I’m Tony, and these are my January picks….

Vote Now!

Show Schedule | Contest Rules | The Awards

Brazos Brothers Band–Being Friends  (Buy, Dang It)

(Booted from the contest after Week 2)

• Brazos Brothers Band is from Weatherford & Fort Worth, Texas, playing what they call River Bottom Rockin’ Blues Music. They’re a 4 man group consisting of Rocky Randall on lead guitar, Jack Stephenson on rhythm guitar, Gene Scott on bass, and Steve Hardin on drums, with the 3 guitar players sharing vocals. All 4 members of the group are my age, (that is 50+), and that’s one of the reasons I chose them for this contest. They’ve been playing together off and on since the ’70’s. They’ve got 2 cds out, both available through Hoss’s store link to iTunes or CDBaby, 1999’s Harmony Road, from which I’ve chosen their contest entry “Being Friends”, and 2007’s release “Chump Change”. They’ve spent the last few years doing gigs in the Fort Worth/Granbury area of Texas, but are always looking for new places to play, ( perhaps Corpus Christi, Hoss?)….

Buster Jiggs–Sweet Medication (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Buster Jiggs is from Hondo, Texas, playing Texas Country & Rock Music. They’re a 4 person group, with Scott Muennink on drums, Kristin Muennink on guitar & lead vocals, Heath Childs on lead guitar & harmony vocals, and Cody Scherer on bass. Buster Jiggs was created by Scott and his wife Kristin, and Cody Scherer,  in Taft, Texas in 1999. Their first album, self-titled, was produced by  David Abeyta and Cody Braun (of Reckless Kelly). Their 2nd release was an EP called Miserably Happy,  from which I’ve chosen the song “Sweet Medication” for their entry in this contest. It was produced by Joseph Deeb from Micky & The Motorcars. Kristin has promised to send me their new cd when it comes out later this month. All 3 of their cds should be available through Hoss’s store link to LoneStarMusic.com…

Chad Hammock Band–Midnight Train (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Chad Hammock Band is from College Station, Texas, playing Texas Country & Southern Rock Music.  They’re a 4 man group, led by Chad Hammock on lead vocals and guitar , “The Reverend” Austin Desgin on lead guitar and harmony vocals,  Jorge “Pablo” Urquidi on bass,  and Miles “Big Sexy” Stone on drums. Chad Hammock began his career in 2003 with a single produced by Hat Creek Records in Waxahachie, Texas, then followed it with an album called Rough Cuts, from which I’ve chosen the song “Midnight Train”, written by Cody Canada of Cross Canadian Ragweed, as his entry in this contest. They are also coming out with a new cd this month, called “Shadows On The Wall”.  Both of these cds should be available through Hoss’s store link to CDBaby.  Lately, the band has been the opening act for groups like No Justice, Stoney LaRue, Wade Bowen, Jack Ingram and Ray Wylie Hubbard, and they expect 2009 to be a breakout year…

Indianola Railroad Co.–Hallettsville (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Indianola Railroad Co. is from Corpus Christi, Texas, playing Texas Country & Southern Rock Music. They’re a 5 man group, led by Scott Smith on guitar and lead vocals, Tom Robertson on lead and baritone guitar, Aaron Stevens on bass, Jaime Valdez on drums, and Todd Praesel on keyboards, fiddle, mandolin and harmonica. They have one cd  out, “Long Road”,  from which I’ve chosen the song “Hallettsville” for their entry in the contest.  It’s available through Hoss’s store link to CDBaby.  I liked every one of the songs on this cd, but I picked this particular one because I thought Scott sounded alot like Robert Earl Keen on it, and you know how much I like Robert Earl Keen!…

Jason Ace–Don’t Kick My Dog (Buy, Dang It)

(Booted from the contest after Week 1)

• Jason Ace is from Atlanta, Texas, playing Country, Country, Country Music, as he puts it on his MySpace page. He requested to join my friend’s page and gave me permission to play his music “if I liked it”.  I did, so he sent me his demo cd, containing 5 songs, which has now been entered into the computerized rotation on HTB. I chose the 1st song on the cd, “Don’t Kick my Dog”, as his entry in the contest. It’s what I call the “perfect Country-Western song”,  just listen to the lyrics. Jason says he’s been shot 3 times, stabbed and cut more times than he can remember, and been in more fights than most pro-boxers, but is settled down now, married, with 3 kids, and doesn’t drink anymore. But, he said, his past hard times sure made for some good country songs….

Jerry Diaz & Hanna’s Reef–Brown-Eyed Girl (Buy, Dang It)

(Booted from contest after Week 1)

• Jerry Diaz & Hanna’s Reef are from Nederland, Texas, playing Tropical & Texas Country Music, or, as they call it on MySpace, “Texas Beach Music”. They’re a 7 man group, led by Jerry Diaz on guitars and vocals, Troy Allan on bass and vocals (Troy was one of my picks in the 1st song-voting contest I participated in last November), Chuck Willingham on drums and vocals,  Bud Byram on percussion,  Mark Mireles on steel drums and vocals, Andy Upchurch on keyboards and vocals, and David Young on keyboards.  They have 2 cds available, Deja View and Reef Madness, a live cd that was recorded at The Ship’s Wheel in Crystal Beach, Texas. I was going to choose their song “Beach People & Beach Music” off the latter cd (since I live in Corpus Christi, where the beach is about the only place to go), but then I heard their live version of Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” and I knew I had to pick that one as their entry in this contest, since it always makes me think of my lovely wife of nearly 35 years,  Peggy,  my “Brown-Eyed Girl”. Their cds are available through Hoss’s store link to their website….

