HossTheBoss.com

These are all the songs I’ve chosen for this month’s contest. I know thousands of independent musicians who are deserving of having their songs in this dang deal. So narrowing my picks down to just a few is always the hardest part of my month. Oh well. Such is life.

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Alan Barrington – Looking for a Novel (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

Alan sent me his very cool CD a couple of years ago, and I promptly lost it in a move. Dang! Well, I finally came across it again a few days ago, and I’m very happy to put this guy in our little contest. If you appreciate inspiring, intelligent lyrics (as I do), you won’t be disappointed in this song — or in Alan’s entire CD. You’ve probably never heard of him, unfortunately, but Alan is definitely among the best of the American song writers I know about these days.

Audry Auld Mezera – We Cry (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

Well,  the last line I just wrote about Alan Barrington applies to Audry Auld Mezera, too. Audry’s stuff is as intelligently poetic as music gets, and I was very happy to see her song “Butter Fly Effect” do fairly well in a previous edition of this contest. I still haven’t given you a taste of Audry’s tough, rebelious side in the contes yet, but that’s definitely coming. For now, here’s another of her beautiful, touching, and even inspirational, songs about life.

Billy Jones – My Hometown (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

This guy from North Little Rock Arkansas is my new blues hero! I tried with his song, “Mary My Mother-in-Law” in the last contest, but you people didn’t vote for it very much. I’m guessing it was just too weird a song for you. This one should do the trick, dang it! At least, if you know what’s good for you, it will.

Bo Porter – I Didn’t See That Coming (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

My new assistant, Niece Brittinee (her own HossTheBoss.com section coming soon) found this guy from Austin on MySpace, and I’m glad she did. Asleep at the Wheel with a bluesy twist. I love it!

Britt Lloyd – Change to Grow (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 2

Britt Lloyd lives in College Station and remains one of the hardest working guys on the Texas music scene. A couple of years ago, after working for months and months on his first CD called Unlableled, he told me that he already had enough new songs written for at least one more full length album. I told him I couldn’t wait! And, this new one is even more intelligent and mature than the first. This is a song that we can all learn from, and there are several more just like that on Ink.

Byrd & Street – Kisses and Conversation (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

This cool little duo from Austin hasn’t b een on the station in a while. Time to correct that little oversite!

Charlie Bishop – Tastes Like Chicken (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

Checking out Charlie Bishop’s website, I see a nice reference to another Texas internet radio station, dang it! Maybe if you guys vote for his dang song — and buy his dang CD — he’ll start singin’ the same dang tune about HossTheboss.com. At any rate, we all need to support this guy. He’s doing some great music, and I really like the sound of his latest CD. Not sure if I picked the best song off it, but I think this one is pretty funny.

Eli Young – Radio Waves (Buy, Dang It)

These guys are among the biggest names in music — all across America these day. Pretty cool getting a song like this from a band like that!

John Riley Rock Show – Mona Lisa  (Buy, Dang It)

These boys from Oklahoma have made quite a splash on the “red dirt” music scene over the last couple of years. This song is a single release off their first CD, but the guys are working hard on a “sophomore” CD, coming soon. I’m excited about that. In the meantime, let’s keep pushing them to the top. Oklahoma has a pretty good track record for producing bands, you know!

Josh Boyles – Drunk Enough to Dance (Buy, Dang It)

Josh is a friend of Roger Cowan, who did very well in the April edition of this contest. Roger talked Josh into sending us some of his stuff, and I’m glad he did. It seems they  have a similar sense of humor — and Hoss definitely digs that.

JR Castillo – Dancehall Romance (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

JR is one of the All Stars who lives in the Corpus Christi area, and, because my niece Brittinee thinks he’s cute, I decided to bring him back to the contest this month. You can’t hardly ever go wrong with a JR Castillo song, though, even if you’re like me and don’t necessarily think of him as being cute. The dude definitely knows how to bring a good time to a dance hall, and his CD Diablo is as well produced as anything you’ll hear this year. This is Brittinee’s favorite song on the CD, so that’s why we’re playing it. Ya’ll go vote for it, dang it!

