November 30th. ~ Country Music Newsletter

Note: New Subscribers that would like to read old NEWSLETTERS just click the LINK below

My name is Jim Carter and I am a professional songwriter who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Now being a songwriter in Nashville doesn’t make you the exception, it’s more like you’re just one of the crowd. If I were still living back in my home town of Indiahoma, Oklahoma and writing songs I would probably be one of a kind.

A quick side story on being a songwriter in Nashville. I’ve lived in Nashville since the late 70’s so I’ve been around for quite a while. Once upon a time Lacy J. Dalton had a big hit song called “16^th Avenue”. It was a real positive feel good song about the music business. I like to say that every songwriter wrote his “16^th Avenue” but they weren’t all so positive. My version went something like this. (Keep in mind I wrote this many years ago and maybe I was in a “slight” state of depression at the time.) The title of this song is “Ton of Cocaine.”

It’s funny I hadn’t thought of this song in many years and the other day some of the lyrics just popped into my head. There were several more verses but I can’t remember what they were. I wrote this to be funny and it still amuses me.

On with the Rollin’ on Home story. I co-wrote this song with another writer named J.B. Smith who is from Michigan. When we originally wrote the song we were aiming it in the direction of Garth Brooks. He was cutting a Christmas album that year and I thought the idea really fit him. Needless to say he didn’t cut the song and I doubt that he ever heard it although we did pitch it to his publishing company. The story line of the song is really just taken out of my life. After we moved to Nashville we would go home to Oklahoma every year at Christmas time. We had an old ‘72 Chevy van and my wife, Linda, and I would load the Van with presents, kids, and good cheer and take off for home. We did sing Christmas carols with the radio just like the song says. We would wire a wreath to the front of that old van and the kids asked over and over, how many miles to go? I did have a horse named Thunder and Grandma would bake a pumpkin pie. We would always hope for snow though we seldom got it at Christmas time in that part of southwest Oklahoma. It’s a very autobiographical song.

The demo for “Rollin’ on Home” was sung by Billy Bob Shane, a real Wyoming cowboy. And yes, that is his real name. I think he was somehow kin to Chris LeDeaux. (I haven’t seen Billy Bob in several years so if somebody out there knows where he is, let us know.) Anyway, I took some copies of the song to some radio stations around the area in Oklahoma where I’m from and they played it for several years.

Myra Pearce, a Montana cowgirl and Britni Hendrickson, an Oklahoma cowgirl, both had wonderful cuts of this song.

Now Gina Michaells, a young lady originally from the Philippines and living in Norway has cut a version of “Rollin’ on Home”. It has only been downloaded on the internet (YouTube) for about two weeks and has had over 500,000 hits. Thank you Gina!!! Gina’s record was produced by my good buddy Lonnie Ratliff, one of Nashville’s best kept secrets. By best kept secrets I mean he is a phenomenal producer and not enough people know about him. So if you want to make a record (CD) call Lonnie.

I’ve had pretty good luck with my Christmas songs. The first song I ever got cut was a Christmas song called “I Wish Every Day Could Be Like Christmas”. It was recorded by Brook Benton of “Rainy Night in Georgia“ fame. I also had a Christmas song, “What if Elvis Was Santa Claus” on the Westwood CD, “Dysfunctional Family Christmas”. Besides the three aforementioned Christmas songs I remember writing one other but I can’t recall the name of that one. So I guess it didn’t work out so well.

I had a couple of songs recorded by Charly McClain, one of which was a single that went top 10 in Billboard Magazine. The title is “You Are My

Music.” Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley recorded one of my songs and I also got a cut on a Blues singer named Lonnie Brooks. Tracy Lawrence recorded a song I wrote; titled “I Hope Heaven Has a Honky-Tonk”.

All the songs I have just mentioned were co-written and I sure want to give thanks tp all my fellow co-writers, without them I wouldn’t have made it very far.

My First Paying Gig

Lonnie Ratliff

I guess most musicians remember their first paying gig in the music business and I surprised myself that I had never actually thought much about my own first pickin' job until I heard someone else talking about theirs. It was an easy enough date to remember I just never thought about it until now. It was New Years eve 1962-63; I was almost fifteen years old and had been playing my Harmony acoustic guitar for about six months. That doesn't seem like very long until you realize that from the moment I bought the guitar it had never left my hands except when I had to stop and eat or perform any other life sustaining duties. I could already play in C, D & G chords as long as it was a 3-chord song plus I could sing all the Stonewall Jackson, Porter Wagoner and Hank Locklin tunes I heard on the Opry. My attraction to the Opry and traditional country music would, in the next couple of years, come to lower my "cool factor" with my high school peers by several points when those four shaggy-haired beatniks from England hit America like a category five tornado through an Oklahoma trailer park. I believe my quote at the time was "The Beatles are a passing fad. No one will remember them next year so ya'll need to start listening to Stonewall Jackson." In the 60's that musical attitude did not get you elected class president in Antlers, Oklahoma or anywhere else in America if those of you who are old enough to remember will recall. I didn't care then, or now, come to think of it.

Anyway back to the gig. My dad for some odd reason was over at Barry Trotter's, a local bootlegger, probably discussing the weather, when he learned that Barry was having a New Years Eve party and needed some live music. A fiddle player had been located but they needed a guitar player so my Dad volunteered me for the job. I didn't come from an Ozzie and Harriet background so my Dad letting me play for a bootlegger's New Years Eve party when I was 14 years old didn't even raise an eyebrow of interest but instead was considered a grand opportunity. On the night of the big gig, my Dad drove me there and made arrangements for someone else to bring me home at the end of the night, and I embarked on the musical career/curse that would follow me the rest of my life in one form or the other.

I was introduced to the fiddle player establishing a recurring theme of never meeting musicians until it was time to play. Another habit established that night was looking out over the crowd and thinking what the heck am I doing here? I would grow accustomed to both of these little oddities in nightclubs and honky tonks over the many years.

I soon found out that if the fiddle player and I had one thing in common it was not going to be anything to do with music. It was obvious to me that he didn't listen to our local country music radio station KIHN AM out of Hugo, Oklahoma. I got the feeling after a very short conversation that he probably thought the Louvin Brothers and Hank Williams Sr. were "Pop" acts. I will never forget that strange, sad look in the fiddle player's eyes when I told him I had never heard of a schottische or a Virginia reel and asked him why the songs he played didn't have any words? We quickly decided our repertoire would include me singing one song by myself and then he would play one fiddle tune by himself. We put this plan in action and started the dance. It soon became apparent that our audience was not music critics and were quite satisfied with anything we came up with. The night wore on and it was obvious that not everyone got my dad's message that I was not to be drinking. The dancers would bring the fiddle player a shot of whiskey on a regular basis and every once in a while they would sneak me a drink. After a few drinks the fiddle player realized I could play along to his instrumentals if he called out the chords so we were able to make twice as much noise on each of his songs. Even all these years later I can't bring myself to call it music although that New Year's Eve night everyone thought it was fine.

