{"id":3855,"date":"2017-05-23T01:54:53","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T01:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/?p=3855"},"modified":"2017-05-23T01:54:54","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T01:54:54","slug":"conroe-americana-music-festival-conroe-tx-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2017\/05\/23\/conroe-americana-music-festival-conroe-tx-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Conroe Americana Music Festival – Conroe, TX – Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by James Killen<\/p>\n

You know, the first year of any new festival is ether a boom or a bust. Either you get to enjoy all of the great talent without the huge crowds that flood the more established festivals or the organization is trying to find its feet and confusion reigns supreme. The fact is that Conroe has been producing the Catfish Festival for years and there is a well-established music appreciation community in that area. It was no surprise to me that the folks in Conroe had this one worked out to a tee.<\/p>\n

There were two outdoor tent stages and four indoor stages at venues within easy walking distance (two or three blocks). Parking was handy and the streets were clear. There was a lot dedicated to a variety of food trucks and a few local arts and crafts vendors set up on the city square. The talent listed was stellar (thank you, Ms. Tracy Brandon) and the promotion team (Taylorized PR, courtesy of Ms. Margie Taylor) was active and energetic.<\/p>\n

\"DSC02670\"<\/a>I got in early on Friday afternoon, checked into my hotel room, drove down to park in the events parking garage and walked the area in a short time to get my bearings. I sat in the city square watching the goings on at the vendors\u2019 booths and listening to Mike Amabile\u2019s sound check at the main stage, sponsored by Southern Star Brewing Company.<\/p>\n

I had seen Mike Amabile several years back at a benefit song swap at the Cypress Saloon and he had impressed me with his solo acoustic rendition of Leonard Cohen\u2019s \u201cHalleluiah\u201d. There was very little of that mellow folky feel in the bluesy rock and roll set that Mike had for that Friday evening with a full band that included Christian vocalist and keyboard man, James Zimmerman. It was a mix of original tunes, like \u201cJohn and Marianne\u201d and \u201cBlind\u2019 with covers of \u201cStuck in Lodi, Again\u201d and \u201cFriend of the Devil\u201d (an often covered Grateful Dead tune that will keep any old deadhead\u2019s attention). Amabile showed off his vocal talents on \u201cHouse of the Rising Sun\u201d, dipped into country roots with \u201cLuckenbach, Texas\u201d and produced a psychedelic feel on \u201cSaint Charles Street\u201d from his new CD.<\/p>\n

From there, I took the short walk to Martin\u2019s to get a good seat for Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. The venue is a combination art gallery and music venue founded by the late J. Ross Martin. The stage was lit by an array of red LED lights and Terri started off the show with a recitation of \u201cThis is my Prayer for You\u201d dedicated to J. Ross. There was a statement of inclusion in an emotional rendition of \u201cBring \u2018Em All In\u201d and Lloyd really let loose on \u201cWallet\u201d. They visited the Slaughter House Session CD with \u201cCall You to the Carpet\u201d and the Love You Strong CD with the title track and \u201cFifty Shades of Hey\u201d which turned out to be a great sing-a-long with the audience shouting out \u201cHey\u201d and \u201cBorn to be Wild\u201d in the chorus. The duo went back to some of the older standards with \u201cSpiritual Kind\u201d, \u201cHole in My Pocket\u201d (another great sing along) and \u201cI Found the Lions\u201d, which was a wonderful display of Terri\u2019s vocal talents, Lloyd\u2019s acumen on the little guitar and a general excellent sense of timing. They closed out the show with \u201cIf I had a Daughter\u201d and \u201cAin\u2019t it a Shame\u201d. Terri and Lloyd\u2019s energy is always contagious and I had a spring in my step to head for the next venue.<\/p>\n

I made my way in short order to the Sparkle Ice House for the Billy Joe Shaver show. What could be more fitting than the great Honky-Tonk Hero in an ice house venue? The only thing not fitting comfortably were the number of people that wanted to see Billy Joe. I stuck around for the first five numbers which included \u201cSmack Dab in the Heart of Texas\u201d, \u201cHonky-Tonk Heroes\u201d and \u201cChunk of Coal\u201d. Shaver was in his element and the band, as always, was tight.<\/p>\n