KC Beck – Seventeen (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

KC Beck’s story is very cool. After serving officially in the military in Iraq, this guy decided to sign up for another round of high-paying (ie very dangerous) contractor duty. He did this precisely so he could have enough money to pay for his dream of recording a CD. Beck spent his brief periods of R&R over the last couple of years in Nashville recording this CD, and now it’s all but finished. This is the second song from the CD we’ve features in the contest, and it just happens to be one that Beck says Kenny Chesney decided not to record. “His loss,” Beck says, and I agree. This guy is planning to return home permantely in the very near future and start to work on promoting what is probably the first CD ever recorded entirely during an American soldier’s time in Iraq. Remeber where you’re hearing it first, and, when it’s finally on the market, make sure you buy the dang thing!

Kentucky Blue Collar Band – Missin’ You (Buy, Dang It)

This is from the KBCB’s website, and it’s the main reason I picked them for this contest: “A lot of today’s music is just that, music. It seems as though the story line in a lot of our generation’s songs have been pushed back for longer Guitar runs and Drum Solos. The Kentucky Blue Collar Band, formed in the foothills of Eastern Kentucky, have found a way to stay true to the music by returning the all important story line while still maintaining the musical quality of today’s popular songs. There cover songs are also done in there own gritty style, so if you want to hear Lynyard or Hank then you will need to look elsewhere. If you want to listen to an original unique sounding band who does not fit into the mold of all the other cookie cutter bands then you need to look no farther.” That’s the spirit, guys! Rock on!

Kevin Fowler — Long Line of Losers (Buy, Dang It)

Niece Brittinee has long been a huge fan of Kevin Fowler, but we’d been having trouble getting in touch with his people to get permission to play his music. Brittinee didn’t have any trouble at all, though. Geez. Glad he’s finally on the station! We needed Britt working with us much sooner, dang it!

Little Texas – Texas 101 (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 2

Yep, these are the same guys that had huge country radio hits in the 90s with “Kick a Little,” “God Bless, Texas” and others.  They took a little bit of a hiatus for a few years, but they’ve been back together since 2007, and now they’re in the middle of a 20 year anniversary tour. I was thrilled that these guys sent their new music to me unsolicited! (It’s definitely a different sound!) That just proves that, despite their successes over the years, they’ve never really sold out to the corporate music BS.

Lost Immigrants – Let’s Drive (Buy, Dang It)

These guys had some success in our contest when Tony Kinsel picked them a few months ago. So, when Niece Brittinee found them on MySpace and started getting all googlie eyed over them, I decided to throw them back in this month. Some groovy tunes, definitely. This one will probably make a lot of ladies a little nuts.

Randy Brown – This Guitar’s For Sale (Buy, Dang It)

Randy Brown from Ft. Worth is another of Niece Brittinee’s finds on MySpace. And, apparently Brittinee isn’t the only one who likes him: the Academy of Texas Music named him the 2008 Male Vocalist of the Year. This song shows off his rich, powerful voice, of course. But it’s also very timely. Why not click the link above to buy this dang song (and songs from other people on the show) to help change that.

Rocky Benton – Call Your Mama (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 2

Rocky is a South Texas blues legend! So how could I not choose this perfect Mother’s Day song for this month’s contest? (Note: a few days into the first week of this contest, Rocky passed away. Very sad day for anyone involved with music in South Texas. You’ll always have a home on HossTheBoss.com, Rocky!)

Sara Hickman – Learn You like a Book  (Buy, Dang It)

Sarah Hickman from Austin had a good amount of success in the February edition of this contest, with a funny little diddy called “Are We Ever Gonna Have Sex Again.” I said at the time, that I was a little worried about picking that song because people might assume that’s representative of all her work. Well… it’s not! This woman is much more than just silly with her music.  I hope this song proves that.

Tim Sanders – New Blue (Buy, Dang It)
Booted from the contest after Week 1

Like Alan Barrington above, Tim sent me his CD many moons ago, but I’ve had it misplaced for quite some time. Glad I finally found it again. This guy from Landsdowne, Virgina rocks. I really hope ya’ll will support this guy in the contest. The world needs more independent musicians of this caliber.

See My Previous Picks

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

April 2009