LARRY SMITH, SANDY BARNETT & ART COVEY JOIN THE GANG FOR A FUN EVENING AT THE B.K.

As is normal, we arrived at the BK Lounge a little late, ordered something to eat (those chicken fries with ranch dressing are GREAT!) and spotted our friend Larry Smith and his wife (we all went to Southeast High School, KCMO together, quite a few years ago) just as he was about to don his guitar and sing a few for the crowd.  Larry is one of this area's great vocalists and it was a real treat hearing him sing "Pass Me By If You're Only Passing Thru," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Today I Started Loving You Again," Hawkshaw Hawkins' "Lonesome 7-7203" and "Little Red Car" a song Larry wrote himself.  Larry returned the second half with some other outstanding classics: "I Don't Know A Thing About Love," George Jones' "Walk Through This World With Me," Hag's "The Fugitive" and "Make The World Go Away."  Larry appears at most of the local oprys and has produced some great CD's.  Don't miss an opportunity to see him perform.  It was super seeing Bill Clark again and hearing him sing "My Window Faces The South" and playing "Faded Love" on harmonica and once again having Art Covey and his mandolin singing and picking "Rebel Soldier" and "Royal Telephone."  Great stuff!

Larry Dean entertained the crowd with "Big River," Gene Watson's "Everybody Needs A Hero," "Highway 40 Blues" and the Killer's "Shake Rattle & Roll."  Tonight's session was a short one as Burger King had to close early to upgrade their software and equipment but not before Garry Bichelmeier sang "Marie," wife Mary Bichelmeier did "Satin Sheets," Gordon Riley's lead guitar led the band with "Gordon's Boogie #1 and Sandy Barnett sang "Truck Driving Man" and "Swinging Doors."  Larry Smith, Larry Dean & Sharon Welch led the audience with a singalong on the patriotic "This Land Was Made For You & Me" and the evening closed with the traditional "Goodnight Irene."  (Below) The Larrys (Larry Smith - Larry Dean)

 

 

Jr's Hitchin Post Opry

is proud to present, in concert:

TG SHEPPARD

with

Katie Herrel

Haley Walters  &

The Hitchin Post Band

Saturday, June 9, 2007

5:00pm & 8:00pm

Doors open 30 minutes before each show.

Proudly sponsored by:

The Citizen's State Bank of Pomona
Lyndon Building Materials Inc.
The Lyndon State Bank
KOFO 1220 AM

 

For Sales/Reservations call:
(785) 418-8890

BIG CREEK COUNTRY TONITE - TOP NOTCH ENTERTAINMENT

Our Aunt Bernice called earlier this week and wanted to know if we would mind going to Big Creek this Saturday and never giving it a thought, we asked her to go ahead and make reservations.  We arrived at the theatre about 7:15 and ran into none other than Mike "My wife had plastic surgery - I cut up her credit cards!" O'Roark.  Again.  Seriously, we have seen a lot of Mike recently, but let me assure you, we've never seen the same show twice as far as he's concerned nor have we ever gone away and felt we weren't royally entertained.  More about Mike later.  This great band featuring Larry Ellis fiddling and with Kevin Hoff sitting in on drums, opened the show with "Arkansas Traveler" and followed with "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" featuring Mike Campbell on the 5-string banjo.  Emcee Dennis Dittemore took center stage, using his beautiful voice on Dave Dudley's "Six Days On The Road" and "It's Now Or Never" followed by Debbie Martin (or Debbie Erikson for you KFKF listeners) with "It's A Little Too Late" and a spectactular "I Thought He Walked On Water."  Dennis returned later with Marty Robbins' "White Sport Coat" and Debbie with "Guess You Had To Be There."  Keyboard guru Phil Hilton got a huge hand for "Evening Prayer" and others while Mike Campbell picked his 5 string on "Dear Old Dixie" and "Devil's Dream."  Jeremy Cato, one of tonight's special guests used his spectactular voice to excite the crowd on numbers such as "The Grundy County Auction," George Strait's "One Look At You," "Jailhouse Rock" (with Dennis), Through The Fire" and "That's What I Love About Sundays."

