Preview Video of the event which took place in October ... hope you didn't miss it, we had a blast!

Contestents taking of from Waterpoint Marina on Day 2 of the Competition.

Biography

Let’s just get it out of the way right up front: In the five years between his last and most successful album yet, Good Times, and his new Dualtone Records release, Beautiful Day, Charlie Robison got divorced from his wife Emily (of The Dixie Chicks). So it’s only natural to assume that this is his “divorce album,” which is not altogether untrue.

But as with all devoted songwriters, Robison writes from a perspective that draws from and speaks to larger matters and issues within human experience and life in these times. And as the title indicates, even if this album is to a notable degree about and informed by the end of his marriage, there’s something different and more at work here.

Beautiful Day is ultimately an album that chronicles the processes and resulting growth one goes through and finally the redemption to be found within such a major life event. And it reflects a change in approach is the way Robison writes his songs. “In the past most of my songs were stories written from a third-person perspective,” he explains. “This is the first album where I’m writing in the first person. It wasn’t like I did it by design; I didn’t have any choice.”

Hence Beautiful Day is a musical and emotional journey that travels through a vivid landscape of feelings and moods from certain places to other ones new and wholly different. Like such certified classics as Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks and Willie Nelson’s Phases & Stages, its narrative center is the end of Robison’s marriage. Yet unlike too many divorces, where rancor and pointed anger is a key part of the mix of feelings, this story is one of two people who love each other and their children, but due to their situations, themselves and the demands of their careers, the marriage is no longer tenable. And that’s what makes Beautiful Day another significant creative work about divorce with a different tale to tell than any other.

Robison’s divorce, which was finalized in August of last year, is by no means typical. “It was a completely amicable thing,” he explains. “We didn’t even have separate lawyers. We did the whole thing ourselves, and we get along better now than we had the last four years of our marriage. We hang out all the time,” he notes.

The distinctly different nature of this break-up is clear from the opening title track, with its upbeat vibe, tempo and theme, albeit tinted with a slightly sardonic edge. And by the time one reaches the final number, Robison’s decidedly Texan reading of Bruce Springsteen’s classic “Racing in the Streets,” an exhilarating sense of freedom and new beginnings is at hand.

In between one finds such compelling new Robison compositions as the psychedelically tinged “Yellow Blues,” the upbeat and spry “Feelin’ Good,” the emotionally stormy “If The Rain Don’t Stop,” the somber “Middle of the Night” and the kicking country-rock hoedown of “She’s So Fine.” As with his last album, Robison includes two numbers by one of his favorite songwriters, Keith Gattis, “Down Again” and “Reconsider,” both of which fit the album’s theme perfectly, as does Bobby Bare Jr.’s “Nothin’ Better to Do.” All told, it’s an album that takes the listener through a gamut of feelings that by its end leaves one wiser and more mature as well as wonderfully entertained.

Throughout his career, Charlie Robison has forged his own path within the country music world as well as the Lone Star music scene and popular music at large. He grew up in the small scenic town of Bandera in the Texas Hill country — known as “The Cowboy Capital of the World” — where his family has ranched the land for eight generations. Music wasn’t just a staple around the Robison household; from even before he could walk, Charlie would spend Saturday nights with his parents at The Cabaret, the local C&W dancehall in downtown Bandera. But the fare playing in the family home ran the gamut from rock’n’roll to singer-songwriters and much more. So it should come as no surprise that Charlie, his brother Bruce and sister Robyn Ludwyck all enjoy respected and critically acclaimed music careers as singers, songwriters and recording and performing artists.

While attending college at Southwestern Texas State University — now known as Texas State University, and the alma mater of George Strait and many other musicians on the Lone Star scene — Robison found he wasn’t cut out for academics, and a long held desire to try his hand at making music came bubbling to the surface. He managed to persuade his brother Bruce to also drop out of college, and the two headed to Austin.

The brothers Robison soon both landed in the band Chaparral, which in the late 1980s was a seminal act that seduced young generations of Texas to hit the dance floor to two-step, waltz and more, arm in arm in the old-school style, to a new sounds and style within the greater realms of country. It was ground zero for what became a thriving Austin scene rich with emerging talent by the 1990s. Charlie began writing songs in earnest, and after a stint in the popular Austin roots rocking combo Two Hoots and A Holler as well as a collection of local talents know as The Millionaire Playboys, he struck out on his own as an artist.