I only remember one song I sang that night which was a Stonewall Jackson song. I later learned he had written it with George Jones and the title was "Life To Go". The reason I remember it was because I never figured out for thirty years the little twist they had put into the song as songwriters where the prisoner in the song has been in prison for eighteen years but yet he has a baby daughter. The irony becomes rather obvious once you realize, even if it takes thirty years, that prisoners did not have conjugal visits in the sixties and that fact sneaks right past the prisoner in this song as he professes his love for his little baby girl. The fact that I overlooked this has tempered my anger at singers who through the years have changed the lyrics to songs I have written and then recorded versions that make absolutely no sense thanks to their changes. Sometimes singers just don't get it and unfortunately at one time that included me. At least I have tried to learn from my mistakes and I am almost obsessed now with getting the lyrics correct on any songs I produce.

We did not even make an attempt at Auld Lange Syne that night but the party just wound down and every one of the party goers stumbled out the door and headed home. The bootlegger said he would drive me home then he told us the people had passed the hat and we made four dollars so we split that up two dollars each. I remember thinking I could buy me a new set of Black Diamond guitar strings which were fifty five cents at Berry's Drugstore in Antlers and that would still leave me with a profit of a dollar forty five for the night. I wish I could say that was the least I ever made in my career for a night of pickin' and grinnin' but I know there are too many musicians out there reading this for me to try to slip that little white lie by you. When we pulled into my front yard and I was getting my guitar out of the bootlegger's truck, he slipped me a pint jar about half full of moonshine and a couple of R.C. colas left over from the party. He said you and your buddies can have your own little party tomorrow but don't let anyone know I gave you this whiskey. As he drove off into the night, I stashed the contraband under our front porch and sat there on the porch steps and tried to get a handle on this new life as a professional musician that had just been introduced to me.

January 1st, 1963 I woke up much older and thinking I was much wiser. Looking back, I'm not sure I was either but it was obvious those days of youthful innocence were now behind me. Not really afraid, I rather welcomed what I perceived as maturity in my life with what very well could have been nothing more than ignorance. I had to entertain my family over breakfast with tales of my previous night's adventures. Even my Mom seemed interested and looking back over the years I realize she was torn between her love for country music which involved my participation in it and her strong Christian values that would not let her overlook the close ties to sinful living that always seemed to be a big part of the music business.

I parsed my words as I told the family of my big adventure playing guitar and singing by slightly embellishing the good parts and quickly skirting over anything that might arouse suspicions or tie me to any actions that I might have felt a little guilty about. This habit of selective memory would continue as long as I kept playing music and I justified it like all musicians seem to do by just saying "It's all part of the biz". Tom T. Hall kind of hinted at it in his song "Homecoming" with the line "We don't call 'em beer joints Dad, nightclubs are the places where I work. You meet a lot of people there and no, there ain't no chance of getting hurt." Yep, that's how I remember it too Tom T.

After breakfast, I told my twelve year old brother "Check" (Chester) about the secret stash under the front porch, and we decided we needed to let our best friends and partners in crime, the England boys, in on this wonderful bounty my musical talents had made available. Carl, Ralph and Robert England were like extra brothers to us, and we did everything together. That afternoon we gathered up the moonshine and R.C.'s and headed to the England's house. We all went out into the woods, built a fire and broke out the booze. We ranged from about 11 to 15 years old and only had that half a pint of moonshine which I am sure had been watered down for my own safety before it was given to me. Didn't matter it had enough psychological "kick" to it that soon we were all telling wild tales, chasing wild girls and cussing like sailors and saying how much better it would be if we had Coca Colas instead of R.C. Colas for chasers. I remember that as soon as the moonshine was gone we almost instantly sobered up and I am sure our five little minds at that very moment started coming up with five different versions of the story we would tell about our party in the woods. Time has a way of letting reality sneak in and I am sure that other than a few neighborhood boys nobody else ever heard our story which was such a big adventure at the time. This story would have fallen into obscurity except for the fact that forty five years later one of those boys would need a story for a book he was writing on and decided to dust it off for one last telling, hopefully, though not necessary, a little closer to the truth than some of the previous versions.

Copr. 2008 Lonnie Ratliff

You can still VOTE until December 2nd. That RED warning says you can't enter another DOG PHOTO but you can still VOTE so "Click" those 5 Stars and VOTE for GIRLIE

Go vote for Erin Hay’s doggie, Girlie, in the PetsMart contest. Girlie just had a little girl puppy on November 13^th and could use the PetsMart gift certificate for puppy things. Go give the new mama 5 out of 5 stars to help her give her little girl a very Merry Christmas. Hee!

"To VOTE "Click" on the 5 RED Stars on the upper right side of Girlie's Photo once you go to the website.

This is a link (Below) to go vote, click on her photo (as seen above) to vote. Thanks!

REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS CLICK ON ANY PHOTO IN THIS NEWSLETTER OR ANY UNDERLINED TEXT & IT WILL TAKE YOU TO A WEBSITE OR PLAY MUSIC MOST OF THE TIME SO DON'T FORGET TO "click away" SO YOU DON'T MISS ANYTHING - LONNIE

1. Cost for 5 songs is $3,750 (Three Thousand Seven Hundred & Fifty Dollars). This includes Studio, Musicians, Etc! and you end up with a mixed CD of your project. There are not a lot of hidden costs that will be tacked on. The only additional costs I can think of would be $150 if you want us to Master it for you before it goes to your pressing plant. (Call me and I can explain Mastering to you) The other thing that could cost you later is that you might have to pay songwriter royalties if you have recorded someone elses songs and are gonna include it on your CD to sell. (Example = If you want to record a George Strait song or a Taylor Swift song then you will have to pay a royalty to use that song) I can help point you in the right direction to obtain a license from the Harry Fox Agency.

2. For those artist who are new at this, Production is just about getting your songs recorded and ready to be made into CD's that you can sell. I don't press up the 500 or 1000 CD's for you but I can recommend Karen Bruno at Amazon Audio who can take care of everything for you. I believe it costs about $1500 for a 1000 CD's. A lot of the artists I produce will cut a couple of 5 song sessions with me and then put them together and press up a CD they can sell and get their money back.

3. First thing we need to do is figure out if we can work together and come up with something we can both be proud of. You can listen to the artists I have produced (Click Here) and get an idea of what I do. If you are a decent singer and I believe we can make a respectable recording then I will probably be glad to work with you.

