Richard Cabesa’s Music Blog

Fans have been waiting for months for the release of Deryl Dodd’s Full Circle CD.  It’s now less than a month away, and I’ve had a sneak peak at this incredible piece of work.  The album opens with the upbeat shuffle Wearin’ A Hole, which has a distinctive Dwight Yoakum sound and Dodd pulls it off with style.  It’s songs like this that make people love honky tonk music and it should fill up dance floors and become a fan favorite.  Dodd sounds as good as he ever has on this one and I love the beat of this song.  It’s followed with the George Strait-like Thanks To The Man.  This isn’t what you would think when you first see the title.   I was thinking The Man.   But this is very country!  Only in country music can you sing a song thanking another man for breaking a girl’s heart.  Great stuff!   The first release from the album is I’m Not Home Right Now.  While it took me a couple of listens to warm up to it, it’s really a stong, heart wrenching song, similar to Outside Looking In from the Stronger Proof album.  “I’m here in this house, but I’m not home right now.”   Obviously a true story about a heartache in Dodd’s life, anybody who has had a broken heart and found themselves thinking about the past, can relate to this song.  This will be one of those that the women love, and the guys hate.   

Business picks up on Into Outlaw.    Dodd didn’t write this one, but asking for “a shout ya’ll” is definitely him.  And any reference to an eight track tape in a country song makes me think of my Dad listening to Willie Nelson when I was a kid.  The six degrees of separation from Willie Nelson to Deryl Dodd is good enough for me!  Plus the song has great attitude and could very well become one of  his signature songs, right alongside That’s How I Got To Memphis, Pearl Snaps, and Honky Tonk Champagne.  Hopefully it will be released to radio next.   In That’s The Stuff, Dodd teams up with longtime friend Jack Ingram, one of the hot commodities in country music right now.  The combination works brilliantly.  The two are similar enough but sound different enough to make the song work.  And it happens to be a well written song too and it’s great musically.  When I first heard Feels Like Home, I thought it was a decent song but not very good.   But after listening closely to it a couple of times, I like the song, and it’s a pleasant listen. 

I Won’t Run is my personal favorite from the CD.  It was written by Dodd’s ex-wife Jennifer Hicks and it fits his sound.  This song should become a motivational song for people who feel like giving up and quitting.  I absolutely love the song.  Solid Ground isn’t one that you go looking for, but it’s not a bad song.  I’m kind of stuck in the middle on this one.  I can’t figure out how much or how little I really like it.  The lyrics are very powerful though and illustrates how love can heal the deepest of pains.  The beat is what doesn’t pull me to it.  But each time I listen to it, I like it more.  Years ago Dodd released Only ‘Cause You’re Lonely on his self titled Deryl Dodd album.  He has re-released it on this album.  My first thought when I saw that was “why”?  It never was one of my favorite songs of his.  However, he has done something different with it.  I always liked what the song was saying, just not the sound.  Now it has both.  The redo has been done well, and Dodd even sounds a bit like Dwight Yoakum again on this one – a definite plus.   Once in awhile, Dodd drifts to the Gospel side, which can be very enjoyable.  He did this on the Pearl Snaps album with Where the River Runs, and I loved it.  Someone Is Waiting definitely is Dodd going spiritual.  I’m not sure everybody appreciates this sound of his the way I do.  This song shows Dodd’s greatness.  This song can be a great love song if you want to think of Someone as a women.  But at the same time, that Someone isn’t a woman, it’s God.   One day, I would like to hear Dodd play an entire gospel album like Alan Jackson did recently.   I heard Dodd play Songs Of The Family on a radio talk show last summer and I immediately fell in love with it.  I like the fact that family is so important to him, and the beat of the song is wonderful.  It probably won’t be a radio hit, but it’s one of my favorites on this album. 

Deryl Dodd has produced some fine work over the years, and I have maintained for awhile now that Pearl Snaps was his best album to date.  Well no longer.  Full Circle is clearly his best work.  This album takes the best of Dodd and it puts it all into one.  I’ve always been amazed at Dodd’s songwriting and his voice continues to get better with age.  It’s amazing to me that he is not a household name in the country music scene.  But perhaps this album provides the answer to that.  He sings about being into outlaw, family, God, and the stuff that he’s made of.  The stuff he’s made of is that he’s true to himself and to his roots.  And while, he may have to play the Nashville game a little bit to land a record deal (Dualtone), there’s no corporate BS in Deryl Dodd.  There are no image consultants to create a bogus public image to help sell CDs.  There’s a reason Dodd is so popular in his home state.  He’s one of us.  We can relate to him.  Thanks for the music Deryl.  Keep it coming.  Great job!    

When I sat down to listen to Wade Bowen’s Lost Hotel CD, I had only heard of one of his songs - the hit God Bless This Town.  Having listened to the entire album, I came away feeling that Bowen might have a pretty good future in the business.  His raspy voice has a charming sound and his songwriting is excellent.  Bowen wrote or co-wrote 11 of the 13 tracks on this album, which shows he can write.  He sometimes focuses too much on breakup songs.  If he can branch out a little and in some cases add some pop to his music, I think he’ll be fine.

