The Blog

Ardent Sessions – Now Playing on Breakthruradio.com 

Ardent Sessions – Ardent Studios

Howdy everyone. Dirtfoot is just getting back from Memphis, TN where we recorded at Ardent Studios for an episode of “Ardent Sessions”. Each month, Ardent runs a 1 hr show on www.breakthruradio.com called “Ardent Sessions” and Dirtfoot is honored to be part of this historic studio and this great show.

We arrived at Ardent on Friday, Jan 23 where we were met by Rachel Hurley. Rachel caught one of our shows at Otherlands in Memphis and wrote a really cool review of us. We approached her about writing a review of our new album, Bone Sessions, and she said “I’ll do you one better”. Rachel works at Ardent and puts together the Ardent Sessions. She set up the whole thing and even made sure we had the chance to meet the owner and founder, John Fry. Mr Fry started recording as a teenager in his home and founded Ardent in 1966. Working closely with Stax Records, they recorded artist like Isaac Hayes, Booker T. and the MGs, The Bar-Kays, Johnnie Taylor, Rufus Thomas, and Albert King. As the studio prospered, they founded their own label and signed Big Star. Since the 70’s, Ardent has worked with bands like James Taylor, ZZ Top, R.E.M., George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, The White Stripes, 3 Doors Down, Cat Power, North Mississippi Allstars, The Raconteurs, and award-winning music for such films as Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan. To date, Ardent has amassed over 70 gold and platinum albums and singles.

John took us to the Stax Records Museum and we took the tour of the facility. Mr Fry was our tour guide as he told us about how Stax was founded and how it basically pulled talent from the local neighborhoods to build its initial roster. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Booker T, the Bar Kays and many more all lived within blocks of the studio and the building quickly became the focal point of music in the area. Of course we all know what happened with the artists and their amazing songs. Stax lasted until 1974 and with the help of local music lovers, the Stax Museum was built in 2003. Check out more about Stax Records at http://www.soulsvilleusa.com.

We headed back to Ardent studios and had the privilege to record in Studio A, where most of the bands above recorded their albums. This room has an amazing sound and you could feel the vibes from all the years of great music recorded there. We worked with some great engineers and crew who really helped us feel comfortable. We were able to invite some friends to attend and at 8:00pm the recording got started. We played through 13-14 songs including a brand new song that very few people have heard. We recorded songs off the first album like Rest My Head, My Girl, Time to be Your Friend Now and songs off the Bone Sessions album like Cast My Plans, Footsteps, Rhinestone Ring and Gonna Get Ya. In between each song, Matt told a little story about the songs, their meaning and the inspiration to write them. We wrapped up the show about 9:15pm and then packed and headed to our good friends, Mike and Jen for a great after party. This was truly an amazing day.

The show is now airing at Breakthruradio.com. Also, a 3 camera video was shot of the show and we will have that edited and completed soon. We can’t wait to see and hear the show and hope you all will enjoy it.

We do want to thank Rachel Hurley, John Fry and Ardent Studios, Mike and Jen Larrivee, and all the folks that came out to help make this such a great night. We had a blast and learned so much about the history of Memphis music. We can’t wait to get back to Memphis for the Folk Alliance and will see you all then.

Keep on Footin!

Dirtfoot

Dirtfoot featured on cover of Preview - Shreveport Times Nov 21  

Hey good people!

If you're anywhere in the Shreveport area, go pick up a copy of the Preview section in Friday Nov 21 Shreveport Times. Dirtfoot is on the cover with a very cool cover photo and great write up by Alexandyr Kent.

If you're not in the area... here's a link to the article and we've copied it below.



Shreveport Preview Nov 21, 2008

And we'll see you all at the CD Release - Nov 22,2008 at the Warehouse - Shreveport LA!



Dirtfoot to release its second album Saturday

Shreveport band hopes for great things

By Alexandyr Kent • akent@gannett.com • November 21, 2008 2:00 am

With the release of their second album, Dirtfoot could head in one of two directions.
"I personally think we're on the edge of something big," says lead vocalist Matt Hazelton.

