Category Archives: – Contests

Shiner Rising Star, KHYI, 2013, Rd 1 Wk 2

Buffalo Ruckus, at critique time

Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer

Three dynamite bands (to borrow from one of the bands’ name) gave the Shiner Rising Star judges reason to pay close attention before marking down scores. It was Round 1 Week 2 of the 2013 Shiner Rising Star competition, Thursday (Aug. 8) at Dodie’s Place in Frisco, and it followed the Thursday night “Lone Star Legends” KHYI radio show hosted by Brett Dillon and Donnie Nelson. Those two remained as judges and were joined by singer-songwriter Ronnie Fauss.

Fishing with Dynamite, The Matt Nix Band, and Buffalo Ruckus were those three bands, in that order on stage. They each had 30 minutes to get on stage, plug in and tune up, perform their songs, and leave the stage exactly as they found it. And each had to perform original songs, plus one cover song of their choosing.

Fishing With Dynamite, a trio, received quite a bit of judges’ admiration. Fauss said, “If you were playing down the street from me on a Saturday night, I’d go see you.”

Nelson spent quite a bit more time talking with each band during critique time, and extracted from Fishing With Dynamite that one of his favorites, ‘Blue,’ was the very first song they wrote, and that they were inspired, in part, by Gram Parsons. “Your energy is off the hook,” Nelson said. “You did Rockwall proud tonight.”

The Matt Nix Band put twice as many musicians on stage, except that the bass player, having the usual instrumentations of bass, drums,

Matt Nix

acoustic and electric guitars, and also a fiddler and a backup singer. The bass player wandered out into the room for a little closer contact with the fans.

Dillon had Nix, a high school coach and teacher, introduce the other coaches in the band, and then that there were some others in Dodie’s Place, also.

Nix covered the Mel McDaniel’s song, Louisiana Saturday Night, a good choice for Dodie’s Place, which serves Cajun food. Dillon commented that his being a teach could account for his great songwriting.

Fauss said, during critique, that he loved “the asthetics of what was going on… an electric guitar and fiddle combination,” and added, “You were having fun, and when the band is having fun, that’s good for the people out front.”

Nelson started out by asking about ‘Summertime.’ Nix said they wrote that in January, “when we had some down time, as a tribute to the students we teach every day.”

Nelson summed up the Matt Nix Band’s music as “funability.”

Buffalo Ruckus played last, four members with the lead guitar switching off onto mandolin. They covered an Allman Brothers song.

Dillon asked about the band and was told the concept came together in February before the lead singer arrived in Texas, which was in April. They had their first band practice two weeks prior to the contest, and their first public gig the week before. Dillon responded by saying, “You guys played like you had been together for (a while.) I’m very impressed, and with your funkability.”

Fauss continued the easy dialogue between bands and judges when he asked “How you write those songs?” The response, “Pen and paper, usually. “

Nelson asked how they picked their style and was told, “We could do any genre, any style, and if people don’t like us, well, that’s great, too.”

“You came out of the gate like a house on fire, and you didn’t stop,” Nelson commented.

The winning band is always announced the following Friday morning, at 9 a.m., on KHYI, 95.3. This week, it was Buffalo Ruckus who will be moving on into Round Two.

Next Thursday (Aug. 15), the contest continues at Hat Tricks in Lewisville, with Green Light Pistol, Hard Country, and Shannon Rose & The Whiskey Rebellion competing. Music kicks off at 8 p.m., and there’s never a cover charge to be in the crowd.

For Buffalo Ruckus pix, click here

For Matt Dunn Band pix, click here

For Fishing With Dynamite pix, click here

For a few other photos, click here

Shiner Rising Star, KHYI, 2013, Rd 1 Wk 1

Lauren Alexander

Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer

(For photos of each band, click on the links below.)

Shiner Rising Star for 2013, celebrating its 10 anniversary, kicked off in high gear Thursday night when three bands, all from outside the Metroplex and North Texas, battled it out to move on to Round 2.

It was two of the alternates who moved into the contest. At the last minute, The Mike Stanley Band had to opt out, and so The Detentions, from Austin, moved into their slot. Earlier, Levi Stephens, from the Texas Hill Country, had said he couldn’t make it also, and so that moved Lauren Alexander , from Bullard, into Round 1. The third band to compete Thursday night (Aug. 1) was Emily Herring and her band from San Marcos. When the announcement came Friday morning, everyone learned it was the Lauren Alexander Band who will move into Round 2.

The three bands drew for order of appearance, and Herring drew the first-place slot. But, when the third-on-the-stage band, The Detentions, learned that Herring’s lead guitar picker had been caught up in traffic and not there yet, The Detentions offered to switch with them. True Texas loving-kindness , musician to musician.

