Gotta Stanky Coh?

Setting up our gig on Saturday night at the LCP Club, The DejaBlue Grass Band ran into a little technical issue. It reminded me of the time years ago when I was the defacto manager of a little country store called Story’s Gulf and Grocery, simply known as “The Bottle” that stood on the site of a bye-gone iconic Alabama landmark outside Opelika, AL on Hwy 280. (Old timers still refer to “The Bottle” as such even though the original “Bottle” burned several decades back and Story’s store took a bullet for road expansion in the early ’90’s.)

About sunrise one nippy Sunday morning, a Chambers County pulpwood trucker hunched himself inside for a cup of coffee…an authentic “chain-sawin’, log-skinnin’, ‘tree-climbin’, limb-dodgin’, truck-drivin, rough-ol’-loggin man”. We served the kinda institutional coffee only a pulpwooder could stomach in a small styrofoam cup mixed with that godawful powdery poison creamer stuff. It was dreadful. I oughta know. I made it. He gnarled his fingers around the cup, fished his pocket for a couple of quarters, and as he reached the counter, peeked out from under his once deer-hunter-orange cap and mumbled,        “I nee a stanky coh. “Ya’ll gotta stanky coh?”.
“I’m sorry,….what?”, I replied.
“A stanky coh. I nee a stanky coh dis mawnin’. Bout fihtty fee”
“Pardon? You need a… what?…a stinky coat?”
“Naw. A stanky coh. I nee bout fihtty fee”
“I’m sorry, sir.  Stinky corn??  A sticky cone??”
“Naw!….A stanky coh! Y’know. I gotta plug in sump’m cross da room, and I need a fihtty foot stanky coh”
“Ahhhhh! An extension cord! Of course!”

Well, Saturday night 100 feet separated us from the nearest power outlet, and Keith saved the day on his way over, stopping by the Home Depot. We are now the proud owners of a 100 foot stanky coh.

Back at’em

DjBGB under the stars at Pullman Yard (Photo by Kitty Ray Swain)

Been under the weather for the past couple of days, (hence the tardiness of this post) but I was under the stars this past weekend at a funkifried venue in Kirkwood called Pullman Yards. A couple of guys bought a spot across the street from a dilapidated old freight yard and turned it into a indoor outdoor venue for music and arts. Very cool. Gentrification is starting to sniff around the corner and turn over some rocks on Rogers Street. Won’t be long now. I think they’ve got a great thing going there.

We gigged with Smokey’s Farmland Band. Those guys have a tight sound and flatpicker on guitar that can flat tear it up. Well worth spending an evening with, if you haven’t heard ‘em. I hope we gig with those guys again sometime. We had a good crowd as you can see from the picture. Lotta kids. Always good to see the kids dancing.

DejaBlue Grass Band opened for CornMeal Sunday at Smith’s Olde Bar (photo by Kitty Ray Swain)

Sunday We opened for a killer group outta Chicago called Cornmeal at Smith’s Olde Bar in Midtown Atlanta. We were a little (hell, who am I kidding…a lot) rusty on Saturday night, but we paired down our set list to a “power set” and we had one of our best shows ever. Funny how that works. No matter what we did Saturday night, we couldn’t quite get there, but Sunday was a different story. We had our game, and so did Cornmeal. I was wishing I could slip into a Friday night there because I would have stayed all night. They were fantastic. Check them out when you get a chance (see below)

Cornmeal – Hillbilly Ride

60 events that’ll catch your eye this Fall!

If you can’t join us on Saturday night at Pullman Yard, come pile into Smith’s Olde Bar on Sunday night. You’ll be home early and you won’t leave disappointed. Creative Loafing agrees.

From Creative Loafing’s “60 events that’ll catch your eye this Fall”

#6
CORNMEAL, DEJABLUE GRASS BAND (SEPT. 7)
They may be characterized under the same genre, but Chicago-based Cornmeal and Southern boys DejaBlue Grass Band carry two very different tunes. An acoustic-electric quintet, Cornmeal is cross-genre bluegrass, dippin’ into improvisational rock, newgrass and folk that’s routinely accented with show-stealing fiddle. Quickly becoming the kings of Atlanta bluegrass, the DejaBlue Grass Band separate themselves from the pack with well-oiled three-part harmonies and toe-tappin’ covers. The group took a break in August after a hectic summer that included releasing its first album, Bucket Full of Rain, gigging around Georgia, and placing second at the 35th annual Telluride Festival. $10. 7 p.m. Smith’s Ole Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. http://www.smithsoldebar.com

Important info on Saturday at Pullman Yards

I went and checked out the site of Saturday’s twin bill with Smokey’s Farmland Band. It is not AT Pullman Yard. It’s across the street from Pullman Yard behind a Real Estate office. The address is 112 Rogers St. 30317. Here’s a picture of the house/office and the street sign so you’ll know it when you see it. Send this blog link to anyone you know who is coming, because it took me a couple trips up and down the road to find it. There will be a marquee, but it’s not a “venue”, so to speak.

It’s gonna be more like an funky intown backyard bash…or As I was explaining this to my wife, she said “sounds like it’s gonna be like a ‘Judi Party’” referring to the kickin’ parties hosted by Miss Judi Jacobs in the backyard at her Inman Park crib. “Exactly!”, I said.

They’ve built a stage in the back, and there is PLENTY of room for a big crowd. Lots of cool yard art and eclectic schtuff. Remember it is BYOB!! See you Saturday!