"It's either stardom or a train wreck," counters banjoist J. Bratlie. "One or the other."

By superstition, bands don't seriously entertain bad predictions, and Hazelton laughs off Bratlie's sarcasm as something that shouldn't be printed in a newspaper. But there it is: a sharp truth that slices to the core of artistic potential.

In the future, bands either fly or flounder.

"Bone Sessions" represents Dirtfoot's bet on taking flight. The 51-minute album features the signatures that have earned the band its following.

There is Hazelton's deep, growling voice that's equal parts delighted and demented.

There are Bratlie's old-timey banjo and his tenor backup cries.

There are the band's elder statesman, Lane Bayliss, 50, keeping order on drums; the youngest blood, Daniel Breithaupt, 24, adding percussive quirk with xylophone, vibraphone, congas, bongos, or pots and pans; and Eric Gardner plucking out soulful, up-tempo standup bass lines.

And then there are Scott Gerardy's saxophone solos — their slow, smooth notes creeping behind melodies and suddenly overtaking them with accelerating, unrestrained swing.

The band members don't want to define what they are doing, other than to playfully describe it as a "dose of gypsy punk country grumble boogie" on their Web sites.

Whatever it is, Dirtfoot's music inspires a whole lot of boogie-on-down and bean-can shaking among listeners at their live shows.

"It's fun," Hazelton, 33, says again and again, and part of what makes it so is how the six-member band relies on improvisation to make familiar songs surprising and inventive.

"Out of nowhere, Scotty comes up with this incredible beast of a solo and then inspires Eric to change up his base line," Hazelton continues. "In the middle of what we think is a regular moment, it turns into a completely new animal."

That transformation, however fleeting, is what each member prizes.

"Our music is one of the most original things I've been a part of, or heard," claims Gerardy, 31.

"When we're on stage, you really get to live in the moment," believes Gardner, 29. "I almost feel like I'm a different person."

"Once it starts, it's all good," extolls Breithaupt.

Dirtfoot's music features no electric guitars. Nearly no effect pedals. No samples of prerecorded music. No distortion of what instruments traditionally sound like.

The acoustic music is free-spirited and raucous, and sounds as if it were pouring out the broken window of a roadhouse planted in a swamp.

"It's real," says Bayliss. "It's certainly not slick and the same every single time."

The way the music is finished is also very democratic. Songs originate from Hazelton — who writes the lyrics and sets them to guitar — and are then fleshed out by the band during practice sessions.

"I bring the raw meat and we cook it," Hazelton says. "I'm the only the one in the band that is not a true musician in sense of musicianship. I never took any lessons, so I don't really understand the lines I need to live in."

Instrument by instrument, layer by layer, band members add their touches to finish a song. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes longer than a two-and-a-half hour practice session.

Hazelton acknowledges that creative visions clash sometimes, but "somehow, someway, it works. "» . It helps that they know they rules, because that's what makes the songs complete."

While Dirtfoot members feel confident they're on to something irresistible in their music, they also feel certain they are only beginning to tap their audience. Dirtfoot has spent many weekends of the past 20 months touring far away from Shreveport in towns like Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Little Rock, Hot Springs, Fayetteville, Memphis, Columbia, Springfield, Lawrence and Wichita.

"Whether it's 10 people out there or 4,400, they're having a great time," says Bratlie, 36. "We give people a chance to go out there and shake their booty."

The question remains, however, as to whether or not those booty-shakers will grow and part with more loot.

Dirtfoot, now six years, gallons of sweat, measly profits and hundreds of bean-can shakers into their history, feels as if they have put in the work to make it on their music alone. The band members want the public, and a record label, to buy into their passion.

"We see the response from people," Gardner says, and it's good. "To me, it's a dream of doing this for a living and not having a day job."

As Bratlie hopes, "We're ready for the machine to step in and help us move along like we need it to."


Dirtfoot is a finalist in the Independent Music Awards! 

Hey good people!

