Mr. Brown is in town, Junior!

Nick beat me to the post, but I think the night did warrant another post. Besides, I got the pictures and the videos. LOL! Just to re-cap the intro that Nick gave – Junior Brown was going to be in town for the South Plains Fair. They had other acts this week, Billy Currington, Eddie Money, Saving Abel, Steve Wariner, Boyz II Men, Junior Brown, and a few others. All the concerts are free, just pay for parking, and to get in the gate. Sweet Deal, right! Right. So, though I admit I have listened to the other artists/bands I mentioned above, I either did not care to go, or was too busy to go see them – but when my father-in-law mentioned he would like to go see Junior Brown – I thought “heck yeah” I can pull that off – it is on a  Thursday night – no work on Friday! So we made some plans. I had been a fan, though not dedicated, of Junior Brown’s since I heard “Broke Down South of Dallas”. I think I was still in High School and I remember he had some videos out there in the CMT world. I remember when I first heard him – I thought wow this guy is keeping it old school and real. Then I saw his tool of trade – the “guit-steel”. What tha? Yeah well it is his invention and he is the master of it – no doubt.

Just for a bit of history behind the “guit-steel” – Mr. Brown played both guitar and steel while performing – one night he had a dream they melted together – he called guitar maker Michael Stevens and the dream was born into 12 string wonder. Its creator is no doubt it’s master. Mr. Brown effortlessly switches, while singing, back and forth and plays them

both with a no prisoners attitude. Totally awesome to see this live!

Back to the post here….I started drifting into the muted, reverbed chops followed by crying steel licks from last night. I even had a smile on my face when I snapped back. LOL

Junior Brown stands in a genre all his own. It is country no doubt, but it has blues, surf, and rock-n-roll thrown in the bowl too. Kind of like a good salsa – even though it is a southern, country type delicacy, everyone seems to like eating it up. Wow, I bet I never win a pulitzer.

It was funny to watch him live, because of the feeling it gave me. I just kept smiling and like Nick said, feeling all giddy inside. I was totally amazed at the stuff this small 3 piece band was pulling off. I was astonished at the professionalism they portrayed as well. Never stopped between songs, gave it their all, and did it with authority. You don’t get to see that much these days. It is usually a side show with some music.

I will say that George, Nick, and I had a heck of a time. We had our Diet Dr. Peppers after the first band (Zack Walther and the Cronkites) – which I need to say they were good, but we hear this style all the time – it is my favorite style to listen too and I am glad I had the chance to see them – Junior Brown is hard to beat though…like fighting Tyson in his hey-day.

There is a little composed video just for fun at the bottom – I used my digital camera’s video feature so – sorry if the video is not that great. Enjoy the pics too! Here is a link to Nick’s post about the night as well.

I will say this – other than Stevie Ray Vaughn – I can’t think of a player living today that is as good as Junior Brown. Wow, glad I had the chance to see him live. I will also have to put on record this is the first time that I have left a concert, no alcohol in my system (only diet Dr. Pepper), almost get my butt kicked by a huge bouncer, and still could not find the truck…and still got home by 10:30PM. LOL It was fun!