Kathy Lynn, who was originally booked as a special guest evidently couldn't make it, but  16 year-old Destiny Lakin, showed what a trooper she is, coming in from Harrisonville at the last minute to fill in.  We certainly enjoyed hearing her sing some great classics: "Except For Monday," "Jeanne Pruitt's "Satin Sheets," Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy To Fall In Love" and later Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" and "Paper Roses."  Bassist Jim Doney took a rare opportunity to do a bang-up job singing "Velvet Chains" and it was fun hearing David Taylor's deep voice on Randy Travis' "Deeper Than The Holler" and "You're My Best Friend," which he dedicated to his wife for their recent anniversary.  We can't say much more that we have already said about Mike O'Roark.  He is, in our opinion, a world-class entertainer that we are so fortunate to be able to see somewhere almost weekly.  It's not only his one-liners and more-liners but the music and combining the two -- a rare gift!  Tonight he started his set with "Nine Pound Hammer," then as Walter Brennan, "Old Rivers."  Upon speculating what Walter would have been like as a sex symbol, Mike sang "Help Me Make It Through The Night" as a "sexy" Walter Brennan would have done it.  Hilarous!!  Then it was "Free Born Man," "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" and "Squaws Along The Yukon."  If you haven't seen Mike O'Roark perform, you are cheating yourself!  Check out his website for more information: www.mikeoroark.com.  The show closed in it's normal manner, with Debbie, Dennis, Jeremy and David singing "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."  (Below)   (top) Destiny Lakin - Jeremy Cato (middle) Mike O'Roark (bottom) Dennis Dittemore & Debbie Martin harmonize.

 

 

LATEST NEWS FROM DAVE WOOGE & THE BURLINGTON OPRY
Good morning.  This saturday night is our show down at
the music box. This show will feature Miss Casey
Jordan from Havensville, Ks.  Casey has performed with
us a couple of times, but is relatively new to our
opry.  She does a great dolly parton, and sounds a lot
like an old time singer.  We also have the Dickey
family from Wellsville.  The Dickey family played with
us as a cameo a little while back.  They consist of a
father and mother, and two little girls 7 and 9.  They
feature themselves without our band backing them.  The
mother plays bass, the dad plays guitar, and the two
little girls play fiddle and sing.  They were a huge
hit when they cameod.  Noel will be there with us, as
will Jody, Dave H, Mike S, Russell W, and myself. 

Remember, beginning in July we will only be doing a
show on the first saturday night of each month.  Also,
watch for a special show to commemmorate Burlington's
anniversary at the theater on Sept 22.  More details
to follow, but the line up looks terrific. 

Hope to see you when the curtain opens.

DAve

ARE YOU A WILLIE NELSON FAN? CHECK OUT THESE WEB SITES FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Country Weekly Magazine reports there are a couple of cool sites for the Willie Nelson fanatics that are unusual to say the least.  First there is the blog http://www.stillisstillmoving.com/ for a constantly upgraded chronicle of the Red-headed Stranger's activities.  Then move on over to http://www.livewillie.com/ where you can purchase complete shows from 2000-2005 in MP3 format.

WILLIE'S UPCOMING SHOWS IN THIS AREA

1.  Willie is scheduled to appear at Horney Toad in Lake Ozark, MO, Sunday, July 29th, 2007.  Advance tickets are reportedly $75 -- check out this website for more details: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06003E89F137E06B?artistid=732878&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=2

2. Willie Nelson is scheduled to perform on July 31 at Memorial Hall, in Joplin, Missouri.  Fans may remember that Nelson had a show scheduled in 2002, but backed out due to an illness.

Tickets for the show will be $40 for reserved seating and $45 dollars for prime seating. Tickets will go on sale for June 2 and will be available at the Memorial Hall box office. There is a $3 service fee for all tickets purchased.http://www.ticketsage.com/memorial-website/

3.  Willie is scheduled to appear 8/1/07 at Kansas City, Missouri's Starlight Theatre.  Tickets reportedly range in price from: $39.50-$150.  Try http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06003EB086894765?artistid=732878&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=2 for more, up-to-date information.

