Country Mike Blog

Honky-Tonk Blues

Mike Sudhalter  |  July 28, 2007

I'm not sure Hank Williams had someone like me in mind when he sang "Honky Tonk Blues", but I sure got them.

The closest live country music venue, to my knowledge, is 70 miles away in San Jose, Calif. and it would take a special performer for me to make the trip to Rodeo Club. The only time I've been there was for a Rhett Akins/Jamey Johnson show in April 2006.

I wish there was a club closer that played live country music. By missing shows there, I don't get to see a lot of country's up and comers.

The CMA Festival may have been the highlight of my year, but my concert record since then has been atrocious. One show - Collin Raye at the county fair. Then, on Wednesday I'm going to see Blake Shelton at another county fair.

The only other thing on the horizon is a country music festival in Sacramento headlined by Gary Allan on Sept. 9 - Country in the Park.

It's difficult to believe that where I live, the Central Valley, which has country roots dating back to the early part of the century, doesn't have a bigger presence when it comes to country music.

Instead of attending a Luke Bryan concert at the Rodeo Club on Friday and making the 140-mile roundtrip, I watched La Bamba, a movie I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Sometimes, I complain about country straying from its roots, but the film showed me just how much rock has strayed since the golden era of Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and Elvis to the modern day "noise". Many people have said the 50's rock would be classified as country if it was released today, and I agree.

After watching the movie, I read through The Encyclopedia of Country Music, a reference book compiled by the staff at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It's interesting to read all of the biographies even if I've read them before.

Well, this for everyone else like me that has the Honky-Tonk Blues.