Country Mike Blog

A night with Double-D @ Dosey Doe's

Mike Sudhalter  |  December 9, 2009

Fans at Dosey Doe's in The Woodlands
got a chance to learn more about Deryl Dodd
and his music on Tuesday night

Deryl Dodd. The Man. The Music. The legend - in his home state of Texas. While his talent may have gone unfairly unrecognized in Nashville, Dodd's at home in Texas, as evidenced by the song, "Things Are Fixin' To Get Real Good."

It's all about doing things his way. He's got a great sound, and Texans recognize that. He's also an inspiration to younger Texas Music artists - showing them that Nashville is an attainable goal. "Real Life, Real Music" series.

It's fitting that Dodd was chosen for the coffee house (housed in a 150-year-old barn that was moved from Kentucky to Texas), and its "Real Life, Real Music" series.

Dodd is a guy who lived through the ups and downs of the music business.

He played a 90-minute long acoustic set, setting next to the RLRM series MC, Kyle Hutton, a talented singer-songwriter who lives in the area.

"There's not a whole lot of difference," Dodd said. "Between a honky-tonk singer and a three-year old," as he launched into his first song.

"Thing Are Fixing To Get Real Good" - recorded on his Live At Billy Bob's Texas Album - was one of the highlights of the show. It's a great song that talks about Dodd's musical journey, from trying to make it in Nashville to enjoying himself and playing his music - independently - in the Lone Star State.

On his latest album, for Fort Worth-based Smith Music Group, Dodd recorded a cover of Buck Owens' "Together Again." He was invited to the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, Calif. to play the song - a huge honor for him.

Dodd put his own spin on the classic, playing it acoustically at the show.

Dodd spoke about his musical upbringing - he grew up with two grandfathers who were Pentecostal preachers and farmers. He was influenced by gospel music - something that's still evident in his current tunes, as well as legends like Elvis Presley and George Jones.

He played guitar for Martina McBride and Tracy Lawrence before recording three albums. His biggest Nashville hits were "That's How I Got To Memphis" and "A Bitter End." The former was written by Tom T. Hall.

Dodd overcame illness that nearly ended his career to become a successful artist in his home state.

Dodd and Hutton each performed a song about giving a little extra - something that's fitting given the holiday season. Dodd did "Don't Take Much (To Give A Little)" off his latest album, and Hutton performed "Extra Mile" - a song he co-wrote with Trent Willmon.

The latter was about how there's not much traffic on the extra mile, the road less traveled. A powerful message.

The chatter was great, because the audience got to learn more about Dodd. It would have been nice to hear full versions of his songs, but the entire package of learning about him and hearing old songs was well worth it.

He performed "She'll Have You Back" - a song that Tim McGraw recorded on his "A Place In The Sun" album 10 years ago.

One of the highlights of the show was "One Ride In Vegas," a song from Dodd's debut album that the late, great Chris LeDoux recorded.

He wrote it, comparing the travels of music artists and rodeo cowboys - "the parallels and perils" - as he put it. He said the performance was fitting given that it's National Finals Rodeo (NFR) week in Las Vegas.

The acoustic version is great, but as I mentioned to Dodd after the show - the fiddle in that tune was absolutely amazing. You miss that in the acoustic version, but it's still one of the top rodeo songs of the 1990's.

Dodd also performed a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" - in his own unique style. It was a surprise because I wasn't aware that he had covered the song.

He then did a medley of "Memphis," "Bitter End" and a fan favorite for years - "New Tony Lamas."

This performance couldn't have been more "real."