Fast and Friendly
For the last few years, deejay music has been replacing live bands in many remaining country dance venues, a trend that has left fans of barroom aerobics in search of places that feature “the real deal.”
But there are still enough fun bands visiting the area to provide two-steppers, swing buffs and line dancers with a glimpse of pedal steel and a damp dance glow.
Currently, many country dancers in the western part of the San Fernando Valley frequent clubs in Simi Valley while others travel to Lancaster or even Orange County for a night of dancing. So here’s a selective roundup of four new or interesting country bands and where they can be seen and heard between Simi Valley and Santa Ana in coming weeks.
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Billy Tulsa and the Psycho Crawdads
Don’t let the name fool you. There’s no Billy Tulsa and no deranged crustaceans either, just four talented guys with a Web site and more sleeveless suede vests, tattoos and testosterone than a new parolee.
Take the Telecaster Bakersfield sound popularized by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Dwight Yoakam; throw in the traditional sound of Ray Price, the outlaw image of Willie and Waylon; add some bad-boy Southern rock, Elvis rock-a-billy and the Mavericks.
Then connect the dots and you’ve got a quartet of thirtysomething former rockers who have written enough entertaining, danceable original modern country songs to fill a four-hour club gig.
Since the band was formed, it has been gaining visibility on the Los Angeles country music scene. Next month, Billy Tulsa and the Psycho Crawdads will share the bill at the 2nd Annual Simi Valley Country Music Festival on Aug. 31 with Larry Dean and the Shooters and the Doo Wah Riders.
“Their music is a mix of country and a little bit of rock,” said Dean, producer of four cuts on their upcoming independent record. “But it’s a unique sound. We call it ‘Hot Rod Honky Tonk.’ ” Dusty Wakeman, associate producer and engineer for many of Dwight Yoakam’s records, is also at the mixing board.
The band’s high-energy live show featuring John Michael Knowles (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nelson Blanton (lead guitar, vocals), Levell Price (bass, vocals) and Tony Radford (drums) will give you happy feet.
“But we don’t call the dances,” said Radford. “We pretty much let the dancers find their own beat and figure it out.”
“And we only know about six cover tunes,” said Knowles.
Not a problem.
At a recent performance, fans were mouthing the band’s original lyrics--a good test for memorable words. And with Price switching from upright to six-string bass, the group has a solid bottom rhythm section for dancing.
Three standouts are a rock-a-billy boogie called, “Honey,” a tight harmony, in-the-groove shuffle (“Million Miles”) and a sultry temperature-boosting cha-cha, “Hard To Hold.”
The undulating rasgueado rhythm and Knowles’ minor-key velvety vocals make “Hard to Hold” seem like Ravel’s “Bolero” next to the anemic barroom cha-cha standard “Neon Moon,” currently a fixture on many set lists.
Yet Knowles asserts, “We’re much more traditional than anything you’ll hear on so-called new country radio today--which is more like ‘80s pop music.”
“Yeah,” added Price. “What we play is ‘Ya’ll-ternative country music.”
* Billy Tulsa and the Psycho Crawdads will perform at Calico Saloon, 42525 10th St. West, Lancaster, 9 p.m. Aug. 8-9, (805) 948-5833. At Cowboy Palace Saloon, 21635 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 15, (818) 341-0166. At Crazy Horse Steak House & Saloon, 1580 Brookhollow Drive, Santa Ana, 8 p.m. Aug. 25, $3, (714) 549-1512. And at the 2nd Annual Simi Valley Country Music Festival, Tapo Canyon Road and Los Angeles Ave., 1:30 p.m. Aug. 31, $8 in advance, $10 at the gate, children ages 12 and under free, (805) 579-3316.
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Coolwater Country
When Coolwater Country takes the stage, the petite stature of lead vocalist Lynn Cossey belies a powerful, controlled voice with which she effortlessly spins such songs as Patsy Cline’s classic, “I Fall to Pieces.”
And the former country dance instructor often turns the microphone over to Mark Gordon Creamer (lead guitar) and delights dancers by jumping off the stage to join them in a Tush Push.
“Lynn has a very pure, crystal clear country voice. When Mark sings, he really evokes the emotions. And the band has a tight harmony. You can tell they really work at it--they’re real professionals,” said Rhonda Gore-Scott, co-owner of Cowboy Palace in Chatsworth.
“They’re very interactive with the crowd. Lynn has a good feel for what the dancers want. And they call the dances and remind people about dance-floor etiquette.”