The contest is such that, in Round 1, each band has 30 minutes on stage, must cover one of someone else’s songs, and complete their set with original music. The 24 bands going through the contest are vying for a recording deal with Shiner Records, and quite a few more prizes.

After each band peforms, the judges for the night offer a critique of their music, stage presence, and song selections including the songwriting abilities. Judges for this first week were Brett Dillon (KHYI), Tip Jones (Overdrive Entertainment), and Zane Williams (singer/songwriter).

The Detentions, a duo of schoolteachers Dan Sullivan and Chris Hillier, who switched off on lead and harmony vocals, covered a Jerry Garcia song, mixed in with their various originals which included a feel of the coast.

Dillon led the critique, saying the songwriters had, among other assets, “great hooks on their originals.”

Jones said it takes a lot of courage for a duo to be in the same contest as bands, “There’s no room for error without a band behind you. If there is a mistake, we hear it, and we didn’t hear any tonight.” He

Emily Herring

commented favorably on the lead vocal swaps, and finished saying, “You can tell you are from Texas, you can hear the beach feel, and you chose a good cover and did it well.”

Williams cleared his throat before saying he had been the week before where The Detentions were that night, “showcasing and having people standing there with folded arms, evaluating your every move.” Williams had showcased in Nashville, he offered.

“You guys are likeable and laid back, and we can tell you have been doing this a lot together, the harmonies are tight and you communicate with looks between you.” Williams also noticed their more unusual use of capos on their acoustic guitars, saying that because they put the capos in different places on the neck, the guitar sound was filled out fuller. “You have a lot of fun and helped people here have a lot of fun.”

Sullivan and Hillier headed straight to the judges’ table to shake hands with all three of them after the critique.

The Lauren Alexander band came up next. It’s her second time to compete in Shiner Rising Star, and the growth in the band was pronounced since the earlier attempt, 2011. In the band are Alexander on vocals, guitar, harmonica; Richie Kindle on lead guitar and backing vocals; Michael Heatley on bass; and Jeff Odom on drums. For their cover, they chose “The Rabbit,” a Jefferson Airplane song, and played it last in their 30-minute set.

Dillon opened the critique again saying that the band really broke out when they hit the cover song.

Jones said he was really surprised at that selection, but it proved one of his concepts of Texas music, “You can get away with anything.” He commented, too, on the band’s “cool, bluesy sound,” the great tone on Kindle’s guitar and his harmony, and that he noticed both Heatley and Odom had done a great job, “not too flashy, but in the groove. And I love a girl who can play the harp, too.”

Williams commented, “Good job keeping the energy up.” He compared their stage presence and choice of clothing to The Detentions, saying, “You all feel more like you are trying to be artists, dressed more the part. At least for me, that take intentionality. It’s touches like that that make you look more like an artist. On ‘Marketability,’ I marked you high. His take on the band’s style of “melancholy folk vibe, brooding, and that’s cool.”

The Emily Herring Band came to the stage, and she opened by commenting on her favorite Shiner beer ‘flavors,’ and thanking Shiner Beer, KHYI, and Love & War for the contest. Good start! On

Dan and Chris, The Detentions

stage with Emily was Wayne Manso on drums, John Freeman on bass, and Boy Wells on guitar.

Brett critiqued the band by first comparing Emily as a female Dwight Yoakum and a Patsy Montana, talking about her yodeling skills. “You gotta get hooked up with Dwight Yoakum. If he knew you were doing this, you would be touring with him,” Dillon said, to which someone in the crowd good-naturedly called out “Call him.”

Jones commented that “It’s all about picking the right guys who can back up up,” then commented on Freeman’s harmonies to Herring’s yodel. “The drummer staye din the groove. You don’t play loud — just good.” You have ‘Texas’ written all over you, with a rockabilly-Bakersfield thing, and not everybody can pull that off. You are heading in the right direction. You know your vocal range and you have a great voice.”

Williams started his portion of the critique by saying, ‘Who am I and what the hell do I know? Now, like Lauren, you look like an artist.”

Tip Jones came back in and thanked DB Sound (of Sherman) for supplying the music line and running sound.

Next week, baring any bands changing places with one another, the three bands competing will be Buffalo Ruckus, the Matt Nix Band, and Fishing with Dynamite, and will be held at 8 p.m. at Dodie’s Cajun Restaurant in Frisco. That’s at 3401 Preston Road, and its phone number is 214-618-9440. From 6-7 p.m. at the same venue is the Legends of Texas Music live radio show (KHYI 95.3) with Dillon and Donnie Nelson hosting songwriters.

Lauren Alexander Band (Moving on)

Emily Herring Band

The Detentions

A few other photos

Shiner Rising Star, KHYI, 2013, the beginning

UPDATE AGAIN: Monday evening — The schedule has been adjusted and should be accurate as now shown here, including the two alternates who moved into the top 24.