\"DSC02748\"<\/a>I also had Carolyn Wonderland on my wish list for the evening, so I walked around the corner to the main stage. It was like changing the radio from a country to a rocking blues station. I ran into singer\/songwriter, Charles Bryant at the back of the crowd and we talked about the festival and who was next on our lists for the Saturday show (John Fullbright being high on both of our lists) while Carolyn tore it up on \u201cTwo Trains\u201d. She stayed true to the blues with \u201cNobody Hides from God\u201d and a cover of The Band\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Do It\u201d. She also covered Janis Joplin\u2019s \u201cWhat Good Can Drinking Do?\u201d in a fashion that would have made the Port Arthur girl proud. Carolyn continued her set with the slow blues crooner, \u201cIs There Room at the Inn\u201d (another song of inclusion) and ended the set with a tune that she had written in collaboration with Ruthie Foster, \u201cCome Together\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was back to the hotel (Some folks get back to nature, others get back to the Holiday Inn) after the Carolyn Wonderland show to begin the process of editing pictures from the evening. The next morning, I had a nice conversation with Sue from Highlands, Texas about the event. She was a big Carolyn Wonderland fan, had seen her the night before and couldn\u2019t wait for her second appearance on Sunday.<\/p>\n

I got out early again and headed to the main stage in time to see Caleb and the Homegrown Tomatoes do The Eagles\u2019 \u201cTake it Easy\u201d for their sound check. They are a local (Conroe) country rock band that do a steady gig at The Corner Pub on Mondays. They started out the set with a cover of American Aquarium\u2019s \u201cCasualties\u201d. The band worked very hard to put out an active stage persona, reeling through original songs like, \u201cSummer\u201d, \u201cChloe\u201d, and \u201cWorth the Ride\u201d about those people that stick it out in the music business, proclaiming \u201cI ain\u2019t here for the money. I\u2019m here for the lonely, one song at a time.\u201d They closed out the set with a guitar rocking version of The James Gang\u2019s \u201cFunk 49\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DSC02801\"<\/a>From the main stage to the CDAA stage was a short walk to catch Uncle Lucius. I\u2019m a sucker for a jam band and I\u2019ve had Uncle Lucius on my radar for some time, but had not grabbed the chance to see them.\u00a0 By far and away, I was not disappointed. Kevin Galloway\u2019s smooth voice from the back of his throat and Mike Carpenter\u2019s guitar work (something between Dicky Betts and Jerry Garcia) on top of the rhythm section and keyboard themes put this band toward the top of my list for the weekend. From the jam stylings of \u201cSomeday is a Far Cry away\u201d to a medley of three songs connected by free improvisation and ending with \u201cWe Don\u2019t Own the Right\u201d, I was hooked. UL played original tunes \u201cAge of Reason\u201d, \u201cSomewhere Else\u201d and \u201cTaking in the View\u201d. They covered The Band\u2019s \u201cCaledonia Mission\u201d following that up with originals, \u201cPocket Full of Misery\u201d and \u201cKeeping the Wolves Away\u201d. The set ended with \u201cOuroboros\u201d featuring the line \u201cIt\u2019s time that you tell the right from the wrong\u201d in a tone that brought back memories of old Traffic tunes.<\/p>\n

I left Uncle Lucius pumped and inspired, but also seeking a bit of air conditioning at Martin\u2019s for Little Outfit. This afternoon the LED\u2019s were blue. Little Outfit is Nathan Taylor, Amie Krebbs and Randy Hill that came out of The Front Porch Society that used to have a regular gig at McGonagall\u2019s Mucky Duck on the patio on Friday nights. They play a bare bones folk\/blues style and cover songs from various artists as well as performing original compositions. They started off the set with Springsteen\u2019s \u201cAtlantic City\u201d and led into original composition, \u201cCutting Hair\u201d. Amie\u2019s voice is full and soulful. Randy displayed a strong vocal talent on a cover of Guy Clark\u2019s \u201cDublin Blues\u201d with Nathan throwing in some great lead guitar licks. Nathan Taylor provided a great folksy vocal for his original, \u201cFlatlands\u201d. The band covered Matt Harlan\u2019s (also a former member of The Front Porch Society) \u201cDresses\u201d, Patty Griffith\u2019s \u201cLong ride Home\u201d and Warren Haynes\u2019 soulful \u201cSoulshine\u201d. They continued in kind, covering Jason Isbell\u2019s \u201cGo it Alone\u201d and \u201cHurricane\u201d, originally recorded by Levon Helm, as well as what they consider their first Little Outfit song, \u201cGood Morning Captain\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DSC02930\"<\/a>I left Martin\u2019s headed for the Red Brick Tavern to catch Matt Harlan and Rachel Jones, but they were already full and taking numbers for seating. It\u2019s been way too long since I\u2019ve seen a Matt and Rachel show, but one of my objectives for the evening was to get in for John Fullbright, whom I haven\u2019t seen in years, so I redirected to the Corner Pub, across the street. I stopped for a minute to talk to Eric Burns that runs the Lodge House Concert series and noticed a gathering on the street outside of the Corner Pub. No place else in the world that weekend (or most other weekends) would you see William Michael Smith, editor of Texas Music magazine, Larry Winters, KPFT DJ and songwriters Matt Harlan and Charles Bryant in conversation on the street.<\/p>\n

