Here's an article about the Pull the String Rockabilly Revival that just came out in Blue Suede News:
KSER's 2nd Annual "Pull The String"
Rockabilly Revival!
by Marc Bristol - & Gaby Maag-Bristol (photos by Gaby)
We're very lucky to have several really great specialty radio shows around the
Seattle area that play the kinds of music we like to listen to and write about in
Blue Suede News! Broadcasting from Everett, Washington (about 25 miles north of
Seattle) at 90.7 on the FM dial (and at kser.org on the worldwide web!), KSER is just
one of at least 4 stations we find ourselves tuned to regularly, and Van Ramsey's
"Pull The String" show (Saturdays from 3 - 5pm) is the one that got us listening in
the first place. Van plays Rockabilly, Surf, Honky Tonk, a little R&B, and some high
octane stuff like Psychobilly on occasion too.
In a stroke of genius the station management decided a year or so ago to line
up shows with a similar listening audience so as to keep us all transfixed in front
of our radios for pretty much the whole weekend. So on Saturday morning, if you
care to get up in the morning, there is a bluegrass show from 11am to 1pm. After
that Jim Hillmar brings his "Frettin' Fingers" show to our delighted ears, playing all
sorts of guitar (and steel guitar) music from Hillbilly and Rockabilly to Jazz, Blues,
Psychedelia and anything that has outstanding fretwork to dazzle the ear. He's on
from 1 to 3pm, just before Van. He also often has on guests to interview and help
with song selections. During the Rockabilly Revival he spent the whole two hours
talking in between sets of tunes with Chuck Hughes of the Hillbilly Hellcats. A
finer, more congenial and intelligent interviewee would be hard to find indeed! As
we didn't really get a chance to visit with Chuck at the show, this made up for it in
spades!
After Van's show, Jeff Hofman (occasional contributor to Blue Suede News!)
has his long running "Dusties" show, playing Soul and R&B music all the way from
the '40s to the 70s, with occasional forays into music of this century too. You can
easily find yourself tuned to KSER for 6
or 7 hours on Saturday, and if you're up
earlier than we like to be, there's some
vintage Jazz on before the Bluegrass.
You can do this from anywhere in the
world via computer and the internet,
but you need to allow for any time
differences because these shows are
streaming, but not archived.
On Sunday mornings, bright and
early (11am is bright and early for us)
veteran NW DJ Danny Holiday brings
his "Rock and Roll Time Machine" to
the air. Unlike any restrictions that may
have existed on the commercial stations
Danny worked for many years - here he
can indulge himself, and ourselves, in
anything he wants to play. He also plays
interview clips from his many years in
radio, and talks about the songs, plays
outtakes, obscurities and is totally
entertaining while being informative at
the same time! What a guy - so great to
have him back on the air after a 10 year
hiatus/retirement!
Following Danny comes another
BSN occasional contributor Jon Noe
with his "Juke Joint" show playing '40s
and '50s R&B, with occasional live
guests. Jon always likes to feature a
bunch of honking, wailing sax, but also
plays Doo-Wop and the whole spectrum
of the kind of music that touched off our
whole Big Beat explosion. He, too, is
having a benefit Blues show at Everett's
Anchor Pub coming up July 10 and 11
this year, with several local bands each
evening.
Which brings us to this year's
Rockabilly Revival! We had to miss one
evening of last year's show due to a
family birthday party and early call the
following morning, but this year we did
make it to both nights and the car show
too! We did miss a couple of the bands
unfortunately - we had heard new
Seattle area band the Bear Creek Boys
a couple months earlier, really like their
Hillbilly/Rockabilly approach.
We did catch the last few songs of
Billy Dwayne & The Creepers' set, and
with the help of great sound engineering
from none other than Johnny Mercury,
the boys with the all original set
sounded much better than the previous
time we'd heard them at Club Motor. It
helps to have a guy at the knobs who
knows what the music is supposed to
sound like! The Hard Money Saints
also played last year's show, and we've
become familiar with a couple of their
songs via "Pull The String" over the last
year too. Singer/guitarist/songwriter
Jack Rainwater is also part of the
28 Blue Suede News 87
production company Flat Black Productions, which organized
the show for the benefit of KSER and "Pull The String." We're
beginning to home in on the group's current sound, which
seems quite different to the way they sounded a few years
ago when we heard them at the Folklife Festival's Rockabilly
show. Basically, they are now a high octane Neo-Rockabilly
style trio.
One highlight of the event came with our first chance to
hear Orange County, California's Sugar Daddys. They too are
neo-Rockabilly, played a lot of original swinging rockers and
had an easy rapport with the crowd, excellent musicianship,
and we liked them very much! Singer/guitarist Chuck drew the
girls to the front of the stage with his magnetic stage presence,
good looks and great moves and voice! Maybe they'll send us
their CD for review!
It was fun to see the Hillbilly Hellcats again, and they ran
through several of their familiar hits (they're hits up here as these
guys have also played the "Shake The Shack" Rockabilly Ball
a few times) getting enthusiastic crowd response. Great lead
guitar plus fun & intelligent lyrics make the Hillbilly Hellcats
stand out in the modern Rockabilly scene.
The following morning we made it back in time for the
car show and some of the bands. We did have to miss Van
Ramsey's own band the Wild Snohomians (but there's a
photo of Van from their previous gig at the Motor in a Johnny
Cash Tribute show on page 30), and also 63 Burnout - though
we heard the latter at last year's Rockabilly Revival. We caught
most of Banzai Surf's set - frontman Joe Jabon has changed
the band name a few times (Django Twango...). With drummer
Bob Merrihew and bassman Joe Anderson they play hard
hitting Surf, Instro, Spaghetti Western - the general spectrum
of reverb laden instrumental favorites - loud!
