Bling on the backs of Johnny Lee’s and Penny Gilley’s shirts

Tuesday, Jan. 13, brought classic superstars B.J. Thomas and Johnny Lee to the Palace Theatre stage (in Grapevine, Texas) for another day of shooting upcoming episodes of RFD-TV’s The Penny Gilley Show. It also brought back the Rocky Gribble & The Texas All-Star Band, plus several others of incredible talent. Mikki Daniel, Abbey Cone, and Joe O’Conner. Those in the band were: band leader Rocky Gribble on lead guitar; J.D. Beckman on steel guitar; Ronny Ricks on drums; Bonnie Riley, fiddle; Curtis Jones on bass; David Walker, keyboards; and Jeanice Massey on background vocals.

Penny Gilley and her husband, Mike Stanglin, co-produce these RFD-TV shows. Stanglin said that this TV show band also goes on the road with Gilley for some of her road shows.

Grapevine Palace Arts, Convention and Event Center’s coordinator, Nadine Rodriguez, said that those in the band were all local artists from around Grapevine. She added that Gribble ran the Grapevine Opry for more than 25 years. Stanglin said that the steel player, J.D. Beckman, had driven from Minnesota for this gig.

And no event can be a success without the basic staff keeping it all running smoothly. Much of that was under Rodriguez‘ direction. “The people at the front desk were my event assistants. Prior to the event, my staff and I took numerous calls for tickets. Penny and her staff made all the arrangements for the taping. The Palace Arts Center supplied the venue and ticket staff.”  Stanglin added that the CVB sponsors the project, along with Dr. Harry Anderson, a nutritionist well known to the RFD-TV audience for animal nutrition products. He recently formulated Total People Plus, multi-vitamins for humans and was on site. There are other show

Mikki Daniel and Penny Gilley

sponsors, Stanglin added.

Wonderful crowd again, too, all of whom seemed to appreciate the need for stops and start-overs on songs and narrations, and all of whom got into and enjoyed every aspect of the project.

B.J. Thomas delivered several of his top hits; Johnny Lee did the same, and added a song off his upcoming new CD; and another showstopper was local 18-year-old singer/songwriter Mikki Daniel, who also yodels America’s Sweetheart style.

All in all, smooth sailing for this day’s production.

For Johnny Lee photos, click here

For B.J. Thomas photos, click here

For Penny Gilley photos, click here

For photos of other musicians  and activities, click here

For photos of Mikki Daniel, click here

The Penny Gilley Show project continued Wednesday; however, Scene In Town was unable to attend that third day. Watch RFD-TV for the airings of these great, classic country shows, which will begin in April.

The Penny Gilley Show, which airs on RFD TV, filmed 18 upcoming 30-minute  segments over three days in mid-January at the Palace Theater in downtown Grapevine. Scene In Town was there for the first two days, and allowed to photograph four classic music artists: Charley Pride, Mickey Gilley, B.J. Thomas, and Johnny Lee; plus numerous other national, regional, and local professionals. That included the dynamite Penny Gilley herself.

The RFD-TV film crew came in on their huge bus, after driving in from Branson, Mo., parked it in back of the theater, unloaded and set up. For at least eight hours each day, they kept the sound and cameras moving with efficiency and top quality. Show series co-producer along with his wife, Penny Gilley, Mike Stanglin said this film crew also records several other shows for RFD-TV. The accompanying band for all performers was Rocky Gribble and the Texas All-Star Band. Using charts, they kicked right in with each separate musician who had time before the cameras. Some of those musicians might, also, have come in from places farther away for this

Charley Pride

filming. This band consists of Rocky Gribble on lead guitar, J.D. Beckman on steel guitar, Ronny Ricks on drums, Bonnie Riley on fiddle, Curtis Jones on bass, David Walker on keyboard, with Jeanice Massey on background vocals.

Monday, Charley Pride and Mickey Gilley were the national acts featured. Also featured were the River City Boys, a great Statler Brothers tribute band from Ohio, Amber Digby, Doug Allen Nash, Daniella Gilley, and Channing George.

Now, this reporter has seen Charley Pride and Mickey Gilley several times before, and noted these positive differences. Charley Pride, for this filming, seemed free of his normal stage/concert protocol, and came out both during sound check and during his performance just having fun. Great to see him so animated and giving the audience an easy-going good time. And Mickey Gilley, who after falling several years ago and causing severe physical damage, seemed to be doing much better, improving with all his hard work. He, too, gave the Penny Gilley Show audience a

Mickey Gilley

really great time.