UPDATE: Saturday — Two of the original bands have dropped out, The River Has Many Voices, from the Texas Hill Country, and Levi Stephens, out of Washington D.C.. Lisa Hooks has been having to rearrange the schedule for that reason, and also because some of the bands already have conflicts for their scheduled Round One dates. The updated schedule along with the designated venues for each week’s contest will be reposted as soon as possible.

KHYI (95.3 The Range) has announced the 24 bands competing, and three alternative bands, in this year’s Shiner Rising Star. There are a lot of new names in the group, with only a few returning from previous years’ contests, and it should be an interesting and competitive contest. The bands met last Thursday, Aug. 1, at Love & War in Texas, Plano, to go over the guidelines of the contest with KHYI General Manager Joshua Jones and Business Manager Lisa Hooks. The schedule of venues is now completed and shown here.

Scene In Town (S.I.T.’s Mary Jane Farmer is also KHYI’s photographer for this and all their events.) will be at each week’s event and will report back with lots of photos of the bands.

Round One

Week 1 — Emily Herring v Lauren Alexander v Leland Williams, at Love & War in Texas, Plano

Week 2 — Buffalo Ruckus v Matt Nix Band v Fishing with Dynamite,at Dodie’s in Frisco

Week 3 — Green Light Pistol v Hard Country v Shannon Rose & the Whiskey Rebellion, at Hat Tricks in Lewisville

Week 4 — Sean Russell v Ellee Morriss v Cody Joe Hodges, at Love & War in Texas, Grapevine

Week 5 —The Bodarks v Swift Justice v Quiet Morning and the Calamity, venue to be determined

Week 6 — Jeremy Powers v Doc Mojoe v Calamity Janes, at Southern Junction in Rockwall

Week 7 — Grand Old Grizzly v Blacktop Mojo v Matt Bradshaw, at Smitty’s in Denison

Week 8 — Scott Dean v Stone Rosevelt v Mike Stanley Band, at City Tavern in Dallas (venue still tentative)

Alternate:

The Detentions

The dates and venues for Round 2 are:

Round 2, Week 10, Oct. 3, Gilley’s in Dallas

Round 2, Week 11, Oct. 10, Love & War in Grapevine

Round 2, Week 12, Oct. 17, Club Dada, Dallas

Round 2, Week 13, Oct. 24 — Tolbert’s in Grapevine

Round 3 FINALS

November 7, Love & War in Texas, Plano

Cartwright takes B.W. Stevenson 2013 songwriter title

Troy Cartwright (Dixon)

For photos, click on the link below

Troy Cartwright Dixon didn’t hang around long after learning he’d won the 2013 B.W. Stevenson songwriting competition, but when he left, the smile on his face said it all, and his fan of $100 bills, the winning $1,000 prize, didn’t hurt either.

Cartwright may have also delivered the most popular of the songs, as well as having eliminated, ultimately, about 60 other songwriters, with his song about having coffee in the morning and whiskey at night. His voice packed power to his songs, and his stage presence added personality to the whole package.

The contest is held annually at Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, and has been a continuous event for more than two decades.

Also making the finals, held Wednesday night (April 24), were strong contenders Grady Yates, Rod Ballou, Mark Gorman, Morgan Elam, and Gene Neptune. It was without exception that each musicians gave their appreciation to the others and to (Poor) David Card, who coordinates the event at the classic Poor David’s Pub.

The event opened with two songs from Dan O’Connell, who was the reserve finalist, ready to step in should any of the other six not be able to compete.

Gorman had some strong songs, one especially about the loneliness one can feel even when in a permanent relationship. Ballou also had some well-delivered songs, one of those he calls “5 O’clock Shadow,” about the adoration of his son, and the realization that adoration could change as the child grows up. Yates’ strong song in this set, perhaps, was his tribute to his mother, saying he promised himself and her he would sing the song if he ever made it that far in the contest. He also said his mother was in a stage of Alzheimer’s at the time.

Morgan, age 14, had an accompanist on guitar, and that left her freer to add body and facial expressions to her songs. Card reminded the audience that Marinda Lambert had played at Poor David’s Pub at that tender age, as did some of those in the Dixie Chicks. And Neptune, from Katy, Texas, developed one of his songs from an expression he heard from a rodeo friend. The song, “Rodeo Cool,” he took some poetic liberties with, instead of it being about look-warm beer (rodeo cool beer), it was about a rodeo cowgirl, dressed to the coolest degreee.

Keep your eye on Poor David’s Pub website (click here) for details about the 2014 contest, which will begin with a request for submissions of original songs for consideration into the yearly event. Deadline for entries is usually in early April.

For pix of all the songwriters, click here