We just received the word that our song, Devil Don't Care, is a finalist in the Alt Country category of the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards! Here's a blurb from their website that say's what it's all about:




About The Independent Music Awards


The Independent Music Awards helps Indie artists & releases worldwide overcome mainstream obstacles by placing Winners & Finalists in front of more than 15 Million new fans via yearlong promotion, marketing & distribution programs.

Supporting a wide spectrum of music genres from Punk to New Age and design categories including Music Video, Album Art & Swag, IMA Winners benefit from yearlong promotion, marketing & distribution programs via print, broadcast & online initiatives.

Entries received from the United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Guam, Argentina, Cuba, Israel, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Italy, Greece, Nigeria, Turkey, Estonia, Russia, Ireland and the UK reflect the program's stature and reach throughout the independent music community.

Created by Music Resource Group, publisher of the Musician's Atlas and interactive AtlasOnline, and co-sponsored by online retailers eMusic & PureVolume; digital network ManiaTV; radio promotion gurus The Planetary Group, HIP Video Promo, The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), Burnside Distribution and MediaGuide, IMA Winners & Finalists are promoted to more than 15 Million music fans and key industry players including:

* Commercial, Public & College Radio Programmers
* Music Journalists
* Film, TV & Gaming Music Supervisors
* Club & Festival Talent Buyers
* Ad Agencies
* National & Regional Promoters
* Music Fans


Judges for this years event include Artists like:
Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Roger Daltry, George Jones, Buddy Guy, Clint Black, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Ice-T, Lisa Loeb, Rick Springfield and more.

Judges representing the industry will also be taking part. There will be reps from:
Festival Networks, Suicide Girls Radio, Rolling Stone Magazine, MTV, Spiral Frog.com, Myradio.com, Venus Zine, Capitol Music Group, Rock The Vote, Rumblefish and many more!

Check out the IMA's here www.IndependentMusicAwards.com for more info.

We're very excited about being in the finals and we will be needing your help soon! IMA will be setting up a jukebox on their site where you can go and vote for your favorite song in each category. Then a "Vox Populi Winner" will be announced and this vote is strictly from you. We'll keep you posted on the details... Keep checking back for updates!

Thanks again for all your support. Hope to see you on Nov 22 at the CD release!

Dirtfoot

Check out this great review 

Check out this great review:

Dirtfoot thrills Memphis, Prepares to Release New Album
July 24th, 2008 by Rachelandthecity

While it can sometimes be hard to express the music of many bands in words, there seems to be no lack of colorful adjectives to describe Shreveport, LA's Dirtfoot. From their own distinctive explanation of Gypsy Punk Country Grumble Boogie to the less over-the-top designation of jug band style folk mixed with jazzed-up Americana, they cover a wide array of musical territory. Mixing banjo, guitar, upright bass, drums, sax and percussion, with special guest appearances by everything from xylophones to pots and pans, they are a band that can grab your ear with their unique sound, but shine the brightest when they are playing live. Last weekend their current tour brought them to Otherlands in Memphis, and their entertainingly chaotic set was definitely a crowd pleaser.

As legend has it, Dirtfoot was birthed in the aftermath of a tornado, which seems not only totally believable based on where the are from but perfectly appropriate. From laid back odes to liquor and lovers, to foot-stomping sing-a-longs their sound manages to be effortlessly their own. With the abundance of musical acts on the scene these days, they are certainly a refreshing alternative. Not to mention, it is almost impossible not to at least tap your foot, but more likely jump up and dance along. It is also not surprising that their audiences are often filled with fellow musicians, as was the case in Memphis.

Led by songwriter Matt Hazelton, the sextet have cultivated a style that is soaked in traditional Cajun-tinged instrumentation while still sounding contemporary. Unfortunately, a casual examination of the group could easily result in them being lumped into the hippie-dippie jam band genre. I have to admit, the first time I caught their act that is what I expected. Admittedly, there are certainly some similarities. However, while it is often hard for me to appreciate the meandering musical improvisation of many bands, when Dirtfoot colors outside the lines, the qualities that set them apart result in the music being more enjoyable than annoying.

