RockabillyHQ Lauched – Finally!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the waiting is finally over……..

Drum Roll…………

www.RockabillyHQ.com is here.

At the moment it just has limited functionality; The Newsletter sign-up and front page are working and we’re hoping to have the forum and downloads sections up and running by the end of the week.

Please do go and check it out and give us any feedback.

As always the email address is alex@rockabillyhq.com

Cheers!

The Faraway Boys New CD Reviewed

Happy Thursday everyone.

Last week I was lucky enough to interview SoCal’s Psychobilly kings, The Rocketz shortly before their gig at The Fire Escape in Citrus Heights. Just before the gig I met up with Ralphie, The Faraway Boys’ Bass-Slapper who was standing in for The Rocketz’ Tony Marcias, who has since moved on.

Ralphie handed me a copy of their debut CD, “Pirate Ship Set Sail”

The Faraway Boys are probably best known for their music being used in a Sailor Jerry Run commercial.

To give you an idea of what the Faraway Boys are all bout, here’s a video clip of them in action:

First thing that strikes you when you open the package up is the actual CD itself. I’ve been buying CDs for many years and vinyl records for many, many years before that.  I have never, until I unwrapped the Faraway Boys’ CD seen a hybrid of both. It’s the Toyota Prius of CDs. It’s black and has little grooves and a really cool retro “record label” on the top side, just like a real record. Kudos have to go to their designer for the original and innovative design.

The CD opens up quite innocuously with a nice instrumental track called “Por Vida.” It starts out with some very latin-flavored bass chords, then rips into a high-octane rockabilly guitar.

The Next track: “Skin & Bones” is your first introduction to Scotty’s vocals. From the first line you’re reminded of Roy Orbison’s Sun years, but with more than a hint of Rev Horton Heat. The highlight of the track is Ralphie’s slapping, which is superb throught.

“Cowboy Moon” is a nice straight Rockabilly track with a Scotty’s vocals being beautifully complimented by female harmonies. The only thing that mares it slightly for me was the accordion solo, which makes it feel  a little bit country, bordering on Zydeco. However, credit to the band for experimenting and not making every track sound the same.

“Fear The One” is back to some full throttle Rockabilly with a driving bass line and excellent, short guitar solo from Scotty.

“Doing Time in Hell” has a great crescendoing intro with Slap bass, then drums, then guitar riff building to a great little intro that itself builds into the crashing chorus. Along with plaintive vocals of the verses make a nice contrast for a track that is possibly the weakest song on the CD, but is still and very cool Rockabilly song.

“Sailor Jerry Rum” has another great crescendoing intro that builds to a driving rhythm. There is something very reminiscent of Link Ray’s guitar work on it and just great lyrics. The accordion isn’t as overstated on this track and simply blends into the background at the very beginning. Possibly my highlight of the CD with a wonderful slap bass solo about 3 and a half minutes into the track. The final chorus is great to sing along to.

The next rack “Situations Change” really underlines the diversity of The Runawaboys’ reprtoire. It’s a moody, ambient track with a reggea-esque lead-in. The rockabilly soon kicks in and normal service is resumed.

“Vampire” has no pretensions of being anything else. Right from the get-go it kicks into high gear and just keeps going.  The band’s Stray Cat influences show through heavily on this track. Up to this track Bucky had done just what drummers are meant to do, sit in the back and keep the beat, but in this track he’s brought to the fore and does a great job of keeping this one going and making it interesting.

“Misfortune One” has a much heavier guitar than other tracks, with the possible exception of “Sailor Jerry Rum.”  Scotty’s vocals shine through too varying between his lilting, melodic style with some raucous, gravelly stuff that gives this track a nice balance.

They close the album with a song called “Make it to Bed” which when I first heard the drum intro, I thought was Hank Mizell’s Jungle Rock. I’m sure this is a total coincidence, right guys? It’s a nice way to finish off a very well-rounded debut.

Overall, I think they guys did a great job and I’m pretty sure it’ll be the first of many releases to come.

If you want to catch the guys live check them out in Mesa, Arizona on May 25th, where, once again, they’ll be playing alongside The Rocketz.

You can also check out their website http://www.myspace.com/farawayboys

Keep rockin’

Al E. Cat

www.RockabillyHQ.com

Rocketz interview and up-coming events

Happy Friday everyone!

Last weekend it was my pleasure to spend a very entertaining hour with Southern California’s finest, The Rocketz.