4. Deposits & Payments: The first thing required is a $200 deposit and once that is paid we can start putting together your session. I will help you find the songs if needed and will arrange them for you using any ideas you may have. Once we find the songs and have picked a date you send me the balance of $3,550 at least 2 weeks before the session date and I book your session at a studio on Music Row. I normally use Dixiana Studio. We will cut the basic tracks and overdubs there and then cut the final vocals, harmonies and mix at Smokehouse studio.

5. The Band normally will consist of Bass, Drums, Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Steel Guitar, Fiddle, Dobro, Electric Guitar & Mandolin. If I believe a particular song calls for a specialty instrument I will use it and there is no additional charge. I do not try to cut corners by taking short cuts on the musicians we use.

6. Original songs. I have about 200 songs in my Music Publishing Company that you are welcome to use (Royalty Free) if you are using them on any project I produce.

7. Time it will take to record. Figure that it will take about 3 days in the studio. If you are on a tight schedule you're part will be over in two days. First day we cut the tracks with a scratch vocal and the second day you will sing your final vocals. I figure you will have up to 45 minutes to sing each song.

8. Practice Guitar tracks if needed. If you think you may have trouble singing any of the songs you pick and do not play an instrument I can record and send you an acoustic guitar track of the song so you can practice it before you come to Nashville.

9. Final thoughts. Keep in mind that you are hiring me to make you sound good and I take my job very seriously. I will do my best to see that you have a good time in the studio. I work with some of the best studio musicians in Nashville and they will do everything in their power to make the best recording of your music as possible. Feel free to E Mail any of the artists I have worked with (Click Here) before and ask them any questions you may have about working with me. Once you have paid your deposit I am on your team and you can call (615) 742 0666 and ask me any questions you have and I will try my best to give you an answer. Probably half of the artist I work with are recording their first CD and have a lot of questions so don't be embarrassed to ask about anything you don't understand.

I look forward to working with you and hope I can be a part of your musical future.

An example of “Synergy”
is when a group of musicians make better music together than they could do separately.
Killer Turtle was not one of those bands.
In fact they had Reverse Synergy.
They were all good musicians, but together they stank.

Chuck was a great lead guitarist, but he had one weird fault…
He always thought he was out of tune.
He spent half the time with his back to the audience
and his ear to the strings,
trying to tune up.
Nobody else thought his guitar needed tuning.
They just thought he was nuts.

Matt had fine technique as a drummer, except for one problem…
During every fill, between phrases, he would drag the tempo down a little.
You could hardly notice it at first,
but fast songs would end up slow, and ballads almost came to a stop.
He once tried to commit suicide by throwing himself behind a train.

Herbie was one of the best, as a bass player,
but after playing with the dragging drummer,
he began rushing the beat to compensate.
The other guys tried to find a middle ground to play in
somewhere between the bass and drums.

Wayne was a genius steel guitar player with a drinking problem.
The more he drank, the more vibrato came into his playing,
until it was hard to tell what key he was in.
Late in the evenings
you had to take Dramamine to prevent motion sickness.

Jack, the piano man, was over-educated,
and knew too many nice chords for his own good.
He threw them into his music
in the hopes that the other guys would eventually learn them,
but they just thought he was playing wrong,
and dreamed of finding a new keyboard player.

Don was a talented lead singer,
but he constantly fiddled with the sound system dials,
causing loud squealing feedback,
and making the audience cross their eyes, cover their ears,
and do a pain dance.

One night two simultaneous miracles happened.
1. A major label talent scout came into the club,
and…
2. The band played one whole song perfectly.
It happened to be the last song of the evening,
and the agent signed them to a big bucks recording contract.

If there were any justice in life Killer Turtle would have been a big flop,
but in the modern recording studio
the engineers could correct all of their faults.
Their electronically perfect recordings sounded wonderful,
and were hits.
On personal appearances they pretended to play and sing,
but actually worked with karaoke tracks.

The moral:
You don’t have to be good
if you can make people THINK you’re good.

Special "Thank you" to the DJ's that support these artists who take the time

Nashville Showcase Promotions

Release your music to radio worldwide

1 song = $300

Do you have a song you would like to have released and promoted to radio ?

Maybe a song off your last CD that you think might be a hit or just might get fans interested in your music. Maybe a song you wrote that you think some major artist might cover if you had it out there where someone could hear it or even a novelty song that people would love if just given a chance to hear it.

My package includes a worldwide release to 600 + radio stations on the Western Heart Promotions compilation CD. Your song will be mailed to stations in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Poland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, United Kingdom, and many others as well as to Internet Radio Stations.

I will furnish you with Playlists from the overseas radio stations that play your song along with any comments from DJ's concerning your music.

Promotion will last for 1 month from the date of the first radio airplay of your song.

You can either send me a CD of your song or E Mail me an MP3 file of the song.

You can charge to your credit card through PayPal or send me a check or M.O.

If you are interested and need further information contact me at:

Phone Lonnie Ratliff at: (615) 742 0666

E Mail = NashvilleShowcase@comcast.net

===================================================================================

NOTE from Lonnie - I always feel a little guilty because I never have time to listen to mp3's new artists and songwriters send me, unsolicited I might add. I hate it but I just delete them because I finally figured out I could try to be a nice guy or I could try to work and pay my bills. My banker had a very stern suggestion that I needed to keep working and be a nice guy on my own time after all my bills were paid. Turns out that spare time does not exist so I just had to give up on listening to unsolicited mp3's, CD's and giving my opinions and suggestions. Now I just concentrate on my music business out of necessity but I figure I can give you some links that will answer your questions better than I could anyway.

Here's some books available this week on EBAY

........

===================================================================================

Lonnie Ratliff Updates

A quick rundown of what some of our subscribers are up to

"Click" on PHOTOS below for Websites

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: We can use your News Updates. Just E Mail Lonnie NashvilleShowcase@comcast.net an E Mail that the text can be pasted here so over
6,000 of our SUBSCRIBERS can keep up with your career. Costs nothing but your time.
Just put Update for YOUR NAME in the subject line of the E Mail so I can save it in my
file for the next NEWSLETTER. Thanks Lonnie
.
.This Week we are Featuring the Strangest Gigs our SUBSCRIBERS have played.
=====================================================
"Click" PHOTO above
Lonnie Ratliff

Cherokee Queen - Disney, Oklahoma (Grand Lake)
I played a singles act on the Cherokee Queen back in the 70's. It had already sunk once and investors brought it up and restored it and put it back in service. We went out on the weekends for about an hour and a half tour and then a midnight tour. I remember lots of underage kids would go on the tour so they could drink without worrying about the law. The kids hated country music so they went to the other end of the boat from where I set up. About half the people liked what I was doing so I played there for a couple of summers. I remember Leon Russell had a recording studio there on Grand Lake and the Captain would always point out the lights from it when we got close. It was a fun Gig looking back on it now.
I also played an odd little Gig in Liberal, Kansas where we split the bill with 4 or 5 strippers at this Go-Go Club but unfortunately I don't have any photos from that.