I walked into the Corner Pub soon after the Lost and Nameless Orchestra had started their set and there was a comfortable seat right in front of the stage. This photo opportunity was just meant to be. It became obvious very soon that the Saturday only ticket holders were out in force and the indoor venues were filling up fast.<\/p>\n

The Lost and Nameless Orchestra are Patrick Conway on guitar and vocals, Chris Peterson on fiddle and mandolin, Kimberly Zielnicki on fiddle, bass and vocals and Nathan Quiring on keyboards and accordion. They play a lively bluegrass rock that exhibits amazing timing between the musicians. Some of the double fiddle work was awe inspiring. The covered some Bill Monroe compositions and a lot of originals, \u201cHave We Lost\u201d and \u201cRabid Heart\u201d and even an old banjo tune written by Ralph McTell called \u201cThe Red Apple Juice Song\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Pub filled up fast and folks in the back jockeyed for closer seating as the time for John Fullbright to start approached. In the audience I noticed Larry Winters, Charles Bryant, Eric Taylor, and Amie Krebbs. As the band was setting up the crowd reached capacity and folks were being told that they had to line up and wait for someone to leave before they could get in. Fullbright and band did Leadbelly\u2019s \u201cTake this Hammer\u201d for the sound check, with John on the piano and stretching out that amazing voice of his.<\/p>\n

He started off his set, alone and acoustic, with \u201cUntil You Were Gone\u201d. He stopped long enough to tell a few Texas-Oklahoma jokes bringing to mind that Woody Guthrie tradition that is particular to Oklahoma. He went straight into \u201cDaydreamer\u201d and made the audience feel every word. What a voice! After that came \u201cBlameless\u201d and the Townes Van Zandt song \u201cThe Catfish Song\u201d. Taking the opportunity to make a social statement he sang a Dan Bern song about a disabled vet, \u201cAfter the Parade\u201d, with the line, \u201cMaybe someone can push my chair after the parade is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band came back to the stage for the second part of the set, kicking off with \u201cGawd Above\u201d and \u201cSatan & St. Paul\u201d. They did \u201cI Don\u2019t Have Social Skills\u201d, which had a Steve Earle feel to it, followed by \u201cHappy\u201d. Fullbright broke out the harmonica for the bluesy \u201cAll the Time in the World\u201d and then moved to the piano for the rest of the set kicking into \u201cWhen You Are Here\u201d. From there they went on to play \u201cJericho\u201d and end the set with \u201cIt Ain\u2019t Nobody\u2019s Business\u201d.<\/p>\n

It has been a long time since I first saw John Fullbright at a KPFT benefit with a short set. I remember being impressed and now I remember why. What a great songwriter, singer and musician! But, no time to dally, as I knew that Ruthie Foster\u2019s show at Martin\u2019s would be filling up. I was right and had to take fifth place in line, but luckily, six people eventually came out and I was in before the show started!<\/p>\n

