August 2021 – Thingery Previews Postviews & Music

“Rippin'”, Tony Hogrefe with Tim & Cinda 8/29/21, Innspiration Vines & Wines, Linn Grove, IA

Billy Don Burns Set 3 6/20/21 with some assistance

I take notes when I’m recording stuff, mainly for the purpose of labeling the tracks on the recording, and I sometimes get the feeling that it looks a little nerdy to be doing that. Jon Dee Graham expressed amazement over that one time.

That said, one night when Billy Don Burns was playing at Byron’s, by the third set he was pretty much on auto-pilot due to liberal imbibing, and I had realized that he probably couldn’t remember which songs he’d done and which songs he hadn’t done, particularly the latter. So I used my phone, accessed my own archives with their nice notes and made a list for him.

That turned out to be reinforcement for my even being there, since I had chosen between my girlfriend’s performance in another town (she plays a cajón in a duo) and BDB, and I wasn’t sure I’d figured that out right, but it turned out I had a reason to be there (to write this).

He seemed to appreciate that and started out with Keith Whitley Blue, which I had suggested, it being one of my favorite songs of his:

Keith Whitley Blue, It Would Kill Mama, I Don’t Have A Reason To Go To California Anymore, Outskirts of Desperate

That’s what nerdy stuff is all about, man. Every once in a while, somebody needs the information.

Great Moments At Byron’s, Pomeroy, “It’s My Own Fault”, Dust Devil Choir, 7/21/19

This is one of our earliest recordings from Byron’s, and unfortunately, yours truly had failed to anticipate what might happen if some guitar player overpowered our little recorder and brought the house to its feet.

The Amazing Guitar solo at the end is by Jake Koivisto, originally from Galva, Iowa.

It’s My Own Fault

Preview: “Creatures Of Habit”, Kevin Boehnke Trio, Byron’s Bar, Pomeroy, IA 8/22/21

this is necessarily an mp3; please stand by for the full show as .wav files in the near future.

These guys have, um, really fleshed out this number.

Boehnk Trio — Kevin Boehnke, Chris Jensen, Michael Gedden

Tony Hogrefe Invents Farm Rock

We stole this photo from Sheila Thomsen at Innspiration Vines And Wines

Tony Hogrefe, Wall Lake, Iowa, it would appear, has invented a new music genre: Farm Rock. Not that he isn’t good at the country standards that he covers but he has at least ten originals, all of which are about farming (or not-many are quite philosophical). Yes, he has one about a century old house that he claims is not about farming, but we all know where that house is.

Inspired by a gig with his grandfather at Albert City decades ago, he took the stage at the Threshermen And Collectors Show there for the (third?) time this summer (2021) and brought an entourage of family and friends, including the duo of Tim And Cinda.

Here are two numbers from that show. We like the ambient outdoor sounds of the Threshermen event and yours truly thought the barn swallows that you hear in the background added some Threshermen-y-ness to the occasion:

Grain Cart Operator

Rippin’

Five days later, it was on to Linn Grove, to Innspiration Vines And Wines, where he did a similar set indoors to an appreciative room. That was just hours ago and we have the entire night to process yet, but here’s one from indoors:

Iowa Sky

Tim And Cinda are slated for Innspiration Vines And Wines August 29, and a little bird tells us that Tony will probably re-appear with them at that time. But you didn’t hear it here, we’re just the archivist. Smile.

The Albert City show is online now at our archive, at https://archive.org/details/2021-08-15-28

The photo at that page is used without permission and we hope to rectify that soon.