Good Hearted Woman

At work we have the flatscreen set to music all day long which makes me smile all day long...music, and all different genres of music, are intoxicating to me.  Being born and raised in Texas, my favorite of course, is country.  I love classic, traditional and new country...when I came back to Texas I discovered two more versions of country: "Texas Country" and "Red Dirt Music"....and I can't get enough of either one!  There is even a Texas Music Chart for only Texas musicians' hits...I was talking to Shelby one day and she was telling me how much she loved this new song called "Crazy Girl" by the Eli Young Band...of course I immediately had to tell her it was (at that time) currently number one on the Texas Music Chart AND they are from Texas AND they play around here all the time! I had to rub it in a little you know ;)  I still need to see them play live.  I have a list of Texas Country bands and artists that I still want to see perform live and I'm sure with all the music venues and festivals, etc., I will get to see them all...yeah, got to rub that in too...here are a few on my list:

Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young Band, Cody Canada & the Departed (love their name), Kevin Fowler, Cory Morrow, Brandon Rhyder, Dale Watson, Jeremy Steding, Robert Earl Keen, Reckless Kelly, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Pat Greene, Jack Ingram, Casey Donahue Band, Jon Wolfe (seen a few times and will see again August 13) and WILLIE! You can't be born and raised in Texas and not get to hear and experience Willie live, right?

And one of my favorites right now is from Oklahoma, hence the Red Dirt Music mention, and that is Stoney LaRue.  I have seen him perform 2 or 3 times now and have tried to make a few more (this weekend even), but other plans have gotten in the way!  I bought one of his CD's when I first came back and still listen to it all the time and also download an acoustic CD from ITunes.  He has such a unique and distinctive voice, very down to earth guy and plays local venues all the time around here...I enjoy listening to him with his band and just with his guitar.  He is quite addicting, and not bad to look at either...I've got an album with quite a few pictures of him on Facebook.

If you are wondering what "Red Dirt Music" is, this is Wikipedia's definition: "rising genre of music based in and around Stillwater, Oklahoma. Critics say that Red Dirt can best be likened to the indie genre of rock n roll as there is no definitive sound that can be attributed to all the bands in the movement. It can be described as a mix of Southern rock, country rock, alt-country, outlaw country, folk and Texas honky-tonk with even a few Mexican influences." Soooo, there you go!

There are four CD's that I constantly play and they are  Jon Wolfe's "It Happened In A Honky Tonk" (signed and given to me personally, no less), Randy Roger's Band "Burning the Day", Stoney LaRue's "Live at Billy Bobs" and Stoney LaRue's "Acoustic CD"...It makes me happy when you buy a CD and you love the whole CD!  Seriously, if you love country music, google these guys and take a listen...I haven't stopped!

Oh yeah, the reason I put Good Hearted Woman on my Title is because it was playing in the office and I love that song too! Waylon and Willie remind me of my senior year in high school....

I didn't know I could be so winded...geez!