BluesFolks.com

Cry Awhile by Bob Dylan performed here by…duh… The WoodGrain with “Gooch” sitting in on tha Sax. while Kunkle WhiteBread partied like it WAS his birthday… live @ Rockin’ Parrodise Fri. Feb. 5th…

And here on the recently found “secret” fan video from a long time ago in A.J.’s Honky Tonk far far away you can hear Joey Black screw up the song HE wrote… COME BACK SOON…but… A.J.’s DID have us back soon & we kick ass every time we play there! Enjoy…?

Last night’s first Tues. night Open Mic’ Jam presented by Bluesfolks.com Productions at Rockin’ Parrodise was everything an open mic’ night should be. The eb & flow was good but not too good, the musicianship was downright excellent, without sounding too rehearsed(it was by and large NOT rehearsed), & most importantly there was a committment to diversity.
I must admitt that I missed the first act of the evening due to the parent viewing of my son’s One Act school play. A man I know only as Paul or Paully apparently ripped it up on the electric guitar. I will catch Pual’s show next time. Next up were James & Blake of Jason Throws Whiskey. I did catch the end of their set & was AGAIN pleasently surprised. I mean, I love James’ songs…it’s just that…every time I hear them it seems to be a slightly (VERY SLIGHTLY) different yet just as good version. I don’t know. Decide what you think of them yourself. This Friday Feb. 5th Jason Throws Whiskey is opening for The WoodGrain at Rockin’ Parrodise for Kunkle Whitebread’s birthday show.
Next we were thrilled to present the band Barrol Court. Their influences were certainly identifiable, but that didn’t keep them from having a uniqueness about their sound. The vocals were great, and… from what I gathered talking to them, theres more in the bag of tricks than what we heard last night. Barrol Court guitar player Alex was fast & smooth on his beautiful green Parker guitar. Speaking of Alex…next he & bass player Taco jammed with drummer Judge Smith, playing classic rock hits & insde obscure funk jams to lose perfection. I’d like to thank Judge for having his kit set up for the evening.
Next up, a blast from the past as Jesica Mize (formerly of The WoodGrain) & her brother Bud played a couple of beautifully harmonized accoustic gems. Inevitably, I got up with Jess & we fell (er…stumbled) back into the old form. It was REALLY fun. I’m glad she & Bud made it.
Some fine Guitar work was also provided by Bluesfolks.com Productions’ own Mike “Slacks” Stephenson. His beer bottle slide work was on target once again. We love you “Slacks”! Even though you wore jeans las’night!
Finally, it was time for the night’s featured artist, Brak “Briznak” Moore, bass player for The WoodGrain. Now, I was all set to play lead guitar with Brak on some of his songs that I’d either heard a couple times or barely heard before at all. This being said, my excuse if we were bad, was well in place. It was abruptly shot to hell when a drummer out of the crowd (Judge) & a sax. player off the street (Shadow) came up and helped us take Brak’s songs to church!!! Shadow litterally walked into the bar & up onto the stage in mid song & asked “Is it ok if I play with you guys?” Before we could answer he was blowin’ the sax. … Judge was bangin’ the drums & our minds were blown. It was like the SNL band’s mini me. Really though… It was a great,GREAT jam session.
One last thing that made this Open Mic’ Jam so awesome was the crowd. The crowd at Rockin’ Parrodise is ALWAYS nothing but FUN, & the various new comers only helped that atmosphere!
DO NOT MISS IT NEXT TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starting this upcoming Tuesday Feb. 2nd & every Tues. night following at Rockin’ Parrodise (121 bus. @ Southwest in Lewisville)… Kunkle WhiteBread & Joey Black of The WoodGrain will be hosting a true open mic’ night. We want musicians of all ilk… pickers, grinners, screamers, laughers,… uh crooners… brooding romantic types… country, blues, bluegrass, folk, rock, pop, reggea, bluesfolks… We need all of you.
So please, throw your guitar (or whatever you play) on your back & roll on down to Rockin’ Parrodise… bring your personality & leave embarrassment at home. Hell, have a cold beer even!!!