Lost Hotel starts off with God Bless This Town.  This song went to #1 on the Texas Music Charts, and anybody who has ever lived in a small town will feel what this song is all about.  Everybody wants to get out, but then again, so many stay because they are secure there.  Bowen does a lot of writing with fellow artist Brandon Rhyder, and they co-wrote One Step Closer.  This is a song that deals with a relationship that’s falling apart.  The first line “my windshield’s cracked, just like my heart” is a catchy lyric for me, and I really enjoy this song.  Walking Along The Fenceline is another co-written by Rhyder and has a good beat to it, but doesn’t really say much.  At first I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the song is really or what the message is.  I think it’s about not rushing life and trying to make things happen and just living life as it comes.  It’s not a complete waste, but he has many better songs.

Resurrection is a song Bowen co-wrote with Bleu Edmondson.  It’s a nasty little break up song.  It’s has a nice edge to it - kind of the “up your’s, I’m over you now and I’m back to living” kind of break up song.  There’s a strong feel of revenge in the lyrics.  Interesting writing on this song too, in that the chorus is exactly three words long.  I really like this song.  Perfect Silence is a nice little love song that Bowen co-wrote with Matt Powel.  Bowen wrote this song about his wife and it could very well be a radio hit.  It has the sound that radio seems to be looking for.  “I love to dream about you and how quiet you love to be; Girl you’re perfect silence is perfect to me” is an awesome line, and the song is beautiful.  Lay It All On You, co-written by Randy Rogers, is yet another losing in love song, which is almost an overkill theme of this album.  In this one he talks about always taking the girl back and giving her one more chance, yet he’s out wanting everybody to believe it’s the last time, but the reality is that he knows it’s not.

The title track, Lost Hotel, is a song that sings about giving up and about redemption.  It has a real nice sound to it, yet paints a picture of darkness.  The lyrics to this song are so powerful “She abandonded herself into a bottle of pills; Life’s dark highway has finally run out of thrills.”  That’s the giving up part, while “So say a prayer for the weary; Say a prayer for the lost; Say a prayer for the hungry; They’ve all paid the highest cost” is the redemption side of the song.  This is one of my favorites on the album.  It’s All Over Town is, well, take a guess.  I another lost in love song.  Bowen again collaborated Rogers on this song, and it is actually a well written song.  I think I would like it more if it was earlier in the album and I hadn’t already heard the same type of song so many times already.  Handle is a song that can become a real crowd pleaser.  It has that fun barroom sound to it.  The song is for a past love telling her he doesn’t need her, she’s been replaced, and he’s doing better than she is.  I really do like this song.  The one thing that might make it even better would be a more upbeat sound, but it’s fine the way it is too.  Great lyrics in this one.

Broken Reflection is another song about redemption, salvation, and spirituality and asking for forgiveness for his past.  The song isn’t necessarily one of my favorites but it’s very powerful.  Crazy Enough is another pretty good barroom song about living on the wildside.  It’s not a heavy hitter on this album, but it’s not bad.  Lost Control of My Heart is a song about falling in love and how fresh love is in the beginning of a relationship.  I think everybody has felt this before and this song will make you think back to the beginning days of past or current relationships, and regardless of how they may have turned out, you’ll feel good about those first days.

You want creativity in a country song?  How about Mood Ring?  This song is so cleaver.  The lyrics are wonderful, but also funny.  He sings about the woman who he can never please, so he buys her a mood ring so he can get a read on her.  “If it turns black, I should turn back; If it turns red, she likes what I said; If it turns blue, I should leave her alone; If it turns green, she wants me I know.”  And that’s just the chorus.  The song won’t be a radio hit because it’s too long, and does kind of drag on after awhile, but it might be the best song on this CD.  It’s a good way to close it out.

All in all, I think Lost Hotel would be money well spent.  I love Bowen’s voice and his songwriting.  Just a little more versatility and he’ll be in business.  If you have a chance to catch Bowen live then you should do it.  Either way, you should pick up a copy of Lost Hotel.

Next week - CD review for Full Circle by Deryl Dodd.

On Sunday, June 25, I ventured west to the White Elephant Saloon in Ft Worth for the Deryl Dodd benefit show.  Ten bands for ten dollars?  How could I pass that up?  My whole day was booked for this event, and was quite surprised that there were so many people there at 2 in the afternoon.  I thought most people would show up later in the day, but there was a steady flow of people all day. 

Level Route, a nice little band from Paris, Texas opened the event in the Beer Garden, while the Travis Mitchell Band played inside the White Elephant.  Level Route fancies themselves as High Performance Outlaw Country, and they did delivered on that.  I’m not sure what their close was because I was running back and forth between to the two stages, but the last song I heard from them was a cover of Workin’ Man Blues and it was awesome!   I had heard of the Travis Mitchell Band, but had never seen them, but the UT Longhorn was quite entertaining.  Texas Girls is a pretty cool song, as is Bitter.  I think I need to see them again when I can focus on them and I’m not in and out. 