Lead singer, Tony and drummer, Mr. Pink were fantastic and very candid about their music and life in general. We recorded the interview and it will be available as a podcast once the site is finally up and running.

At the same gig I met Ralphie, the bassist of The Faraway Boys who was kind enough to provide us with a copy of their latest CD, “Pirate Ship Set Sail”. We will be reviewing that and that too will appear on the website soon.

Watch this space.

Gigs coming up this weekend include:

The Rocketz, Gambler’s Mark, Johnny Dahmer, The Aftershocks and Society of Graverobbers appearing at Angel’s Roadhouse in Yucaipa, California. $10 cover.

Scotty Moore will be appearing at the Cleveland Arena on May 16th.

The Fire Escape in Citrus Heights continues to bring great Rockabilly to Northern California. May 24th sees the Gin Rickys apearing. Rockabilly HQ, will, of course be there.

Have a rockin’ weekend!!

Al E. Cat

www.rockabillyHQ.com

Mother’s Day and the Race for the Cure

Happy Friday everyone!

As we are kind of in a holding pattern until the website design is finished and published I thought I’d share some other stuff that’s going on this weekend.

Firstly, my Wife is taking par t in the Race For The Cure tomorrow. It’s a 10K walk/run which equates to about 3.5 miles, so it’s not too strenuous, so please get off your fat butts and support a really worthwhile cause. Since her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of weeks ago, it’s become a very personal thing. Good luck and thank you to all who are participating tomorrow, wherever you are.

Secondly, It’s Mothers’ Day on Sunday, please don’t forget!

The other big thing that’s happening on Sunday is the Rocketz gig at The Fire Escape in Citrus Heights. The guys don’t make the journey up I5 very often, so make the most of it. They will be on stage at 8PM, so get there with plenty of time.

They are also looking for a new Bassist, so if you can slap an upright you need to contact them. They have a MySpace page on which you can leave a message if you’re interested.

That’s it for this week. I’m hoping to have more news on the website and also a write-up on the Rocketz gig as well as an interview to report on early next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Al E. Cat

www.RockabillyHQ.com

Rockabilly Romance

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Well, We asked for feedback and we certainly got it. Thank you to all of you who have contributed on our various forums on MySpace and Facebook (See links below)

Please do keep the ideas coming!

We have a killer new idea for the website…

Have you ever found it hard to find someone who has similar taste in music and dress to you?

Let’s face it, we’re a unique bunch.

Well, we might just have the solution for you.

RockabillyHQ.com is proud to announce Rockabilly Romance, a dating service for the Rockabilly community.

Also, I wanted to announce that the EBook version of my latest book “The Rock N Roll Encyclopedia” will be going on sale on eBay this weekend, so keep an eye out for it. It’s only available on a CD since eBay don’t allow downloadable products anymore.

It’s almost 500 pages of artists’ bios. including Rock n roll, doo-wop and rockabilly pioneers from the early days right up to today’s neo-rockabilly and psychobilly bands.

If you’d like to purchase an electronic copy, please contact me Alex@RockabillyHQ.com

Stay tuned for more information soon!!

More feedback needed

Happy Tuesday to you all!

I have received some great feedback from my posts in various forums on MySpace and FaceBook. It’s great to hear from people and find out what they want from a website. That way we can be sure to provide people with what they want. So far it looks like Pictures and gig guides seems to be way out ahead. We will certainly be doing that. In fact I’ll be at the Fire Escape this Sunday to interview The Rocketz and I’ll be taking a bunch of photos there.

We still want to hear from you. What do you want from a Rockabilly Website? Comment below or send me an email : Alex@RockabillyHQ.com

I’ve also posted some great pix of the Diamond Springs car show last Thursday to my FaceBook and MySpace lages (Links at the bottom of this blog.)

There’s another car show at the Deb’s Frosty in Diamond SPrings on May 15th. Come and check it out!

I also just created a new MySpace page for rockabilly pioneer, Dale Brooks. Check him out and say “Hi” at www.MySpace.com/DaleBrooksRockabilly

If you’d like me to create a MySpace page for you let me know alex@RockabillyHQ.com

my MySpace page: www.MySpace.com/RockabillyHQ

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1179885734

Stay Tuned!

Al E. Cat

www.RockabillyHQ.com

Rockabilly Pioneer Jerry Benty Interview – Get it here

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Mine was uneventful, except that we bought a dog for my in-laws.