\"DSC03030\"<\/a>Tonight, Martin\u2019s stage was lit by all yellow LED\u2019s. Ruthie\u2019s band for the evening included percussionist, Samantha Banks, Taj Mahal\u2019s bass player, Larry Fulcher, and keyboardist Scottie Miller, who had brought a full sized Hammond organ all the way down from Minneapolis. The band kicked off with the title track to \u201cBrand New Day\u201d and summoned up a reggae beat for \u201cSinging the Blues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ruthie invited Mike Ferris, the artist that had played just previous to this show and he summoned up a pretty amazing gospel vocal to join Ruthie on \u201cJoy Comes Back\u201d. That was followed up by a very bluesy \u201cUp Above My Head (I Hear Music in the Air)\u201d, followed by \u201cSmall Town Blues\u201d with Scottie Miller on mandolin. She dug into a few covers like Mississippi John Hurt\u2019s \u201cRichland Woman Blues\u201d, Chris Stapleton\u2019s \u201cWhat Are You Listening To\u201d, and Lucinda Williams\u2019 \u201cFruits of my Labor\u201d, which featured an absolutely stunning keyboard performance by Scottie Miller.<\/p>\n

Ms. Foster took the audience to church with a gospel A Capella, \u201cDon\u2019t You Mind People Grinning in Your Face\u201d. She followed that up with Terri Hendrix\u2019s \u201cHole in My Pocket\u201d bringing that sing-a-long back to Martin\u2019s for the second night in a row, with an enthusiastic audience participation. Searching for a song to follow that up, Ruthie landed on \u201cPhenomenal Woman\u201d and ended her set by dedicating \u201cStayed on Freedom!\u201d to the late gospel folk singer, Odetta. Ruthie Foster remains one of my favorite talents from Texas. I am in awe of her ability to capture an audience with her voice and inspirational message.<\/p>\n

It was back to the hotel room after midnight for some more photo editing and a short night\u2019s sleep. When I woke up Sunday morning I had that line from the Grateful Dead song, \u201cBrown Eyed Women\u201d going through my head, \u201cand it looks like the old man\u2019s getting on\u201d. I was glad that I had scheduled most of the day at the Red Brick Tavern for some sit down folk music. First though, I was off to the Sparkle Ice House to catch The Great Trumpet.<\/p>\n

\"DSC03070\"<\/a>The Great Trumpet is Chris Shotiff, Sarah Haug and Andrew Smythe and they call their style of music, \u201cspirit country\u201d, not a bad way to start a Sunday afternoon. Sarah has a strong bluesy voice and the band as a whole can produce some awesome harmonies. They did an A Capella gospel song called \u201cThe Love Song\u201d that used the echo of the concrete structure to fill the room with their voices. They also sang one called \u201cThe Deepest Chamber\u201d (the deepest chamber being the heart) and \u201cThe Murder of a Crow\u201d. Sarah donned the washboard for a Cajun feel to \u201cSunshine, Shine on Me\u201d. The band did a few songs that had been written by Sarah\u2019s mother including a swamp-grass tune called \u201cSomeday our Fears will Go Away\u201d. They also went on to play the bluegrass tune, \u201cToo Many Folks Around Here\u201d that featured a pretty impressive bang box percussion solo.<\/p>\n

I decided to get to the Red Brick Tavern early so as to get a good seat and was seated right in front of the stage. The RBT is a restaurant\/pizza parlor\/listening room that boasts an award winning chef (I can personally recommend the bacon fried oysters) and a cozy setting for singer\/songwriters to perform. It is owned and operated by a most gracious Debbie Glenn, gracious that is unless you decide to start a conversation while the artist is performing.<\/p>\n

I was pleasantly surprised by a performer that had not been listed on the schedule, a folk singer from Longview, named Keith Rea. He played a set of mixed covers and original compositions. His voice reminds me a bit of Willie Nelson. He started out with Jim Croce\u2019s \u201cDirt Track Demon\u201d followed by \u201cParadise Shoes\u201d and Roger Miller\u2019s, \u201cKing of the Road\u201d. He donned a harmonica for a walking blues song called \u201cMy Sweet Loretta\u201d. He continued to mix the set up with originals and covers, ending his performance with an excellent version of Kenny Rogers\u2019 \u201cJust Dropped In (to See What Condition my Condition was in\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DSC03101\"<\/a>Ray Bonneville, a native of French Canada, now resident of Austin, Texas was next on the bill. He plays what I would call a Big Easy style of blues with a rich full voice and finger-picked electric guitar (think JJ Cale with a slower tempo). His set draws from his immense catalogue of original tunes, starting the show out with \u201cDark Blue Night\u201d. He played eighteen songs including several requests. Some of my favorites were \u201cWhat Was I to do?\u201d, \u201cFly All Over, But Come Back Home\u201d (sung partly in Franglais), \u201cThink about the Good Times\u201d, \u201cDarlin\u2019 Put Your Suitcase Down\u201d, \u201cThe Day They Let Me Out\u201d, \u201cTip Toe Spider\u201d and \u201cFunny \u2018Bout Love\u201d. Ray has a wonderful laid back cordial stage presence and unique guitar style. He has always put on an entertaining show.<\/p>\n

