Well shit, it's finally here, the 4th annual O-Town Hoedown is just around the corner. It all starts off Sept 24th, you can get all the specifics by browsing around the site and clicking things.
For those not in the know, the Hoedown is a 9-day concert series taking place all over Ottawa, and showcasing all sorts of amazing alt-whatever country awesomeness. From rockabilly to cowpunk to folk-rock to bluegrass and every imagineable thing in between, there's a little something for everyone, except maybe the Alan Jackson fans and the Juggalos.
For the 4th annual Hoedown we're taking a new direction. All you old-timers know that in the past the Hoedown has been pretty much limited to Ottawa bands. We asked around to see if anyone wanted some fresh meat from a different set of streets, and after a resounding "HELL YEAH!" we started looking around for some out-of-towners to come join the fun.
We've got the Driftwood Singers from Los Angeles, Tim Hus from out Alberta way, The F-Holes from Winnipeg, Montreal's Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, Warped 45s and Buzz Deluxe from Toronto, and Liquorbox outta Kingston. They're coming all the way down here to check out Ottawa's alt-country scene, and it's our job to show 'em what we got and maybe buy them some beers as a welcome gift.
And there's even fresh meat on the local scene - we decided to put the usual suspects out to pasture (don't worry, they'll be back) and get a bunch of Ottawa folks who've never done the Hoedown before. Evil Farm Children, Capital Grass and the No Men, Brandon Agnew, Shirt-Tearing Boys, and Lindsay Ferguson, to name a few.
All told, it's 70% FRESH MEAT this year* - that's gonna be one tasty Hoedown!
New this year: We're selling ALL ACCESS PASSES for $40 - get yours now! That's a savings of... oh hell, you do the math. You can buy them at either Compact Music location (note: All Access Passes do NOT guarantee you entry into the show, so make sure to show up on time so you don't have to stand in line!). Speaking of Compact Music, we'll be featuring some O-Town Hoedown preview performances in-store at the 190 Bank St. location in the weeks leading up to the Hoedown, stay tuned for details.
The best way to stay tuned, of course, is the friggin' internet. We got us one of them facebook pages, and one of them twitter whatsits, look for the links up top and join us or follow us or whatever it is that happens when you click the links.
A final note: there's a new country music festival in town with the very familiar-sounding name of Capital Hoedown. We're trying to sort out a way to get them to maybe think of a more original name, stay tuned for that. For more, click right here for a bit of reading.
Interested in performing at the Hoedown, or volunteering? Questions? Love notes? Send 'em all to hoedown@leftymcrighty.com
*The O-Town Hoedown includes up 30% recycled scraps, including Ninety Pounds of Ugly, Huntley Slim and the Suburban Cowboys and Dusty Drifters. Please ignore best-before dates and enjoy the show.
Follow us on facebook or twitter for the latest in Hoedown news, the links are up top there somewhere.
$8 door, 9:30pm, 76 Murray
Lefty McRighty has been performing locally mostly, and on the road whenever someone'll have him, and has only been blacklisted from 3 Ottawa clubs so far. His brand of music: irreverent old-time country and western. Sometimes he's got a band, sometimes it's a solo show, sometimes it's somewhere in between. Lefty's got a self-titled album under his belt, recorded in 2006 with the help of his good friends The Boxcar Cadavers, and will be releasing a new album (tentatively titled "Invitation To Touching") in the not-too-distant future featuring new insta-classics such as There's No Cold Beer in Hell, Blood Flows Quicker Than Gravy (about the great poutine war of '54), and Where's The Nearest Titty Bar.
The Driftwood Singers are an old-time, close-harmony duo from Los Angeles in the style of groups like the Carter Family and the Louvin Brothers. Alternating instruments like guitar, autoharp, mandolin, banjo and fiddle, the two do a mix of their own original songs as well as classic folk standards.
A Canadian-American who defies easy categorization, the songs on his debut album Hard Road convey an astonishing maturity while staying true to the traditional music he grew up with in a small town in the American southwest. "This kid is amazing - he's restored my faith in the songwriters of old and self-accompaniment. Real chip off the Van Zandt, Clark, Dylan era...and yet it's something all his own."-Ken Workman, O-Town Hoedown Alum and trustyworthy guy