In between bands we went out and enjoyed the beautiful
weather and the small but eclectic car show across the street
with interesting Hot Rods, Street Rods and cool motorcycles!
It had been a few years since we managed to hear the
Mercury 4 (with Marshall Scott Warner on drums), but with
the addition of organ and a 2nd guitar, they mine similar territory
with a bit more of a Space theme. We always like to see the
groups with female bass players, because Gaby plays a bit
herself! And of course wild and interesting guitars make things
that much more entertaining.
We retreated to Duvall for a couple hours or so between
the afternoon program and evening, but arrived in plenty of
time to hear Little Ray and the Uppercuts. Ray was living
in Vegas for a few years, and playing with Lonesome Dick
down there, it's nice to have him back! The drummerless trio
format is easy on the ears, and once their sound got dialed in
we could hear everything very well - great set consisting of
mostly classics from Johnny Horton, The Rock'n'Roll Trio to
the Stray Cats, all around enjoyable.
Running Scared is a Roy Orbison tribute band, doing
only Roy's songs, and with another fine female bass player
PLUS two girls singing backing vocals together with the
drummer adding Joe Melson's parts. While they could have
used a bit of lead guitar playing, the singer had a cool guitar
and you can't miss with the great songs! Having a cool look
helps too!
Johnny Mercury was back after a 1/2 year hiatus, serving
up a hot plate of strong original rockers from his CDs. Crowd
pleasers like "Shank Hands, Shack Up!" and a couple Gene
Vincent style rockers filled up the dancefloor.
We saw Darrin Stout at the Motor back a few months
ago, and his songs are also becoming very familiar via play
on Van's radio show. He's both an excellent singer, and a fine
guitarist, and if he also produced his CD then a very good
arranger as well. He could perhaps have used a different
amplifier, the one provided (thanks to the Soldano amp
company) had a very brash sound and I think Darrin could
have benefited from cleaner, rounder tones. But he's written
some very memorable songs that range from Rock'n'Roll to
Blues, Rockabilly to Swamp Pop and everything in between,
a real treat!
And now, for the clowning glory! Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell,
whom we hadn't seen since on of the big Green Bay shows,
rocked the house. At age 76, that man can outrock almost
anybody a third his age! The Texan's own "hits" like "Ducktail"
and the frantic "Let's Get Wild" were mixed in with '50s
Rock'n'Roll classics, Tom Jones' "Delilah" and Tex Mex! That
man can sing and he's got the moves down, too! What a
wonderful entertainer he is, what a great inspiration to anyone
who wants to go on rocking for a long time! Rudy also told us
that the film he has a part in The Mercy Man, is finally slated
for release this very month! He plays a Puerto Rican gangster
whose son is a New York cop. The Mercy Man features a
couple of Rudy's great cuts in the soundtrack also! Watch for
it and his new Country music CD out soon!
And tune in to KSER.org on the internet. The weekend
lineup isn't the only good stuff they've got going - there's a
Blues Show called Clancy's Bar & Grill on Thursday evenings.
Just check in at kser.org and you can find their program guide,
and lots of other stuff! If you're thinking of a trip to Seattle you
can stay tuned to Van's show OR the website to find out when
next year's Rockabilly revival will happen.
SEATTLE ROCKS: On the following page are photos
from more great Seattle shows. We loved Cash'd Out, who
played two shows one night at the Tractor! The quartet from
San Diego is simply phenomenal, a true Johnny Cash tribute
- rocking and real. Sleepy LaBeef was wonderful to see again
(what a voice & endless repertoire!) and Lisa & Her Kin also
backed him as well as playing their own set - Portland is
lucky to have such a great band! We had fun at the Triple
Door with Marcia Ball (as always) and her great New Orleans
piano sound. And our first chance to see John Nemeth at the
Highway 99 Blues Club proved we won't want to miss him any
time we get another chance! A great soulful entertainer with a
rocking band. Nick Curran rocked Club Motor as guitarist for
Kim Lenz and kicked ass with his rendition of "Psycho".
A Big thank you to Dean Giles of Flat Black
Productions (Club Motor), Highway 99 Blues Club,
The Triple Door, KSER & Cash'd Out.
Blue Suede News 87 29


In addition to our two CDs available on Amazon and Itunes, I just released Hollywood Heaven, a MP3 download-only 3 song EP I made while at Musicians Institute. You can stream it off our player here or buy it at Amazon in the mp3 section
In the last year Hillbilly Hellcats have toured Europe and the continental U.S. We are currently writing for a new CD while enjoying a relaxed schedule for the summer of 2009.
We are also currently looking for "anchor" gigs for overseas in the fall.
License this music for commercial use through Pump Audio
Aahh... Thought you got an RV! Now you're supposed to invite us to Colo for a week! :o). Are you guys playing at the Showdown in Cali? I'm thinking about going-just don't know if I have the money!
On Friday July 3rd, The Roadhouse Joe Blues Band will join four of the best Colorado blues acts for an epic night of steamy music in one of the best jazz rooms in the world.
Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge, 930 Lincoln Street (9th & Lincoln), Denver www.dazzlejazz.com Friday July 3, starting at 6:00pm. Call for reservations 303-839-5100 or email reservation@dazzlejazz.com
The Line-Up:
6:00pm - Paul Soderman & Bluzhouse 7:15pm - Roadhouse Joe Blues Band 8:30pm - Sammy Dee 9:45pm - Ricky Early Band 11:00pm - Ronnie Shellist & the Shuffletones
Kick off your Independence Day weekend with a bang! This is a not-to-be-missed event in a big comfortable room. Plus, everybody who attends will receive a free music download from Roadhouse Joe!
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. ~Nelson Mandela~ Music is a language understood through-out the whole world! Peace and friendship Erudite
Online Now!
