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.