Audio By Carbonatix
Shiner Rising Star Competition: Week Six
La Grange
August 26, 2010
For night six of the still ongoing first round of this year’s Shiner Rising Star competition, hosted by KHYI-95.3 FM The Range, things reverted back to the local flavor that had been largely missing over the previous couple of weeks.
Two of the three bands that hit the stage in Deep Ellum’s La Grange call Dallas home, while the other resides just southwest, in Mansfield.
Another similarity that last night’s event shared with the first two or three weeks of the contest is that the depth of DFW’s country scene is far greater and extremely more diverse than most people often realize.
Yet again, the evening’s performances unveiled a sonic diversity that made it beyond difficult to truly compare the bands to one another, as the evening progressed.
The Driftin’ Outlaw Band, along with Andrew Delaney & The Horse You
Rode In On, repped the Big D, while the Robert Donahue Band told the
comfortably packed bar what life is all about on the other side of DFW
Airport.
Joining me at the judges table again were KHYI DJ Brett
Dillon, and the owner of Shiner Records, Joshua Jones, who will soon be
the boss of one of this competition’s bands.
The first band of the evening getting off to a slow or rough start has
been a trend that has developed over the course of the contest. Sure,
there’s been an exception or two, but last night’s opening act, The
Driftin’ Outlaw Band, not only had the smallest crowd joining them, but
also suffered through some technical difficulties thanks to a back-up
acoustic guitar that wasn’t cooperating with lead Outlaw Jon Rust. While
the effort of this raw, rootsy band always seemed genuine and their
cover of Roger Miller’s “Chug-a-Lug” was pretty fun, the downtime that
was brought on by the issues with the instrumentation proved to be too
much of a buzz-kill. Ultimately, while this wasn’t The Driftin’ Outlaws
night, it’s easy to imagine that on a good night, their brand of
bluegrass-flavored, goth-country could provide a whale of a time.
Taking full-advantage of the sizable Robert Donahue Band t-shirt-wearing crowd they brought with them, Donahue and his extremely
professional and polished band of rockers took the stage and proceeded
to provide an insane amount of contrast to the previous set, from a
purely sonic standpoint. With his boot planted firmly on the pedal,
Donahue tore through tunes dealing in memories, both fond and not so
fond, as well as number that is as red-state ready as they come, in
which Donahue implored the crowd to “not forget about 9/11,” while he
also encouraged anyone who might want to speak to him, but are from
another country, to learn English in order to do so. The sheer tightness
and forceful energy of the songs, regardless of lyrical content, was
impressive and there was little doubt that they made the most of their
opportunity.
The raucous cheers that greeted the evening’s final act, Andrew Delaney
& The Horse You Rode In On, wasn’t terribly surprising given that
this four piece has become a Deep Ellum fixture in recent times. The
sound that Delaney and company dealt in seemed to occupy a pleasing,
middle ground between the two styles of the nights previous,
polar-opposite acts. At times folk-laden and at other times, heartily
rocking, Delaney’s style was hard to pin-down, but even harder to
ignore. As was noted from the judges table last night, each of their
tunes, regardless of genre label, had a distinct and substantial groove;
a credit to both the writing and the playing. While, at times, the
vocals seemed to engage in a bit of a battle with the lead guitar for
the audience’s attention, Delaney’s well-executed cover of “Sympathy for
the Devil” was engaging and inspired.
In the end, the crowd-pleasing Robert Donahue Band triumphed and earned a
spot in the semi-finals, where they will be one step closer to a
recording deal with Shiner Records.
As for a couple of items that are perhaps a bit beside the point; the
alcoholic sno-cones at LaGrange are pretty crazy. Imagine what little
league baseball games would be like if you could shove an ounce or two
of your favorite liquor into the concession-stand offerings? Also, for
those looking for real-world proof that the Shiner Rising Star contest
churns out stellar talent, head to the Granada this weekend for the
Chris Knight show. 2008 winners, Somebody’s Darling, will be opening up,
along with another past winner Merrol Ray (formerly of Miles From
Nowhere).