Jon Dee Graham stepped up to the stage to fill the last slot on my schedule for the festival. When you see him live, he tells stories behind the songs that fill in the gaps for listeners to better understand. His stage presence is raucous and humorous and always entertaining. He kicked off the set with \u201cTamale House #1\u201d, leading into \u201cThe Orphan\u2019s Song\u201d followed by the encouraging \u201cFaithless\u201d. He followed that with his Halloween tune, \u201cOctober\u201d. Jon then landed on a song from his latest CD, \u201cKnoxville Skyline\u201d (a play on the Dylan classic \u201cNashville Skyline\u201d), and called \u201cThings Might Turn out Right\u201d. It is a bluesy number in which he claimed to be aiming for something like a fistfight between Leonard Cohen and JJ Cale. After a heartfelt rendition of \u201cThe Change\u201d, Graham took the audience to \u201ca deep dark place\u201d with \u201cBobby Dunbar\u201d, a song involving a missing toddler, a case of mistaken identity and a wrongly hanged man. He gradually brought the audience up from that darkness with \u201cButterfly Wing\u201d to an immensely positive \u201cBig Sweet Life\u201d (which was ironically featured in a film called \u201cLadder 49\u201d about a dying fireman\u2019s life passing before his eyes).<\/p>\n

\"DSC03114\"<\/a>\u00a0Next up were \u201cAmsterdam\u201d and \u201cMajesty of Love\u201d. Jon\u2019s shows can border on bawdy at times and while I found his stories hilarious, some of them went well past the \u201cG\u201d rating, not quite to \u201cR\u201d but on the high side of \u201cPG\u201d. This was certainly a show prepared for an adult audience, and very entertaining as that.\u00a0 He went on to play \u201c$100 Bill\u201d about spending time with his young son and two character studies from his latest CD, \u201cCan of Worms\u201d (about Dan Stuart) and \u201cShoeshine Charlie\u201d a colorful character that shined shoes at the Austin Continental Club.<\/p>\n

At the end of the set, Jon Dee had us all hustle down to the main stage for a surprise jam session to end the festival. We arrived at the stage just as Ray Benson and Dale Watson were finishing up a rousing version of \u201cHot Rod Lincoln\u201d. They were joined on stage by Guy Forsythe, Jon Dee Graham, Bruce Robeson and Kelly Willis, among others. The group swapped guitar licks and shared microphones through Bob Wills\u2019 \u201cBig Ball\u2019s in Cowtown\u201d and Waylon Jennings\u2019 \u201cAre You Sure Hank did it This Way?\u201d It was an exciting and fitting way to conclude such a wonderful festival dedicated to Americana music.<\/p>\n

I can only offer my perspective for about one sixth of the festival, as there were six venues continuously operating with artists like Eric Taylor, Mike Stinson, Band of Heathens, Two Tons of Steel, The O\u2019s, John Evans and so many more. The big pluses that I noticed were that the stages and venues were within easy walking distance, as opposed to another great festival, The Big Bend Music Festival, where venues were miles apart. The outdoor stages did not face each other, causing bleed over from louder bands, unlike the Austin City Limits Festival. For the most part, the schedules ran parallel with a half hour in between for stage set up and to allow attendees to move from one venue to another without missing any of the music. The selection of artists was stellar. Tracy Brandon asked me later who to line up for next year and my reply was, to bring the same ones so that I could catch the ones that I missed this year. The buzz on Facebook amongst the musicians involved was that this festival was a great experience. I can only shower kudos on the organizers and volunteers that made this event run so smoothly. Their only problem for next year will be how to accommodate the greater influx of attendees that are certain to be clamoring to get in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by James Killen You know, the first year of any new festival is ether a boom or a bust. Either you get to enjoy all of the great talent without the huge crowds that flood the more established festivals or the organization is trying to find its feet and confusion reigns supreme. The fact… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concert-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3865,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3855\/revisions\/3865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}