J.P. McDermott and Western Bop's Fan Box

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hyattsville to Hagerstown

This past weekend was packed with action, starting Friday night with three sets of rockabilly, honky tonk, classic country, and just a hint of twelve tone structuralism at the Surf Club. We were joined by Phil Matthieu on guitar, which is always a treat. He's an all-around great musician, playing with Ruthie & The Wranglers, in the pit orchestra for major Broadway musicals coming through town, and as an in-demand classical soloist. Phil plays a mean "Besame Mucho" and we caught it on tape -- you'll be able to hear it soon on our MySpace page.

It was a friendly crowd with lots of dancing -- just what I love to see. In fact, I got a chance to dance a little bit myself when the two stars from the Four Star Combo (Andrew Ladson and Matt Todd) took the stage for a number -- an intense version of "Lonesome Train". I first heard them do this late one night after the Quarry House had closed, and was glad to get them up on stage for it.

Saturday we packed up the tour bus (actually it was my Prius) and headed for Hempen Hill BBQ in Hagerstown. The drive out there is a breeze when there's no traffic around Frederick -- about 70 minutes from Silver Spring, door to door. Hempen Hill is a swell place -- a fairly new family-owned restaurant with good barbecue and tons of room to dance. There are wood floors throughout the place, and they move the tables out of the way once we get going. A good contingent of dancers turned out from Hagerstown and nearby Pennsylvania. Some of these folks could really cut a rug. One couple in particular had some really cool lifts and aerials -- we get to see all kinds of interesting dancing when we play. We're back at Hempen Hill in August and can't wait!

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with the rest of this post -- it was taken a couple of weeks back at the Quarry House, but I like it, so I figured I'd drop it in here. I may use this for posters and promo for future solo shows.

Thanks for dropping by the blog. Leave a comment if you like, and be sure to come see us at a show soon!

2 comments:

ellen cherry said...

really really great picture!

Matt Ramone said...

I can't wait to see you guys again. We still down for The Thing? I'm waiting for my stimulus check so I can afford a ring. Then it's on hardcore.