting for? It's time to close the digital divide.
Thanks!

Mud Dries, ACL Announces Dates for Next Year's Festival

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Sent to you by Jesse C Smith Jr via Google Reader:

Mud Dries, ACL Announces Dates for Next Year's Festival

via Austinist by Paige Maguire on 10/6/09

Austin 360 is reporting that next year's ACL Festival will take place Oct. 8-10 at Zilker Park.

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This week with the RiverRoadBoy's

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:08:00 +0000

Hi fans,

This Friday, October 9, we'll be at the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival on the "Pub Stage" in downtown Conroe, Texas starting at 6:00p.m. We will be backing up one of our favorite female vocalists, Mary Allen-Keating. We're very proud of Mary..she has just won the Academy of Western Artists Best Western Swing Song of the Year for 2009 for her recording of "Let's Make Music in the Country." We were the studio band for her album which features this tune. Way to go, Mary! Come out and listen to Mary sing her versions of many great Patsy Cline songs.

Then Saturday, Oct. 10, will be our final dance for 2009 at the K-C Hall on Whitney Drive in Houston. We'll be celebrating October birthdays/anniversaries and maybe even have some Halloween treats. Bring some friends and help us close out this year's dances at the K-C hall. It's going to be really fun!

Finally, if you haven't gotten your tickets for our BIG Christmas dance in Navasota on December 5, then NOW is the time to do so. Call Clyde Brewer, 281-356-7174. Tickets are just $20.00 per person which includes the wonderful food the "River Road Girls" serve up. Come out and help us get the Christmas Season "in full (western) swing!"

The River Road Boys

Check out our website www.RiverRoadBoys.com

and please be sure to sign our guestbook!

Leader, Clyde Brewer, Ph: (281) 356-7174

Band Secretary: Vivian Howser, Ph: (281) 290-7255

Mailing address:

22011 Rosewood Trail

Tomball, Texas 77377-3505

This week schedule for Liz Talley

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Subject: This week

Well it's hard to believe it's already the end of another week.

Time flies by! whew...Tonight (Friday) Chet & I will be at

Gabbys BBQ/Pasadena picking & grinning.

This Sunday...I'll be at Pearls Dancehall in Ft. Worth Stockyards

playing for the cure. All girl singers & pickers getting together

to raise money for breast cancer. Show is from 3-7 pm. Leona

Williams, Amber Digby, Miss Leslie, Heather Myles, and many

many more talented gals..it's worth a road trip to Cowtown!

I've got my pink outfit & hot pink tennis shoes to support Breast

Cancer Awareness Week...

Next week I'll be in Ruidoso, New Mexico @ the Lincoln County Cowboy

Symposium--woohoo!! Can't wait, Mel Tillis, Larry Gatlin, Lynn Anderson

are the big dawgs on the show. I'll be part of the All star band w/Floyd Domino.

I've posted new dates on the new website so check it out @

www.liztalleymusic.com. Still working on it, but it's coming together.

Guitar Chord Chart

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Guitar Chord Chart
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Download it if you want.

Benefit for Earl Gilliam @ The Big Easy 5731 Kirby Houston 10/4/09

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Benefit for Earl Gilliam Let's make this one of the biggest benefits ever.

10/4/2009 2:00 PM at BLUES BENEFIT FOR EARL & CARRIE JEAN @ The Big Easy
5731 Kirby, Houston, Texas 77005
Cost: $5 An extraordinary line-up of local Blues legends and friends to benefit Earl and Carrie Jean, including Texas Johnny Brown, Trudy Lynn and I.J. Gosey. The music starts at 2pm and goes ’til 7pm. Fantastic raffle items, BBQ, good times! Come on down!Earl Gilliam Legendary Blues Musician

Lauded as the "best Blues organist alive”, 79-year old Texas Bluesman Earl Gilliam has been smokin’ the house with his original Gulf Coast Blues sound for the past 60 years. A living legend of Houston's vital and historic Blues scene of the 40's and 50's, Earl has played both out front with his own band and as a sideman with some of the best, including: Sam Lightnin' Hopkins, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Albert Collins, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Joe Guitar Hughes, T-Bone Walker, Little Joe Washington and - in the really early days - with Goree Carter, Big Joe Turner, Grady Gaines, Nappy Brown, Roy Brown, Jerry Butler, Percy Mayfield, Hop Wilson, Lester Williams and many others. And then there were the ladies: Earl has graced the stage with such luminous Blueswomen as Big Mama Thornton, Luvenia Lewis, Lavelle White and Miss Trudy Lynn.

In 1955, Earl was invited to record his own music with Lucian Davis on Sarg Records, Willie Nelson and Doug Sahm’s first label. There were only two Black artists on that label – Earl and saxophonist O.S. Grant. He also recorded on Ivory Lee Semien’s historic label Ivory Records. Earl wrote and recorded what today are considered classic Blues tunes: “Wrong Doin’ Woman”, “Don’t Make Me Late Baby”, “Nobody’s Blues”, “Just You and I”, “Petite Baby” and more.

Earl is a well-respected band leader who held forth at such historic Houston Blues haunts as The Hamilton Inn, Shady's Playhouse and the Club Matinee's famed monthly talent shows – which blew in such young promising talent as Little Richard and Bobby Blue Bland. Earl was one of very few musicians who could play with Lightnin' Hopkins because of Hopkins' unique sense of timing. In the 60's and 70's, they occasionally played as a duo in the region. Earl not only plays a mean organ and piano, but he also squeezed on a 50 lb. accordion in Clifton Chenier's band. If you talk to Earl long enough and over a period of time, he'll drop some of the best authentic regional Blues history on you. He's the real deal!

