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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Ben Schane – Hey Faye (Buy, Dang It)

Ben Schane is not a newcomer to HossTheBoss.com. Thanks to our faithful friend Travis Hopper — who used to work with Schane’s father — we were playing some of his demo acoustic stuff a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, Ben is a relative new comer to the “rest” of the Texas music scene, having only recently finished his debut CD. This guy from College Station is getting a big boost from the likes of Britt Lloyd (who produced the CD), and I look for Schane to be gettin’ great gigs and radio airplay all across Texas in the coming days. When he gets big, I hope ya’ll will remember where you heard this guy first! Hey Faye is but one of the very well done tracks on the album.

Brittany  Reilly – Good Ole’ Country Sound (Buy, Dang It)

It always makes me feel good to hear people in their teens and 20’s paying homage to the sound of traditional country music, so, when this young woman from the mountains of North Carolina sent me this song, I got a boost in my spirit. While you’re checking out Brittany and her cool new band, make sure you take note of her baking and catering service, too. I don’t think it’s fully up-and-running yet — and when it it, it likely won’t be of much practical use to people not in her neck of the woods — but, man that picture of what looks to be some good ole’ southern fried chicken sure does look delicious!

John Lefebvre – Independence Day (Buy, Dang It)

I don’t want to even try to tell this guy’s story in a 100 word blurb. You gotta check him out for yourself. The website for his newest album  (www.psalngs.com) tells his story, and it’s a hell of a story. This guy is, definitely, a Hoss kind of rebel.

Mystr TreeFrog – My Babe’s A Mechanic (Buy, Dang It)

Mystr TreeFrog is my poetically rebelious and intelligently insane new friend from Balitmore. Last month, I picked a song called “WalkerDAWG” from his new CD “Psychodelic Hound Dawg” for the contest. But you bastards didn’t vote for it enough, and this dude’s music is so freakishly cool that it NEEDS to be heard more. So, I’m forcing him on you again this month. This song is probably about as sentimental as the guy gets, and it’s a nice little tribute to his apparently freakishly cool babe and to all freakishly cool people everywhere.

Neil Russell – Mud (Buy, Dang It)

Add Neil Russell to HossTheBoss.com’s ever-growing list of people doing some amazingly great country music out of Tuscon, Arizona. (Although, as a Texan, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Neil’s MySpace page says he’s originally from the great little city of Katy, Texas.)  Earlier this year we heard from Gary Bonnett and then The Wyatts, and now Neil has been gracious enough to look us up and send us this song, which appears to be getting a good deal of attention from radio stations and websites all over. It’s a pretty funny little tune, and very solidly produced if you ask me. I’m really excited about the prospects for this guy. Is Tuscon making a quiet little run for the title of Next Nashville? Sure seems like it from here!  So far, everyone we at HossTheBoss.com has heard from those parts has been as solid as they come.

Rick Ryman – Leg Man (Buy, Dang It)

Speaking of Nashville, Rick Ryman moved there from his home state of Ohio a few years back and entered into the Music City fray with his own brand of country. This song is the title track of his first CD, of which I picked his very cool cover of “I’m a Believer” for a previous edition of this contest. After that song had such a good showing — and because I think Rick is just a cool dude overall — I invited him to be a guest DJ in September, and he introduced us to some great new talent, including Shelby Downing who made the Top 5 and Amanda Nagurney who finished 6th. Rick is very much a Leg Man, and a typical, fun-loving, hard-working guy. But then anyone who has been paying close attention to HossTheBoss.com for the past few months already knows that!

Ron Lutrick – Waiting on the Man (Buy, Dang It)

A lot of people in coming months are probably going to be asking themselves, “Man, where has this guy Ron Lutrick been all my life.” Ron was reared in Louisiana and cut his teeth on state at the legendary “Louisiana Hayride Show,” before spending the next ump-teen years paying his dues on the country music scene, but mostly underneath the national radar. Well, now, he’s finally done put together an awesome new CD that seems destined to be a big national hit. (At least if there’s any justice in the music world, and we all know that’s very questionable.) This is the title track of the new album, and if its power doesn’t give you goosebumps, you need to open your ears up and listen again, dang it!

Sabrina Shaheen – In My Life (Buy, Dang It)

This woman from Michigan is serious about music. She’s one of only three singers we’ve featured in this contest who have formal music training. (Her’s comes at, among other places, the University of Michigan and the Rochester, Michigan Conservatory of Music.) Her music is as meticulously crafted as you’re going to find. Her website describes her newest album “Love Is” a mesh of “dance and ethereal pop, simultaneously recalling Madonna and Enya.” I like her quote about the new CD, “The more self-confident I’ve become, the more I wanted to get into various pop styles; some with a dance beat, some with a middle eastern sound. To me, it all blends together into my own style,” she says.  I’m flattered that someone like her would include our site on her list of stations to get her seriously inspirational music. (If you like Steve Carlson’s stuff, I think Sabrina is right up your alley, too.)

The Casey Thompson Band – My Wife Is The Only One That Knows (Buy, Dang It)

Casey is from Ft. Worth, and he’s trying his best to get the word out about his new CD that I say is very noteworthy in a lot of respects but, particularly, its overall intelligence and honesty. While he has many songs on the CD that are not nearly as dark as this one, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to showcase a song like this one in the contest. This song is a rare bit of honesty that I wish more politicians and celebrities could bring themselves to exhibit. (As I type this, I’m seeing news reports about David Letterman recently telling his audience that he’s been having affairs with people who work  on his show. He never would have admitted that, I’m sure, if the people hadn’t started threatening blackmail. Geez!)

Todd Duffley – My Last Plea (Buy, Dang It)

Well, given that this is about marital issues, I figured it would be a good compliment to Casey Thompson’s song. But, I’m sorry to report, that Todd says this song is about his “ex-wife.” So apparently it didn’t work as he’d hoped.

See My Previous Picks

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009