I received a reply from Rockabilly pioneer Jerry Benty to some of the questions I had for him.  Sadly he wasn’t available for a telephone interview, so I’ve decided to post his answers here and also on my MySPace and FaceBook pages.

Those pages are:

MySpace.com/Rockabillyhq

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1179885734

There’s a bunch more information and goodies on those sites too.

Here’s the Jerry Benty interview:

Q: Where and when were you born and what was your up-bringing like?
> A. Born in Pittsburgh Pa. in 1936 to a hard working steel working family.
> Q: Who were your first influences in music?
> A. My biggest influence was Chet Atkins.
> Q: What made you decide to be a musician?
> A. It kind of came naturally.
> Q: How did you first big break come about?
> A. I wrote and recorded some songs and got involved with my so called
> manager and things went from there. I never really made it big, but it was
> a lot of good times.
> Q: Who would you say was the biggest influence when you started your
> musical career?
> A. Once again Chet Atkins. Vocally it was Elvis, Conway Twitty, and a
> little Merle Haggerd.
> Q: What was life like as a recording artist?
> A. Not as what you hear about today. I was just trying to get by.
> Q: Can you give me a time-line of your recordings? (The names of the
> songs, when and where they were recorded and any other information you
> give about the sessions etc..)
> A. I guess I recorded back in 1959 in a studio in Cleveland Oh. I think my
> best tune was ” We’re gonna have love ” I didn’t write it but we recorded
> it.
> Q: What’s your favorite song of yours?
> A Same as above.
> Q: What is your opinion of today’s music?
> A. The only music of today that I can enjoy is Country.
> Q: What event would you say “changed your life”?
> A. No answer
> Q: Who have been your favorite people you have worked with?
> A. Almost every musican that I worked or played music with.
> Q: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to become a musician?
> A. Don’t read it from a sheet, feel it in your soul.
> Q: What has been your biggest achievement so far?
> A. Of course being married to the same wonderful lady .
> Q: If you could go back and do it all again what, if anything, would you
> change?
> A. Change managers. I still feel ripped.I know my recordings were sold to
> a different label unbenonst to me.
> Q: Do you have a message to the subscribers of RockabillyHQ.com ?
> A.Keep rockin!!

Stay tuned

Al E. Cat

www.rockabillyhq.com

Diamond Springs Car Show

Happy Friday everyone!!

Yesterday evening I was driving home with my son and on the way we passed the quaint little cowboy town of Diamond Springs. It’s just off hwy 50 on the way to South Lake Tahoe from Sacramento. Every 2 weeks during the summer months, Deb’s Frosty hosts a classic car show. The turnout is normally mixed, depending on what the weather is like, but last night there were a nice amount of cars.

I have some photos posted on my MySpace page www.MySpace.com/RockabillyHQ

It’s always a pleasure to see these wonderful old classics displayed in their finery. I can’t wait for Hot August Nights in Reno this year. Always a fun weekend if you are in the area.

Website news:

We’ve finalized the design, so it’s just a case of getting it built now. Exciting!

I also helped a friend of mine, Rockabilly Legend, Dale Brooks set up his own MySpace page. You can check it out at www.MySpace.Com/dalebrooksrockabilly

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Tell us what you want

The website’s design is going well. I think we’ve decided on a look and feel for it. We want the page to look like a 50s Rockola jukebox. You will be able to select other pages by making a selection on the jukebox, as if you were selecting a song. I think the idea is cute and is in keeping with out theme.

I’ve posted on a bunch of forums on both Facebook and MySpace to ask what it is that people want to see included on our website. So far the response has been good. Some requests have been “Complete Gig Guides,” “Artist interviews and Bios.” and “Girls, girls girls!”

I will certainly do my best to include all of these things, but we really want to hear from YOU!! What is it that you need to know about? What is missing from the internet as far as our community goes?

If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

You can post a comment to this blog or feel free to email me at Alex@RockabillyHQ.com

In other news:

I Just set up a MySpace page for pioneer Rockabilly artist Dale Brooks. Dale & I have been in touch for a while and he’s a really nice man who’s been doing this thing for over half a century and still going strong, despite losing an arm a while back.

Check out his page at

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=375913221

(Sorry I’m not that proficient in HTML to post a proper link)

Talk at you soon!!
Al E. Cat

www.RockabillyHQ.com