His 1995 debut album, aptly titled Bandera and released on the tiny Austin Vireo Records label, was a potent opening salvo that included such Robison favorites as the rowdy nightlife celebration “Barlight” and “Red Letter Day.” After a brief deal with a Nashville major label that ended because of his refusal to be artistically boxed-in and packaged as the latest hunky hat act, he signed with Sony Music’s Lucky Dog label and released two studio albums (1998’s Life of the Party and 2001’s Step Right Up, which hit the Top 40 of the country album chart) as well as two live recordings: Unleashed Live with brother Bruce and labelmate Jack Ingram from a tour the three did together and his own 2003 Live album that showcased Robison’s dynamic and hard-charging performing style which has made him a Lone Star State favorite and a popular national country-rock attraction.

In what now may seem rather ironic, Robison’s 2004 Dualtone label debut, Good Times, found him celebrating wedded and domestic contentment as a husband and father (of son Gus and twins Juliana and Henry). It enjoyed the best record sales of his career, and the video for "El Cerrito Place" was a Top 10 hit at CMT.

Beautiful Day promises to build upon and expand Robison’s public impact even further. But even if his divorce was amicable, the experience still wasn’t an easy one for him, as the end of any profound love is bound to be. “When I was writing this record, I was going through the quintessential divorce thing of living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown San Antonio across from the bus station,” Robison recalls. “When it’s over, it’s over.”

Beautiful Day captures the panoply of feelings one experiences with the break-up of a marriage. “It goes through the range from, man, this sucks worse than anything in the whole world to, man, I’m really pulling out of this and really feel good. I’d be up and write a redemptive song like ‘Beautiful Day’ or ‘Feelin’ Good.’ And then I’d write something like ‘If the Rain Don’t Come Today,’ where the guy in the song wants to go out and have fun tonight, and then it fades into the reality of where you’re at on ‘In the Middle of the Night.’ You’re by yourself and you don’t feel as good as you did earlier. But I still tried to give it that Sinatra twist where even if it feels lonely and bleak, a girl walks in at the end, and you think, well, maybe my life isn’t quite over yet.”

Despite the high-profile fame of The Dixie Chicks, the Robisons managed to keep their separation and divorce out of the tabloids and gossip columns. “Although the order of the songs on the album is more musical than following any storyline, as you hear the record you’ll know what was going on with the divorce,” Charlie admits.

Beautiful Day is also a musical departure for Robison as his first self-produced album, recorded at his brother Bruce’s Austin studio, Premium Recording Service. The vibrant electric guitar work throughout is by artist in his own right as well as producer Charlie Sexton, while the acoustic guitars that fill out the sound are by Robert Earl Keen’s guitarist and producer Rich Brotherton. Longtime Robison sideman Kim Deschamps brings the colors of his steel guitar and mandolin to the mix, while the bottom end is held down with grooving solidity by the veteran rhythm section of Robison’s backing band The Enablers, bassist Scott Esbeck and drummer Keith Robinson.

“I’ve wanted for a long time to make a record that sounds like a great American rock band,” explains Robison. And just as Beautiful Day closes one emotional chapter in his life and opens another, it’s also an album on which his always strong rock’n’roll leanings come to the fore to transcend his country roots, while also bringing them along, to create a sound that is simply great American music.

All told, it’s an album of deep and rich emotional and musical content that anyone who has ever lived, loved and lost can find themselves within as well as experience what Charlie Robison has been through. And all of us, the artist included, find a redemption and the prospect of new beginnings by the time the record ends, and find ourselves better, wiser and stronger thanks to it all.

