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Rodney Parker And The 50 Peso Reward w/ No Dry County & The O’s
February 22, 2014 @ 9:00 pm - 11:55 pm
Rodney Parker And The 50 Peso Reward
For over a decade, Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward have lingered on the fringes of the Texas Music Revolution, building a cult following of fans who thirst for a sound more cerebral and musical than what the status quo has had to offer.
Since 2002, the Pesos have shaken off the norms of the modern Texas music establishmenttaking a more radical approach. The bands’ sound is not any more southern rock than Steve Earle, and not any more outlaw than Robert Earl Keen. One writer called the Pesos the band that “Just might kick Old 97’s in the teeth”, and another called the Pesos “Weezer meets Waylon”. This may be the best rock band country music has to offer. Parkers songs are more introspective and respectful of consequences than the songs of many of his country music peers. Clever and intelligent, Parker is reminiscent of Butch Hancock, a brusque and less tragic version of Slaid Cleaves.
While Parker and the Pesos found regional success in Texas on the strength of their 2004 debut, “Blow the Soot Out,” the Denton, TX based quintet broke out nationally with their 2008 release, “The Lonesome Dirge” – a breath taking, often heart stopping album brimming with Americana Anthems, harrowing Southern Gothic balladry, and shit-kicking roadhouse rockers that channel the likes of Steve Earle, Son Volt, and even Dropkick Murphys at times. The Lonesome Dirge spent 17 weeks in the top twenty on the Americana Chart, and produced three top twenty singles on the Texas Music Chart. The band upped the ante in 2010 with their third release, “The Apology: Part 1,” a five song EP produced by Mike McCarthy. The record included the wildly popular top ten single, “Guitars,” plus two other top 30 singles. In 2011 Rodney and the Pesos released a daring full band acoustic recording, “Live in The Living Room,” which was in fact recorded live in Rodney’s living room in Corinth, TX. 2013 brings the release of Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward’s fifth record, “The Apology: Part 2,” produced by Grammy award winner Tre Nagella.
Rodney Parker & the boys have placed their mark on the last decade of Texas music and continue to have a stake in its future. Parker is part of a generation of borderless musicians who are stealing the thunder of the status quo Texas sound, forcing the directions of popular Texas music onto a new, more substantial and satisfying threshold.
Rodney Parker on Facebook | Rodney Parker on Twitter | Official Website
No Dry County
No Dry County carries the torch for a new generation of young artists traveling the circuit here in Texas. It’s country and americana music infused with classic rock and roll, then left to simmer, filling the room with the sound of success. It’s heartfelt music filled with lyrics about real life, real places and real people. It’s the kind of music that everyone can relate to. Attend any live show and you’ll notice that this band from Lubbock, TX has the ability to cross cultural as well as generational boundaries with their sound and energy.
After giving up jobs and moving into a van, the band has made their living playing over 140 dates last year pushing their debut EP. Now with another year of experience, NDC is poised to make another strong push with the release of their sophomore album “To Whom it May Concern”. Traveling mostly in Texas and the Midwest, the group is paying dues and rapidly gaining popularity. Look for No Dry County this fall as they make stops in Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Texas and everywhere in between.
No Dry County on Facebook | No Dry County on Twitter | Official Website
THE O’S
We started our group in the summer of 2008, and after having known each other through all of our other groups (Polyphonic Spree, Young Heart Attack, Slick 57, Rose County Fair, Hi-Fi Drowning, etc), it was an easy upstart and took no time jumping in head first. We both had songs that we felt needed to be played but no band to use as an outlet. Three months later, we entered the recording studio and recorded an EP which ended up being half of our first album “We Are The O’s” (2009 Idol Records).
We have since toured relentlessly all across the US, UK, Europe, and even jaunted to Hawaii, hi-fiving friends and fans alike; just trying to keep ourselves out on the road and creating new music for good people. In 2011, we recorded our second album with the Grammy award winning Stuart Sikes. Entitled “Between The Two,” we decided to play every instrument on the album and had Stuart man the helm. It was liberating and excited and brought us further than we had been before.
We hit the road again jumping back and forth across the great ponds, made music videos, bought and broke vans, bought and broke gear, ate poorly, ate well, had fun and not so much fun, met amazing people, learned a lot about life, forgot a lot of things, slept a little, bought and wore out hundreds of pairs of pants and shirts, resoled our cowboy boots countless times, played with incredible artists, performed on TV shows, talk shows, radio shows, festivals, clubs, bars, restaurants, several different countries and continents, swam in clear water, dredged through the gulf, and other countless, endless adventures to name.
We did this all as we have always, to make good music for good people.
And into the future we go with “Thunderdog”, our third studio album to be released in July 23, 2013. We decided to record the majority of the new album, at the recommendation of our great producer, Chris “Frenchie” Smith, in Tornillo, TX at the legendary Sonic Ranch Studio. It’s a state of the art, top notch studio where we could stay on site, eat on site, and record without distractions (other than the delicious Sonic Ranch “Salsa de Roja” that lead to many debates on whether or not anything would taste good without it afterwords…) We finished up the album at The Bubble in Austin, TX and look forward to getting it out the door and into everyone’s hands!
See you folks on the other side and we look forward to the ride.