Colter Wall

Story and photo by Axton Deary

Image it is the 1870s and you are standing at the corner of Commerce Street and Ross Avenue in Dallas, Texas. An incoming train has just arrived from Denison, Texas, on the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, full of cotton, lumber, and passengers. There is a young, tall, slim, out-of-towner standing by his lonesome. The young man with light red hair, untrimmed mustache, and thick, dark red beard has seen it all on his trek from Canada; drug abuse, finding love, murder – even if by his own hand, contemplation of suicide, and prison.

Fast forward one hundred and forty-some odd years to 2017 – the same young man has reemerged to Howell Street and North Central Expressway at The Rustic. Colter Wall is the twenty-something and he played to a crowd of 100 interested patrons of The Rustic while a hundreds more halfway listed to him. Wall is peculiar in every sense of his existence. Wall, from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, booms a hollow, baritone voice that is strangely attractive (it’s as if Colter was standing on that corner smoking cigarettes since 1870 to 2017), it’s something you rarely hear, especially coming from a twenty year old.

Wall began the show by playing stripped down ballads acoustically before having three others join him on stage. Wall played original ballads and played covers from Marty Robbins to Townes Van Zandt. Many artists claim they are influenced by TVZ, but rarely do they ever capture the essence of bare quality which TVZ embodied – Wall embellishes the same simplistic sound that Townes did years ago. Wall moved in to his own ballads, which had concert-goers tapping to the beat and attempting to go deep with their own voices and match Wall’s depth.

Wall played ‘Kate McCannon’ from his 2017 self-titled album, Colter Wall. “Kate McCannon” is a love ballad gone wrong by the hand of the song’s narrator. The song begins ominous with a raven paying a visit to the narrator’s jail cell. The narrator goes in-depth about how he ended up in a jail. He met the town’s most beautiful young woman and began courting her, he then quits his old ways, straightens up, and begins to save for an engagement ring. One day, he comes home to find his beloved missing and eventually finds her with another man. The song ends with Kate McCannon dead in this dark, gritty ballad.

Wall closed with “Sleeping on the Blacktop,” a tune from his 2015 LP, Imaginary Appalachia and ended with the crowd singing every word to the catchy song.

In review, musicians like Colter Wall rarely come out of nowhere, nor do they exist. Colter Wall goes against the grain when Music Row is still “singing” about riverbeds and trucks – Wall sings about murder. Because of this, Wall drew interested Dallasites looking for something new – something worth listening too and Wall surpassed what they were looking at. Wall encompasses the natural sound production, a great song-writing ability, and a deep, gravelly voice and it makes something new and exciting.

Pick up a copy of Colter Wall today and dwells in old stories told by a young man. Wall continues to play in the United States until the end of the year before he tours in Europe.

Colter Wall’s tour schedule and more information is available on his Website, ColterWall.com

Ellis Paul

He played to two open rooms, combined by a short wall, giving those listeners in each room his undivided attention. Ellis Paul is just that kinda pro, one who appreciates every single one of his fans and gives each one his best.

Ellis played Sunday (Aug. 13, 2017) as part of the on-going Harmony House concert series in the Bonham area. It had been five years since Ellis had appeared in this series, and it was apparent that the crowd want him back sooner than another five years.

Ellis Paul is a folk singer from the northeast U.S., one who, since the 1980s, has played on nearly every major stage ever built. It’s the listening rooms he likes the best. And, he said early in the concert, that the Harmony House is the best of all house concerts.

Faye Wedell and Scott Lipsett own Wildscape Acres, and have moved and restored an historic Bonham house to its original, rustic charm. They have been

Charming roadway

hosting house concerts there for oh-these-many-years. The road to the house, a walk around on the porches, and the opulent garden and lawn make everyone feel so welcome. Sunday, there were deer playing at the edge of the lawn, just outside the wooded area.

Ellis told stories about his songs and about his life. And he teased with his audience. And he got that same audience to singing along to his songs. Just imagine, 75 people singing along to “Kick Out The Lights — Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash,

Johnny Cash.” A great song to the great, late man in black. And Ellis Paul wrote it. And to honor his ultimate influence, Woody Guthrie, Ellis had

Ellis Paul

people singing along with him on “This Land is Your Land.”

Ellis ended the evening by going to the piano in the back of Room 1 and playing a couple of songs, with everyone from Room 2 standing and crowding into Room 1.

