YouTube Gems: Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition

From the 2013 album White Buffalo, here's Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition with the video for "Tennessee Walker Mare."

Jeremy's Top Live Shows of 2013

#7

Dallas Moore Band at The Newport Motorcycle Rally in Newport, KY

and The Backyard Bar and Grill in Loveland, OH:

This was the first time had been able to catch Dallas and the boys live and lucky for me it was a double header.  The first show which was taking place outside was Dallas with his full band making their way through several songs from their latest release Blessed Be The Bad Ones, as well as some great cover songs. After catching the first show (which started in the summer sun and ended under the fireworks from Great American Ballpark which is located just across the Ohio River from the Newport Levee where the event is held once a year) it was time to head to the after party show which featured Dallas and the late Wayne Mills playing an acoustic set together. It was great to see two friends trade the lead role back and forth as they played a good mix of their own songs as well as some favorites from legends of the past.

Dallas and Wayne Mills

#6

T Junior at Shamrock Tattoo in Portsmouth, OH:

Any time you find a show that is cheap to get into and is BYOB you're off to a great start. Add in a gracious crowd and great music that was taking place in a historical side room with great acoustics and it's a show I'll never forget. T Junior rolled through his set and made several new fans that night through his high energy and great song writing. The only downfall of this show was that it happened on a Sunday night and I felt obligated to drink all the beer I had brought.

#5

Filthy Still at Tootle's Pumpkin Inn in Circleville, OH:

Tootle's is a favorite for many acts that have had the opportunity to play there and for good reason. While it's not the biggest or the coolest bar you'll ever see it has one major advantage over your average bar venue and that's the people. The patrons just get the music and this night was no exception as the crowd danced into a drunken frenzy to every song. For some reason there was even a guy dressed as The Mad Hatter. A barefooted, dancing Mad Hatter at that. Welcome to Ohio.

#4

Shooter Jennings at Doughboyz Pizza Pub in Ashville, OH:

I know what you're thinking, Shooter at a pizza shop, what the hell? While technically this is a rather small pizza shop/bar with a large field outback, it easily is transformed into an outdoor concert venue with good food in small town central Ohio that attracts fans from around the state. This night began with a great job of opening the show by The Phillip Fox band and continued as Shooter took the stage shortly after. Shooter and his band were spot on all night as they kept the crowd rocking trough the entire set list and left no one disappointed.

Shooter Jennings

#3

Unknown Hinson at The V Club in Huntington, WV:

I had previously missed two opportunities to catch an Unknown show and thought I'd never get another chance due his retirement announcement. Luckily for me and fans nationwide he decided to embark on at least one more round. For this particular show he brought along Justin Wells of Fifth On The Floor performing solo as his opener and also chose my favorite venue to catch any show. Justin worked great as the opener and played to the crowd perfectly by playing several of his bands high energy songs and a few great rock and country covers. Unknown Hinson walked onto the stage to a huge response and thrilled the crowd with his fun lyrics and masterful guitar playing. After the show both acts hung around to meet every person in the building and sign autographs for hours.

Unknown Hinson

#2

Fifth on the Floor "Ashes and Angels" album release show at Buster's in Lexington, KY:

A Fifth On The Floor show in their hometown has a different energy to it than any other show you'll ever experience. Throw in Rachel Brooke, Whitey Morgan and special guest Shooter Jennings and you can't go wrong. The night ended with members of each band coming together to pay tribute to Levon Helm with a very memorable version of "The Weight."

#1

Moonrunners Fest at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago, IL:

I can't add anything to this that I didn't already say in my write up shortly after the event. The main thing is the fact that it's happening again with not only more bands but also an extra day. Already planning my trip for 2014.

Low Information Country Fan eCards (NSFW)

These are actual unedited YouTube comments from the fans of

Blackjack Billy, Brantley Gilbert, Cole Swindell and Chase Rice.

New(ish) Video: Red City Radio

From their 2013 album, Titles, here's Red City Radio with "Two Notes Shy of an Octave." Um, it gets oddly gory at the end, so NSFW.
RIYL: The Gaslight Anthem, Social Distortion, Two Cow Garage, Arliss Nancy.

Single Review: Blackjack Billy - Get Some

Blackjack Billy's "Get Some" is D-List bro-country that's not even catchy enough to garner guilty pleasure status from anyone with properly functioning ears. It sounds like one of those sub-par tracks tacked onto the end of the Promo Only Country CDs which featured some local bar band out of Port St. Lucie who was owed a favor. It's another party anthem objectifying women over loud guitars, with some vaguely urban slang thrown in. Any questions? 

The basic concept of the song is um, booty shaking, I guess? That pretty much covers it. In the chorus, "Hey honey, shakin' that money maker" is rhymed with "working what the good Lord gave you" because of course it is. It's cliche to even call those lines cliche, because they aren't anything nearing an even half-hearted attempt at art. They are gospel verses from the Douchebag Bible, added verbatim into the song.

"Baby, all I wanna do is get in your groove girl" is an actual lyric that a human wrote and sang over music and some commercial music entity saw fit to release it for public consumption. What is this, a 2 Live Crew song? Oh, I get it… it's supposed to be a subtle double-entendre. No, let's be real - these guys think an "entendre" comes filled with refried beans and covered in guac at Taco Bell.

Oh, and dude doesn't want to ask the girl to dance because then he'd have to stop creepin' on her and staring at her ass. That's restraining order territory right there, homey. This would be the pinnacle of Nashville's new misogyny culture if this were a song that would make a dent on the charts. Here are the respectful terms used to call upon this lovely young female: mama, pretty thing, honey, baby, girl, sugar. Yes, I'm serious.

Thankfully this band will go the way of the "Harlem Shake" sooner than later. There may be some talent in Blackjack Billy, but none of it has made itself known to this point. Forget guilty pleasure, "Get Some" isn't even worthy of "so good it's bad" consideration. It's just awful.