Unfortunately, a snowstorm hit, and although the show went on, it wasn’t as well-attended as he’d hoped. So he’s doing it again:

Hey Folks, my band is rescheduled for Barley’s on Friday April 2 for a CD release show for SPIES LIES AND BURNING EYES. I want to thank those hearty souls who made it out on the big SNOW night. We knew so many of you couldn’t make it, including our band coming over from Nashville! But for those who could we wanted the show to go on and so Hector and I played and Tim Lee & co. joined us and we had a big time. And Barley’s was great to keep the doors open when almost everyone else was canceling and closing. They also rescheduled us for Friday April 2 and gave me another chance to bring Dave Jacques, Paul Griffith, and Eric Fritsch over from Nashville to join me and Hector Qirko for an official full band release show for Spies Lies and Burning Eyes!

Please make it out and tell your friends too. I promise to open up a can of rock transcendence! And to help in this endeavor to persevere Jonathan Sexton and the Big Love Choir will open the show! Too cool.

$10 and starts at 9:30. See you there.

R.B. Morris, “Amsterdam”: right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)
R.B. Morris, “Plato’s Perfect World”: right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)
R.B. Morris, “Spy in My Brain”: right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)
R.B. Morris, “Empire”: right-click here (choose “Save Target As” or “Save Link As”)
R.B. Morris, “City”: right-click here (choose “Save Target As” or “Save Link As”)
Buy albums by R.B. Morris (including his most recent, “Spies Lies and Burning Eyes”): click here

The series gets started on Saturday, April 10, featuring Scott Ramsey & The Brotherhood of Jazz, from Tucson by way of Nashville. Ramsey is promoting a new CD, “Jazzitude.” Also on the bill: One Step Up, featuring Higginbotham and vocalist Hannah Dauven. The headliner for the night will be Dumplin Valley’s own GRITS, playing high-energy classic rock and blues.

The address: 549 E. Dumplin Valley Rd ( turn at the Co-Op off Highway 92 and go two miles)

Time: Gates open at 5 p.m., music starts at 7:30 p.m.

Limited campsite available  for only $5 (no hook-ups); campers can set up anytime during the day

For more information, call (865) 567-6944 or e-mail dumplinvalleyconcerts@charter.net. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved to April 17.

The series will take place on the second Saturday of each month; additional dates are May 8, June 12, July 10 and Aug. 14. Additional performers include The 427s, Lost Creek, Avenue C Band (on May 8), Shady Grove, Crossfield, Josiah Atchley and The Beat Daddys.

We profiled the band this time last year, and the group continues to evolve and branch out. Not only did the guys release the album “Blood Rust Whiskey” last year, they’re already putting together a new CD — this time around, an acoustic offering tentatively titled “Hope Chest,” front man Ben Whitehead told The Daily Times recently.

“Three strings, no drums,” Whitehead said. “We’ve been playing acoustic shows at the Fox and Parrot Tavern in Gatlinburg for years, and people have been asking us for a long time — ‘Do you have this acoustic, softer-sounding music on CD?’ We didn’t, and we never planned to record anything like that, but around Christmas we decided to do one. We’ve got quite a few songs recorded, and we hope to record some more and have it out by the end of spring.”

Next week’s Valarium show — which includes local bands The High Score and Big Country’s Empty Bottle (admission is $6 in advance and $8 at the door) — is actually the capper to a busy St. Patty’s Day for the band, Whitehead said. First up is an appearance on the WDVX-FM “Blue Plate Special,” a live radio show/concert that’s recorded — and open to the public — at WDVX studios, 301 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville.

It’s a band full of Celtic goodness, featuring — in addition to Cutthroat Shamrock — local bands Shamrock Road, Four Leaf Peat (profiled in this coming Friday’s edition of The Daily Times Weekend section) and singer-songwriter Matt McNeely, all playing for an extended, 90-minute special. It’s the kick-off for WDVX’s spring fundraising drive, supporting efforts to keep the independent, community-supported radio station — which plays an eclectic mix of music celebrating the arts and culture of Southern Appalachia — going. (To make donations, contact the station at 544-1029 or visit the website.)

For Whitehead and his bandmates, their foray into Celtic music happened quite by accident, he said.

“Years ago, when we found our rhythm, we didn’t know it was a Celtic rhythm,” he said. “We were sitting around, jamming out and playing music, and before we ended up singing, someone said, ‘You sound like The Pogues.’ We were like, ‘Who are they? Let’s look into it.’ So we checked it out and decided, wow — we do kind of sound like them.