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The Country genre today is one destined for the Dewey decimal system stretching on aisle after aisle with artists ranging from Hank Williams to Jewel. Establishing a pleasantly unique sound amid this influential mass is not an easy task for any artist, yet its one Cody Johnson Band has accomplished in a respectable way. Fusing country and rock is no new concept, but rarely is it done to the quality by which Cody will soon be known. Cody and the band blend County and Rock; creating something new while still respecting the roots of both genres and styles. There are times their sound seems fit for Nashville radio and others it is unmistakably Texas Country/Red Dirt. The 23 year old artist’s freshly energetic blend uniquely bridges generation gaps between fans. At his concerts you will see teenagers and parents alike singing his songs side by side. Nowhere was this more apparent than when Cody was asked to play to 6000 students at the 2007 Texas FFA Convention in Corpus Christi by several adult fans of his in the FFA administration. Also worth mentioning is when Cody and the boys played several songs with presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at a campaign rally at Texas A&M University in College Station with Huckabee playing Bass.

Cody is making good connections with other talented musicians and has opened for successful artists such as, Kevin Fowler, Aaron Watson, Brandon Rhyder, Stoney LaRue, Zona Jones, Band of Heathens, Jason Allen, Bleu Edmonson, and several others, including Roger Creager. Roger, his band, and his administration all have taken a liking to Cody and the boys and seem to have taken them under their wing providing numerous opening and networking opportunities, advice and experience.

The energy and excitement Cody displays during a concert brings to mind legendary performers such as Garth Brooks, Chris Ledoux, and even Jim Morrison. He specializes in getting the crowd involved and drawing them into the show and fans seem to all pile up at the front of the stage begging to get closer. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the intimate acoustic performances this group gives. With Cody at the center, Matt on one side picking lead and singing harmony and Nathan on the other side playing what seems like an infinite number of sounds on an African Djembe; catching an acoustic show with this group rivals an MTV unplugged session. They still play their own music but also divulge into covers ranging from Hank Williams to Seether, even applying that signature sound to the covers they play.

Cody has been playing guitar, singing and writing since he was twelve years old. Over his 23 years he has written over 200 songs. His entire family is talented in music but Cody is the first Johnson to try to make a living at it. Cody and Nathan met in Huntsville while Nathan was finishing his Marketing degree in January 2006 and they started the band in May of 2006 with Cody’s dad Carl Johnson on Bass. They played as a 3 piece for a year and released their first album together titled Black & White Label. With this album, things started picking up and they decided to add a lead guitar player so Cody turned to his old high school buddy, Matt Rogers. With the addition of Matt, they decided to record a new album at a live venue. So in May of 2007 they recorded the Live and Rocking at Shenanigans Album. Seeing the popularity of this album, Carl realized that they had grown out of just playing for fun on the weekends and was forced to quit the band for his career and family commitments. The guys put an ad on Craig’s List for a bass player which was answered by Danny Salinas solidifying the four piece for another year.

In September 2008 the band embarked on their first professionally produced album. They hooked up with producer Keith Davis in Austin and recorded Six Strings One Dream, which was released September 2nd 2009 with their debut single “Another Try” reaching the Texas Music Chart only weeks after release climbing to #28. Their second single “Nobody to Blame” climbed up to #7 and their third single “Pray for Rain” is already in the top 10 just weeks after release. What’s important to note is that the band financially backed this entire album from idea to finished product and even promotion with only their personal money through savings accounts, personal loans, gig money and part time jobs.