With two albums and an EP under their belt, the spreading of the gospel has kept them steadily touring, playing everything from pubs to coffee houses, to festivals and music halls. Last year the band was the winner of the "Play Voodoo" contest, garnering a main stage slot at Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans. Currently they are working on a new album, recording with Chris Bell at Luminous Sound in Dallas, TX. The new album will continue to capitalize on each member's individual yet complimentary styles. They are aiming for an end of summer release date. Dirtfoot's tour schedule has mostly kept them in the south and the Midwest but their route is continuing to widen as they attempt to win new fans one-by-one. In the coming year, look for the bands name on a marquee near you and don't pass up the opportunity to be impressed.

Link to original release:

http://scenestars.net/2008/07/dirtfoot-thrill-memphis-prepare-to-release-new-album.php

Wakarusa 2008! 

Hey everybody,

We're just getting back from Waka and it's taken a few days to recover. By the end of this story you'll completely understand why.

Waka day 1 and 2...

Our story begins with a 10 hour treck north. Pretty uneventful trip for all and we arrived in what seems like our 2nd home now, Lawrence KS. Part of our crew arrived on Tuesday get firmly camped and the other half made it in wednesday night.


Our first show of the week was the Pre-Party at the Bottleneck which was a fun show.


There's already a recording of the night up at www.archive.org and we met some really awesome bands. Steel Train played and they did a really cool version of Tusk by Fleetwood Mac. The night was closed by the Family Groove Company who are a talented bunch of guys. All in all it was a good night and we made our way to the campsite to bed down for our big day.

Thursday morning started a little gray and overcast. The word was going around the festival that there would be torrential storms that evening, but hopefully all would blow past. We finalized our campsite and headed off into the festival to check out Big Smith, South Austin Jug Band, Truckstop Honeymoon, and Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. We had a full fill of great music and it was time to head to our tent. We loaded all our gear into the set up area and Daniel began to put together his new MONSTER percussion set.


It's slowly grown over the last few years and now he's decided to pull out the big guns for Waka. The Station ended their set around 7:30pm and began to break down. We waited for the stage to clear and we're ready to load by 7:45pm. The sound man started calling out how much time we had till 8:00pm, "15 minutes guys" and then "8 Minutes guys". At the same time, the winds are starting to really blow.

The Revival Tent about 10 Minutes before we were scheduled to play


The roof of the tent starts blowing upwards, and quickly being pushed down by the forcefull winds. The storms are going to be here any minute and we want to start playing. We get the "3 Minutes" followed shortly by a "sorry guys, they're shutting us down".

This shot was taken about 10 seconds before they closed the site


We all stood there, mouths dropped and not sure if this was a joke. It wasn't raining, the wind was blowing and there was some lightning in the distance, but we were still dry. About that time, they come over the loud speakers and announce that the festival is going to be shut down due to severe weather that is heading our way. They want everyone to head to shelter, and if you hear sirens, that means it's a tornado and to head to low ground.

As you can imagine, we feel pretty bummed. The stage manager, a very cool cat named Michael, says that if the storm blows over, they may start things back up, so keep close to our phones and be looking for a call. He also said that he would crank up till 4:00am if we had too, so be ready to play.

We headed back to camp and tried to figure out what to do. Should we stay in our site and try to ride out the storm, which so far had been pushing 70-80 mile an hour winds and tornados, or head into town and find some significant shelter. Right about then, the local sherriffs come driving through the campsite, loudspeaker blaring, "The storm is about 15 minutes away. Please take shelter immediately". Well that was it for us, we knew that we were heading into town and we did. Part of the crew went to a local grocery store and the rest went to a little Pita place (very tasty!) and waited for the storm to blow over. It finally hit around 10:00pm and was not very impressive. Basically, there was a big gust of wind, a heavy straight rain for about 30 minutes and then a steady rain. We've definitely seen worse down in Louisiana, so we decided to head back to camp and see what survived. Luckily everything was intact at our camp, but we soon discovered that the festival would not be restarting that night. We all bunked down to get some rest because the next morning is the Chompdown.