ANOTHER ENJOYABLE EVENING AT THE BK LOUNGE AND A VISIT WITH LARRY DEAN (INMAN)

We arrived at the Lenexa Burger King (fondly called the BK Lounge) about a half-hour late as usual and things were already in full swing, bass player Mary Bichelmeyer was using her soft, mellow voice to sing "Once A Day," "Don't Tell Me What To Do" and after the break, picked up the tempo with the upbeat "Bill Bailey."  Husband Garry Bichelmeyer followed with Randy Travis' "Pickin Up Bones," "No It's Not Love" and "You Are My Sunshine" with some close harmony backup by Larry Dean and Annie Little.  Garry came back later to sing a couple of songs that were written by him, "Nodaway River" and "Marie" as well as "Long Black Train" and "Catch A Falling Star."  Annie Little was in fine voice as well tonight, taking her turn with "I Must Have Been Out Of My MInd," "I Love Your Automobile," "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," "He Thinks I Still Care" and "Remember Me."   Lou Moore showed off his stuff on drums as he played "Wipe Out" for the crowd and Gordon Riley showed some fancy licks as he led the band on "Maggie" and "Gordon's Boogie #2."

We always enjoy seeing and hearing our friend Larry Dean pick and sing.  He knows so many songs, it's always a surprise and an education when he comes up with one that's new to us.  Tonight it was an old motorcycle song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" followed by Ricky Skaggs' "Highway 40 Blues," "I Loved Them All," "Faded Love," Merle Haggard's "I'll Break Out Again Tonight," "Since I Met You Baby," the Belamy Brothers' "He's An Old Hippie," Travis Tritt's "Where Corn Don't Grow" and "Folsom Prison Blues."  We have always been curious about Larry's background, the great talent he seems to possess and his musicial ambitions.  We asked him to stay around a few minutes after the session and visit with us.

Larry told us he was born February 12, 1941 in Bois D' Arc, Mo, a small community about 10 miles west of Springfield, in the Ozarks.  His mother played piano and he enjoyed that, but one day his uncle came over with his guitar, played it for them and Larry was fascinated from that day forward. Larry got his own guitar at age 12, learned to play it but eventually broke it.  He acquired another at about 18 years of age and has been playing, on and off, ever since.  "I didn't get too serious about my music until I retired about 6 years ago," Larry told us, "then things kind of took off!"  Larry went on to explain that he worked in the construction business, installing plate glass, mirrors and the like for 35 years and he and wife Rosella (we all know her as Rosie) raised two children, a boy and a girl, and after living in many different parts of the metro area through the years, have now settled in DeSoto, Kansas, a small community just west of Kansas City.  We remarked to Larry that we had noticed how he has committed so many songs to memory and never seems to refer to music or lyrics as many artists do.  "Actually," Larry told us, "looking at words on a piece of paper tends to distract me.  I have to know the song, both the lyrics and music as a single unit, in order to perform it right.  Right now, I have probably 400 songs committed to memory and the list grows almost daily.  I started memorizing songs even before I took music seriously; lyrics always fascinated me.  And...by the way, he chuckled, "Dean's not my last name.  It's a stage name and really my middle name.  People would misspell "Inman" or forget it, so I decided to use "Dean" instead.  Larry works on his music at a home studio, has released 4 CD's and is busy on a 5th one, a gospel album, as this is being written.  But that's just the beginning of Larry's talents and abilities.  He also builds and repairs guitars and is a world-class woodcarver to boot, his creations featured at collectorscovey.com (use this handy link to view some of his work:  http://www.collectorscovey.com/larryinman.html ).  These days Larry and his wife travel to many of the music festivals throughout the 4 state area and he appears at many of the local oprys as well.  He will be appearing at Annie's Country Jubilee August 18th and at Jrs. Hitchin Post Opry  September 15th and of course, every Tuesday Night at the BK Lounge.  We think Larry is a great talent and we're sure you will too!  (Below) Larry Dean (Inman)

 

 

YAHOO LAUNCHES NEW LYRICS SITE
Looking for lyrics for that favorite song?  Having trouble navagating through all that mess at conventional lyric sites?  Yahoo announces their new lyrics site with search engine.  Give it a try by using this link: http://music.yahoo.com/lyrics

