Sunday, May 24, 2009

Rockabilly Life in the 21st century.







Howdy friends,

Welcome to my new blog. In future posts I will be discussing all things greasy and rockabilly.This,of course includes a critical observation of the antithesis of Rockabillies everywhere; the many different varieties of hippies.

I will be talking about music for the most part, or anything else that is part of this microcosmic yet world wide phenomenon. Having attended Viva Las Vegas this year, I returned home with a fresh infusion of faith for the Rockabilly religion.

All communed in the greasy fraternity , reveling in our own greasiness without having to suffer the questions of squares or listening to snide comments about our pomps or threads.

For myself and many others , the main focus of Viva is the music. check out vivalasvegas.net .With bands in five seperate ballrooms, it was hard to keep up and see all the bands. At one point I was running back and forth from one room to another checking out two bands at once.

Some of the highlights for me were Deke Dickerson's guitar geek show. dekedickerson.com. Sonic guitar sounds and stellar playing.

James Intveld was also one of my favorites, seeing as I am partial to the twang. He played some killer Ray Price shuffles and honky-tonkers. Also met James after the show ,and he is one hell of a nice guy.

Many other bands including a Jerry Lee Lewis influenced band from Brazil of all places. alexvalenzi.net

Kim Lenz and the Jaguars, featuring ace guitar slinger Nick Curran, just raised the roof off the entire place , a high energy performance with crazy rockabilly licks,definitely one of the highlights of Viva. Kimlenz.com

The biggest surprise came on Sunday night.This crazy guitar slinger from Canada blew the entire room away. Cousin Harley from Vancouver, Canada is a three piece combo fronted by Paul Pigat. Sporting a brand new, jet black Gretsch guitar graciously supplied by the Gretsch Corporation. Singer ,songwriter and guitar picker extraordinaire, this Canuck cat flabbergasted the crowd with guitar acrobatics and sonic pyrotechnics that rival (if not surpass) Brian Setzer himself (apologies to Brian).

They must put something in the water up there in Canada. maybe it's that Canadian beer, but Cousin Harley and Paul Pigat are definitely worth keeping an eye on. cousinharley.com

Another great discovery for me was Lay-Rite hair grease. hawleywoods.com
After many ruined pillow cases, arguments with ex girlfriends, grease spots on the roofs of hot rods, hawleywood barbers have invented the miracle grease that is the best of bost worlds. It pomps like crazy and washes out with water.Smells damned good as well.Donnie and the boys had a vendor table set up and they were all great guys sporting, of course, the most impeccable pomps in Vegas.

Viva Las Vegas, a true pilgrimage for those of the greasy persuasion. Not a dread-lock in sight, no sounds of blood curdling bongos within earshot for hundreds of miles and no patchouli odors wafting around to nauseate greasers. It was like a breath of fresh air ,laden with exhaust fumes ,PBR , Camel cigarettes and Lay-Rite grease.

My alter ego, DJ Lights Out, spins Rockabilly twice a month in a bar just a little north of the border in Vancouver BC. Always looking for latest and greatest. If you are in a band drop me a line. jumbohillbilly@hotmail.com

That's all for now, friends. I hope you enjoy and I will be posting on a regular basis with news and views of all things greasy.

Adios for now



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