Country Mike Blog

Rodeo Time in Oakdale

Mike Sudhalter  |  April 11, 2008

There's few bars/saloons in California as cool as the H-B Saloon in downtown Oakdale, California. I didn't know about the place until I heard them mention it on KAT Country 103, Modesto, CA. So, I saddled up my Honda and traveled east.

There was a large Thursday night crowd because the annual Oakdale Rodeo takes place on Saturday and Sunday. I'd never been to a bar in California that makes you feel like you're in Nashville or Texas.

Every song that came in the electronic jukebox, everyone was singing along and knew all the words. It didn't matter if it was Hank Jr's "Family Tradition", during which High-Five's were exchanged, or a random single released by Jamie O'Neal.

Another random thought, I was listening to a great populist song by Travis Tritt, "Lord Have Mercy On The Workin' Man." Tritt calls out politicians as being greedy in the 1992 song. Now, he's a Republican. This Georgia boy has surely sold out.