Texas Red Dirt Roads

TXRDR Serve & Share

Russell Foreman — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:51:16 +0000

Unlike the hundreds of thousands brave Americans that have volunteered to serve our country, there are millions like myself that have no first hand experience of what it’s like to be that far from home fighting to protect home. For those of you that know this struggle we say thank you.

I’ve been told that maintaining a connection with those people and things they love back home plays a huge role in keeping the faith. We would like to utilize the internet to help bring it home.

TXRDR is looking for a few good men or women who would like to tell their stories of what it’s like to raise the red dirt flag on the front lines. If you or someone you know is serving our country over seas we would be honored to provide a place to do so.

Please e-mail russell@txrdr.com for more details including care packages.

Review Of Matt Martindale's Album "BIG SIGN"

Russell Foreman — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:06:10 +0000

I was really excited about getting Matt Martindale’s new album, Big Sign. I had heard positive reviews and had enjoyed some of his previous work with Cooder Graw. After listening to the opening track, Ain’t Afraid, I was hopeful that for some reason a Toby Keith song was slipped into the mix. Unfortunately, while the pace of the music changed, the quality did not. I went from being excited about listening to a great CD to being willing to pay 99 cents on iTunes for Rags on a Princess.

Matt Martindale is a talented guy. He just made a bad album. The problem with Big Sign is that it never matches up. There are times that the music will get you hooked into the song, but then the lyrics will kick in and not fit with the song. There are other times that the lyrics are great, but the song is a little too fast for them. Cinderella Time is the essence of a great song that was sped up too much and the words lost their significance. Most of the time in life, and all of the time in music, it is not about what a person says, but how they say it. Matt Martindale fails to say it the right way too often in Big Sign.

A problem embedded in the album that grows with each song is the feeling that Martindale “tried” to make the album sound a certain way. The album tries to have a country party anthem. The album tries to have the schmaltzy love song. The album sounds as if a music executive in Hollywood wanted to make a Texas/ Red Dirt album. The only song that comes across as legitimate and genuine is Rags on a Princess; which also doubles as the best song. Too many of the songs on the album seem to be manufactured and that explains why there is such a problem on the music matching the lyrics.

Save your money on Big Sign. Download Rags on a Princess and move on down the road. Matt Martindale has some good music in him; he just didn’t put enough of it on this album.

~CRISKLEMENT

Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not TXRDR LLC; TXRDR LLC is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by TXRDR LLC regarding the qualifications of Experts.

Noteworthy News

Russell Foreman — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:50:21 +0000

Eleven Hundred Springs can rehabilitate your country
Denton Record Chronicle - Matt Crider - ‎Jan 30, 2010‎
Eleven Hundred Springs has been making solid honky-tonk music for well over a decade, and the Texas band's sixth full-length release, This Crazy Life, ...

ACM New Artist nominees announced - ACM & GAC partner to let fans pick the New ...
Examiner.com - Chris Young - ‎Jan 29, 2010‎
Eli Young Band (Like Jamey Johnson, the Eli Young Band will also be playing at the Country Throwdown show at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View,

Texas State co-sponsors Rod Kennedy celebration
Newstreamz San Marcos - Hap Mansfield - ‎Jan 26, 2010‎
2 from 7-10 pm Performers at the event will include Robert Earl Keen Jr., the Flatlanders, Marcia Ball, Ray Benson, Bobby Bridger, Ruthie Foster, ...

Concerts for February and beyond
Fort Worth Star Telegram - ‎Jan 27, 2010‎
Brandon Rhyder Feb. 19. Billy Bob's Texas, Fort Worth. $12-$16. Ticketmaster. Big Red Rooster Feb. 20. Cambridge Room at House of Blues, Dallas. $10. ...

Local music fest to aid Haiti
San Angelo Standard-Times - Ami Mizell-Flint - ‎Jan 30, 2010
Along with O'Toole, headliners include Josh Abbott and Mark McKinney. “One hundred percent of the money raised is going to Haiti,” Baker said. ...

Reckless Kelly Celebrity Softball Jam Announced
OurSports Central (press release) - ‎Jan 29, 2010
Following the softball game, the audience will be invited onto the field to enjoy a concert featuring Reckless Kelly and Cross Canadian Ragweed along with ...

Sessions: Ray Wylie Hubbard
American Songwriter - ‎17 hours ago‎
By americansongwriter on January 22nd, 2010 Ray Wylie Hubbard, the bard behind Jerry Jeff Walker's classic '73 cut “Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother,” ...

Guitar prodigy Johnny Cooper already an old pro at 21
LubbockOnline.com - Alan Sculley - ‎Jan 21, 2010‎
Johnny Cooper's birth certificate may say he's just 21, but that's not how he sounded in a recent phone interview. ...

