Saturday, April 17, 2010

Rootin' tootin' hillbilly hoedown!

The Hotel Utah was my venue of choice for a country infused musical bonanza last night.

This show made me happy. There really is something to be said about the idea that 'when you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you.' Rick, the frontman of the first band, Hotsie Totsie Hillbilly Jazzbos, has an infectious smile to match the fun, catchy tunes he sings. I was highly amused when my friend was asked up on stage to shake her maracas....or, well, to shake the set of maracas they provided her with for one song!


The steel guitar is fast becoming one of my favourite instruments, and there was more to come in the next band, The B-Stars, who I first saw a couple of weeks ago at Viva Las Vegas. Their music makes me want to get up and dance....although I'm also quite happy to sit and watch them, as they are always dressed well, and it still fascinates me how the double bass player, Eric, can play when one of his hands is in a huge bandage and splint. Apparently this is due to an accident during his part time job as a knife thrower's assistant....or no, wait, it was down to a freak spanking incident...oh, actually, I think it was a can opening catastrophe...in any case, I've seen the scar, and it aint pretty.


The headliners were a band from Vancouver - Petunia and The Vipers. They rocked! One word for you: kazoo. Oh. Yes.

I would highly recommend seeing this band, who had an interesting style, with a lot of their songs starting out quite slow and dark, and then speeding up into kazoo fun times. The majority of their music was rockabilly or Western swing, but they also threw in some boogie. Oh, and there was yodelling involved...


This is kind of a strange comparison to draw, but the songs which started out slower and darker, with the double bass being played with a bow, reminded me a bit of Black Heart Procession. Ok, so they are completely different, but there was just a little somethingsomething about the haunting sounds that led me to this conclusion. Hmm. You can listen to some of their numbers here: www.petuniamusic.com


Top night, and I was completely sober, which is testament to how fun and captivating these bands are! It did make me wish I'd brought my cowboy boots with me though, as I felt like the only person who wasn't bootiful.

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