Lonnie Ratliff myspace.com/nashvillerecordproducer
=====================================================
.....Bill Littleton
Most of my gigs have been memorable in some manner, if only in that there haven't been all that danged many of them! Some, however, do stand out! A friend and fellow-folk song collector lived in Columbia, South Carolina; I saw in the paper that Robert Penn Warren was lecturing at USC on a Tuesday; with my day off in the radio room on Wednesdays, I could go to Columbia after work on Tuesday, catch the lecture, then go with Louise to a coffee house she had told me about. So I called her; absolutely, with directions to the lecture hall in hand, I left out from the office with a change of clothes and my guitar. The lecture was cool and Louise and her boyfriend (who had graciously offered me a bed for the night), said my car was parked perfectly -- just get the guitar because we were literally going across the street from the campus.

The front of the place was the classic diner; one row of booths across the front window and a counter -- well, I had played small rooms before! Ooops! "This way," the boyfriend led me away from the counter to a door that looked like a service entrance, explaining that the place dated back to Prohibition and the slot in the door meant that nobody who wasn't recognized was permitted "in back." Okay, time can fuzz stuff up, but my memory is that the back room was LARGE!! There was already a haze of cigarette smoke hiding the ceiling, which was pretty high; the place almost had the feel of an airplane hangar!! A couple of people sitting at a table had guitars, so we joined them, steadily evolving the event into a medium-energy hootenanny/barn dance. The popular folk songs of the day held forth but a little bit of everything that MIGHT be applicable got included, which brings me to a major revelation in my life-long music endeavor. Two guys who might have been engineering students or, had this been at Clemson, agri-business majors, really got into the music and asked me to play "Ashes Of Love." My throat was beginning to disintegrate and I only knew the chorus anyhow, but I played and they sang it. A couple of times.

I was used to seeing Joe College types at "folk" events and Farmer Frank types at "country" events, but here we had not so much crossover music as a crossover audience. And it worked. Some little light went on in my head and my best guess was that some really interesting things were about to happen in music. Oh, to give you the date on this experience, my voice was completely gone by next day when I drove back home to Greenwood and the next morning I had to call the commanding officer; I didn't have to tell him I couldn't work that day -- he understood thoroughly. Which is why at was at home later that same day to hear Walter Cronkite tell the world that President Kennedy had been shot.
=====================================================
Click Photos below for more PHOTOS + Joni's MYSPACE Website

________
Joni Compretta

Lonnie,

Hey there, the strangest gig I ever played was at the Moose Lodge in McMinnville, Tn. with my band Nashboro. We were about 3 songs into our 3rd set of the night when we heard a voice from the audience ask if he could join us on stage and to my surprise it was the legendary guitar player himself "Lonnie Mack"! Wow what a night and a great experience, it was a privelage and honor to share the stage with such an icon! Lonnie Mack rocks!

Joni   www.JoniCompretta.com

=====================================================

Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
A WEIRD GIG.
I was part of a teenage musical trio.
Ronny Loft played upright bass.
His brother Jerry played rhythm guitar.
They both sang better than I did, but I played better.
I was the piano guy.
We were all acoustic.
We could play in a blackout.
We leaned toward Western campfire music, pop, and boogie.
We often played for free, because we were learning, and we loved to play.
When the brothers sang together it reminded me of the Mills Brothers.
Being the dark ages,
our only sources of music were AM radio and records.
I'm glad we didn't have karaoke tapes and echo effects,
because we responded to each other.
We interacted.
That's missing when you use artificial music.
The tape doesn't change.
It's the same every time, and it's somebody else's music.
Our music was rudimentary, but pretty good,
and it was our own.
The Loft brothers were Mohawk Indians.
Their extended family mostly lived on what was then called
The Six Nations Reserve, in Canada.
One year I went to stay on the reservation with them
for the Fourth of July horse races, a big event up there.
I never asked why Canadian Indians would celebrate our Independence Day.
Jerry and Ronny's relatives ran the General Store, the Post Office,
and the funeral parlor,
all in one big rambling house.
We all had trouble sleeping because we were excited.
We were young and on an adventure,
especially me.
In the middle of the night,
the guys tiptoed into my room and said to come with them.
They wanted to show me something.
We sneaked down the creaky stairs,
not wanting to wake up the whole house.
With a flashlight, they led me to a strange old musical instrument:..
an ornate wooden pump organ.
They showed me how you pump the air with foot pedals
and played the keyboard with your hands.
I started playing a boogie, very softly.
I looked up and the guys were gone!
In a few minutes they returned with their instruments and we started jamming.
I looked up again a few minutes later
and there were enough Indians in the room to make a John Wayne movie.
They were all smiling, clapping, and tapping their feet to the beat.
We played for over an hour.
The lights had not been turned on...
just a couple of candles somebody had lit.
We ended to a big round of applause,
and somebody hit a light switch.
I blinked at the brightness, and when my vision cleared I looked around.
This is what I saw:
We had been jamming in the Indian funeral home,
and there were two dead bodies in there!
I'd been jamming on the funeral organ!
That's just one of the weird gigs I've played.
Jack Blanchard
© 2008.
--
Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan...
Grammy Nominees... Billboard's Duet of the Year.
*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
Home page: www.jackandmisty.com
Myspace: http://myspace.com/jackandmisty
CD catalog: www.elvinsystems.com/jm/catalog.htm
=====================================================
David Cline

Hey Lonnie , Kimberly Mae and I was asked to do a show at a nudist camp in Wills Point Tx. Needless to say we declined but can anyone imagine me
singing in the nude , OMG . Now it wouldn't been all that bad to have seen Kimberly only in a bow tie . Matter a fact it would have been great .
But I don't think Becky would have stood still for it.
Don't know if that's something would want to use cause we didn't do the gig.

By the way , I'm still working on our song .

Later ,
David & Becky Cline

========================================================

My Strangest Gig:

It was Motorcycle Week at The Weirs Beach on the big Lake in New Hampshire.
I was playing Lounge Cocktail Piano to a bunch of....er.....scraggly lookin' Bikers.
Half of whom were carrying, I'm sure. But luckily, nobody shot the piano player.

