This is a big shout out to all our readers who are a little bit country & a little bit rock n' roll! Honky tonk is alive and well in our city!! We at DR2 are regular attendees when On The Rocks, Detroit presents a Sam Wood show; it is guaranteed to feature the best country, rock, singer/songwriter talent you will ever see. Most recently we found ourselves in Pontiac at the very cool Eagle Theater for "Honky Tonk Heartache" featuring a lineup of John Holk & The Sequins, Delilah DeWylde & The Lost Boys, Doop & the Inside Outlaws and Whitey Morgan & The 78's. This show, like past Detroit Honky Tonk shows was a great night of rock & roll flavored country! Don "Doop" Duprie has an incredible talent for writing songs that tap into that working-class experience in the same way, and with a similar style to The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. He often performs acoustically around town when he is not fighting fires Downriver in his regular job. These shows are very intimate and a lot of fun, but it is something special to see him with a full band. "The Inside Outlaws", Doop's troupe, is an incredible collection of talent with Matt Lollio groovin' on Bass, Matt Van wailing on Guitar, the incomparable, mood setter, "Pedal Steel" Pete Ballard on, well, pedal steel guitar, Jay Row crushing the drums, and
Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone Joined Doop on Stage
Bobby Emmet working the Hammond. Put them all on stage and you won't stay in your seat for long as they rock through crowd-favorites like Blood River, Let You Bleed(a personal favorite), and Done ‘em Right, an occasional Springsteen cover, and lately some great new tunes like MFNJOB (pronounced M-effin-J-O-B), and Saturday, that will be featured on a new disc due to drop summer '09. Doop & The Inside Outlaws is so natural and authentic, that inevitably, you find yourself smiling and singing along! His natural, humble, easygoing, style connects him to the audience immediately. And, as if that's not enough, you will often find, Atlantic Records recording artist, Ty Stone joining him on stage for some fun! Ty often takes part in the acoustic shows, billed as "Revolver" around town and is a truly special talent. He has that unique ability to inspire emotion with both his songs and his emotionally charged voice. He will be playing, with a full band for an "On The Rocks" promoted bill on the "Detroit Princess" dubbed SHIPROCKED, a new river cruise rock series starting this May 16th (check our Gig Calendar for details) that looks to be a must-see show.
Whitey Morgan & The 78's
Finally, another recent fixture in the Honky Tonk shows has been Whitey Morgan & The 78's (see our recent review of their disc Honky Tonks & Cheap Motels) Whitey has put a lot of miles on the tour bus this past summer, literally playing his way across the country, from here to Texas promoting the new disc. But, we have been lucky to keep him around town recently. With music that has that outlaw feel of Waylon, Willie and Hank (you gotta know who I mean if you've read this far) Whitey and the boys are a country throwdown every time they hit the stage! With all the the country bases covered, from cheatin spouses to blue collar drinkin' tunes, they tear it up with crowd-pleasers like If It Ain't Broke, Crazy, Another Round, and Cheatin' Again !! If you haven't been out to see the guys, you are truly missing something special. I don't think these guys will be "local boys" for much longer. We at DR2 feel it won't be long until we lose Doop, Ty, Whitey, or other Inside Outlaws affiliates, Brandon Calhoun, Robin Horlock, or Matt Dmits to the bigger stages across the country. It is only a matter of time till the rest of the world discovers the talent in this collection and they blow up. So, if you see any of these names on our Gig Calendar, get out and see them, we guarantee you will not be disappointed! You can catch Doop & The Inside Outlaws at Baker's Streetcar this Saturday in downtown Hamtramck during the Metro Times Blowout or, as always, in our Top Friends atwww.detroitrockreview.com the only place for local music, news, and reviews.