The 2nd Annual Chompdown is set to begin at 10:00am. The Chompdown is a group of truly good people who want to do something good for all the campers at Waka. What's better in the morning that a hot home cooked breakfast and that is what they do. Eggs, bread, Bacon, butter and other great breakfast stuff is donated and volunteers (mostly the Waka Bloggers) let by Rabbit, put the whole thing together. Along with the food the Chompdown brings music to the people so Grazgrove and ourselves made a repeat performance. We arrive shortly after ten to see a line of people 200 deep and the grills are frying and the food is being served.


Grazgrove is set up a very cool small PA system but they're having trouble with the power. So much power is being pulled from the building we're in that circuits are blowing.


So Pauly, Rabbit, J and another fellow, I think Shadow, start compiling extension cords and ran a 500 foot extension cord down to the next upgraded camping site with power.


We plug in quickly and Grazgrove is up and running full steam. They put on a great set and graciously let us use their system. We got up and played a cool laid back set, mixing things up a bit and played a few newer tunes.


One memorable moment was during the end of Back of a Stranger, J started immitating the Wawa effect that Eric normally uses on his Bass, not realizing that mike was picking it up. The crowd yelled to do it again and he leaned into the mike and did his best bass wa impersonation. Laughter errupted all around and smiles were on many faces.

There was also a special treat. A cool Austin cat named Danny had approached us about proposing to his girlfriend during our set. He wanted us to play My Girl, then he would drop down on one knee, and...


...he did. His lady Emily quickly said yes, and he the crowd cheered. We played Falling in Love for them and the people started shaking their cans and dancing.


With all the crazy weather, and our show getting cancelled, this morning had truly become glorious. There was so much love and appreciation of all the people that were there. Everyone was pitching in, washing plates, cooking, serving, running errands back and forth. Every once in a while you see something that reinforces the idea that goodness does still exist in humanity, that people will come together, for no other purpose than to do something good for their fellow humans. It was truly heart warming to be part of such and event.

After playing such a cool event, we decided that we had to try and lock down another show to replace our cancelled spot. We made our way back to the Porch Stage and spoke with the stage manager Michael. Very cool cat, he offered to put us on at 3:00am the only slot he had available, but recommended we talk to the production office first. So, we trekked back over to the production trailer, and were told that all available slots were full, but to get the approval for the late show we had to talk to Brett, the head dude of Waka.

So now our mission is clear, find Brett, who we've seen riding his bike back and forth past our camp, but now we can't find him. So we start the search, we run into a Team B brother, and he says, no worries, just find Brett and I'm sure you'll get the spot. We keep our search up, but there's another scheduled show for us.

The VIP area is part of the campsite where for a premium, you get to camp right next to the main stages, you get front row access to the main stages, you get free beer, you get fed twice per day and you have "nicer" facilities. Also, bands come in and jam for all the folks hanging out in the VIP tent. We were scheduled to play 6:00pm for the dinner set and when we arrived, a really cool band, Turbine, was finishing up their set. Very cool band, super tight, with an amazing drummer and a harmonica player that ran his harp through all kind of crazy effects, making it sound at times like an old Hammond. Very Cool. After their set, they let us use their PA and we played a very quick 30 minute jam in the VIP. We saw some familiar faces and when all was said and done, we even got fed some Mexican. Good times all around.



We then packed up and proceeded with our mission to find Brett and get the show locked. J got on his phone and started digging through old emails, until finally he found an old one from Brett with a phone we haven't tried. Sure enough, it was his pocket phone and after a quick discussion, Brett gave us the approval for the late night reschedule.

We ran to find the guys, only to discover that Scotty had just gotten a text message from Ben from Galactic, asking him to come sit in on their show. They were scheduled to play midnight on the Revival stage, but Cake's plane was delayed so they switched spots and Galactic is now on the main stage, opening for the Festival headliner, the Flaming Lips.

How did this happen you wonder, well Scotty has met the Galactic guys a few times in the past, (Bonarroo and Waka) and a few weeks ago, Scotty was performing at a Wedding that Ben was attending in Shreveport. They talked and Ben said, "Keep your ears open at Waka, maybe we can jam together".

