John Goodspeed: Boland, LaRue, oysters
Web Posted: 04/19/2007 04:01 PM CDT
Like cutting-edge country, Texas style?Check.
Like big crowds?
Check.
Oysters, fried and/or slimy?
Darn tootin', and you got it all at Fiesta's biggest kick-off event, Oyster Bake, which will celebrate its 91st anniversary at St. Mary's University today and Saturday with four stages of music.
The one for country will be hopping, especially considering the two headliners are in the stratosphere on the Texas Music chart and at clubs across the state.
Friday night it will be Jason Boland & The Stragglers, who hold the No. 4 position with "Up and Gone," the moving-on ballad from last fall's "The Bourbon Legend," one of last year's top albums with its fresh take on outlaw/traditional country.
It should be a good pairing with opener Jarrod Birmingham of Victoria, who comes on strong blending honky-tonk and Southern rock with tunes with an attitude such as "If You Don't Like Me," which follows with "then I probably won't like you."
Leading the pack Saturday will be Stoney LaRue, who not only nailed the No. 1 spot with "Oklahoma Breakdown" but also won top honors as artist of the year at the 2007 Gruene With Envy Awards.
Right before LaRue will be the Mike McClure Band, fronted by the singer/songwriter who also produced LaRue's debut studio CD, "The Red Dirt Album," appropriately titled because both cut their teeth on Oklahoma's rebellious country rock scene. McClure, one of the most influential artists on that scene, is the former lead singer for The Great Divide.
Also on Saturday's lineup are singer/songwriter Hayes Carll, Derek and the Pearl Snaps and the Robert Demel Band. Demel will return to another signature Fiesta event, A Night in Old San Antonio, in Frontiertown from Tuesday through April 27.
Also appearing for the whole event will be The Cones Sisters, who will return to the Arneson River Theater, where they performed country and more regularly for years. Check 'em out at www.oysterbake.com and www.niosa.org.
More than Fiesta
If getting dribbled on, squashed and splashed is not your idea of musical heaven, there's a lot more going on.
Raul Malo will finish the last of his two-night stop at Gruene Hall Friday night. Opening with an acoustic show will be The Heathens . Malo will pull a few tunes from his latest album, "You're Only Lonely," the slow, romantic collection of classics that showcase his Roy Orbison -esque vocals on tunes such as Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground."
Malo, of course, is the frontman for The Mavericks and likely will pull out some of their top tunes, too, such as "What a Crying Shame" and "There Goes My Heart Again."
Gary P. Nunn will make a stop Saturday at Texas Spirits Dance Hall and Saloon in Rio Medina, which is expanding its horizons in its bookings. Billy Joe Shaver is set for May 18. Check it out at (830) 538-2300.
Two Tons of Steel will bring revved-up "countrybilly" to the County Line's Live Music Series at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is a donation to the San Antonio Food Bank.
Rodney Hayden recently moved back to Pleasanton after honing his songwriting skills in Nashville. He's set to show off new tunes at a CD-release party Thursday at Gruene Hall. The album, "Down the Road," finds Hayden right at home with fine songs that straddle contemporary and traditional country. The retail release date is May 1.
Some guy named Kenney Chesney will hit the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on June 17, but you can get a preview at 8 p.m. Saturday on GAC. "Kenney Chesney Phases & Stages: The Flip Flop Summer Tour" shows how he put the tour together. Part two airs at 8 p.m. April 28.
jgoodspeed@express-news.net
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