{"id":784,"date":"2012-07-14T20:00:47","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=784"},"modified":"2015-10-13T16:42:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:42:11","slug":"darden-smith-dosey-doe-music-cafe-spring-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/14\/darden-smith-dosey-doe-music-cafe-spring-tx\/","title":{"rendered":"Darden Smith – Dosey Doe Music Cafe – Spring, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Michael Pittman <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jul 14, 2012 at 08:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Image\"This is one cat I\u2019ve heard a lot about, but for one reason or other have never seen. I don\u2019t really know why, but there it is. This time some friends asked me if I was going not just because they wanted to see Darden, but also to check out the new Music Caf\u00e9. I immediately said yes because this was a great time to check out the music of Darden Smith in the wonderful new Dosey Doe Music Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t go on without raving about what I have come to believe is one of the best (if not THE best) sounding music venues I have ever had the pleasure of setting foot in.\u00a0 Steve, Ken, Mike and the entire crew have taken the sum total of their collective experience at the Big Barn and put together a world class venue just about a half a mile west of I45 on\u00a0 FM1488. The original Dosey Doe, newly dubbed the Big Barn is still in the same place in The Woodlands and still features the quality music and gourmet food as always. Nothing has changed there.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been going to the Big Barn for some time now as you probably well know and there is one thing I\u2019ve noticed\u2026it sounds better and better as time goes on. The entire structure is a transplanted 150 year old Kentucky barn and much of the original wood was used when it was reassembled in its current location in The Woodlands. Like a guitar sounds better as the wood ages, so does this building. Point being, as good as the new Music Caf\u00e9 sounds with all the specialized acoustic treatments, it will only get better as time goes. The stage will season; the wood balconies and walls will age like fine wine and be the scene of just as many great shows and times as the original. Show times and schedules can be found at www.doseydoe.com<\/span><\/u><\/a>. There is a link at the top of the page for the Music Caf\u00e9; click that for more. This is one place you have to check out\u2026no excuses! Oh\u2026and the nachos are as good as it gets. Little hungrier, get a gourmet burger\u2026in a word awesome.<\/p>\n

Ok, now that I\u2019ve raved about the place I have to say I totally enjoyed Darden\u2019s performance this night. This seasoned veteran is a proud native Texan who spent much of his childhood in the fields around Brenham, who came to Houston as a teenager and who moved to Austin (to go to UT..tongue in cheek) as a young man. His music is styled much like John Hiatt and Leonard Cohen while his influences are the likes of Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and most especially John Prine. His stage is now international with a dozen CDs to his credit and one more on the way.<\/p>\n

Yet, tonight it was all down to earth Darden Smith, opening with Seven Wonders (http:\/\/soundcloud.com\/darden-smith\/seven-wonders-darden-smith<\/span><\/u><\/a>) and into Sierra Diablo from the latest release titled Marathon. As the night played on, each song held a story but none as poignant as Angel Flight. Angel Flight is a co-write with Radney Foster and appears on Foster\u2019s \u2018Revival\u2019 release. It\u2019s become a theme song among veterans especially, but indeed among all of us in honor of the Air Force Angel Flights;\u00a0 those special flights home for our fallen heroes. You could have heard a pin drop.<\/p>\n

Guy Clark once said \u201cWe have no set list, we have no agenda and we have no fear\u201d. Smith showed no fear tonight as he played without a set list and even took requests from the audience. Our table asked for something from Marathon, while others asked for various tunes. We were treated to some of the best of the best without a falter with \u2018Stronger\u2019, \u20182 Dollar Novel\u2019 and \u2018The Levee Song\u2019.<\/p>\n

When you see the Music Caf\u00e9 stage, you\u2019ll notice how there\u2019s not a lot of room for the artist to disappear and build tension for the encore. Well, what the hell, we all know it\u2019s coming so let\u2019s just get on with it..right? Darden didn\u2019t disappoint with \u2018Perfect Moment\u2019 and an extra special request for \u2018A New Gospel\u2019 from one of the children (His family was there) for which he came down into the audience.<\/p>\n

For the 50 or 60 of us in the audience it was a modest night of memorable music by Darden Smith. He sometimes travels with a band and I\u2019ll be looking forward to catching that show, but tonight it was a simple evening with good friends and a truly great artist in a one of a kind show.<\/p>\n

Not too shabby, I\u2019m glad I went.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Michael Pittman Jul 14, 2012 at 08:00 PM This is one cat I\u2019ve heard a lot about, but for one reason or other have never seen. I don\u2019t really know why, but there it is. This time some friends asked me if I was going not just because they wanted to see Darden,… <\/p>\n

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