The San Fernando Valley-based group holds a 1996 California Country Music Assn. regional award for Band of the Year. And Cossey was named female vocalist of the year and female entertainer of the year--titles she plans to defend in ’97 competitions.
“I have such a wide vocal range I’m really lucky in not being limited by the range of various female artists,” said Cossey, who also plays acoustic guitar. The remaining lineup includes Gary Rudolph (lead and rhythm guitar, vocals), Lloyd Stout (bass, vocals) and Shawn Weingart (drums, vocals).
Coolwater returns to the Cowboy Palace on Monday. And the band will open for the legendary Cliffie Stone and Riders of the Purple Sage on Aug. 9 at Sterling’s Silver Inn in Sunland.
Coolwater covers male and female Top 40 country songs but also dusts off infectious classics like “Tennessee Flat Top Box.”
“But we’re starting to perform some original material also with plans to record soon,” said Cossey. “So we’re lucky to have Gary because his country picking style brings out the true country flavor that defines our band’s sound.”
* Coolwater Country will perform at the Cowboy Palace Saloon, 8:30 p.m. Mon., (818) 341-0166. At Sterling’s Silver Inn, 8737 Fenwick St., Sunland, 9 p.m. Aug. 8-9 and Aug. 22-23, (818) 951-9400. At the Agua Dulce Fair, 33201 Agua Dulce Canyon Road, 8 p.m., Sept. 20, $5. At Calico Saloon, 9 p.m. Sept. 26-27.
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Best of the West
Based in Orange County, Best of the West is an engaging dance band playing Top 40 country that has begun playing in the San Fernando Valley and in Santa Barbara County. So catch the band while it’s here or you’ll have to journey to distant places like the Western Connection in San Dimas to hear them.
The group, fronted by John Swisshelm (rhythm guitar) has tight vocal harmonies, uses good song transitions (without down time) and calls the dances.
Swisshelm’s rich baritone vocals are a delight. On ballads his voice resonates like John Berry. And his rendition of “This Ain’t No Thinkin’ Thing” rivals the original artist, Trace Adkins.
Other band members are Ian Francisco (keyboards), Bob Metzgar (lead and pedal steel guitar), Wade Berry (bass) and Mark Bowman (drums).
“They played here once before and our customers asked to have them booked again right away,” said Rhonda Gore-Scott, co-owner of the Cowboy Palace in Chatsworth. “They said it was just one of the best bands they’d heard.”
* Best of the West is performing at Western Connection, 675 W. Arrow Highway, San Dimas, 8 p.m. through July 31, (909) 592-2211. At Maverick Saloon, 3687 Sagunto St., Santa Ynez, 9 p.m. Aug. 8-10 and Sept. 12-14, (805) 688-5841. At Cowboy Palace, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 18-19. And at the Crest, 6101 Reseda Blvd., Reseda, 9 p.m. Sept. 5-6, (818) 342-1563.
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High Noon
High Noon lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Marino said he’s bored with the homogenous, cookie-cutter Top 40 cover tunes played in dance clubs. So the Moorpark resident makes the band “a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll” with a novel spin on the predictable set lists. But J.D. Wilson (female lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Jimmy Harris (lead vocals, bass), Jeff Taylor or Jim Klingler (drums), and occasionally Kurt Fries (keyboards) provide enough from the country canon to keep most cow folks happy.
“They’ll turn a Beatles medley into a really kick-it-up 10-step,” said Rhonda Gore-Scott of the Cowboy Palace. “One time we had a complaint that they were ‘doing too much rock ‘n’ roll.’ But they are very popular.”
And in the middle of the popular line dance, Reggae Cowboy, the band might segue to a medley of ‘70s disco-pop tunes including “Love Rollercoaster,” “Brick House” and the Village People anthem, “YMCA.”
Marino also is known to improvise with the words of a song if he knows the melody, a skill developed, he said, during his country apprenticeship playing in “a Pico Rivera no-tell motel frequented by truck drivers.”
“I began flying by the seat of my pants. I had to immediately fill song requests to keep things from being thrown at me.”
Usually High Noon plays at the Cowboy Palace and on the Los Angeles-Orange counties circuit. But you can catch them at two Simi Valley clubs next month.
“Country purists may balk at all the weird things we play,” said Marino, “but I think music is meant to be creative and fun. It’s just entertainment. And it’s not supposed to be taken so damned seriously.”
* High Noon will perform at Cowboy Palace, 8:30 p.m. Wed. At Schooner Time, 5710 E. Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 15 and 29. Also at Mixers, 2381 Tapo St., Simi Valley, 8:30 p.m. Aug. 23, $6, (805) 520-7787.