Ryan Bingham Wins a Golden Globe Award
Tonight Ryan Bingham won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song- Motion Picture beating out the likes of Paul McCartney & Bono.
http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/

Tune-slinger rolls into town
(Columbia Daily Tribune)1/15/2010
Jason Boland isn't your typical outlaw. Sure, in taking his cues from the great gunslingers of country music, banditos such as Waylon ... http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jan/14/tune-slinger-rolls-into-town/

It's about music, not labels
(Bakersfield Californian) 1/14/2010
Cross Canadian Ragweed Band is awfully good. Their new record, "Happiness and All the Other Things," is currently at No. 7 and climbing. ...
http://www.bakersfield.com/entertainment/local/x113239773/Its-about-music-not-labels

Putting trust in good country music
(San Diego Union Tribune)1/14/2010
“I told them, 'Quit your job and join my band. We'll split everything even-steven down the middle. We'll call it the Randy Rogers Band, and we'll make a ...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/14/putting-trust-good-country-music/

Musicfest News
(Steamboat Pilot)1/8/2010
Jack Ingram and Doug Moreland, performing as part of MusicFest at Steamboat...
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/jan/08/jack-ingram-plays-free-concert-today/

Jason Boland & The Stragglers
(Denver Westword)1/5/2010
Too many country-music purists of the past couple decades brag about keeping....
http://www.westword.com/2010-01-07/music/jason-boland-amp-the-stragglers/

Lone Star State Jam announces lineup
(Austin360.com)1/7/2010
The country fest, now in its third year.....
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2010/01/07/lone_star_state_jam_announces.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_music_source

Randy Rogers Band to play Expo Center
(Killeen Daily Herald)
Tickets go on sale Saturday for a Texas country show headlined by the Randy Rogers Band at the Bell County Expo Center.
http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=38126

MusicFest News
(Steamboat Pilot)
Texas singer-songwriter and nothing-left-unsaid alternative country player Charlie Robison got the crowd warmed up for Keen’s set. Hobbling through a skiing-induced knee injury.....
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/jan/07/musicfest-gets-hollerin-start/

Reckless Kelly Goes Back to its Roots
(The 9513 (blog))
After a decade of solid albums and steady touring, Reckless Kelly
http://www.the9513.com/reckless-kelly-goes-back-to-its-roots/

Noteworthy News

Russell Foreman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:59:02 +0000

Randy Rogers Band to Play Expo Center (Killeen Daily Herald)
Tickets go on sale Saturday for a Texas country show headlined by the Randy Rogers Band at the Bell County Expo Center. The Randy Rogers Band ... http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=38126

Review of "Crazy Heart"

Russell Foreman — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:20:56 +0000

Why do so many people listen to music, and in our case, country music? It’s simple of course; we listen because on some level we can relate to the lyrical picture being painted. Life is about where you have been, where you are going, and perhaps most importantly what you learned both good and bad from yesterday that will help make today a better day.

“Crazy Heart” is a movie that maps out the crossroads of generations while pulling the curtain back to expose the dark and smokie carnage the music business can leave behind. Bad Blake, played by Jeff Bridges, is a singer trying to survive today by living off yesterday. Bad Blake is a harsh reminder that for those who choose this business, the road does in fact go on for ever and the party never completely ends, it’s just that eventually it goes on without you. In a lot of ways, the character of Bad Blake visually resembles a mix of Kris Kristofferson and the late Waylon Jennings. This is not to say that the character is based on them, rather I would say it is unfortunately a simple yet intense example of a story that has been lived many times. Jeff Bridges provides a more than convincing effort.

Actors are like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. Take a simple 1,500 square foot home and drop it into Beverly Hills and it will look like something scraped off the bottom of a cowboy boot. Take that same home and set it down in a nice middle class neighborhood and it will have all the charm in the world. Maggie Gyllenhaal was perfectly cast as Jean Craddock, a writer who is searching to discover the real Bad Blake and along the way manages to find more than she ever imagined. If you felt like she was miscast in “Dark Knight” then you will love her in “Crazy Heart”.

Next time you get outside of town on a clear night, take a minute and look up at all the beautiful stars in the sky, and if you are lucky maybe you will see a shooting star. Why is it that the stars themselves garner only quiet and subdued admiration while the site of a shooting star will make us all ten years old again as we excitedly call out its rare appearance? I would wager it’s because we take for granted the steadiness of constellations which in turn makes us take notice of something unique like a bright star shooting across the heavens.

TXRDR could not offer a review of this movie without including some discussion about our star of the movie, Ryan Bingham. Knowing that Ryan played a major role in writing the title track of the movie, “Weary Kind”, I looked up at the screen expecting one thing and came away with much more. As noted earlier, the lead character visually resembled the great Kris Kristofferson. Let it be said that Ryan Bingham will be his generation’s rendition of Mr. Kristofferson. Not that Ryan is currently on the same level, it’s just that he has “it”, that thing that makes unsuspecting people stand up and take notice. You combine his “it” quality with the fact that people all over the world are discovering him both on stage and screen and it’s easy to see that he has only scratched the surface of a well filled with tremendous potential. It’s ironic that a movie about a broken down musician who’s lived life from easy to hard would star a musician that has lived the life of Bad Blake, only in reverse. Here is to hoping this will continue to be the case for Ryan and many others.

I will assume that if you are on this site then you are a fan of Texas Red Dirt Music, and if that is the case then I will hope that regardless of your age you have or will expand yourself by experiencing today’s up and comers while showing some respect to the trailblazers of yesterday. Very few things are wholly original anymore with some artists borrowing a riff or a line from another, or unintentionally allowing the mental marinade of great music to give flavor to their contributions, we can all be thankful for those that have come before us and what they continue to leave behind.

Just as pre-driving teenagers have to watch those gory movies about auto accidents, singer songwriters should have to watch “Crazy Heart”. It’s all fun and games when you’re ten feet tall and bullet proof, but it’s brutally harsh and unforgiving when you’re flat on your back and the regrets of yesterday begin to outnumber the opportunities for tomorrow’s repentance. For those who consider themselves to be more than a casual observer of Texas Red Dirt Music, “Crazy Heart” may leave you with mixed emotions, but as the song says, “ This ain’t no place for the weary kind.”

~Russell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelvaxvTaUk