Woody and the Wills, The Western Bluebirds, The 1Uppers and Michael Stegner's Fascination Nation at Conor Byrne, 11-03-12

This was gong to be another great night of Western Swing, Country and Honky Tonk. Last night we saw Lucky Tubb, Marshall Scott Warner and The Barn Door Slammers. A lot of the people that I saw last night were there tonight, both on and off the stage.

I do not have the time to write my usual full and flowery blog but I did get some good pics and I want to share.

I love to see live music at Conor Bryne; they have a beautiful bar, lots of seating, and a nice high stage.

I saw my friends Cass and Johnny in the audience, they are usually on the dance floor.

The Western Bluebirds were on first, I have reviewed them before here: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2012/07/roy-kay-trio-western-bluebirds-and-barn.html

Wonderful american roots music, old timey western swing at it's best. The Bluebirds are Liam Fitzgerald on vocals and guitar, Kevin Campion on pedal-steel, Tony Laborie on stand up bass, Dave Bush on drums, Bill Jones on trumpet and Nick Streeter on guitar and vocals.

Liam is a great performer and plays well with others. He is one of my favorite musicians and is the power behind The Rainieros, see him here: http://therainieros.bandcamp.com/

They play great old-timey tunes like Blue Skies and Honey Suckle Rose. The dance floor was packed and they had the whole place rocking.

Nick sang lead vocals and played his beautiful customized Bigsby replica guitar.

Happy music for the big crowd tonight. Here from the left are Liam, Tony, Dave, Kevin and Nick.

I loved the trumpet, added a lot to the period sound that is western swing.

Here is Bill buzzing his lips, delivering tasty jams with his mates.

See The Western Bluebirds here: https://www.facebook.com/westernbluebirds

Next up were The 1Uppers, one of my favorite bands in the whole wide world. Truth be told, Jon Hyde, the titular head of the band is a work mate of mine. I see them as often as I can.  That is Jon playing the steel on the left.

I have reviewed them many times, here is one: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2012/05/1uppers-twang-junkies-and-drama-dodgers.html and here: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2012/03/boxcar-rebellion-brian-ledford-and.html and here: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2012/03/1uppers-rainieros-and-deception-past-at.html
I think there is one more, at least, but you get the point...Love!

Kris Geren plays the lead guitar, he is an awesome guitar player. I have seen him slip into surf, rock and psychedelic genres with this band. That is him killing the 6 string on the right.

David Russel sings lead vocals and plays guitar, I love his style and marvelous set of pipes.

The 1Uppers play original country that is new and refreshing, yet classic. I love them more each time I see them. See them here: http://1uppers.com/

Buy their CD and support this great band. Here is their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/1uppers/125003510871814?fref=ts

Here is a pic of Jon Hyde playing his beautiful Emmons pedal-steel guitar.

Mark Pickerel sat in on drums tonight, he took the band in some new directions. It was fun to see him play with the 1Uppers tonight.

Caben Busswell is the bass and anchor for the band, there he is grooving behind Kris. I talked with him Friday night and Saturday night as well, he is a super nice guy.

The crowd was loving it and the dance floor was packed. One guy dancing next to me asked if this was original music. They played one cover tonight, the rest was original 1Upper home-made music.

Michael Stegner's Fascination Nation was up next. This music has influences of Leon Russell and Willie Nelson. He plays an awesome set of keys, one of the best I have seen in this style of music.

I don't know a lot about this band but I knew the lead guitarist; Dave Harmonson is one of the finest artists I have ever heard. He plays 6 string and pedal steel, covering several styles including swing, bluegrass and honky-tonk.

I do not have the name of the drummer this evening but Jon Hyde said he was the bomb. He was slaying the skins; adding creative style and keeping the band on the beat.

I want to describe the music as alt. country with a lot of honky-tonk, rhythm and blues and even bluegrass. The were kicking as Micheal's fingers were all over the ivories, moving in a blur, really great stuff.

I didn't stay till the end of their set but I am glad I got to see this band. I will always go out of my way to see Dave, he is amazing on guitar.

The bass player was laying the bottom, rocking with his mate, making hip shaking and infectious music.

See Michael and his brand of fun here: https://sites.google.com/a/creativemusicadventures.com/michaelstegner/

See Dave here, a local legend: http://www.seattlebluegrass.com/bios/dave.htm

Conor Byrne is an excellent venue for live music. See them here: http://conorbyrnepub.com/

Here is a pic of Kurt at the board, a good sound tech is important to the live music experience.

I had an awesome time tonight and I would invite you to have the same fun in your town. See some live music soon.