Happy Hour The Rumba This Friday!

Howdy Honky Tonkers-

Slim here to give you the scoop on this week's Averys biz.

This Friday, the 23rd, we will be playing a Happy Hour set wit our good friends it Unit 1. As most of you know, the Rumba is one of the great stages in Columbus and they always get the best local acts to come out and entertain y'all for these Happy Hour shows.

We played a show with Unit 1 a few months ago, and here is what I have to tell you about these fine gentlemen:

They play a very muscular style of Roots flavored Rock, with a triple guitar lineup that features generous, solid rhythm work and mighty tasty riffs and leads. As a one-time drummer myself, I was especially impressed by the rhythm section, and Unit 1's drummer has a distinctive style that is rock solid without being too minimalist. They remind me somewhat of the Bottle Rockets meets Drive By Truckers meets a little bit of The Jayhawks. That's some pretty good company to keep, I reckon.

Now, The Averys have had a recent lineup change, and I want to tell y'all about it, 'cause we are pretty excited about the new possibilities that this represents for the band, as well as you, our loyal Classic Country audience. We have never had a personnel change in the almost two years we've been together, which you musicians out there know is pretty unusual. I think having a stable membership has made us a tighter, better band than we had any right to expect, so we thank Dusty for his service in The Averys and wish him all the best as moves on to other things.

Our new steel player is a gentleman by the name of Rich Tipple, and he is a seasoned veteran of the Classic Country music game. Here is what Rich has to say about his life in Country Music:

"With my roots in country music, I have performed with a number of groups in the central Ohio area over the years. Being able to perform in opening acts for such entertainers as Hank Williams Jr, Lee Greenwood, Billy Joe Royal, Johnny Paycheck, T Graham Brown and many more, I learned so much from these performers and their music.

"During this time, I developed my own style of playing the pedal steel that is still with me to this day. I learned so much from a great instructor, JEFF NEWMAN, who is known as the father of instructors on pedal steel,, God bless him. Although Jeff is not with us today, I am so lucky to have known him and will be forever grateful for his priceless instructions on this instrument. I have spent many hours in the studio over the years but my first love is performing live on stage doing what I love most, playing pedal steel behind a great country entertainer."

Rich is an outstanding steel player and we are excited to welcome him to The Averys. I think y'all will notice that our sound with Rich is even more Country than ever before. I mean, I thought we were playing some pretty authentic Country music before Rich, but he has really elevated the sound and y'all will appreciate the difference. To learn more about Rich, you can visit his website at www.steelguitarguy.com.

Now that I have plugged Rich for y'all, I have to point out that he will not be available for our show this week. Bummer, I know, but we have ol' Lefty Adams comin' in for another guest appearance with us, so you will not have to listen to Country Music without a steel guitar. Lefty has played with us at several shows, and he has been a good friend to The Averys and is a great player. I don't know whether he will bring his lap steel or pedal steel to this set, but either way it will a be a great show, with Lefty on board and Unit 1 ready to raise the roof. We'll see you there at The Rumba Cafe this Friday night at 6 PM. That's just south of Hudson on Summit- hell, you know where it is! It The Rumba!

Giddyap!

Slim

DO YOU HAVE 200,000?

If so you might be able to buy Trigger, Roy Rogers' stuffed horse. Many of his things are going to the auction. Read about it Here!

Amazing Lineup This Sunday!

On July 11th, the Averys are incredibly proud to host a whole mess of Columbus’ finest country singers and songwriters. Folks, take my advice, this could be one of the best shows we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of.
Now, as y’all ought to know by now, The Ranch Party Round Up is a monthly country music showcase that takes place right here in Columbus at The Shrunken Head. The show runs from 6:00-10:00 on the second Sunday of each month. The show is Free, and it features great country music, records-a-spinnin’ from our tele player Boots, and country music trivia with prizes. Also, The Shrunken Head’s offerin’ up a fantastic selection of great food and drink. As far as the drinkin’ goes, we recommend beer, and as far as the beerin’ goes, there’s nothin’ in this town better than a cold Columbus Brewing Company IPA, which just so happens to be the special offered at each Ranch Party Round Up. Now that you know what you’ll be tastin’ at the Shrunken Head, let me tell you what you’ll be listening to.

This month, The Ranch Party Round Up will be featuring a total of 7 acts including your favorite honky-tonk heroes, the Averys themselves. We’ve got 6 amazing acoustic acts in what we’re dubbing ‘The Friends and Family’ Show.

To get things rollin', Skunky Precious is going to play some claw hammer style banjo the likes you’ve never seen before. Skunky has a way of playin’ one chord that takes you to a place where you’re sittin’ on a rickety ol’ porch in Appalachia listening to that ‘High Lonesome.’ Skunky plays a few covers you’ll know, but between his unique banjo pickin’ and original lyric phrasing, they’ll certainly be new to you.

Now I’m awful excited for y’all to see the next act, Lydia Loveless. Lydia hasn’t played a Round Up yet, and I’ll tell you you’re gonna love her. Click the link and listen to her stuff on iTunes if you don’t believe me. This young lady is 100% country. Guitar chops, songwriting, voice, looks, and attitude, Lydia’s got it all. Believe you me--her classic style heartbreakers are going to floor you.

Speaking of heartbreakers, Bennie James is the fourth act on this country music caravan, and if Lydia Loveless is the queen of heartbreakers, Bennie is certainly the king. Bennie channels Waylon Jennings with his strong vocals and outlaw style, and his songwriting’s damn near just as good. Bennie’s gonna sing some songs that make you laugh, he’s gonna make you tap your feet, and he’s gonna play a weeper or two that’s gonna feel like a boot to the gut, and you’ll love every minute.

Andy and Christine are about as close to family as the Averys have. As two of the great musicians in local band Outlaw Deluxe, we’ve played a few shows with them and shared a few drummers. Outlaw Deluxe actually gave Slim White & the Averys a break and gave us our first show. Expect Andy’s low and rumbling voice to mix seamlessly with Chrissy’s soulful bluesy voice and expect to hear some of the best Johnny and June Cash style pickin’ and singin’ you’ve heard in a while.

Rounding out the night’s acoustic portion, Joshua James will be strumming his guitar and singin’ some songs that he wrote. I’m not going to say too much about Joshua, but if you check back to what I wrote about him in February, I’ll tell you that I’ve only become more of a fan since then. I wrote back then that I couldn’t say that Joshua James is Columbus’ best songwriter, but that I could say that I haven’t heard anyone better. I’ve given up the search. For my money, Joshua is the best songwriter in town.

Rounding out the night will of course be the Averys. We’ve been working on some new songs for y’all and we look forward to hitting you with some new surprises, so don’t forget to come out on July 11th and see what Columbus’ county music scene has to offer.
-Drink up and be Somebody
-Ox

UH, YEAH, KINDA SAYS IT ALL.