email: band@bluesfolks.com or just comment on this post with return info. for details…

GET ON THE LIST

The WoodGrain consumes legendary amounts of booze… would any of you ever consider going to rehab?-Amber Philadelphia Pa.
Franky Fernando: Rehab’s for quitters!
Joey Black: Is there a bar there…?
Mr.Nate: No! I’ll drink myself to death first!
If your band could play anywhere, where would it be?-Dedra Lewisville Tx.
Brak: Austin City Limits
Franky Fernando: Woodstock baby! Unless you’re talkin’ serious…in which case… anywhere in Amsterdam!
Kunkle Whitebread: Hillsboro Ks., or either Fillmore… east or west. How ’bout a Jim Beam distillary…
Mr. Nate: WoodStock, the first one…
Joey Black: Inside the ocean, in a submarine, near the bottom of the Marianna Trench… or Figi…
What was the first song you ever wrote and why?-Sherrey Plano Tx.
Joey Black: Well, I know that the first song Mr. Nate EVER wrote was “Blackwater (Hide what I done)” & he taught it to me pretty early on. It’s about ditchin’ your old lady’s dead body in a river… so… one can only guess why he came up with it. Uh… as a complete group the first original that came together for us was “Come Back Soon”. I wrote it one day after my wife left for work & her perfume lingered in the air making me miss her. It’s a good, sexy tune.
How long has Joey Black been playing the guitar?-Cindy Cleburne Tx.
Joey Black: All together about 18 years, but playing seriously… about half that time.
What are some interesting trivia facts the fans of The WoodGrain would like to know about the band?-Ashley Carrollton Tx.
Kunkle Whitebread: How LITTLE time we spend on our hair…?
Joey Black: Uh… I watch some total chick shows on TV with my wife. Ugly Betty & Desparate Housewives to name a couple.
Mr. Nate: I can build musical instruments…
Franky Fernando: All of our music is raw, uncut emotion…
How many original songs does The WoodGrain have?-Cynthia Arlington Tx.
Joey Black: Thirteen…? I think… Sweet Elijah, I Don’t Give A Fuck, In the Doorway, Blackwater, I Don’t
Like the Blues, Walkin’ Into the Rain, New Boogeyman Blues, Cranberry Juice, Come Back Soon, Highs been Low, Black Shoes Brown Hat, Buyou, & Stay Down ’til ya Come Up
What artists have the greatest influence on each of the band members?- Ashley Carrollton Tx.
Franky Fernando: Micheal Shrieve, Chad Smith, Quest Love, & Buddy Berry
Joey Black: Well, I’m fanatical about Jimi Hendrix, but with regards to THIS band…my greatest influence has definitly been Mr. Nate.
Kunkle Whitebread: Waylon Jennings & Mickey Rapheal, Willy’s harmonica player.
Mr.Nate: All ’60’s R & B… uh Rye Cooter, Taj Mahal…
Brak: Townes Van Zant, Steve Earl, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Beck, Willy & the boys… old rock & roll… new shite… a little of everything I’ve ever heard…
Where do babies come from?-Scott Carrollton Tx.
Joey Black & Mr. Nate: From gettin’ fucked up with your girl at a WoodGrain show… we hope!
How do you think fatherhood affects being a rocknroller?-D.Z. Fort Scott Ks.
Franky Fernando: It doesn’t. You gotta keep’em separated.
Joey Black: I try to keep my family life separate from my rocknroll life, but as my son gets older it has been nice to him come to a couple of shows & help out. He’s old enough now to kind of know the score, & as much passion as I have for playing mucic in The WoodGrain, spending quality time with my son is my real passion. I live to watch him play sports!

