The Thespian

I had my first rehearsal for $5 Cover today. The good news is that I'm working with the beautiful Clare Grant, who is so sweet and patient with me. Not to mention Craig Brewer, probably the most talented director in America. The writing for the show is terrific, and everyone involved is an experienced professional. All I have to do is deliver in a cool, convincing way. No pressure, right? Wrong! I had no idea what I was stepping into. We were doing warm up exercises, improvisation, scene rehearsals, line memorization and reading all in the first day! I almost fell over when I kissed Clare the first time. Hilarious. I was trying to be Mos Def, but I was more like Master P, if you know what I mean...

Anyway, Hill Country Revue is gearing up for a road trip out to Denver for the Mile High Fest. We have some hot new material to debut and feel more focused than ever. Garry Burnside has been writing bangers people! He has this new song called LETS TALK ABOUT ME AND YOU that sounds like Sabbath meets Band of Gypsies. We are going to have the final HCR record finished by September, then we will be hitting the road with Mofro- Coast to Coast. We are so proud to be playing with those guys. It is going to be one hell of a good tour. I'm sure of that.

The Super Jam is going to be sweet @ mile high. We have an allstar line up planned for both nights. Lots of cool guests and surprise songs guaranteed.

Finally, I've been composing the score for a new travel channel show MYSTERIES OF THE WILD. It documents a man exploring everywhere from the jungles of New Guinea to the peak of Mount Everest. The music is orchestral, with triumphant, heroic melodies and themes. Lots of movement. The source cues are melancholy and lonesome, then spooky and scary. Fun Stuff!

So enough rambling from me at the moment. Thanks for reading and responding. It feels good...

Like a Pinto and a Maverick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aegcngSwsQ8

Small and Insignificant

I'm sitting on the bus in a parking garage under the Chicago House of Blues at the moment.. The Allstars are closing in on our second week of tour and have been enjoying every minute of it. Don't get me wrong, touring is not as glamorous as it appears. We mostly live on our bus and in night clubs. The shows are by far the best part. Playing live music is such a joy it makes the sacrifice seem small and insignificant. More on that later..

Chew must be so exhausted. He has been driving the bus every night as well as performing. I don't see how he does it..

I'm trying to remember what I have going on this summer that I haven't already mentioned.. Hill Country Revue have many good festival dates that we will be announcing shortly. We have to keep these under our hats at the moment for some reason. I have been offered a very exciting acting job that I DEFINITELY can't talk about yet. If it happens, It will be very fun to video blog and share with you!

Playing with the Lee Boys was such a treat. They sound great. Roosevelt Lee is absolutely amazing on the pedal steel. He reminds me so much of Robert Randolph it's scary. At the same time, it's not really fair to compare the two because they both have their own styles. Let me just say that Roosevelt is playing the best slide I have heard in a looooooong time.

Well, I suppose that's enough for now. Keep your head up, press on, hold it down, do the damn thing.-

Cody

Luther Dickinson triple guitar frontal attack

Luther Dickinson will be appearing on the Hill Country Revue final release. He has already played on 7 tracks and we are still recording.

Also, Luther will be joining us in Birmingham for City Stages, as well as other shows in June. We will announce the dates very soon...

This officially solidifies Hill Country Revue as the nastiest triple guitar frontal attack in the world. HIIIIYA!

Duwayne Burnside has joined Hill Country Revue

The Red Rooster crows for day. Enough said...

Mahogany, Maple, and Birch

It has been so long.. The Hill Country Revue tour was a wild ride of great music, hard work, arguing, and lots of laughs. We had a triumphant show at Double Decker fest in Oxford to close out the tour and look forward to picking up where we left off Sunday night in Memphis.

We toured the whole month of April with Sundays and Mondays off. I used these days to record more HCR stuff and work with Aaron Julison. He came back down to MS and recorded songs of his own. ‘Popular American’ and ‘ disappear’ are my favorites so far. I hope he lets me post some of the footage. It is hilarious. We are truly dysfunctional and rocking at the same time. We make Wilco look like they know what they are doing..

I’m back on the road with NMA at the moment. It’s a beautiful day in Charleston and I’m looking forward to playing tonight. Pearl Drums sent me a new kit and they make every show feel like Christmas morning. They are Reference series with a midnight fade finish. I think the snare is the nicest drum I have ever seen. It is mahogany, maple, and birch- each ply layered to create the most responsive tone possible.

Anyway, these drums are amazing and I am so grateful to Pearl for hooking me up!!

Ladies and Gentlemen The Hill Country Revue

The Hill Country Revue just finished our record and are gearing up for a month long tour. This must be the fastest a record has ever been made, especially considering the band was just formed. We mixed, mastered, and manufactured in one weekend. I had a lot of help and support from my friends, not to mention an amazing group of musicians who made it easy and fun to record. There is something exciting about fresh, new music that has just been made. It's hot and ready to be served! Hopefully the great energy and excitement that went into the making of the record will translate.

I haven't figured out how to imbed a mp3 player into my blog, so I just have to link you to the myspace page for now. Any suggestions on how to post music on blogger will be much appreciated.

Please listen to our new songs and befriend us on myspace. We are doing all we can to spread the word. Enjoy!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=345334556