Members of Cody Johnson Band start with Nathan Reedy on drums. Nathan’s taste in rock continually shapes the songs Cody writes and is largely responsible for their country and rock blended “signature sound.” In fact, a majority of their songs are written and arranged in an “on the fly/improv” manner on Cody’s back porch with Cody singing and playing guitar and Nathan playing the Djembe. Nathan’s influence is most apparent in songs he and Cody wrote together such as “Take the Devil Home,” “A Bottle and a Bible,” “Texas Kind of Way,” and the song the new album got its title from and the bands first Top 10 hit “Nobody to Blame.” The prodigy Matt Rogers’ mathematical and systematic electric guitar playing gives each song its flavor, while his harmony vocals flawlessly blend with Cody’s voice. Danny Salinas on bass shakes the walls with the grooves he and Nathan hammer out in the pocket. 2010 along with the release of Six Strings One Dream has brought on additional key members. One is Jody Bartula on Fiddle. Jody began playing at the age of 7 and has shared the stage with artists such as Daryl Dodd, Jarrod Birmingham, Zona Jones, Django Walker and many more. For the past year he has been playing for Texas singer/songwriter Jason Allen touring regionally and in Europe. The second is the power house addition of Jeff Smith on lead guitar. Jeff started playing guitar at 8 and performing live at 9 years old as a singer/songwriter. He lived in Nashville for 3 years as a recording artist for Showtime Records where he learned crucial fundamentals about the music business and what it takes you to be a successful musician. His talent has been demonstrated in the presence of the industry’s most familiar artists such as Merle Haggard, George Jones, Tracy Byrd, Jason Aldene, Mark Chestnut, Gary Stewart and Asleep At The Wheel just to name a few. For the last 10 years he has been traveling North America and overseas with Nashville Recording Artist Zona Jones until recently committing to the CJB full time. The calculated mixture of these 6 members and the talent and experience they bring with them has been the vital part of the bands recent quick and upward movement.

You can hear Cody Johnson Band’s music, browse photos, buy merchandise and see their schedule at www.thecodyjohnsonband.com, and www.myspace.com/codyjohnsonband. You can purchase digital copies of their music through itunes. Their music can also be bought on ourtracks.com where they are always in the top 3 selling artists. Be sure to call your local radio stations to request their music, or log on to radiofreetexas.org and bigstar97.com. They shouldn’t be hard to find because no matter where you go in Texas lately, there’s a lot of talk and buzz about Cody Johnson Band. As Andrew Griffin from the Red Dirt Roper described them, “A relatively new face on the Texas/Red Dirt scene that is bound to gain increasing attention in 2010.

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Take the Guadalupe River, add 27 people, 6 rafts, a full moon, and some good music, and what do you have? The Midnight River Choir. At least when 4 guys out of the 27 decide to form a band. The band's primary form consists of Eric Middleton on rhythm guitar and vocals, Justin Nelson on lead guitar and harmony vocals, Mitchell Pyeatt on drums and harmony vocals, and Jeromy Yager on bass and harmonies. But, all four members play multiple instruments so its common for them to switch positions on stage all night long. Add the different songwriting styles of all four of them and this band will have you laughin', cryin', two steppin', and rockin' out, sometimes all in the same song.

Come on down and enjoy some FREE live music this friday! Buster Jiggs is going to put on a show ...
your not gonna want to miss it!

BIO
Originally formed by now husband and wife team, Scott Muennink(drums/songwriter) and Kristin (singer/songwriter), the then garage band played their first show on the infamous Executive Surf Club stage in 1999. Cody Braun and David Abeyta of Reckless Kelly produced Buster Jiggs' self-titled album, which had a few Texas Music Charting songs, and sat at #3 on the XM Radio's Country chart in 2005. In 2007 Kristin gracefully and commandingly became the voice of Buster Jiggs, debuting her vocal talents on the EP Miserably Happy; which was produced by Joseph Deeb, formally of Micky and The Motorcars. He also produced the latest album, Smith release, Heartache Jubilee (2009) which was the band’s first album in four years. At the end of 2010 Kristin and Scott teamed up with some old friends and veterans in the scene, lead guitarist Coby Wier (Rusty Wier, Bleu Edmondson) and bassist Jimmy McFeeley (Reckless Kelly, George Devore). So be on the lookout for Buster Jiggs in 2011, they put on a show and have a sound that you will not want miss.

"Kristin offers a rich, full-bodied Red Dirt Vocal performance that is never forced. Texas music rarely offers exceptional female solo artists or lead singers, and Kristin's fine vocals set Buster Jiggs apart from the current crop of Texas Bands." -CountryChart.com

"Listen to the songs "She's Gonna Break Your Heart", "Pretty White Wings", and "Heart of Mine" you will hear great vocals along with great lyrics, and a band that knows how to play a song" -TheExaminer.com

The band is named after a character from the poem "The Sierry Petes (or Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail) written by Gale Gardner in 1917, from which the band's logo of a boot wearing, guitar wielding devil was created.

Bio was provided by Buster Jigg's MySpace page.

