KUPL's Honky-Tonk Ho-Ho-Hoedown

Friday, December 9, 2011, KUPL's Honky-Tonk Ho-Ho-Hoedown took over the Roseland Theater.

Before the doors opened to concertgoers, a private VIP party was held for clients and staff of the station.

Once the doors opened to ticket holders, there was a silent auction in the lobby. Up for grabs were prizes ranging from crock pots, to autographed guitars, to ski lift tickets, and everything in between. There was also a raffle for people to have a chance to sit on a couch onstage during the headliners' part of the program.

KUPL's entire air staff was in attendance that night, making their way on stage for announcements, and to introduce the evening's first act, local artist, Kurt Van Meter.

Van Meter, and those backing him, took the stage and did a few cover versions of songs; in addition to Van Meter's single, "Gypsy Road". For a "band" who'd never played together on stage, (the musicians were from other local Portland bands), they got the crowd in a definite party mood.

After Kurt Van Meter, afternoon DJ, TicTak, and "Simon in the Morning" member, Earthquake Jake, came onstage for more announcements and introductions. The original line up was supposed to have Sunny Sweeney take the stage then; instead though, Steel Magnolia was introduced.

When "Steel Magnolia" came on, it was member Joshua Scott Jones, and another guy. Before singing, Josh made the comment that his "partner" had forgotten her wig that evening; (in reference to Meghan Linsley being no where to be found). He then kicked into one of Steel Magnolia's hits, going on to other songs after that. The audience was calling out, "where's Meghan", and "where's the girl" the whole time; yet Jones didn't acknowledge the questions the entire set.

He did keep asking where the fiddle player that had been wandering around backstage was. He wanted the fiddle player from Kurt Van Meter's set to come up and play with him. Yet, when the fiddle player came out, Jones would play songs the guy didn't know. You could tell the fiddle player felt a bit out of place, and eventually wandered backstage again; only to be called back by Jones. This happened a couple more times, until finally Jones broke into a song that Van Meter had done earlier in the evening, Dwight Yokum's "Fast As You". The fiddler played along, exiting the stage as soon as the song ended.

The rest of the Steel Magnolia set was much the same. Jones would stand up once in awhile, from the stool he was sitting on; though he wouldn't go too far before sitting down again. He just seemed really scattered that evening and did mostly songs he'd written, or cover versions of songs. He did a decent job of singing, though the entire set just seemed awkward. Over all, from talking with others in the crowd, it was agreed; something was wrong with Josh. What it was, no one can honestly say; though it was definitely noticeable to the crowd.

After Steel Magnolia, another break with announcements and the like from the KUPL staff, and t-shirts being thrown out to the audience. You could tell everyone on stage was having as great a time as the crowd. They were all laughing, being silly and having fun.

Next up, Sunny Sweeney. Sweeney came on stage, sang her songs that have been played on the radio, and a variety of other songs she's written as well. She seems to have a bit of a sassy attitude and a quick wit.

She had the audience laughing several times with the stories she told about the songs. Most notably was the story of how Christmas songs really don't fit her style of singing. Instead of singing the usual holiday fare, she wrote her own Christmas song. She said it was the true portrayal of her family and how they are when they get together. This included how when her family drinks, eventually they start doing the "Sweeney Sway"; instead of standing straight, they start kind of swaying back and forth. Sweeney said it was a trait of her family. She then launched in to "One More Christmas Beer". It's a similar, yet different take on "Merry Christmas From the Family"; cute song.

With Sunny Sweeney's set done, all the KUPL staff made it to the stage again. In addition to more announcements, t-shirts, etc., it was time for the raffle drawing. Two tickets were drawn, and each winner, and a guest went onstage to sit on the couch for the final act of the night.

Once everything and everyone was in place, it was time for headliners, Montgomery Gentry. The two hit the stage running and never really slowed down all night, except for a couple of songs. For the most part though, their set was high energy and running at full speed. Besides singing, the two were interacting with the audience and the four people on the couch, as well as with each other. You could tell they were happy to be there, and were genuinely having a good time. Their enthusiasm was catching, and though it seemed the crowd couldn't get any rowdier, they did.

Keeping things in a holiday mood, the duo did "Merry Christmas From the Family", though it was mostly Troy, as Eddie had decided to join the four on the couch.


Eddie and T-Roy came, they rocked, and were the perfect capper to an already electric charged evening.

Except for the one slight hiccup in the show, (Steel Magnolia), over all the evening was totally awesome. Time will tell if next year's KUPL holiday show can top 2011's; it's going to be hard for sure!

KUPL Holiday Shows

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)


This Saturday, (October 29, 2011), KUPL is hosting it's 3rd Annual KUPL Boo Cruise on the Portland Spirit. The event includes a costume contest, (with the winner receiving an iPad2), food and music.