THIS SATURDAY NIGHT IT'S MIKE & MARTY AT MIDDLE CREEK

We decided at the very last minute to head down to Louisburg and catch the Memorial Day Show at the Middle Creek Opry.  Hard to believe but looking at our files, it was June 17th of last year since we were last here. Emcee Elijah Chastain opened the festivities singing "Little Liza Jane" and "Crazy Arms" and hitting some seriously great licks on that lead guitar before introducting Jamie Ogle who used her awesome vocal talents on Highway 101's "Bing Bang Boom," "I'm Trying To Hate You Right Out Of My Mind" and later Leann Rimes' "Blue" and Michael Martin Murphy's "What's The Glory In Living." What a talent! Gary Brown played some great fiddle music here as well tonight as did Bob DeMoss on steel guitar and A.J. Cronk kept the rhythm going on bass.  The spotlight went to Angie Larson next and husband Bill Larson sat in at drums tonight (regular drummer Brad Meadows had some serious illnesses in his family; our thoughts and prayers go out to both him and his family) as she sang "Your Nobody Called Today," "I'm Ready For The Times To Get Better" and two songs that Angie wrote herself: "I Found Love At It's Best" and "I'm Not Through Loving You Yet."  Great stuff! 

Tonight's guest artists were none other than Marty Smith and Mike O'Roark.  Luckily, they're two of our favorites and we've seen them so much lately they probably think we're stalkers!  We always enjoy hearing Marty's great voice pound out those classic country songs and tonight he did a super job with "Heart Aches By The Number," "Don't Worry 'Bout Me," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Houston," "Waltz Across Texas," "This Time You Gave Me A Mountain" and the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya."  It doesn't get much better than this!!  We were happy to see our friend Mike O'Roark brought his dad along tonight.  Mike remarked that his dad had taught him a lot of life's lessons (NEVER fry bacon when you're naked, NEVER play leapfrog with a unicorn, etc.).  As well as holding the audience in stitches with his rapid-fire one-liners, Mike sang and picked "I'll Go Steppin' Too," "Nine Pound Hammer," "Love Me Tonight," "Cold Cold Heart" and the Johnny Horton classic "Battle Of New Orleans" in his own, unique style.  Mike appears somewhere in the metro area almost weekly and has some great CDs available as well.  Check out his website at: http://www.mikeoroark.com

Just before intermission, there was a touching tribute to family members and friends of band members and staff who had left us this past year and a clip shown of the Diamond Rio song "In God We Still Trust."  The song wasn't played over the airwaves as it was deemed "politically incorrect."  We don't feel like that and we're certain you don't either.  Here's a handy link for those of you who would like to give it a listen: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DiYgpPB1kwU.  Elijah closed the show with a song his father wrote: "Homesick For Heaven" and two other gospel numbers, "Go Rest High On That Mountain: and "Walking In Jerusalem."  Below:  Marty Smith & Mike O'Roark

 

 

 

A GREAT EVENING AT DIRKS WITH MIKE O'ROARK AND FRIENDS

Usually we don't have many Wednesday evenings free due to other commitments, but we had been wanting to attend one of these sessions we had heard so much about, for sometime now and when this opportunity arose, we jumped at it. We didn't tell our friend, Mike O'Roark we were heading up that way and surprise him we did!  Dirks is a neighborhood bar and grill located just south of the intersection of I-29 and Barry Rd. on NW Prairie View Rd.  We arrived around 7:30, only to find some friends from the BK Lounge were already there, so we settled in with them, ordered the Wednesday special (a GREAT strip steak, potato and big salad for less than ten bucks!) and Mike came over to explain that he and band members Chris Brough on lead guitar, C. J. Sanders on bass and Donn Weisser on drums would entertain from 8-9 o'clock and then it would be an open mike.  We were amazed at 22 year old Chris Brough's outstanding lead guitar work as Mike started the evening off with "Roll On Buddy," "Try Me One More Time," "Blue Ridge Mountain Home," "Some Days Are Diamonds" and the Billy Joe Shaver written, John Anderson recorded "I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Some Day."  We found out later that Chris' parents, Roger & Sondra Brough, are prominent artists in this area as well and all three along with drummer Randy Burton have a band called the Yard Dogs.  Mike and crew continued the evening with "T For Texas," Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry 'Bout Me," "Free Born Man," Jimmy Rogers' "Waiting For A Train," "My Window Faces The South," Vern Gosdin's "Do You Believe Me Now," "Mule Skinner Blues," Rhonda Vincent's "Just Someone I Used To Know" and wrapped things up on the banjo and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."