So, Matt and J head off to the Porch Stage and Production Trailer to lock down the details for our Saturday night 3:00am Reschedule show while Scotty get's ready to blow. We all met up back stage with Galactic and waited for Scotty to make his big performace. Well brothers and sisters it sure the hell happened and Scotty blew that horn like a man possessed.


Scotty also told Ben while they were on stage about our recent gig reschedule, and so Galactic gave Scotty, the band and our show a shout out! Very Cool!



What we also didn't know was that Wayne from the Lips was hanging out back stage and watched Scotty play. According to a few folks, Wayne even gave Scotty and us a shout out while they were getting everything set up. Hopefully we'll find a recording of this soon!

What an amazing night! We all hugged and kissed our boy Scotty for his great performance, which you can hear at http://bt.etree.org/ and do a Waka Galactic search. We went back to our camps and crashed, knowing that Saturday night was going to be big and we needed our rest.

So, Saturday has come and we made our way around to check out the awesome bands. J went to see the Gourds, wearing his Picket Line Coyotes tshirt (that was the singer and bass players band before the Gourds). He got to meet the Gourds and they were impressed with his 20 year old t shirt, and we are currently working on a local show in Shreveport. More to come on that soon. We also started passing out fliers and handbills for the Saturday night show. We knew it was going to be tough since there was no official announcement of the show. We put them on trash cans, port a lets, and anywhere we knew people would see them. All in all, we passed out 100 fliers and 600 handbills and the word was spreading.

So the late night came. We showed up at the Porch stage at 2:00am and started setting up our gear. C-Mon and Kypski was playing ahead of us started a little late, but they were awesome. We enjoyed they're odd mix of hip hop and rock and european flavors. They were supposed to end the show at 3:00am and we were going to do a quick set up and go. We had to end the show at 4:00am no matter what so we knew time was limited. Well, they ran over by about 15 minutes, so we weren't ready to play until 3:30am.

We didn't care. This was our show and we were going to make it the best 30 min we've ever played. The crowd immediately was awesome. We had 100 folks in the tent, many of the Chompdown crew were stomping in the mud and having a good time. We also had some special guests in the crowd, Papa Mali, members of STS9, the yard dogs Road show, and many others, and we were hyped.



We played 5-6 songs and 4:00am rolled around. We got the 1 more song sign and we played Bathroom Sink. The crowd was jumping and at the end of the tune, started chanting "DIRTFOOT, DIRTFOOT!" The stage manager said, OK, 1 more and we went into Rhinestone Ring. About this time, the other 2 stages that were running shut down, and all the people started heading towards our tent, the only one still running music. The tent quickly filled and we had estimates of 4-500 people pack into and around our tent. As we finished the tune, the stage manager said, "OK 1 more tune". We went into Folsom Prison and we got another "1 mor song" from the manager. Well this happened 2 more times and we played until 4:30am. We finally had to shut down, but had a blast and got to play a full 1hr set. Special thanks to Michael Miller, stage manager for the Porch Stage and his crew for letting us play so long. It truly was an amazing night and it couldn't have gone any better.



We broke down our gear and met a lot of great people. We were stoked at the turn out and everyone was very cool. I think we finally made it to our camp site and crashed around 5:30am. I don't think we've ever slept so hard!

Well Sunday rolled around and Matt and J headed back to Shreveport, while the rest of the crew stayed to enjoy the last day. As many of you know, the day quickly became a rain out and the rest of the crew dealt with the rain. While some of the bands that were high on the list, Zappa plays Zappa, etc, were cancelled, we did get to see some cool acts. All said and done, we were very excited about our weekend and all the shows and new friends that we met. While many have complained about the weather and some of the issues with the festival, it was truly an exciting weekend for us.

So, Wakarusa 2009, we hope to be back. Thanks again to everyone who made this weekend so awesome and we can't thank you all enough for your continued support.

Keep on Footin'

Dirtfoot

Studio here we come! 