Dixon DeVore
http://nashvillecdstore.hypermart.net/devorefront.jpg
========================================================

J. K. Coltrain
www.jkcoltrain.com

Lonnie,

Well I have been doing it for almost thirty years now and I have played a lot of strange gigs over the years. We did play a Halloween gig in makeup one time not realizing how badly the makeup was going to run under the stage lights once we began sweating and that was pretty funny. We also had a bass player fall through a stage once which was downright funny but I have to say that the funniest thing that has happened to me while touring was a gig that we didn't play:)

The agent gave us the wrong info and we showed up at the wrong hotel to perform. We arrived late the evening before and the night manager, not knowing any better himself, checked us all into our rooms. The next morning we unloaded our gear and started setting up for our show. We did wonder why their were posters of another group posted outside the lounge but we just figured that perhaps they had cancelled.

So as we are setting up lo & behold the other group shows up saying what the hecks going on lol. We then call the agent who then tells us we are in the wrong place and that the other hotel had left him several angry messages all freaked out because we hadn't showed up:) We did manage to get to the Holiday Inn which was only a couple of blocks away anyways and the show did go on and we had a free nights stay courtesy of The Best Western Hotel:)

All The Best,
JK

==========================================================
JUDY WELDEN - This was not a gig per se... but rather my sitting in with the guitarist at a lounge called THE OTHER MOTHER when I was in Nashville in the mid 90's recording one of my CDs. The bartender there liked the way I sang HOUSE OF THE RISIN' SUN... so every night when I'd stop in after after being out on the town, seeing the sites, etc... he'd insist I sit in with whoever was playing that night (it varied). Well, the last night I was there, I noticed a table of 5 guys sitting at a table in the back, paying rapt attention.. and not even talking. When I finished singing, I thanked everyone for their applause.. and headed for the restroom, on the way to which I had to pass the table with the five guys. As I walked by, one of them stopped me and asked if I were available. I thought he meant to chat.. and said I was in a rush to get to the ladies room. "No", he insisted..." was I available to sing with his band"? (all of which were sitting there). Turns out word had gotten to them about the way I sang that song.. and they had come just to hear me. They were the warm up band for Alabama and needed a female vocalist for the coming season ... and although I was quite flattered, I was not able to be on the road then or even later. I've always wondered how different my life would have been if I had taken them up on that offer. I don't have a picture of that night... but the pic here was me in that era... and just might have been the same outfit I had on that night. I sang HOUSE OF THE RISIN' SUN in 7 countries in Europe in '98, and later wrote new words to it (CHURCH CALLED THE RISEN SON) and it was a #1 song for me in 2000  (Indy chart). You can hear it at http://www.myspace.com/judyweldenmusic

==========================================================
REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS CLICK ON ANY PHOTO IN THIS NEWSLETTER OR ANY UNDERLINED TEXT & IT WILL TAKE YOU TO A WEBSITE OR PLAY MUSIC MOST OF THE TIME SO DON'T FORGET TO "click away"  SO YOU DON'T MISS ANYTHING - LONNIE

One of the strangest gigs I ever played was in a well to do area in Houston in River Oaks. We were playing a private party at a house that was in the last of it's construction phase. This was a huge three story mansion. The lady who was throwing the party thought it would be novel for me, the fiddle player in the band to get on top of the roof to play acoustically as her guests arrive! They had a fancy driveway that looped in front of the mansion. The band was set up on the first floor, so before the band started playing, I had to crawl out the window on the third story in my full band cowboy uniform and play as the guests arrived! After they all arrived, I climbed back off the roof and played with the band on the first floor. They served dinner and during the last break we all got to eat.
I was halfway through a leg of chicken when the lady throwing the party told the leader of the band: "Look, my guests are leaving, tell the fiddle player to get his ass back on the roof!" Those were her words so I climbed back out the window and played while the valets went and dropped their cars off in front so her guests could leave.

Bob Rohan
AKA Bad Bob Rohan

===========================================================
...Liz Talley
http://www.myspace.com/liztalley

well you know theres several....but
One time we were hired to play this wedding reception way out in the country. We set up & waited & waited--didn't see anybody! I started thinking I'm at the wrong place or it's the wrong day. We waited 2 or 3hrs. People finally started coming in & the mood was very tense. The bride and her future mother-in-law got in a fist fight @ the church before the wedding! haha...The wedding got
delayed, but they did get married! Evidently alot of the relatives had to jump in and it was a big to do @ church. When they got there the wedding party's clothes were ripped and the brides hair was a mess...it was something to see!! haha...
The food was some type of cold cuts (not sure what) and bread they must have bought @ day old bread place...some had mold on it!! You know it's bad if musicians won't eat a free meal...haha. We couldn't wait to get out of there.

===========================================================

J. Gale Kilgore

One of the hardest gigs i played was when, my guitar picker booked us at the service club at the Webb Air Force Base here in Big Spring, Texas. we played about an hour of Merle and Charlie and Ray and Buck etc, good ole country beer drinking dancing music. The only people there was about eight young black airmen and the club manager . the airmen was just not country music fans , so they left and the manager said we could stop and go home if we wanted to but she'd still pay us. We were really disappointed, cause we was legends in our own minds.

Another time, i played for happy hour at the officers club with just me and my guitar and amp and microphone . they was lots a officers there and about the time i started the crowded thinned out and there was about fifteen country fans stayed and I was their hero. the reason they was a big crowd was cause last week they had had strippers for happy hour and you could just see the disgust on the officers faces when this country singer,me, showed up with no strippers.

To add another wrinkle to the happy hour gig, it was raining, which is rare in West Texas, when i arrived to set up to sang, so I took the vancant space and parked and rushed in to keep from getting ever thing wet. when I finished singing one of my songs, they wanted me to ask on the mike, who parked in the wing commanders reserved parking space.
man I sure did hate to tell 'em it  was me. He forgave me and they never ask me back for that gig for a long time.
dont die with your music in you
j gale, my videos on http://www.youtube.com/user/eyeballmusic
hear some of my music at http://www.myspace.com/jgalekilgore
hear my sound click music at
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=162102
$19 song demo,and "texas meteorite"good luck charm gift at www.eyeball-records.com
email eyeball@crcom.net
"texas meteorite"good luck piece,the purfect gift
=====================================================
"Click" Erin & Santa's Photos below to see more Photos from this show in Sweden
....