It was a night to remember… a day to forget. So why am I immortalizing it here on the intra-web? Because it’s really to damn funny a’story not to share with the masses. Or… at least the ten or twelve fans of The WoodGrain who haven’t already heard the legend of the four hour soundcheck.
It was Grand opening weekend for Rockin’ Paradise (formerly Hiccup’s & Daddy Rocks) & The WoodGrain was slated to headline the entertainment this past Sat. Nov. 14th. To try to insure that things would go off without a hitch during the evening The WoodGrain agree’d to meet at R.P. early (3PM) to coordinate things with D.J. YagerMonster… (seriously). We knew that they had house P.A. speakers for D.J. YM to blast tunes during our breaks, but we were responsible for bringing a soundboard for all the band mic.’s.
Once all members of The WoodGrain were set up…& our new sometime-part-time soundman Stark a.k.a. “Slink” had everything coordinated with D.J. YM… we all very casually took 15 thinking “We’ll come back…knock this out…then go home & party like rockstars until showtime…”

Right…

This is where things went haywire… Everything SHOULD have worked… nothing did… Hoping to have been back at my place eating like kings (thanks Andrea) by 4:30… it became 5:30 before we deduced that EVERYTHING worked except the soundboard we had brought. This was NOT GOOD. Myself, D.J.YM, & Mr. Nate were frantically calling each of our limited contacts in hopes we’d find a soundboard (such a delicate & usually valuable piece of equipment) on such incredibly short notice…on a Saturday night. I was ready to give up hope & cancel the show when a name popped up in my phone… A name I wasn’t sure I even had the right phone number for. That name was Henry Story, dummer of Grandma Black. Grandma Black was the cover band I (Joey Black) used to front. Not knowing what to expect. Not expecting much if anything… I said “fuck it” & dialed Henry.
Halelujah he answered & actually had a soundboard we could use!!!
After making the 45 min. round trip to the Colony & back I triumphantly re-entered Rockin’ Paradise…new soundboard in hand. We could FINALLY do a sound check!!! Problem was, our stomachs were growling loud enough at this point to be heard through the mics. & Franky had already had to leave. After all that we rushed through an extremely shaky, crowd annoying, half assed sound check.
Over four hours we’d gone from pride & confidence to unsure hopefullness to complete desparation & back to YOU GUESSED it pride & confidence & BACK to unsure hopefullness. At least we could finally go home & EAT.
After an AWESOME meal (again, Thanks Andrea) our pride & confidence once again ran high. After all, we ARE The WoodGrain…the greatest bluesfolks music band on the planet! Where there’s The WoodGrain there’s a way.
The show went great. We had a great turn out & hopefully added to our ever growing list of crazy die hard fans. We hope to play Rockin’ Paradise again soon. They really do have the cheapest drinks in Lewisville. Special thanks to Stark. He stressed out over the whole soundcheck thing more than we did, and thank god because we couldn’t have pulled the show off without him.
Thanks a ton to the R.P. management and staff. Thanks to Mongo on security. Thanks to the us… The WoodGrain… for kickin’ ass & takin’ names. Thanks to Henry. Thanks most of all to the fans. We love you!

The Tues. Interviews will be back soon!