Check out Harmony House Concerts on Facebook, to get a glimpse of the land and house that

Wildscape Acres yard and garden. Deer played occasionally along that back wooded line

music lovers become a part of when they attend Wildscape Acres. And go to their Website, WildscapeAcres.com , click on “Harmony House Concerts, for the upcoming schedule. The next one will be on September 16 or 17, (that’s to be determined soon), and features Andrew Hardin and Jeannie Burns of Wimberley, Texas. An acoustic duo guaranteed to fill those two rooms with perfect harmony.

Ellis Paul at Woody Fest, in his signature particular post and microphone use, seen several times at Harmony House

Review by Billy Keith Bucher, courtesy photo

When I first came to Ben Wheeler, Texas, I became an avid fan of the Forge Bar and Grill and the Moore’s Store. These music venues provided an opportunity to activate my knowledge of the local music scene. I tried to never miss a performance. It was a great lesson and an education for me. One of the best performers who I was privileged to hear was a singer named Grace Pettis. She hailed from Lookout Mountain, Alabama, and now lives in Austin, Texas.

Pettis has a captivating collection of songs, which are currently contained on her two CDs. The most current are her stunning performances on “Two Birds.” One of her most haunting songs, which also became a video, is “You Are the Cowboy.” Another chilling offering is “Love Is There.” Grace can easily jump an octave with the same aplomb as an Olympic diver executing a swan dive. Another current creation is the song “Four Wheel Hotel”. It has become a nice flight with the newly created Grace Pettis Band which will be featured on her next CD. It will be on sale this summer.

Exciting news to Ben Wheeler audiences is that Grace Pettis will be performing at the Forge Bar and Grill on New Year’s Eve, along with Guthrie Kennard. This will be followed by a West Coast tour to San Diego and Fullerton, Calif., and on to Tuscon, Ariz. Since the release of her new CD is in sight, it will be a great beginning to the new year.

Said Grace, in a recent telephone interview call to Austin, “I was just very excited to get the call from Michael Lenz, booking agent at the Forge. I will be glad to be back at this great venue. It is just a wonderful place to perform.” Following Ben Wheeler, Grace will be appearing at the Calvary Cafe in College Station and, after her West Coast tour, she will be back to perform in Texas at the Cactus Cafe in Austin, near the University of Texas campus.

I hope to see you on New Year’s Eve at the Forge in Ben Wheeler to enjoy this award-winning singer/song writer, Grace Pettis. You will certainly not be disappointed.

Awards Grace Pettis has won:

Ω Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest Winner

​Ω NPR’s Mountain Stage NewSong Songwriting Contest Winner and “Best Song” Winner

Ω Wildflower! Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner and “People’s Choice” Winner

Easton Corbin

Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer — Click on the link below for more photos

K95.5 The Wolf, with its station in Fort Worth, sponsored this year’s 10-Man Jam at Billy Bob’s Texas Sunday (Dec. 4, 2016). There were five performers originally listed — Granger Smith, Casey Donahew, Joe Nichols, Chris Janson, and Jon Pardi, with a promising … ‘more to be announced.’ Then, on Saturday, they announced (surprise) Michael Tyler to the line-up about the same time that everyone found out Granger Smith had been involved in a major catastrophe in New Jersey and was in the hospital… couldn’t make it. But no more announcements….

The first set, then, which was to have featured Granger, lined up Michael Tyler, Chris Janson, Joe Nichols, and Easton Corbin, with Joe and Easton both having side men on guitars and backup vocals. Easton Corbin had performed at Billy Bob’s the night before, and stayed over for this event. Basically, a Nashville songswap, and it was dynamite. And just as an aside, any time you get a chance to see Chris Janson live, take it!

The second set, then, had four surprises.. Casey Donahew and Jon Pardi were joined on stage by Texas/Red Dirt artists (surprises) Randy Rogers, and Josh Abbott, plus a girl singer with a name that none of us in my section of the audience ever caught.

And all the while, country music icon (surprise) Randy Travis sat in the stage sidelines, almost out of sight, completely, obviously, enjoying the whole evening. Randy, as most know, has been recovering from major heart problems developed a few years ago. He’s working hard and coming along, slowly but nicely.

This was a fundraiser event that K95.5 sponsored, with Billy Bob Texas’ help.

Link to photos, click here

And PS: another aside — (Surprise) I didn’t get very many photos. Apparently, the radio station said no press people take photos, but by the time I got that information, I had already snapped a few, so… what I snapped is here…