These days, Earl tours on occasion and plays regularly close to home. His favorite gigs are at the Houston blues joint The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club.

Denny Mathis Steel Player Two Tons Of Steel

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:46:00 +0000

Denny Mathis
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

A FAMOUS STEEL PLAYER AND GREAT PERSON

DENNIS AND KEVIN TWO TONS OF STEEL

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:44:00 +0000

DENNIS AND KEVIN
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Taken at Gruene Hall, last 2tons Tuesday for 2009

MR EARL GILLIAM

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:21:00 +0000

MR EARL GILLIAM
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Mr Earl at St Annes Church 9/26/09

Freddie Fender

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:55:00 +0000

Freddie Fender
Originally uploaded by dato1937

A friend shared this with me.

River Road Boys in Tomball @ Main Street Crossing

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:44:00 +0000

This will be a great chance to see a famous Western Swing Band. Several are my friends.

Just a friendly reminder....please don't forget, this Friday, September 25, we will be appearing for our very first time at

Main Street Crossing

111 W.Main

Tomball, Texas.

We are very excited about this one and really would like to see you there. We start playing at 8:00p.m. This very nice place doubles as a restaurant as well as a concert venue. The restaurant has an outstanding menu with a great variety of food choices at reasonable prices. Get there early, have a great meal, then sit back and enjoy the music. You can find out more about Main Street Crossing by viewing their great website, www.mainstreetcrossing.com or by calling 281-290-0431. We'll see you there!

The River Road Boys

Check out our website www.RiverRoadBoys.com

and please be sure to sign our guestbook!

Leader, Clyde Brewer, Ph: (281) 356-7174

Band Secretary: Vivian Howser, Ph: (281) 290-7255

Mailing address:

22011 Rosewood Trail

Tomball, Texas 77377-3505

DENNIS AND KEVIN

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:30:00 +0000

DENNIS AND KEVIN
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Dennis and Kevin from Two Tons of Steel. They work out of San Antonio, Texas.

Kevin & Elena

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:28:00 +0000

Kevin & Elena
Originally uploaded by Jesse C Smith Jr

Kevin and wife Elena at Gruene Hall.

The River Road Boys Upcoming events for September

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Hi fans,

Just a note to update you on some upcoming events for September:

Tuesday, September 15, we will be at the Pasadena Civic Center on Fairmont Parkway and Red Bluff Rd. for Pct.8 Constable Bill Bailey's Gumbo Gala and Dance. It will get started at 5:30p.m.

Saturday, Septenber 19, we will be at the SPJST Lodge 88, Chandelier Ballroom, 1435 Beall St. in the Houston Heights. This is a great place with a BIG dance floor. We start playing at 8:30p.m. Come on out and have some dancin' fun!

Friday, September 25, we will be appearing for our very first time at Main Street Crossing, 111 W.Main in downtown Tomball, Texas. We are very excited about this event and really would like to see you there. We start playing at 8:00p.m. This very nice place doubles as a restaurant as well as a concert venue. The restaurant has an outstanding menu with a great variety of food choices at reasonable prices. Get there early, have a great meal, then sit back and enjoy the music. You can find out more about Main Street Crossing by viewing their great website, www.mainstreetcrossing.com or by calling 281-290-0431.

Don't forget, we now have Navasota Christmas Ball tickets

on sale. Call Clyde at 281-356-7174 to reserve your table!

The River Road Boys

Check out our website www.RiverRoadBoys.com

and please be sure to sign our guestbook!

Leader, Clyde Brewer, Ph: (281) 356-7174

Band Secretary: Vivian Howser, Ph: (281) 290-7255

Mailing address:

22011 Rosewood Trail

Tomball, Texas 77377-3505

Steel Guitar: Underground or Under The Ground

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

I have worked with some of the best steel players anywhere. What a blessing. Jesse Smith

Steel Guitar: Underground or Under The Ground

via The 9513 by Miss Leslie

A recent debate with a friend has me wondering: Has the steel guitar gone underground, or is the steel guitar dead and gone from country music altogether, buried "under the ground?"
Since Webb Pierce came out with "Slowly" in 1954, the pedal steel guitar has been the signature instrument of country music. Virtually non-existent in all other musical genres, its prominence in country music until the last decade (and arguably, the last two decades) has made it an audible watermark of country music. Lloyd Green, aka "Mr. Nashville" (and the steel guitar player for hundreds of country recordings), has been quoted as saying that "the steel guitar is the other voice in country music."
But where is that "other voice" today? I don't hear it in mainstream country music. Recently, I forced myself to sit down and listen to the top 10 singles on the Billboard chart; from Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" to Blake Shelton's "I'll Just Hold On," what struck me was that while a hint of steel is audible on most of the recordings, none of them featured the melodic intros, solos and fills that have long been a staple of the genre.
Subtle steel tones are there (as is the banjo) seemingly to "countrify" the songs.
(more…)

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Les Paul, ace guitarist and maker of instruments, dies at 94

jessecsmithjr@gmail.com (Jesse C Smith Jr) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Les Paul, ace guitarist and maker of instruments, dies at 94

via chron.com Chronicle

Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, died on Thursday. He was 94.

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