Saturday, 8-8-2009

Hank Haggard & The Texas Two
at Lazy Daze Coffee House
"Real Country"

By D. Triere

Beginnings of a sultry August Saturday; bright sunshine diffused by the humidity --- saving grace a light, intermittent breeze.

Great cup of coffee --- starting to relax in my chair under the canopy.

About ten o’clock, standing in the shade up on Lazy Daze’s deck, a trio starts playing. The trio, playing through a little PA, is: Hank Haggard (singing and playing an acoustic dreadnought), Joe Alterio (playing a big hollow-body electric Gretsch, with no effects), and Dan Hughes (electric bass).

Today, they are advertised as: Hank Haggard & the Texas Two”. I find out later that Hank likes to give different names to his ensembles depending upon that performance’s sidemen and/or sidewomen.

They’re playing country, real country, where the “song” is the star (real lyrics with a melody --- not the incredibly trite lyrics, coupled with a ripped-off rock ‘n roll guitar riff of today’s “modern” country (the formulaic junk you hear now on country radio)).

The performance is straightforward, guided by Hank and his definitely country voice. They slowly but methodically string together a bunch of familiar standards by the likes of Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, Buck Owens, Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, and Lefty Frizzell.

The playing of each is solid; a missed lick here and there by one is greeted by the others with an easy smile or a slight chuckle (it isn’t hard to picture them on a little stage at an old honky tonk, playing to a room filled with couples dancing).

They play pretty much for two hours without a break, until about the time to finish, they “goof off” by having Joe lightheartedly sing a Jerry Reed-style version of the old Monkees song, “Last Train To Clarksville” and then having Joe sing a faithful version of the old George Jones song, “She Thinks I Still Care”. The performance finished, they take their time tearing down and leisurely chat with folks.

Maybe this music isn’t “your cup of tea”, but it’s worth listening to, if for no other reason than watching and listening to its understated, direct presentation and simply enjoying well written songs --- a good song is a good song regardless of genre’ and/or age.

Oh yes, Hank was still trying to sell that pair of authentic cowboy boots made in El Paso, China!

You can learn more about Hand Haggard and his players by visiting his MySpace pages. Here is the link to it: http://www.myspace.com/hankhaggardthechippewacowboys

Hank Haggard plays at Lazy Daze on a semi-regular basis. Here is a link to Lazy Daze’s web site: http://www.lazydazecoffeehouse.com/

Hank Haggard & The Texas Two
on the deck at Lazy Daze Coffee House
Saturday, 8-8-2009

Photos courtesy of The Marilyn Sojourn