DAVE'S DIARY - 16/9/2019 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 4 - SERIES 41
AARON WATSON AND ERIC CHURCH HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Texan troubadour Aaron Watson and North Carolina outlaw Eric Church headline Nu Country TV Saturday September 21 at 9.30 pm on Channel 31/ Digital 44.
Kentucky coal-miner's son Tyler Childers returns to the show, hosted by Mid-Pacific Bob Olson, and repeated Monday at 7.30 am.
California trio Runaway June also return to the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.
Young singer-songwriter shearer Luke Dickens and New Mexico minstrel Co-Co O'Connor also appear.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Further info - https://www.c31.org.au/
AARON RETURNS WITH RED STEAGALL HOMAGE
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Amarillo singer-songwriter Aaron Watson pays homage to fellow Texan Red Steagall in his Nu Country return.
Watson, 41, exploited poetic license when his video cast Steagall as a denizen of honky-tonk heaven.
But Red is not dead.
The cowboy poet, rodeo rider and actor, now 80, toured here in 1979 for Wally Bishop.
Dale Bruce - dad of expat Texan, latter-day Heathcote singer-songwriter Doug - played bass in Red's band.
“I went on a vacation in Montana with Red and Reba and Reba babysat my kids while I went on a horseback ride with Red through the mountains” Watson recalled.
“And we just sat there just me and Red riding right next to each other, and he was passing down all kinds of knowledge and advice on life, and it was the most amazing thing. And when we got back I looked at my wife and she said how was it, and I said ‘I had the most amazing time riding with Red.'
“I called him later and told him I wrote you a song but in the song you're dead. I just wanted to say sorry about that. And he said, ‘it's alright partner, it makes for a better song me being dead and all.' But that song is not just for Red, it's about my granddaddy, my pawpaw, my John Pop and an old man named Mr. Pete - these four old men who have been in my life and had such a profound influence on me, the song is for them and for Red.”
Riding with Red is one of 20 originals on Aaron's 14th album Red Bandana.
CLICK HERE for a Watson CD feature in the Diary on July 15.
ERIC RETURNS TO CHURCH
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North Carolina star Eric Church had a perfect entrée to his return to Behind Bars .
Eric's character goes to jail in his video for Some Of It .
It's a sequel to his video for seventh album title track Desperate Man.
In Desperate Man Church acts as getaway driver in a heist that turns the stolen cash into his business creating vinyl records and sends his family on the run as police and agents from his record label close in.
In Some Of It Church goes to prison for his misdeeds.
Life goes on for his wife and daughter at home with the young girl growing up and learning to drive.
She never forgets her dad and sends him letters he tapes onto the wall of his cell and even takes apart a guitar and sneaks it into the prison.
Church re-assembles the guitar with help from fellow inmates and a sympathetic prison guard.
He crafts the lyrics of Some of It by pasting together circles phrases from his daughter's letters.
At the end of the video Church's prison sentence ends.
He puts on his ring and sunglasses and walks out of gaol to meet his family - with his daughter behind the wheel of the family car.
But it's not quite a happy ending.
At the end of the clip a mystery man says "he's out" into a phone before slamming it back down into its receiver.
Church, now 42, wrote Desperate Man with veteran Oklahoma born, latter day Texan outlaw Ray Wylie Hubbard whom he name-checked in the title track of sixth album Mr. Misunderstood in 2015.
Ray Wylie was recently honoured with Brian T Atkinson's 250-page book The Messenger: The Songwriting Legacy of Ray Wylie Hubbard.
A new tribute album The Messenger features covers of Ray Wylie songs by artists diverse as Ray Benson, James McMurtry, Radney Foster, Bobby Bare, Slaid Cleaves, Rodney Crowell and Scott H. Biram.
CLICK HERE for a Church feature in The Diary on December 10, 2018.
TYLER CHILDERS HOUSE FIRE
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Tyler Childers toured here in March with former Chicago postie John Prine and played a capacity crowd at the St Kilda Palais.
Childers, now 28, returns to Nu Country with his new video where his duo found a way to avoid being burned.
They danced around the flames on House Fire - a highlight of his third album Country Squire .
Childers now tours with his singing spouse Senora May who also appears in his videos.
CLICK HERE for a Tyler CD review in The Diary on March 4.
CLICK HERE for a new Tyler Country Squire CD feature in the Diary.
RUNAWAY JUNE BUY THEIR OWN DRINKS
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Late western movie star John Wayne's grand-daughter Jennifer and her Runaway June trio return this week with a video for their latest top 10 hit.
The California chanteuses enjoy some busking and puppy love in their video for Buy My Own Drinks from debut album Blue Roses.
The album title song was inspired by the car crash death of singer Naomi Cooke's brother Billy.
CLICK HERE for a Runaway June feature in The Diary on August 19.
LUKE DICKENS SOWS A BAD SEED IN SONG
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Luke Dickens sings and shears sheep at Young due south of Canberra and returns with his video for Bad Seed from his third album After The Rain. The video was produced and directed by seven-time Golden Guitarist Duncan Toombs from The Filmery. The femme fatale packed a punch in the video filmed at a wool shed that became the Rust Bucket bikie bar. Luke's son Jordan, just 10, played drums as the Harley riders raised hell among the wool. “Bad Seed was such a fun song to record that we just had to make a video equally as fun to watch.” Dickens, 37, revealed. |
“From start to finish, with thirty Harley's showing up to the boys catching up over a beer, telling the story of a local girl who broke a few rules and ran off with a guy to have some fun, while me and the band play behind a Road House style cage, to the bar fight that only settles down when that same local girl makes the headline news on TV.”
A sequel of sorts to Blues Brothers chicken wire creations.
“I have a lot of friends to thank for showing up and being a part of this one and they all know who they are,” Dickens joked.
“We ate $100 worth of snag sangas and chicken wings and went through seven and a half cartons of beer making this clip. The boys - half from Canberra and half from Young - said it was one of the best rides they've been on in a good while and to make things even more special, my ten year old son Jordan learned the song and played the drums, rocking out as good as any session guy would! With a bunch of pub props, good music, good tucker, and a few good sorts, the boys felt right at home in no time.”
CLICK HERE for a Luke interview in the Diary on August 12.
COCO O'CONNOR WINS SAND BATTLE WITH DEVIL
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Alabama born belle Coco O'Connor wins fights with the devil in the sand in her latest video.
Coco filmed her video for The Devil, A Wounded Man, and Me from her second album This Old War.
She also appeared on Nu Country with her title track video that followed debut album Turquoise.
Coco was born near Muscle Shoals in Alabama and lives on 10 acres on a mountain side at Santa Fe , New Mexico.
“My husband and I bought the cheapest place we could find,” Coco revealed.
“It had no running water or electricity when we got it. It had an outhouse and yes, we used that for about a year. We almost died from pneumonia because we had to take a bath on the front porch with tarps around to keep the elements out. We fixed it up over 6 or 7 years and it's really something special now. Because of that experience I like to say ‘I am a country girl who became a frontier woman.”
Further info - https://cocooconnor.com/
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your support in Nu Country TV's 41 ST series with Australian record companies and artists teaming to ensure our survival.
You can join Watling & Bates as members and win their 13 track CD Small Town Tales.
Also Kip Moore's third album Slowheart , thanks to EMI promotions chief Dave Parker, and Blake Shelton's 12th CD If I'm Honest from Karen Black and Tony Midolo at Warner Music .
We also have other CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing membership.
They include Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and late larrikin legend A.P. Johnson.