Dave Durham Is Bullish After His Band’s Latest Award Lands It a Long-Sought Contract

Awards have almost become automatic for Dave Durham, accompanying him on his promising trail through the ranks of country music.

Male Entertainer of the Year from the Country Music Assns. of America. Song of the Year. Band of the Year.

But the awards hadn’t landed Durham of Van Nuys the one prize he seeks most--a recording contract. Until now.

On Dec. 12, Durham and his group--Dave Durham and the Bull Durham Band--captured first place at the ninth annual Tru Value Hardware/GMC Country Showdown at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Along with the $50,000 cash prize and a GMC truck, Durham’s band earned the chance to record songs for CBS.

“It’s put us on the map--finally,” Durham said. “We will be recording, and they will be releasing our product.”

Durham’s band outpolled six other groups that had won regional competitions. The group performed three songs in seven minutes--”You Only Look Me Up,” “Cool Water” and “Cajun Crawl.”

“We had to be real tight,” he said, explaining he didn’t have time to sing his most familiar recording, “In My Car,” a longer, more personal song about dreams.

He realizes the contract brings no guarantees. He doesn’t know how many songs he’ll be able to record, when this will happen or how aggressively CBS will market the material.

“I tried to call,” Durham said, “but they told me everyone’s on vacation till the first of the year. So I just don’t know.”

-- --

For three years, Linda Cauthen, vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the California Country Music Assn., has helped promote the successful Barn Dance concerts each Tuesday night at the Palomino in North Hollywood.

On Dec. 16, members of the local country music scene gave something back to her. They staged a concert at the Palomino to raise money to pay for Cauthen’s medical bills resulting from an operation to remove a tumor. About $1,700 was collected. Country music performers, including Lucinda Williams and James Intveld, showed up for the Palomino concert.

“It was great the way everyone pulled together,” said Cauthen, 41, who said the tumor was benign. Her operation cost $2,500, and she didn’t have health insurance.

Meanwhile, the fourth annual celebration of Elvis Presley’s birthday will be held Jan. 8 at the Palomino. Ronnie Mack, the show’s host, said about 15 performers are scheduled to sing two Elvis songs apiece. Among them will be Rosie Flores, who sang “Crying Over You” in 1987, and Billy Swan, whose song “I Can Help,” was a hit in the 1970s. The show begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $10. Mack said money raised that evening will go to the Free Arts Clinic in Los Angeles, which teaches art to abused children.

On Jan. 15, Barn Dance will celebrate its third anniversary. The list of performers will include Williams and Big Jay McNeely.

-- --

Sasch, the popular Studio City nightclub, seems to be undergoing major changes, according to Marlon Parry, its former general manager.

Parry said the new owners--Richard Kritzer and Arkady Kivman--who took over this month have begun remodeling the place with the aim of turning it into a Russian restaurant. “Instead of carrying forth with the rock business, they’re changing it totally around,” Parry said. Attempts to contact the owners were unsuccessful.

Debra Raye, former lead singer of Ecstasy, which headlined Sasch each weekend for eight years, said it was “such a unique club, a neighborhood club with a lot of regulars. It’s kind of sad.”

Parry said if Sasch is no longer a rock ‘n’ roll club, there will be a huge void in the San Fernando Valley. “I don’t know what’s going to be the next upscale rock club in the Valley.”