“We just stumbled onto it kind of by coincidence. We didn’t set out to say, ‘Let’s make a Celtic rock band.’ The sound sort of found us.”

Over time, the band’s music evolved from the roughshod, primal sounds of a band of Celtic warriors to a sound that’s more refined — although still hearty and anchored in rock ‘n’ roll. The Pogues and The Chieftains are still present, however, and the sound will always be a part of the band, Whitehead said.

“There’s just a liveliness to Celtic music that you can’t find in any other kind,” he said. “Just the good time, the feel, the camaraderie that you have — even if it’s a dark song, there’s still a liveliness to it.”

They’ll need that liveliness next week — immediately after playing “The Blue Plate,” they’ll head over to WUTK-FM, 90.3 The Rock, for an on-air performance; one hour later, they’re due at WFIV-FM, 105.3 for more St. Patty’s Day madness. After that, it’s time to load-in at The Valarium and rock the house.

The challenge, Whitehead said, will be in curbing the guys’ notoriously hard-drinking ways to make it through until the end of the night. As long as there’s no moonshine involved, they should be OK, he said with a laugh.

“We made that rule last year — the next day after The Valarium show, actually,” he said. “The night before, I decided to drink some moonshine on stage, and things got a little belligerent toward the end of the set. I at least want to try to remember some of it this year.

“Don’t get me wrong — we’re still gonna drink, just nothing from a jar if we can help it.”

Free music! Cutthroat Shamrock, “Dry Bones”: Right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)
Buy music by Cutthroat Shamrock: Click here
Cutthroat Shamrock on Myspace: Click here

Foreigner will perform at The Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville on Monday, March 15; I spoke with Jones recently by phone for a preview story that’ll be published in Friday’s edition of The Daily Times Weekend entertainment section. We spoke at length about Foreigner’s longevity — and about the band’s 2008 performance at the Foothills Fall Festival in downtown Maryville — and about the group’s snubbing at the hands of Hall of Fame decision-makers.

“It is kind of upsetting that Foreigner has never even been on the ballot, and I think about it from time to time,” Jones told me. “I just heard about ABBA being inducted this year, and that made me think — is ABBA even a rock ‘n’ roll band? I’m not so sure about that.

“Some of the decisions they’ve made and the people they’ve left out — there’s a question of integrity there. I started out at the beginning, of my career emulating the roots of rock ‘n’ roll and all of my heroes at that time, and I’ve tried to keep that in mind all the way through, and I feel we’ve certainly played a part in the scheme of things. I think you can safely say we’re a genuine rock band, because we had a big effect on the music business at that time.

“To be totally ignored, along with bands like Journey and Boston — it hurts a bit,” he added. “But the fact I feel the integrity is missing in that organization, with the choices sometimes of the people they introduce into it as rock ‘n’ roll, makes it all a bit questionable.”

The night after Foreigner rocks East Tennessee, another group that’s been overlooked by the Hall of Fame will play the very same venue. John Lodge of The Moody Blues talked a bit about his band’s exclusion as well in an interview with us to promote the band’s show on Tuesday, March 16, at The Tennessee Theatre.

“It’s been 43 years since ‘Days of Future Passed’ (the band’s landmark 1967 album) was released, and every year our name comes up — ‘What do you think of The Moody Blues and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?’” he said. “But we come through every phase, and we’re still there, on the outside. And we get put on the back burner for another year.

“I don’t really put any thought in it, because the Hall of Fame is a club, and if you’re not invited to the club, why bother trying to get in? Our success is the audience who comes to our concert, the person who comes up and says, ‘You’ve done so much for me as a person.”

During holidays and family gatherings, they would pull out their guitars and play. In October 2008, however, their music made its way to a broader audience, thanks to the Internet — a Nashville executive discovered them on April’s YouTube channel, and the three were invited to perform at Nashville’s Listening Room Cafe. That night, Marshal Hill was born, and they’ve been busy ever since, opening for Julia Nunes last year and The Square Room and playing out when they can.

Mandy dropped me a line the other night to tell me that she and her sister will be singing on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway as contestants of the new reality show “Fast Track To Fame.” The episode featuring them will air two nights later, at 8 p.m. March 8 on Fox’s Speed Channel. According to the program’s website, the show “features real people from across NASCAR Nation including, singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and variety acts of all types! The series premieres Monday, March 1 … and each show is an hour-long with as many as six repeat airings during the following week. Each installment is taped at a stop along the NASCAR schedule from late February through May, and 11 shows are scheduled.”