Following Level Route in the Beer Garden was Zane Lewis, and man is this guy good!  Zane is another I hadn’t see before, but knew some of his songs, including the hit This Town.  In an event that was put together for Mr Dodd, Zane carried the stage like the man himself.  I Hate To See Her Go and Beer Drinkin’ Women are crowd pleasers.  It was obvious the people there had seen him before because they ate up his show.  I wish I had seen more of it.  King Cone played the inside stage around 4:00.  I missed part of his show because I was watching Mr Lewis, and since I have seen King many times, I wasn’t in a great hurry.  But I did make it inside to hear Ask Me To Stay and Folsom Prison Blues.  An older fan jumped on stage with King and played harmonica and sounded great.  King himself enjoyed this and told the elder statesmen “I don’t know who you are, but I like it.  I wish you were my grandpa.”  It fell right in line with the feel of the day since everybody was here for a good cause. 
Back in the Beer Garden, Michael Klien took the stage.  He’s another I had seen before, but it had been awhile.  He too was very enjoyable.  I guess Stamp of Fate is his signiture song, or at least the most popular, but It Won’t Be Me is a good song too.  He also played his latest single Stayin Young, which I think could make song noise on the Texas Music Charts.  3 Ring Rodeo, led by Jon Magill, lined up next on the inside stage.  Unfortunately, I had to get something to eat around this time so I missed a lot of their show, but Don’t Send The Invitation If You Don’t Want To Party is just a kick ass song.  They also performed a cover of Mr Dodd’s That’s How I Got To Memphis, which they probably should have avoided.  But Mr Magill and Mr Dodd apparently go back a ways, and being as this was Mr Dodd’s benefit, we’ll cut them some slack. 

By the time I finished eating, Spur 503 was already started up on the Beer Garden Stage.  These guys were really enjoyable.  I honestly don’t know any of their songs, but I liked what I heard.  It makes me want to find out more about them and see them again.  The fact that they are from the Sherman/Denison area gives them a few bonus points too.  Ed Burleson, also from Denison, was scheduled to play the inside stage at 7:00 but didn’t show up.  This was very disappointing to a lot of us, but we assumed he probably got too drunk to drive over.  Since he wasn’t there, I went back outside to see more of Spur 503.  I really like their sound. 

Tommy Alverson was next on the Beer Garden stage and the Texas legend delivered.  Ray Wylie Hubbard even showed up and played a little bit with him.  Somebody mentioned that 3 Ring Rodeo was back on stage in the inside, so I hustled back over to catch some of them, but they finished up shortly after, so I didn’t see much again.  So back I went to the outside.  Mr Alverson was, well, Mr Alverson.  And the audience loved him.  When he sang Una Mas Cerveza, he got great audience response and participation.  Mr Dodd surprised all and showed up to play with Mr Alverson.  Mr Alverson joked with Mr Dodd when he was using his guitar, “be careful with my guitar.  Don’t let it get stolen or something”, which got a good laugh out of everybody.  Mr Dodd sang One Ride In Vegas and his latest single I’m Not Home Right Now. 

Jamie Richards was on the inside stage to close the show.  He too was very entertaining and played several hits including They’ve Never Been To Texas and Last Time Till The Next Time.  The event turned into a huge party when Mr Richards, Mr Dodd, and Mr Alverson all sang together on stage.  They took turns singing each others songs and looked to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Several artists from around the state and country who didn’t play at the event donated merchandise to be raffled/auctioned off.  I can’t remember them all, but I’ll try.  Cooder Graw, Wade Bowen, Darren Kolzelsky, Martina McBride, Sonny Burgess, Micky and The Motorcars, Max Stallings, Cory Morrow, Randy Rogers Band, Jordan Micozkie, Roger Creager, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Eli Young Band, Robert Earl Keen, Radney Foster, No Justice, Andy Griggs, and Gary P Nunn.  There were probably more, but I can’t remember.  Poor David’s Pub in Dallas also donated a $100 gift certificate and Billy Bob’s donated Willie Nelson 4th of July tickets.  Items that were auctioned off were a Pearl Snap Shirt and Tony Lama Boots (after all, this was a Deryl Dodd benefit), a women’s leather jacket, some signed Cowboy Hats, Autographed Guitar by Neal McCoy, Autographed Guitar by Little Texas, and an Autographed Guitar by everybody that performed at this event.

It was a long day, but well worth it.  And it just goes to show what good people live in Texas and how tight knit the Texas Music Industry is.  For as many people to give up a free Sunday and/or merchandise to help a fellow man, shows how great Texas is and how popular Deryl Dodd is amongst his peers.  Great job by Texas Nites Entertainment, the White Elephant, and 95.9 The Ranch in putting this thing together.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be reviewing Wade Bowen’s Lost Hotel CD and Deryl Dodd’s Full Circle CD.  Check Back.  Till next time…