Deep Six

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

We're still trying to put in words how great the Deep Blues Festival was. It's hard to distill 5 days of great music, and even better people, into a pithy post.

We would be remiss if we didn't recognize Chris Johnson, the founder, for the passion, love, and heart he put into the festival. I've never been to an event before where every band made a point to thank and praise the man responsible for bringing them there. This happened at the Deep Blues Festival. Mr. Johnson is a visionary, and an example of how to put your soul into action.

And, we must also mention all the artist involved (70 bands, duos, and one-man bands), from T-Model Ford, Elmo Williams, and CeDell Davis to Pure Country Gold, Ten Foot Polecats, Bloody Ol' Mule, Black Diamond Heavies, and countless others. This was the type of festival where the artists roamed freely throughout the crowd, encouraging you to engage them in conversations, rabidly checking out other artists, and even sitting down for a beer with anyone who would ask. Such acknowledgment of fans is a rare thing indeed in the current music scene. But the Blues lend themselves to interaction, don't they?

We'll get to covering other music shortly, but for today we want to do a special edition of our Six Pack series, focusing on artists who played at the Festival.

We'd also like to announce, for the foreseeable future, a new series here at the Mountain. We're gonna call it Deep Blues Thursday (starting next week), and we'll be covering many of the artists who either played at the Festival, or whose brand of Hill Country Blues/Punk Blues/Hillbilly Blues, etc. matches the aesthetic forged and lovingly curated at the Fest. We'll being doing interviews with the artists, and offering special incentives and, yes, giveaways. Keep your eyes peeled to this site for more announcements. Things are afoot (which partly explains my posting delay).

So, today's Six Pack, featuring artists from the Deep Blues Festival. We've got The High Plane Drifters, Dooley Wilson, The Speaking Tongues, The Rue Moor Counts, Restavrant, and Pure Country Gold. Ass kickers, each and every one. And we've only just begun.

Remember, all songs are pulled from vinyl (in this case all 45's). Songs are not listed in order of greatness, so check 'em all out!


High Plane Drifters: Trouble In Mind (mp3)

Dooley Wilson: Easy When You Put It On Me (mp3)

The Speaking Tongues: Looking In Your Window (mp3)

The Rue Moor Counts: On The Run (mp3)

Restavrant: Bev D. (mp3)

Pure Country Gold: Setting Sun (mp3)

Please support your local, independent rock'n'roll hootchie coo.

Moan and Howl

With the Deep Blues Festival only a week and a half away, we figger you're either going or you're not. But, hell, I thought I'd give a last ditch effort. Independent music festivals are becoming harder to come by. The Deep Blues Festival represents all that's good about music festivals. A chance to check out legends and unsigned artists alike, minus the mega-corporate sponsors, 5 dollar bottles of water, sweaty frat boys, and trendy hype from hipster websites. It's all about the music and the love of a guitar, a trap set, and a voice howling in the dark.

We sort of figger that we haven't done our job properly around these parts in promoting the festival. We should have posted about it daily, or sumsuch. What could we have done better to spur yr interest beyond a casual looksee? The lineup is impeccable, and we're sure to return with a stack of records to share with y'all.

In this economy, it's surely hard to justify travel to a festival far from home. Hell, we're blowing our entire Spring/Summer budget on it. But we feel it's worth it, if only to support the concept, and rage, rage against the dying of great music for the sake of radio play list homogenization. Do you really want to overpay to see yet another Depressed Mode reunion or a Flaming Lips show where, I bet, they'll have balloons and bunny rabbits while working through a current prog-rock fascination? Maybe so. What the hell do we know? We'd rather see a band kicking out with the nasty in a small club or in a tiny outdoor stage ripping shreds of sonic desperation. We could be wrong here, and we often are. Maybe we don't know what we're talking about. Maybe the future of music is in easily categorized genres, and an artist only has to be "good enough" for it's intended demographic. We don't think so, though. We think there's plenty of folks out there looking for something a little more.

When music becomes safe, and functions as wallpaper for an SUV trip to the mall, it loses its power to move, maaaaannnn. And so, and verily, let it be.

The previous was just our opinion, and in no way reflects the views of the organizers of any festival or the artists involved.

But, yeah, we've got opinions. Why not?

The Deep Blues Festival features such luminaries as Elmo Williams, T-Model Ford, CeDell Davis, and Pure Country Gold. But here's some more of the artists that will be there that we're pretty enthused about. By the end of the festival, we'll probably have even more. Check 'em out, and let yr ass boogie the way to the promised land.


Black Smokers: Little Nasty Girl (mp3)

Left Lane Cruiser: Big Mama (mp3)

Reverend Deadeye: Pentecostal Rattlesnake Shake (mp3)

High Plane Drifters: I Her Moan and Howl (mp3)

Black River Bluesman: Cardboard and Plastic (mp3)

Honkeyfinger: Burning Skull Blues (mp3)

Chooglin': Hal's Haberdashery (mp3)

Left Lane Cruiser: Set Me Free (mp3)

Please support yr local independent music fests. Otherwise yr stuck with corporate-mandated music for the masses.