Check out “Fast Track to Fame” online and Marshal Hill online as well. Here are the sisters:

The night before, country star Jo Dee Messina will perform; we’ll have an interview with her in the March 19 edition of The Daily Times Weekend entertainment section. The next night — Saturday, March 27 — is the grand opening. It begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $25. Here’s what’s in store:

“The Gala is an evening of entertainment highlighting East Tennessee artists and performers from a wide variety of genres,” according to a recent press release. “David Keith will emcee the event which will feature performances by Sen. Lamar Alexander on the “Alexander” Steinway piano, the Maryville College Concert Choir, the Orchestra at Maryville College, Appalachian Ballet Company, Delores Ziegler, John Wesley Wright, Will Tate & 6ix Mile Express, Pistol Creek Catch of the Day, David Dwyer, Bruce McKinnon, Dr. Robert Bonham, Jennifer Olander, John Cherry and many other Blount County and East Tennessee personalities.

To purchase tickets for this event, visit the Clayton Center Box Office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, call 981-8590, or visit the venue’s website and and click on the Grand Opening Gala icon on the main page.

April 3: Unknown Hinson ($15)

April 10: Voodoo Lounge (Rolling Stones tribute, $10)

April 17: Scott Miller and the Commonwealth ($15)

April 24: Mustang Sally ($15)

May 1: Winds of Thor (Led Zeppelin tribute)

May 8: Shannon McNally

May 15: Ray Wylie Hubbard

May 22: Bill “The Sauce Boss” Wharton

May 28: Devon Allman’s Honeytribe

May 29: Jason and the Scorchers

May 30: Stacie Collins

June 5: Hayes Carll

June 11: Goose Creek Symphony

June 12: Todd Snider

June 19: Use Your Illusion (Guns N’ Roses tribute)

June 26: Hackensaw Boys

July 3: Monsters of Classic Rock

July 10: Tres Hombres

July 17: James McMurtry

July 24: Ozzmosis

July 31: Trent Summar

Aug. 21: Blackberry Smoke

Aug. 28: Big Gun (AC/DC tribute)

Sept. 3: Leon Russell

Sept. 4: Kentucky Headhunters

Sept. 11: Husky Burnette

Sept. 18: Cross Canadian Ragweed

Sept. 25: Mic Harrison and The High Score

UPDATE, March 3: Actually, there won’t be a cover charge for this event, according to Patrick Sullivan’s GM Sean Blair. It’s free, but donations will be gratefully accepted for the Joy of Music School.

February 23, 2010

OPEN LETTER TO FANS OF THE RETROHOLICS

As promised, The Retroholics update. RECAP: In early February, Larry Ottinger, Lead Singer for the Retroholics parted ways with the band. Since then, we have kept our commitments to our fans and club managers by having Jeza (former Retro gal singer) from Dream on Alice and Michael Essex from Plan 9 assist us during this time. We are most appreciative how many of you have continued to come out and show your support, but…no matter how well these shows have gone, this line up is not The Retroholics you are accustomed to and we understand that. Remaining members of the Retroholics have decided it is the time to disband and move on. Congratulations go out to Scott Connatser, Drummer — Scott has landed an awesome new gig with Hillbilly Jedi so be sure to check out their MySpace schedule @ www.myspace.com/hillbillyjedi and add yourself as a friend. Members Chris Armstrong, Lead Guitar and Vocals, Phil Watts, Keyboard and Vocals will team up with Jeza in her exciting band project DREAM ON ALICE. They have their first show at Wild Wing Café on March 5. If you loved The Retroholics we promise you’re going to really love DREAM ON ALICE!! They will play all your favorite tunes from the 80’s and will include some of the best of 60’s, 70’, 90’s to present time music! There will be more dance sets and songs you love but never hear played out! As you well know, Jeza is an incredible high energy performer with a great set of pipes, Chris will cut loose to showcase his crowd pleasing guitar playing and Phil will be showcased as well. DREAM ON ALICE is excited to have the talents of Chris Armstrong and Phil Watts joining forces with Jeza and her other bandmates — Brian Lee – Guitar/Vocals, Greg Johnson – Drums, and Jay Harris – Bass. Please visit DREAM ON ALICE @ www.myspace.com/dreamonalice and add them as a friend. You’ve been wonderful fans to The Retroholics over the years! We hope you’ll continue to support Chris, Phil and Jeza with DREAM ON ALICE and Scott in his new venture with Hillbilly Jedi. Your support has meant the world to us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts… FAREWELL Retroheads!!

Interestingly, we interviewed Ottinger last May. We hope it wasn’t something he said to us.

Check out Dream On Alice on Myspace.