Little Texas–God Blessed Texas (Buy, Dang It)

Finished in 3rd Place for June!

• Little Texas is from Nashville, Tennessee, playing Country & Southern Rock Music. They’re a 4 man group, led by Porter Howell on lead guitar and lead vocals, Dwayne O’Brien on high harmonies, lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, Duane Propes on low harmonies and loud bass, and Del Gray on drums and cymbals. They’ve been a favorite of mine for years, ever since I heard “God Blessed Texas”, which I’ve chosen for their entry in this contest. Hoss had chosen a different song of theirs last month and it didn’t do very well, but I have big hopes for this one, another song that should be nominated as the State Anthem of Texas. If you’d like to see the famous video of Little Texas doing “God Blessed Texas” at The Southfork Ranch in Dallas (from the Dallas TV series) with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders dancing and swimming in star-spangled bikinis, go to my MySpace blog, dated Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 (the date they gave me permission to play their music on HTB). I’ve posted a link there to the video, which is actually on a site called singingfool.com. Little Texas is currently celebrating 20 years of music-making, and they have at least 11 cds available through Hoss’s store link to Amazon.com…

Matt Begley & Bitter Whiskey–Redneck White Trash Family (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Matt Begley & Bitter Whiskey are from Austin, Texas, playing Texas Country & Southern Rock Music. They’re a 4 man group, led by Matt Begley on vocals & guitar,  Rhoades D’ablo on lead guitar, Nathan Ragsdale on bass, and Charlie Lisk on drums. They have one cd available through Hoss’s store link to LoneStarMusic.com called Bearin’ Down.  Last month I chose their song “Corpus By The Sea”, and, while it made it to the 3rd week of voting, it couldn’t make it into the top ten. This month, I’ve chosen their song “Redneck, White Trash Family” as their contest entry.  I made that decision after hearing Matt rhyme “Wal-Mart’s automotive section” with “gangrene infection”.  Listen closely to the lyrics of this song, they’re hilarious. By the way, my son, “Draystin” is trying to set up a gig in Corpus Christi for Matt Begley, so stay tuned to HTB for details…

Skunkweed–Open Minded Redneck  (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Skunkweed is from San Antonio, Texas, playing Texas Country, Rock & Comedy Music. They’re a 4 man group, led by Jay Brown on vocals, guitars and harmonica,  Leon Waddy on keyboards, guitar and vocals, Dave James on bass, and James Cervantes on drums. This is another group recommended to me by my son, Joshua. I first heard them last summer on MySpace, asked for permission to play their music on HTB, and they were all for it. They have 2 cds available through Hoss’s store link to their website, (and already in the HTB computer), The History of the Beer Bong, and Chunky Butt Funky, from which I’ve chosen the song “Open Minded Redneck” as their contest entry. Listen closely to the lyrics on this one, as well….

Texas Red Legs–Burnin’ Down 35 (Buy, Dang It)

Booted from the contest after week 2

• Texas Red Legs are from Dallas, Texas, playing  Southern Rock, Folk Rock & Garage Music. They’re a 4 man group, led by Richard Paul Davis, (formerly of Richard & The Pallbearers), on guitars and vocals, Greg Ramirez on lead guitar, Shaggy J. Kerr on bass, and Tomy Lee Dudley on drums (although I just heard that Tomy has now left the group). They have 1 cd available through Hoss’s store link to CDBaby called Rattlesnake Inn, from which I’ve chosen the song “Burnin’ Down 35″ as their contest entry this month..  Critics, describing the Texas Red Legs, say they’re what you get when you “combine the sonic mayhem of The Pixies, the lyricism and earth-formed-soul of The Band, and the tonal and free energy of the Grateful Dead.” OK. This year, the Texas Red Legs have opened for Little Texas at a concert in Nashville (wherever that is), and have also opened for groups like The Lost Immigrants and Darryl Lee Rush…

About Me:

I got started in broadcasting during my stint as a Signalman in the U.S. Navy during the Viet Nam era, working part-time as a DJ and newsman for a ship-board Armed Forces Radio & TV station on the USS Truckee out of Norfolk, Virginia.  After being honorably discharged in 1979, I became a mainstream radio DJ and News Director in the Corpus Christi area for over 25 years on 9 different stations, including all 3 of the country-western ones. During that time I received 4 news broadcasting awards, 1 from the Associated Press & 3 from United Press International. I spent the last 5 years of my “career” on KFTX in Corpus Christi, constantly fighting with the program director over having to play their narrow top-ten Nashville music playlist of songs, when I really wanted to play Texas Music. I was finally shown the door after I played a Christmas-time phone request for Robert Earl Keen’s “Merry Christmas From The Family”, which was definitely not on the station’s playlist, (I really hate that word!). Now that I’m on HossTheBoss I can play what I want. I’m working on getting my own show started on the station sometime in 2009,  so I hope you’re listening….

Check me out on MySpace

My previous Hossey Music Award Picks
November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

April 2009

May 2009