W&B: Mr. f#%^&*ing Nate… at last you keep still long enough for us to let the WoodGrain fans… ‘in’… A member of your band once recently called you “the youngest old soul in the music business…”…
You’re response…?
MN: I’m not the youngest old soul in music. Everybody has soul, most people just don’t know how to express it.
W&B: We can dig that man… so … the BlueNote has found out for us that you may (or may not) have grown up somewhere near or around south Irving (as did Joey Black)… Also that you come from a big family… How has this impacted you in recent years as you … Mr. Black & the rest of the members of The WoodGrain dive into the local music scene with a real sense of reckless abandon …?
MN: Well, Yeah I grew up in south irving, with eight brothers and sisters. I’m the 4th son, and me and all my brothers are heading straight for hell. So I think my parents your pretty used to it by now.
As for the state of my immortal soul? I think I still got a hold on it.
W&B: Hey Mr. Nate… Burnstem here … sorry I’m late. I had to see a guy about some…stuff…uh that last answer, truthful…yet cryptic man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uh. . .oh yeah… What does The WoodGrain have stirring in the pot that might have the humidity rising…?
MN: Well we got a whole lotta songs that are stewin. Thats the way we do it. We all have ideas that we’re constantly throwing around. We’ll be sitting around completely twisted, and we’ll come up with a cool verse or line, or a riff. And we just keep it in the circle and slowly work on it. But to give you a hint about these new songs, were focusing on our usual topics of sex, drugs, alcohol, killin, swindlin, pimpin, wimin, and sex.
W&B: Yeah man… alot of the “WoodKnots” are sayin’ stuff like MR. Nate’s songs are all about killin’ (i.e. Blackwater)… but we see beyond that & wonder what you think that sort of fan opinion does to your image & that of your songwriting?
MN: Well seeing as songwriting is a form of self expression, I suppose the fans think that I’m a murdering psychotic womanizing thieving drug addled alcoholic heartbreaking egotistical douchebag… Damn, I’m in a tight spot…
W&B: Don’t cry Mr. Nate… Sunday mornin’ gon’ come ’round again…
Really… you know these people love you… no matter what the content of your songs they… we… can feel it… right… you dig man?
MN: I can dig it. Hey man, I was wondering, whats your view on the Texas blues scene today?
W: My official stance on the uh… Texas …blues… ’scene’ is that it’s sort of at a precipice… you know… it’s great…GREAT music! It always will be but right now… & hopefully with you guys at the forefront of it…that ’scene’ you speak of is ready to evolve man… and right now… what do you think Burnstem…
&B: Man, you guys are totally freakin’ me out right now… Mr. Nate …
MN: I think your right man, the entire music scene is headed in a good direction. Popular music as we know it is going to burn like the shit…that it is, and I’m going to smile when it does. People are starting to listen to MUSIC again. We live in such a great time.
W&B: Man…you rule Mr. Nate… Aight… las’question… you know it’s comin’… what’s your one & only favorite song & who’s it by?
MN: Well Burnstem and company, I really cant give you a song, but I can give you an album. If I was to only have one album to listen to for the rest of eternity, it would be Cold Dog Soup, by Guy Clark. It doesn’t happen very often, but every once in a while, there’s a album that’s so good, you can never get tired of listening to it.
The title song, as well as the song fort worth blues
(about the death of Townes Van Zandt), are just two of the perfect tracks on that album. Do yourself a favor, and get a copy.
W&B: Once again …far fucking out man. Thanks for your time and being so forthcoming Mr. Nate!…
MN: (Dial tone….)

BlueNote: We’re here with the harmonica player for one of Dfw’s fastest rising mucical acts. It’s Kunkle Whitebread of The WoodGrain. Alrite, how did you gravitate towards playin’ the harmonica?

Kunkle Whitebread: Kind of a chance thing… Tried a cheap harp a buddy had at a party & was hooked. Been at it ever since. Just kinda picked it up & went. You know…?
BN: Yea…yea…a chance encounter. Blowin’ harp isn’t the only thing you contribute to WoodGrain onstage. Expound on your role(s) in the band on & off stage.
K.W.: On stage I just try to add another dynamic with either the backing vocals, noise makers, or on the horns (harmonica). Just puttin’ bricks in our wall of sound…
BN: “Bricks in the wall of sound”…I like that. Next question, who are your personal musical influences, harmonica players & otherwise?
K.W. On the harp it’s gotta be Mickey Rapheal…Willy’s guy. He just has this great tone. But also you got Lil Walter, Sonny Terry, & Elwood Blues. Just music wise it’s all over the chart, but the Stones, Waylon Jennings, Chris Ledoux, Jimi, & Zepplin are all up there around the top of things. Love good music.
BN: Good music…thats what we’re here for… Most bands start out aiming for a younger audience with delusions of super-stardom & a sense of financial entitlement. The WoodGrain has gained alot of momentum with what seems like an opposite approach. Please explain that approach, & why you think it’s been so effective for you guys.
K.W.: Yeah, I don’t know really… We just kinda saddle’d our ponys & rode. Never been much of a plan except to make folks have a good time. These days it’s tough all around & we just a bunch of guys tryin’ to give a reason to dance & smile. Hell…who needs money! I drink cheap beer anyway…
BN: Right on bro… Last question… What’s your one & only favorite song? By whom…?
K.W.: “Every Time I Roll the Dice”… Delbert McClinton. Song just makes my ‘get up & go’ get to ‘gettin” … you know…
BN: Great song! Good interview man, thanks.
K.W.: You too man…