Erin Hay www.ErinHay.com

It wasn’t really a strange gig, just a really fun one. I actually had Santa Claus play saxophone for me at a show I did in Sweden in December 2004. I was singing the song “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and Santa actually appeared on stage and took the sax solo. It was great! Another funny thing about that show is I had never sung that song live before and for the first three shows, I got it perfect, but for some reason during the 4^th show, I had a mental block and could not remember the line about mistletoe. I had to stop and start the band about three times. Both myself and the audience were rolling with laughter until finally a fan from the audience yelled out the word mistletoe, and I yelled, “that’s it,” and had the band start again. That time I got it and Santa was able to do his solo again.   Those were fun shows!
=============================================
Hank Newman

Hi Lonnie,
I don’t have any pictures but I was playing a 3 day Labor Day gig at a little club in West Monroe, La. It was a small club so we were set up outside on a flat bed trailer .We started playing about an hour before dark because they were boiling Crawfish. Everything was going Great, Good Crowd, Everybody Liked the Music. As soon as it got dark I see the Three Guys carrying a POOL TABLE out of the Club. I’m thinking they’re gonna set up and play outside so they can hear the MUSIC better. WRONG! They flip it over and it is a DICE TABLE on the underneath of the POOL TABLE. Needless to say you know where the crowds’ attention went from there. But all in all it went well. 3 Days of playing to a Crowd gathered around an Illegal Dice Table.

Thanks,
Hank Newman
=====================================================
Dave Younger
http://myspace.com/youngerhailsongwriters

Lonnie, this is a great idea! I could provide about a dozen after 30 years in the trenches.
Some I can't relate (fifth amendment and all that)..but one stood out in my memory.
An agent called and said he had a gig at a place in San Jose called Sherwood Forest. At the time, my band was pure Western Swing...VERY authentic, with the duds, the fiddle, steel, guitar..we specialized in Bob Wills and Hank Thompson tunes. We were our own roadies, so when we were loading in the back door we were the first ones in.I was backing through the door carrying a monitor speaker when I heard a voice say "HEY...YOU WHITE!!!" Those were different times, and thank God those words don't have the chilling effect they had back then...did I mention that my parents had driven 30 miles and brought their best friends...?
Well I just turned around, saw that the only white faces were my folks...and I said "You NOTICED?!!?"
We were in an entirely African-American Oakland Raiders sports bar...not the typical Western Swing venue. A couple of my bandmates wanted to cut and run,but I told them "Music is music...let's just do what we do."
At first the folks there heckled us and did mock "hillbilly" dances while they whooped and hollered. I heard one patron complain loudly "What the hell cracker-assed clown brought all these ku-kluxers in here."
We just kept playing.
Funny thing happened...before the first set was over the heckling stopped. Whether these good people felt sorry for us, I'll never really know...but pretty soon we were getting requests by NAME for old Western Swing songs. By the end of the night we were in a room full of friends..laughing until tears came at just how ridiculous our differences were.
The booking was a strange one, but the gig was one I'll always remember with a smile.
Oh yeah...and we got a return booking.
Dave Younger
=============================================
Begin Artist UPDATES here
=============================================
Will Cox

http://willcoxmusic.com/

Well we have been working on a new CD and it releases at Disc Makers in about two weeks. Christmas Favorites is the name on it and it will be on willcoxmusic.com and Itunes and CD Baby. I am a deputy sheriff with the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. and we have a new sheriff coming in Jan 2009. His name is Adrian Garcia. We played at the Texas Music Festival this past summer in Cleveland Texas. Roy Head was there. We are playing at a Christmas party Dec 13th, 2008 in Crosby, Texas. Thank all my fans for their support and thank you for asking about our endeavors.
=============================================
http://www.myspace.com/kimurray

Hey Lonnie

Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your newsletter!! Glad to see you got my label mate Ms Amber Digby as one of your spotlight artists for this issue. It is so good to see and hear a movement toward the more traditional country sound. I think there are so many out there who think that this wonderful style of music has died and gone. Trust me when I say it is alive and kicking hard in the great state of TEXAS!! I am so proud to be on the same label (Heart of Texas Records) with so many truly amazing traditional artists such as Amber, Justin Trevino, Darrell and Mona McCall and Tony Booth.

The start of the new year will be bringing me a very busy and hectic schedule...just the way I like it! Dancehall performances, opry performances, radio appearances... and I can't wait to get it started! I am taking this weekend off though so that I can go and see Ms Amber at her CD release party in the Ft Worth Stockyard's Pearl's Dancehall and Saloon and then a night of Loretta Lynn at Billy Bobs Texas. THAT is a great way to spend a weekend in Texas!!

Kimberly Murray
www.kimberlyshonkytonk.com
www.myspace.com/kimurray

Don't Forget To "ClicK" LINKS above to go to Artist websites
=============================================

Jimmy Payne, Joe Cruz, music enthusiast Val Palmer, Don Wayne and Joe Sun at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt, in Nashville, in September 2008.

Hi Lonnie,

Just a note from the UK to let you know that both Jimmy Payne and I enjoy reading your newsletters.

Jimmy, of course, is in Nashville and I am his webmaster, sitting overlooking the north sea in England.

Nice to see one of my own photographs used in one of your recent newsletters. It was on the Joe Sun feature you did recently. It was the one of Joe, in a red shirt, I took of him when he visited Spain in 2007. I was a resident there at the time.

Regards,

Stan Laundon,
Webmaster for JP.
www.jimmypayne.org

Copy to Jimmy Payne.

Link to Joe Sun on MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/joesunandtheallstars
=========================================
Lynn Chisholm

I have been no stranger to the stage from as early as six years old. I have played in many venues throughout Nova Scotia. I have performed a few numbers at World Famous Tootsie's, Nashville TN. That was the best moment of my life. I released an album called 'Timing' in 2006 and a second called 'Follow Your Heart' this past summer. Follow your heart is exactly what I did. It took me right down to Lonnie Ratliff, my Nashville record producer and fine team of musicians. I had a wonderful time.  Experienced the best in country music. This little Canadian gal was treated like a queen while I was there. I have a strong country sound. For years I have been singing with my father to the sound of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, just to name a few. I continue to work hard in this business as an independant artists and with other artists along the way. I am ready if the right opportunity arises for another music adventure. Stop by and say hello to me at www.myspace.com/lynnchisholmmusic   or if you are interested in my portfolio stop by at www.sonicbids.com/lynnchisholm4  or just give me an email and tell me about your music successes at lynn.chisholm@hotmail.com    Keep singing everyone and god bless!   Lynn Chisholm, your Nova Scotia friend.
=========================================