A litte about The Turnpike Troubadours. You can find out more here: http://www.turnpiketroubadours.com/

The Turnpike Troubadours, whose name is derived from the bumpy Oklahoma toll-roads and their hard lived folk singing heroes, are proof that isolation can be the mother of originality. Cutting their teeth in roadside dance halls and honky-tonks has made a serious impact on the band’s musical style, which walks the line between Woody Guthrie and Waylon Jennings. “Bossier City,” the band’s debut album, is testament to the small towns in which they were raised. It combines Folk, Country, Cajun, and Bluegrass with stories of longing, humor, tragedy, and general life in rural America.

Breaking down traditional barriers between the audience and the stage is something in which they excel. Fast, gritty, and often drenched in beer, the Troubadours perform to both their fans and new audience members with an genuine sincerity about them. They continually gather ground both literally and figuratively as they travel up, down, and across the Midwest.

Currently the band is promoting their 2nd album, “Diamonds & Gasoline” (released January, 2010), produced by veteran producer and songwriter Mike McClure and mixed and mastered by legend Joe Hardy (ZZ-Top, Steve Earle) as well as relentlessly playing shows in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Texas.

Make a day out of it and come out to Lake Conroe and grab a boat rental or a jet ski rental.

If I were to describe the Charlie Lucas Band, I would have to start by saying it would be like pulling up to the Whataburger drive thru and saying, "Surprise me." I say this because you never know what you’re gonna get – plus, that "box of chocolates" thing was already taken.

These boys do it all, fro m rockin it out, to slowing it down with a waltz that all the chicks seem to dig. With their new album, Which Way To Turn, the Charlie Lucas Band aims to give you what you need. The title is an upbeat rockin song that makes you want to drive fast and open another beer. Then there's "Tonight," which is a slow waltz that makes you want to find the nearest member of the opposite sex and polish your buckle.

Rounding out the sound are a few honkytonkers, anacoustic number that everyone can relate to, and several more tunes that are more of the rockin variety. The boys of the Charlie Lucas Band are more than just bandmates – they are friends. This really helps the whole badass-music-making process, because this friendship allows musical direction and constructive criticism to be conveyed without feelings getting hurt. These guys are all about friends and family, which lends itself to them being grounded and humble. The underlying theme is "be laid back and just have fun with it."

When they hit the practice room, the only things guaranteed are that there will be cold beer and many different obvious musical influences floating around the room. When these boys "loosen up" as practice begins you might hear anything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Stone Temple Pilots to Merle Haggard and even some Metallica riffs. If you listen closely to Which Way To Turn – which Ihighly recommend you do – you will hear all those influences.

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You can tell a lot about a group of musicians by the name they give themselves. The Dirty River Boys make music with the type of sound and texture that is soaked in the realities of the hard-scrabble city they call home in the far west Texas desert. Members Nino Cooper, Travis Stearns and Marco Gutierrez are quickly becoming known for their rousing live shows and debut release Long Cold Fall, both of which feature the boys winning three-part harmonies and stout acoustic instrumentation.

It takes determination and talent to make waves when you come from the dust and dirt of El Paso, but the Dirty River Boys are continually proving they are up to the challenge. By utilizing traditional folk instruments with rock and bluegrass arrangements, they are blazing a trail paved by their own, unique style of music.

The Dirty River Boys style blows away any preconceived notions of what acoustic music can be. Harmonicas and fiddles cut melodies that blend with furious licks spilling from guitars and mandolins alongside explosive percussive rhythms all combined to create a whirling dervish of musicality.

However, don't let their musical virtuosity obscure the brilliant lyrics they manage to add to their mix. Each song is replete with imaginative lyrics and creative tales of both true and fictionalized tales of love, death, pain and salvation in the barren environment of the western United States. Despite the specific geographic atmospherics found in the work of the Dirty River Boys, at its core the music is full of universally acclaimed themes.

When it's all said and done, The Dirty River Boys don't just paint a picture with their words, they attach their lyrics to a driving train of music which creates an undeniable experience. These three cats from El Paso have a message to convey, a unique way to get it across and it's probably a good idea if we all pay attention.

-Brad Beheler

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