Studio here we come!
Hey everybody,

A quick line to let you all know that we met with our engineer last night and the recording is ON! We will be in the studio starting week after next to record our second album. We hope to have all the recording done by the end of May and a new CD to release by the end of the Summer.

This new album will have some of our favorites like Devoted Mama, Pullin up the Stakes, and even a new song (possible 2) that you have never heard before. We're working with Steve Sullivan on this project so we know the recording and sound is going to be as close to our live performance as possible.

We can't wait to get back in the studio and record. We'll keep you all posted on the progress and hopefully have a few sneak peeks along the way!

See you all soon!

Were you at the Noble Savage? 

Hey Everybody,

We wanted to thank everyone who came out to the Noble Savage this last weekend. The place was packed, every table had a reservation, and the waiters did not stop all night. We saw so many good friends and a few surprise guests (what's up Mike!) who made the night a truly memorable one.

Our good friends from Austin, Shotgun Party, were awesome. They always put on a great show with amazing vocals, fiddle and bass, we were proud to be the ones to introduce them to Shreveport. Everyone loved their high energy performance and quickly became fans. We saw a bunch of folks walking out of the bar with Shotgun Party CD's, so we know the word will be spreading around town quickly! We will definitely be bringing them back.

We got up on stage and the people were insane. Folks were already piled up in the front and were ready to get down. Thanks again to SP for getting the crowd riled up! We played all the old favorites, including 2 new tunes! Footsteps, and "yet to be named". Both went better than we hoped and the crowd just kept on going. When we came back from our break, everyone was still there, ready to go all night and we were happy to do it. We closed out the night with an encore of "Underwater Turtle" with help from Special guest Andy from Infamous Jaguar Shark. This night was truly one for the books and we hoped it would be. This was our last gig until the end of May, so we were really amped to put on a good show. Thanks to everyone that came out, all the old faces and some of the new (Happy Birthday Bill!). We can't wait to jam again!

So here's the scoop. We're taking the next 6 weeks off to record our new album (more to come soon!) and also allow Matt and his wife Ashley the time to birth their new baby. We're still waiting for her to arrive (the word is it's a girl) but will keep you all posted on their progress. We hope to have our CD completed by mid Summer and will tour heavily to support it. Be looking for dates soon!

So what do you think? Were you at the Savage? How about Shotgun Party? Leave us some thoughts, Show us some love!

Louisiana Swamp Thing Festival - April 5, 2008 - Felt like home! 

Hey good people,

We just got back from a really fun and interesting day at the Louisiana Swamp Thing Festival in Austin TX. The festival is put on by local promoters to celebrate the food and music of Louisiana. I have to say that when we got there, the peoples dress, the smells of the food and the music that was being played were definitely all Louisiana.

Everything was going well, we found the show easily, got in and all the details were handled very quickly. We found our stage, set up our gear and waited to play. We all wandered around and checked out the vendors, Crawfish, Alligator, Boudin, Meat Pies, Red Beans and Rice, not to mention all the clothing and crafts and Beer! We all sampled some of the great food, and the wind would blow around the smell of crawfish. We all forgot for a little while that we were in Austin.

Our show began very routinely until the gremlins came out to play. Lane decided to make a visit the little boys room not realizing we were about to play. Matt started into our set not realizing that Lane had split. Luckily, Lane hurried back and the show started without a hitch, until...

Scotty's SAX!!!!

Something broke in one of the keys of his sax right into the first song. He had to use his right hand to hold it closed and play only with his left. He pulled it off without a hitch and we quickly "fixed" it with a little duct tape. Scotty had to make sure he didn't hit that key for the rest of the day.  A shining example of how talented he really is. (Scotty did not write this :) Soon after one of Matt's strings broke and he kept going. We all felt like the gremlins were out to play that day. Even with the minor glitches, the day was awesome. We saw a lot of familiar faces and met a lot of new folks. We can't wait to get back to Austin.

Thanks to everyone that came out that day. We truly felt like we had stepped into a little Lousiana, and felt good to play at home!

See you soon...
Dirtfoot

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