www.myspace.com/johnbulford

Sorry it’s been a while, so I’m going to have to give you a big overview of what’s been happening the last few months. As you may know, in July, I competed at Lake Eola for the local level of the Colgate Country Showdown Competition. Winning Orlando I went to Live Oak and competed for state. My opponents were extremely talented and I met some great fellow musicians there. And guess what… I won that too. The prize for state was $1000.00. That helped pay my way to the Regionals in Nashville, Tennessee. I planned the trip around the competition and ended up in Nashville for almost 2 weeks. When Beth Mason heard I was going to be in town she made arrangements for me to be in the BMI showcase at The Basement the night I got there. That went well considering I had food poisoning the night before we left for Nashville. It did open some doors for me. I spent the next few days writing with some great writers in Nashville. I finally finished Katie’s Eyes with Doug Johnson from Curb Records. I went back into the studio and recorded 8 more songs at EMI with most of the players that were on my last two albums. We finally recorded Bout You. That’s one of the first songs I wrote and I realized I had never recorded it. We also recorded The Real World (the college song), Remember the Brave, My Favorite Everything, and My Heart’s Yours. Robert Arthur and I finished up two songs, Time for That and Livin it Up and put them on the CD. I also put the song Charlie Craig and I wrote last summer called Goodbye on it. I’m very happy with how all the music turned out. I’m waiting now for Monty Allen to lay down the background vocals and then the mixing starts. I’ll keep you posted on when it will be finished. The last night I was in Nashville I competed for the Regionals of the Colgate Country Showdown at the Wildhorse Saloon against the best in the Southeastern United States and I mean they were the best. Everyone there was amazing and I was shocked when they called my name as the winner. It was a great feeling. I’ve been in this contest before and made it to the Regionals but the talent that was there was like none I’ve ever seen. I wish I had a video of all the artists so you could hear them. If you go to the Colgate Country Showdown website I’m sure you can find the Southeastern finalists. You should listen to them they are very good and I’m sure you will see their names in lights in the future. Since I’ve been home I’ve been very busy mostly working to save up money to move to Nashville. I go back next week for the taping of the interview parts for the Colgate Country Showdown show that will be aired in the spring. The National finals will be January 15^th at the Ryman Auditorium which is The Grand Ole Opry. If you have my CD “What Happens Here Stays Here” you’ve heard the song When I Make It and I talk about playing at the Grand Ole Opry. Well I get to play there and I can’t tell you how excited and honored I am to do that. I went to the Opry the week before the contest and saw Vince Gill, Billy Currington, Josh Turner, Randy Travis, Craig Morgan, Kevin Costner and his new band, Randy Houser, and thought to myself how great it would be to play on that stage and now I get the chance to do it. The tickets for the event will be free and they will be roping off a section for any of my friends and family that want to go I just need to give them an amount of how many seats to hold. Please email me back and let me know if you can make it and how many tickets you will need.
Oh and the Russell Home event will take place January 11^th this year. It will be at Cowboys again. This year it will be a little different than last year. The Harley Owners Group (HOG) is teaming up with us and we are combining their poker run with our Country Jam. So that means more money for the Russell Home!!!! The Poker Run starts at Cypress Grove Park (on Holden Avenue). Registration starts at 8:30 am, last bike out at 11:00am. Doors will open at 11:30am at Cowboys of Orlando. There will be a $15.00 admission that includes a poker hand and raffle ticket. You will get the poker hand even if you don’t participate in the ride. The entertainment will include Showdown, April Phillips and Johnny with a special acoustic guest appearance from Jim Van Fleet. If you have any items for the silent auction or raffle please call me and I will get with you to pick it up. Please come out and support this event.
Thanks for being patient everybody. Hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
Johnny Bulford
www.myspace.com/johnbulford
www.myspace.com/alibulford
www.johnbulford.com
=============================================
PeGGy LyNN


Ok I am going to really date myself but, this one should make you laugh!
It was a school talent show and it must have been my very first time on stage.
I was about 8 years old and my brother who was 9 got a part as Tiny Tim.
I just stood next my brother while he sang Tip Toe Through The Tulips.
I wore a huge wedding veil and polished a fake diamond ring that was about
5 carats. Everyone laughed their heads off! Wish I had that one on video!!!
========================================

===============================================

Spotlight on a Lonnie Ratliff original song!

Two for One
By
Lonnie Ratliff
Long before songwriting was anything more than a distant dream I developed the habit of listening close to conversations around me and really paying attention to what was being said. I suppose in the back of my mind I may have been thinking about becoming a writer or maybe it was just a natural curiosity. After I listened to these conversations I would then try to build a larger story, song or mental movie in my own mind out of what had been said. Some of these little segments from life have stuck with me to this day and many have ended up in my songs. This is the only conversation I remember that ever developed into two songs that I would later write.
II was working at a DX service station in Pryor, Oklahoma during the day and buying and selling cars on the side. It seems like all my life I have always had some kind of little sideline business going on in addition to whatever job I was doing to pay the bills. Anyway the man who owned the DX service station was Brice Wallis and like me he always had his hands in everything. In his case I think he turned his extra efforts into money and not just something else to worry about. Brice’s main job was as a post office letter carrier and his two services stations in Pryor were his sideline.
One afternoon we were not very busy at the station and Brice came by and we got to talking and he said there was this little old lady at the end of his mail route who didn’t have any family left and hardly ever got any mail but she was always waiting out on the porch when he came by on his mail route. He said she was always making him some lemonade or cookies and he could tell she just wanted some company and since hers was the last house on his route he would talk to her for a few minutes when he could. Brice said he got into the habit of always saving back some of the junk mail he was supposed to hand out along his mail route just to make sure she got some kind of mail everyday.
Over the years he got to know her from these little five minute snippets of visiting and one day he mentioned how the days were getting longer and she said, yes it’s hard to believe that such long days can turn into such short years. Even bac then my inexperienced mind told me that was a pretty profound statement. I also had enough sense to know I didn’t have the talent yet to turn it into a song or story so I just filed it away for future use. This was probably about 1975 and around 1990 or fifteen years later I started the song "Long Days" and soon finished it with Canadian songwriter Sharon Anderson. That in itself would have been a pretty unique songwriter story. I guess that writing "Long Days" may probably caused me to remembered how my great grandmother used to always just sit and wait for the mailman. I stayed with my Grandma Ratliff for a few weeks when I was six years old so I could complete my school term when we moved out of the school district. Grandma Ratliff would always watch the clock and say Lonnie, that mailman is running late today. All of Grandma's kids had grown up and moved to California like so many "Okies" before them. It didn't seem very important to me at the time but it would make Grandma's day to get a letter from one of them. I also remember they didn’t write very often and I saw how sad she would get when she went through her mail and there was nothing there but a catalog or some other kind of advertisement. In my little six year old mind there was just no excuse for them to treat my grandma that way and it left a lifelong impression with me. I am sure that was what made such an impression on me that I made it a point to keep in touch with my mom up until the day she died with a phone call every week and I would always write a short letter or send her a joke I cut out of the paper or some goofy postcard I had found. I took things from this childhood experience and added them to the story Brice told me about the little old lady on his mail route and came up with the second song. The second song "Seed Catalog I wrote with my good buddy Tom Mitchell. I have always felt like in both songs we were able to simplify a pretty complex story.
=======================================
=======================================
"Long Days"
(Lonnie Ratliff / Sharon Anderson)

