Whiskey, Whores, and Overtime

Well, I just got back from a night of honky-tonkin' with Porter Hall, TN and the Two-Dollar Pistols! Great night!

I got in late for Porter Hall, unfortunately. I've been to King's Barcade before, but I wasn't really sure where it was, and yep.... got there late. Porter Hall was playing a great version of Eighteen by Alice Cooper. Damn, I never realized that song was a honky-tonk song, but it sure was when Porter Hall was playing it! Then they played one other song, a creepy Bluegrass-tinged song about throwing their daughter down a well.... still, it was a great song.

After that I finally got to see the Pistols for the first time, and they did not disappoint. After listening to their CDs for a year now and building them up in my head, I was afraid they might, but boy they didn't! They play pure North Carolina honky-tonk -- music pulled up from its roots in Bakersfield CA and drug kickin' and screamin' back through these blessed United States, picking up the twang and heartache of the whole damn-nation on their way. Drop that sound straight into the heart of Carolina, and cha-ching, you've got the Two Dollar Pistols. Lots of fun, amigos!

I got to talk to Porter Hall briefly after the show, and they were very cool folks. Molly confessed that they were originally from Fredericksburg, Maryland ("where they caught the snipers"), but obviously they have the good sense to pretend they're from Tennessee. (Don't flame me, you know I'm from TN, so I'm biased!) Molly and Gary were very personable, going to a bit of trouble to get me a copy of their CD. Even though, regrettably, I didn't hear much of them live, I got a good listen to their CD on the drive home, and it's definitely worth the $15. Go buy it, right now. What are you waiting for? They've got a Bluegrass-inspired, honky-tonk sound, pretty unique, and anyone who thanks WDVX, Guitartown, and WXDU in their liner notes is pretty damn cool. Of course, being from Murfreesboro and having several pictures of the "geographical center of TN" monument on their CD doesn't hurt either. Oh and guys, if you're looking to be a fanboy for someone -- Molly was really cute.

I got to briefly step backstage with the Pistols too, and they were very cool as well. I'm looking forward to seeing them again this New Year's Eve at the Cradle. Hope to see you there! In the meantime, their new album, You Ruined Everything will be getting quite a bit of airplay on my headphones, I assure you.