The "open mike" segment began with talented Jerry Smith singing and picking "Cowboy's Lament," "A Pirate Looks At 40," "Columbus Stockade Blues," "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and "I'll Fly Away."  Our BK Lounge friend, Annie Little was next and she did great on "Somewhere Between," "Just In Case You Ever Change Your Mind," "Let Me Be There" and in recognition of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, "You're A Grand Old Flag."  Terry O' Brien proved to be quite a talent as well singing crowd favorites such as Jim Croche's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," Neil Diamond's "I Am...I Said," a 50's medley with wife Jennifer who did such a wonderful job herself on Martina McBride's "A Broken Wing."  Next was a blues entree, "Stormy Monday" and "Misty" as they were joined by saxophone artist Frank Stinson.  Roger & Sondra Brough along with son Chris, drummer Randy Burton and C.J. Sanders showed they have a boatload of talent between them on numbers such as "Here Comes The Sun," "Love Is A Rose," "Another Saturday Night" and "Turtle Don't You Cross That Road."  Alan White was next with all original material....songs he had written himself...someone needs to get hold of this young man and point him in the right direction.  He has some excellent material here and is quite a musician. We had a BLAST here tonight!  You can't beat great entertainment, delicious food and outstanding service.  Make it out to Dirks some Wednesday night and catch Mike O'Roark and friends.  You'll be glad you did. Below:  Chris Brough, Mike O'Roark and C. J. Sanders on stage at Dirk's

 

  

SOME GREAT MUSIC HERE TONIGHT AT THE B.K.

As usual, we arrived a little late at the Burger King Jam (fondly known as the BK Lounge to musicians and patrons alike), but just in time to catch David Purcell (he sends his regards to Louie Thompson and the folks up at the Gospel Opry in St. Joe) sing the whimiscal "Tennessee Birdwalk," George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," "You're A Once In A Lifetime Thing" and Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone."  Mary Bichelmeyer, the group's bass player, used her vocal talents on "Blue Kentucky Girl," "Your Cheating Heart," "Walk The Way The Wind Blows" and "Bill Bailey."  Harmonica virtuoso Don Spain from Leavenworth sat in tonight and played songs for the crowd including "I Saw The Light," "Corina," "I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You" and "You Win Again."  Don has several super harmonica CD's available and you can get more information from his website: www.donspain.com.  Don brought along another outstanding musician from the Leavenworth area, Tim Daniels who plays an excellent fiddle and mandolin.  He spoiled us tonight with fiddle favorites such as "Liberty" and "Ragtime Annie" with some teriffic mandolin picking on "Wabash Cannonball."  Tim also has CDs available (one had 36 songs on it!) and a website you might be interested in: www.songspinnerrecords.com.  Gordon Riley's guitar mastery was featured with the band tonight on "Banks Of Yhe Ohio," "Honky Tonk" and "Gordon's Boogie 1 & 2" (these last two were written by Gordon) and Lou Moore did his usual fine job on drums; never overwhelming, but you know he's there. 

Annie Little was on hand to do a fine job with "Could I Have This Dance" and "Just In Case" while Garry Bichelmeyer got the crowd pumped with "T For Texas," "Marie" (written by Garry) and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."  We've often remarked that we thought Larry Dean could sing anything and he went a long way towards proving us right tonight with "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water," "Roan Candle," "Drinking Champagne," "Highway 40 Blues" and the Chuck Berry classic "Maybelline."   We had a fun time and the burger was great!  Below: (l to r) David Purcell, Tim Daniels, Gordon Riley & Don Spain