Walter Hudson's up at daylight
A habit now of sixty some odd years
There really ain't much reason
'Cause not that much needs doing around there
Forty acres on the edge of town
He paid the bank off fifteen years ago
He buried Martha last November
And for the first time Walter's startin' to feel old

(Chorus)
All those long days
Muscles strained and shoulders bent
All those long days
He thought would never end
Long days without slack
End to end and back to back
They don't add up, the answer isn't clear
How'd those long days turn into such short years

(Half Verse)
The old corral is falling down
He'll have to fix that up before too long
That's where old Jett threw Jimmy
And Walter had to make him crawl back on
(Bridge)
Leave those muddy boots outside the door
Or mama's gonna skin you boys alive
Walter hears those sounds from long ago
And like old friends they're welcome to drop by
(Repeat Chorus)
(Tag)
Walter Hudson's up at daylight
A habit now of sixty some odd years

Songwriters: Lonnie Ratliff / Sharon Anderson
Publisher: Okie Acres Music (BMI) Songs Of Universal (BMI)
Male Demo.....................................Female Demo
.....................................................
=================================================
Seed Catalog

She sits by the window and waits for the mailman
By the clock on her mantle he's a little bit late
There may be a letter from her son or her daughter
Well here he is now, she walks to the gate.... but

It's a seed catalog from some place in Nebraska
With pictures of tomatoes you can grow in your house
She could go see her daughter or son if they'd ask her
But she don't want to put no one out

(Inst)

(Bridge)

The least they could do is drop her a postcard
Some pictures of the grandkids would make her so proud.... but

It's a seed catalog from some place in Nebraska
With pictures of tomatoes you can grow in your house

(Inst)

Oh the kids are all home now but it took a funeral
And it's a little too late for what they're thinking about
The grandchildren stare at those plants in the kitchen
Grandma grew tomatoes right here in her house... from

A seed catalog from some place in Nebraska
She grew tomatoes right there in her house
She could have gone to her daughter or son's if they'd ask her
But she didn't want to put no one out

Tag: No she didn't want to put no one out
Writers: Lonnie Ratliff / Tom Mitchell
Copr. Okie Acres Music (BMI) / Yabut Music (BMI)
(Repeat Chorus)

(Tag)

(Chorus)

Female Demo ...............................Male Demo
.....................................................

==========================================================

Below are some of the artists I have produced so you can give them a listen to see if you like the sound I am getting and you can contact them to get a reference on how they liked working with me. No matter if you choose to have me or someone else produce your next recording project make sure you check us out. If you can't hear samples of a producer's previous work or correspond with someone who has worked with them then it is too early to be writing anyone a check. Just because someone sends you an e mail telling you they think you are the hottest thing since Garth Brooks or Shania Twain doesn't mean they are a good honest producer. Check everyone out that you do business with BEFORE you write the check and you won't end up being one of those artists that gets scammed. - Lonnie _ E Mail me at: NashvilleShowcase@comcast.net

Erin Hay

Click Photo

Bengt Pedersen (Norway)

Click Photo

Joni Compretta
.

Click Photo

Dick Damron

Click Photo

******************************

Timmy G

Click Photo
Peggy Lynn

Click Photo
B. Thomas (Norway)
.

Click Photo
Susie Hopman

Click Photo

******************************

Mike Anderson

Click Photo
Dani Ashworth

Click Photo
Tim Chesney
.

Click Photo
Hearts In Harmony

Click Photo

******************************

THORNBIRDS

Click Photo
Ken Johnson

Click Photo
Britni Hendrickson
.

Click Photo
Brent McAthey

Click Photo

******************************

Ron Wayne Atwood

Click Photo
Eric Richards

Click Photo
Ernie Ashworth
Erin Hay / Duet

Click Photo to Play
Kenny Chesney
Demo

Click Photo to Play

******************************

Tara Lyn Hart Demo
Sony Records
Click Photo to Play
Garth Brooks Demo

Click Photo to Play
Shawn Camp
Demo

Click Photo to Play
Jack Greene
Erin Hay / Duet

Click Photo

******************************

Gina Michaells (Norway)

Click Photo
Shady Creek Outlaws

Click Photo
Big B (Norway)
.

Click Photo
Lynn Chisholm

Click Photo

===================================================================

Lonnie's "Spotlight Songs"

"Making Plans "

Perley Curtis & Erin Hay

Making Plans - Perley Curtis & Erin Hay
lo-fi URL: http://www.soundclick.com/util/streamm3u.m3u?id=6888604&q=lo

hi-fi URL: http://www.soundclick.com/util/streamm3u.m3u?id=6888604&q=hi

If the above Links will not play try this one: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6888604

===================================================================

"When It's Too Country For Everyone Else, It's Just Right For Me"

Erin Hay

THE COLLECTION "Click" Photo to purchase Erin's CD's THE CIRCLE

"Click" Yellow Button below to play

Lo-Fi Samples from THE CIRCLE CD

Lo-Fi Music Samples from this 23 song CD

"click" on EBAY Logo below

=========================================================

===================================================================

===============================================

Buying a house in Nashville ?

If you are thinking of moving to Nashville and need to buy a house I recommend you get in touch with my buddy Craig Stahl.

Some of you will know Craig from his 13 years working with Alan Jackson and also as my partner in Okie Acres Music & Studio.

Give him a call when you need property in Nashville or sign up for his Newsletter

I hope you enjoyed our first issue of Roadie Real Estate.com. Please email me your thoughts and suggestions. If you liked it

please hit the forward e-mail button at the bottom of the page. Please visit my website at www.RoadieRealEstate.com I would love t

o help you buy or sell your next home or help you with any of your Real Estate needs. If you are not moving anytime soon,

please keep me in mind to be of service to friends and family. I really appreciate your referals.

Craig Stahl "The Roadie Realtor"

615-578-9175

rocksolidproperties@gmail.com

======================================================================

Dixon DeVore http://cdbaby.com/all/devore

Imprinters To The Stars Since 1985

Since 1985, we have been imprinting and/or embroidering apparel, pens, cups, keytags, mugs, Tote Bags, Equipment Stickers, CD Carrying cases and thousands of other products for Bands, Artists DJs and Promoters. We have our own in-house art department and can take the simplest idea and morph it into aneffective, multi-color design. You'll wow 'em in Vegas!
We know The Music Business.

==================================

Artists release your songs worldwide on
Gary Bradshaw's WHP Compilation.

.
.
=======================================================================

Artists if you need a little help getting your latest record off the DJ's desk and
on to their turntable you might want to contact Sherry.
She speaks the DJ's language fluently.

**************
Artists looking for someone to help you with your CD Cover artwork, printing and pressing your CD ? Check with Karen Bruno at Amazon Audio

****************

======================================================================