This year's music will be provided by "American Idol" finalist, Danny Gokey, Kip Moore and new artists, The Farm.

Think this show is a big one? Wait until the Christmas HOLIDAY season!

This year's "2011 KUPL Safeway Honky-Tonk Ho-Ho-Down" will be Friday, December 9, 2011 at the Roseland Theater.
Sunny Sweeney and Steel Magnolia will open for headliners, Montgomery Gentry.

Montgomery Gentry alone is worth the price of a ticket, which is $25 for general admission, and $40 for reserved seating. Throw in the other two acts, and you've definitely got a show worth seeing!

Tickets go on sale, Saturday, October 29, 2011 at all Safeway TicketsWest outlets, and at www.ticketswest.com.

GUESS WHO?

In another blog I mentioned how I don’t like “cookie cutter” voices.  Those artists who are so generic you can’t tell one from the other.  They could be interchangeable on any song played on the radio, and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

I also said how I like voices that stand out. The minute you hear a song, even if you’ve never heard it before, you instantly know who’s singing.  To me, that makes the music on the radio much more interesting.  It adds flavor to what would otherwise be bland and boring.

Then there are the newer artists who’ve come on the scene lately.  It seems there are quite a few that sound like other, established artists.  The person most people think of first is Easton Corbin.

Easton has always been compared to George Strait; which he doesn’t like.  In some ways, I understand why he resents the comparison.  He’s a new artist who wants to make his career based on his own merits.  Yet, he keeps being compared to George Strait; those are big shoes to fill, especially as a new artist. 

On the other hand, in this case, I see it as a compliment to Easton also.  To me, George Strait seems to have a wide range of styles he plays off of.  So, if people are comparing Easton Corbin to George Strait, which style?  If it’s all of them, I see that as a good thing. It’s worked for George, why wouldn’t it work for Easton?  I’m not sure there will ever be another George Strait, but there are worse artists Easton Corbin could be compared to.

  Awhile back KUPL was playing a song, “If I Run”, by the Harters.  Until I looked the song up, I would have sworn it was Steel Magnolia.  Even though both acts are new to country music, Steel Magnolia is known a bit more than the Harters.  The nice exception to thinking the Harters and Steel Magnolia sound alike is, neither have that cookie cutter sound.

Then there’s Joey+Rory.  I’d heard music by them before, most notably, “Cheater, Cheater”.   They’re another duo without a generic sound.  However, the first few times I heard the song, “That’s Important to Me”, I thought the Judds had put out new music.  The song has the Judds “feel” to it, and Joey’s voice, (on this song at least), sounds like the Judds. I like that this song has that “familiar” sound to it; yet Joey+Rory still have their own style and sound.

On the subject of of acts sounding like others, but only on some songs, there’s the Dirt Drifters.  Every time I would hear “Something Better” on the radio, I thought it was Toby Keith.  I wondered why Toby had two songs out at the same time.  When I found out it was the Dirt Drifters, and that they were going to be in Portland, I HAD to see them.  I wanted to know firsthand whether all their songs sounded like Toby Keith, or just that one.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Dirt Drifters are a very talented band, with their own distinct sound.  They did say that others had thought their first single sounded like Toby Keith, and they were okay with that.  They took it as a compliment that people wanted to find out more about them, because of the comparison.

On a slightly different path of voice comparisons, there’s Glen Templeton.  This new country artist definitely has his own style and sound, and is great at what he does.  At one point in time though, Glen was the star in the traveling play about Conway Twitty’s life.  He had been personally chosen by Twitty’s family for the role, because he sounded so much like Conway.

 Right now, KUPL is playing a song by Bradley Gaskin called, “Mr. Bartender”.  The first time I heard it, I instantly thought of Travis Tritt in his early days.  Yet, while the song reminds me of Tritt, Gaskin actually does hold his own, with his own sound, on the song. 

And then there’s this year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.    McCreery definitely has his own style and voice, as evidenced by his single, “I Love You This Big”.  While on Idol though, his “signature” song was Josh Turner’s “Your Man”.  Scotty was a dead ringer for Josh Turner; which was especially noticeable when Turner showed up to sing the song with Scotty at McCreery’s homecoming concert for American Idol.

I think there will always be comparisons of groups and artists in all genres of music.  Whether it’s someone like Easton Corbin, who has that “voice” all the time; or it’s a band, like the Dirt Drifters, who just happen on one song to sound like another artist, the comparisons will always be there. 

Likewise, whether, like Corbin, artists resent the comparison, or like the Dirt Drifters, embrace it; there will always be both as long as there’s music in the world.