Stanglin said that many of those in that audience are loyal Penny Gilley fans who have been to several tapings over the years. “We had fans come in from South Dakota, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, California, North Caroline, and Mississippi (for the show tapings) that we know of.”

Click here for Charlie Pride photos

Click here for Mickey Gilley photos

For Penny Gilley and all other photos, click here

The photos taken on Tuesday, along with an equally-short commentary, will be posted soon.

Cody Cannon

Short story (more blog style than review) and pix by Mary Jane Farmer — for more photos, click on the link below

Imagine, for a moment, having a bar with a nice stage usually sporting the best in regional music, a great dance floor usually completely taken up by 10 p.m., and incredible sound system,  in a college town. Now imagine that the college is closed for the Christmas holiday. What’s  bar owner to do to get a good crowd in… the electricity bill goes on regardless…

The Drunken Mule’s Garett Dollgener had the perfect answer — invite Cody Cannon for a solo set.

Actually, while it was billed as a solo set, there were a couple of hot-dang good musicians who backed up the Whiskey Myers lead singer, adding depth and dimension to his songs.

Mule Time, for most, began a couple of hours before Cannon took to the stage. Dancers filled up the dance floor, just like it wasn’t the antepenultimate day of the season. Dollgener kept up a steady rhythm of all sorts of danceable songs, and many of those dancers never even stopped between songs. Oh, and as a BTW, there’s free dance lessons every Thursday at The Mule.

Cody Cannon and some from the Hank’s party bus.

Some of those who lined the stage, getting ready for the Whiskey Myers lead singer, arrived together in the Hank’s Texas Grill party bus. David Reynolds, who closes Hank’s on Mondays and Tuesdays, and also who brings Whiskey Myers to his own club in McKinney fairly regularly, chartered and filled up the bus, so they could party together, enjoy one of their favorite artists, and still get home safe and sound. And party they did, along with the others who packed The Mule, upstairs and down.

Tony Kent, drummer, sat in with Cody Cannon, as did J0n Knudson, who plays keyboards, sax, and fiddle with Whiskey Myers. For Tuesday night, he added fiddle, lap steel, and accordion. And Tony brought up the sounds with his steady percussion beat. 

Cody, who according to Wikipedia likes jagerbombs but usually only drinks water while on stage, had the jagerbombs lined up, gifts from his countless fans. He did reach down for one, chugged it, and was overheard exclaiming something like — wow, great Jager, but no bomb.

More seriously, he watched and smiled as the fans sang along with him on his songs, sometimes even stopping for a version and listening to everyone else sing it. He presented a straight shot of the many songs who have made him and Whiskey Myers the regional royalty they are. He also sang one he said he only wrote a couple of days ago, a slow easy ballad that drew every ear in the room.

For a few more photos, click here

Thanks, Garett, for giving a lot of folks a great start on their Christmas season. The Drunken Mule is always one class act.

Ronnie McDowell will perform a concert at the Chrystal Opry House at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16. Special guests include George Dickerson and the young Madison Rau.

Advance tickets may be purchased by phone at (George Dickerson Productions) 254-498-3564, or by7 calling the Chrystal Opry House at 903-546-6893.

Best known for his visual and vocal resemblance to Elvis Presley, Ronnie McDowell enjoyed a series of Top 10 hits during the first half of the ‘80s. He was born in 1950 and raised in the small town of Portland, Tenn. He started singing publicly while serving in the U.S. Navy in the Philippines. He hit big in 1977 with “The King Is Gone,” a tribute to Presley written immediately after the singer’s death. McDowell capitalized on the exposure to land another hit, “ I Love You, I Love You, I Love You,” in 1978. The following year he was tapped to sing the vocals for an Elvis movie starring Kurt Russell. Other hits by Ronnie include “Older Women,” “Wandering Eyes,” “Watchin’ Girls Go by,” “You Made a Wanted Man of Me,” “In a New York Minute,” and “You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation.”

The concession area will be open and serve brisket sandwiches and hot dogs as well as coffee, soda pop, water, candy and popcorn.

The Chrystal Opry House is at 1977 White Mound Road, Sherman/Tom Bean, Texas. It is 1 ½ miles west of Tom Bean (or 6 miles east of Howe, Texas.) on FM 902 and ½ mile south on White Mound Road.