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Big John Mills & the Texas Road Dawgs Honky Tonks & Neon Lights |
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Track List 1. I See You For What You Are |
(Roaddawg Records) John Mills was an Army
brat, born in Frankfurt, Germany, however, he eventually settled in
Texas. He sights among his musical influences, Merle Haggard, Ray
Price, Johnny Bush, Bob Wills, Buck Owens and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He
began playing lead guitar at age 12, and also plays bass, drums,
piano, mandolin and harmonica. John's been playing music full time for
about 10 years, and writes or co-writes most of the band's music. His
band, The Texas Road Dawgs are: Rodney Smith on drums and vocals, Glen
Kay on bass and Steve Richter on guitar and steel guitar. Their sound
is pure Texas honky tonk.
John's also got some pretty talented
friends, and some of them pitched in and lent a hand on Honky
Tonks & Neon Lights. John's mentor and friend of 20 years, Clay
Blaker produced the disc, and adds his vocals for a duet, as does
Tommy Alverson. Also helping out are Robbie Springfield and Tommy
Detamore on steel, Doug Driesel on piano and Jason Swindol on fiddle.
In addition to his duties on vocals and lead guitar, John also
contributes on bass, mandolin and harmonica. All the songs on
Honky Tonks were either written or co-written by John, except two
that were penned by another friend, Leland Martin ("Today Ain't Your
Day" and "She Rules The Roost").
Honky Tonks & Neon Lights kicks
off in high gear with the honky tonker "I See You For What You Are," a
song written in "honor" of one of his exes, though he doesn't quite
remember which one, and the word is, on the version that appears on
this disc, John's toned down the lyrics some from it's original
version. The outstanding, shuffling "Jim Beam and Jack Daniels (Wrote
My Favorite Songs)" pretty much says it all about John's way of
looking at his songwriting, "Jim Beam and Jack Daniels will make me
rich or kill me dead."
The Leland Martin penned songs, the
witty "Today Ain't Your Day" is given a laid back, bluesy treatment,
while "She Rules The Roost" is barn-burning honky tonk. "Hop, Skip And
A Jump (Over You)" is a very clever play-on-words Texas swing number.
"One Little Lie" is the disc's sole barroom weeper.
"Chasin Down Our Dreams On The Road" takes
off at breakneck speed, and packs just about everything that's great
about Texas into one song with lyrics such as "Guitars And Lone Star
Beer, music in our hearts sincere, Texas traditions of football,
rodeo, cold beer and baseball, Jerry Jeff at Gruene Hall, monster
trucks in the Astrodome, Country blues to southern rock, the outlaws
down in Luckenbach, in Texas Bob Wills is still the king."
On "There's A New Outlaw In Heaven (A
Tribute To Waylon)," John teams up with Tommy Alverson for a duet, and
this one's a real gem. Done as a waltz time ballad, it's a very well
written and poignant song from the heart of memories of Waylon, as the
chorus sadly laments:
"There's a new outlaw in heaven, and I
bet he's got his tele in hand,
There's a new outlaw in heaven, and
Texas is missing that man,
There's a new outlaw in heaven,
playing some good western swing,
There's a new outlaw in heaven, down
here it's just Willie & me."
"Texas Nights," a honky tonking duet with
Clay Blaker, is where you'll find where this CD got it's title. The
song starts out with a hopeful young musician wondering if he'd ever
make it, following him over the next few years as he's drinking beer,
raising hell and honky tonking under the neon lights, while traveling
the country...and missing Texas. Honky Tonks & Neon Lights
closes with the very outstanding instrumental, "Don't Jazz da Boot
II," that runs just over nine minutes. It's a slightly
jazzy/country/blues number that showcases some extremely
excellent musicianship.
Seems there's an awful lot of unsung honky
tonk heros in Texas, and Big John Mills & the Texas Road Dawgs sure
fit into this category. If you like your Texas brand of music straight
up, 100 proof honky tonk- the kind that instantly packs the dance
floor- then Honky Tonks & Neon Lights is definitely the
one for you.
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AnnMarie
HarringtonTake Country Back January 2003