BlueNote: Alright…thanks Danny. How would you & your bandmates refer to the sound of Neptune Locals in terms of style & influence?

Danny: I guess our style is pretty eclectic & our influences are Ft. Worth bands from Sally Majestic to Brutal Juice & everything in between. The Ft. Worth scene is our sound & influence.
BN: I love it man…stay true to your roots. How long has Neptune Locals been together?
D: 4 or 5 months…
BN: Did the name of the band spawn out of that local loyalty?
D: The name suggests “near yet far away”, or being from a distant place, but here now. Ok, you got me! We’re aliens from the Planet Neptune here to assimilate into your warm tropical cultures. Damn you’re good Joey!
BN: Just doing my job as an investigatory journalist… no matter how many friends I lose or people I leave dying along the way…. so long as I can be an investigatory journalist… no matter how many friends I lose…or people I leave bleeding, bloodied, & dying along the way! (Zoolander, couldn’t help myself)
D: Right on!
BN: Right on indeed. So, when can local music fans expect your album for sale? Or, is it just going to be implanted in us after we’re abducted in our sleep?
D: Hey…How’d you know about that?! Well, we’re looking into recording now, but we have 3 tunes @ myspace.com/neptunelocals & we have a 3 song demo we pass out too. I’m also planning on going to ktcu Friday to see if they’ll play our stuff on our new cd Fridays from 9-11pm.. You never know.
BN: Killer man. Excellent! Just a couple more questions. First, what is your one and only favorite song? And who’s it by?
D: I don’t know…don’t really have one. Guess my ‘go to’ would have to be “I wanna love you” by Bob Marley. Now, that’s me. I don’t know about Tom & Tim. Oh wait…No! It’s “No woman, no cry” by WoodGrain as can be seen on Youtube! (much more from The WoodGrain on the band’s official website www.bluesfolks.com)
BN: PERFECT!!! I love Bob Marley. Lastly, on what dates & where can we look for you guys? And in parting, what would you like to say to your public?
D: Well, our next show is Aug. 15th 8pm @ The Ridglea playing with WoodGrain baby! It’s gonna be great atmosphere, people, & bands! So come & make the Ft. Worth scene happen!
BN: Thanks again Danny! For The Dallas Couny BlueNote this is Joey Black reporting….

Thurs.’s Aug 6th & 13th @ LoneStar Country Club on Beltline in Coppell No Cover ALL AGES until 11pm-Shows start at 9pm

Sat. Aug 15th @ The Ridglea Theatre on Camp Bowie in Fort Worth $13 cover 5 bands playing ALL AGES- time tbd

Thurs. Aug 20th @ LoneStar Country Club on Beltline in Coppell no cover ALL AGES until 11pm-Show starts at 9pm

Fri. Aug. 21st @ The Hungry Bear on 380 in Aubrey no cover ALL AGES-Show starts at 8:30pm

Thurs. Aug 27th @ LoneStar Country Club on Beltline in Coppell no cover ALL AGES until 11pm-Show starts at 9pm

Fri. Aug 28th @ The American Legion POST #50 in Cleburne no cover (show for members and guests of members only) time tbd