Hartwood, The Sweet Twang and Country Sex at Darrells Tavern 2-7-14

I would eat a bug to see Hartwood. They play great country music with a marvelous sense of humor. I have seen them several times, will see again. This night they were in special fun mode. Nobody, I mean nobody has more fun than these guys on stage.

Need I say more than this...

But I am getting ahead of myself here. We are at Darrells Tavern in Shoreline (North Seattle) to see some great country music. I came to see Hartwood and got the bonus of seeing some other killer musicians.

Here is the promise of things to come, musicians hanging at the bar. I love artists.

First up was Country Sex, an intriguing name for what turned out to be a very sexy band. The lead singer, a veteran of stage and screen, had touches of glam, pink and grunge with a country fried attitude, I loved him from the first note.

Lee Rude is the man at the center of the band. He has a great voice, writes creative and memorable tunes, has mass charisma and knows how to surround himself with talented musicians.

The band is as follow as provided by Lee: Bass: Andy Lowe. Lead guitar: Bill Muhlstein. Backing vocals by Violet Degner and Hilary Allison.

I am a sucker for a skilled stand up bass. Andy was not showy; he was laid back, happy to be in back, driving the band and was freaking great.

You don't know how important this bottom can be until you put just 3 guys on show; a bare knuckle stage fight. There is nowhere to hide, you better be present and know your shit.

Bill on lead guitar was stellar, Lee knows how to pick them. The sound of an acoustic guitar has such a distinctive sound. It was so refreshing as all guitars were the same. I expected a Telecaster. This was a nice fresh sound.

Lee put together a great collection of artists that translated his original tunes to perfection. He had a a nice crowd of fans. Some were on top of him the whole evening.

His closest confidant was a lovely vixen; Violet Degner had a delicious pale look that had all the men panting. Well me at least. OK, no ordinary man could not look as hard as they tried...

She also was a great singer and entertainer.

Here Violet is with Hilary Allison and some guy...who cares about him. Sorry man, working with these girls would be like working with a puppy. You ain't got a a chance of getting noticed. No really, Jacob Rocek added nice texture to this sweet sound.

They were a lot of fun, mixing a few covers with original music of Lee's making.

Lee had a killer pipes and did a great job of representing his original tunes. He was joined by an entire neighborhood for a couple tunes.

They were a lot of fun and put a smile on every bodies face. You can connect with Country Sex here: https://www.facebook.com/LeeRudeofficialBandPage

One more of this fun band. Lee is quite photogenic, plastic face man...

Next up was the band I came to see, the band I would not miss especially here at Darrells. I don't know of any other country band that combines finely written original tunes with such a great sense of humor.

Kinky Friedman comes to mind.

They have a cast of talented musicians that come together to make beautiful music. The names of these characters have been changed to protect their wives and children who would have to answer some obvious embarrassing questions.

Here is the official roster: Cleetus, Murl, Lee Harvey, Jethro, Henry Lee, Rufus, JT, Squeaky... 'merica's Band!

Here is Lee Harvey rocking the banjo.

Here is Lee Harvey having a banjo fit, there is something you don't get to see everyday!

I am a man of few words tonight, but have many great shots of one of my favorite bands.