Tony Kinsel’s November 2009 Hossey Award Picks
I’m Tony, and these are my Nov ember picks….
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Donna Loren – It Only Hurts When I Cry (Buy, Dang It)
Donna Loren is from Hawaii playing Pop, Acoustic & Indie Music. She got her start at the age of 5, winning 2nd place in her first amateur singing contest. At the age of 8 she got her first job, singing for Meadow Gold Ice Cream commercials. By 9 she had cut her 1st record “It’s Almost Christmas Time”, and, by the age of 10, was a regular on the Mickey Mouse Club. At 16, she became the 1st and only Dr. Pepper Girl, doing personal appearances, singing on radio commercials, and appearing in magazines and billboard ads for the soft drink for the next 5 years. That break catapulted her to the big screen, where she landed prominent singing/acting roles in the movies Beach Blanket Bingo, Bikini Beach, Muscle Beach Party, Pajama Party & Sergeant Deadhead with Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk. She also had roles on numerous TV shows in the ’60’s, including The Monkees, Batman, The Red Skelton Show, Gomer Pyle, Dr. Kildare and Hollywood Squares, was the featured female vocalist on ABC’s hit weekly series Shindig, and appeared with Bobby Rydell as a regular on the Milton Berle Show. By the end of the ’60’s, Donna had released 20 singles and the soundtrack from Beach Blanket Bingo, from which she had a couple of hits, Wishin’ & Hopin’ and It Only Hurts When I Cry. In 1968, Danny Thomas & Aaron Spelling offered her her own TV show, entitled 2 For Penny, but she decided to turn it down, got married and turned her energies toward raising her family, starting a clothing line, and running 3 boutiques in Hawaii. Now 62 years old, she’s decided to re-start her singing career and has just released a new cd with 11 tracks that she recorded in the ’80’s, with James Burton and the TCB Band (who used to back up Elvis). From that cd, I’ve chosen her new version of It Only Hurts When I Cry for her entry in this month’s contest. Fans of her music will be happy to know that she is now back in the studio, working on a new cd…
Garfunkel & Oates – Present Face (Buy, Dang It)
Garfunkel & Oates are a female singing duo from Los Angeles, California, playing Acoustic & Comedy Music. The pair consists of Riki “Garfunkel” Lindhome and Kate “Oates” Micucci. They have one cd out now called Music Songs, available on ITunes. Last month I chose their song Fuck You for the contest, but it didn’t make it into the top 5, ending at #7. So, I decided to try them again this month, with a new Christmas song entitled Present Face, about the face you have to wear when you get a present you don’t like. If you like their music, you can listen to their entire cd by clicking on garfunkelandoates.com, where you can also download 3 of their songs for free, Sex With Ducks, Worst Song Medley and their contest entry Present Face…
Haden Burchard Band – Sittin’ At A Bar (Buy, Dang It)
Haden Burchard Band is from Lubbock, Texas, playing Texas Country, Southern Rock & Crunk Music. They’re a 4 man group, led by Haden Burchard on lead vocals & rhythm guitar, Hayden Faram on bass guitar & harmony vocals, Travis Maret on drums & harmony vocals, and Bryan Pacheco on lead guitar. Haden Burchard ran across me on MySpace and sent me a friend request, so I asked him if I could play their music on HTB, and he sent me 3 of their songs by e-mail, from which I chose Sittin’ At a Bar for their entry in this contest. By the way, they’ll be appearing Nov. 7th at the Tequila Jungle in Lubbock with Josh Abbott, if you’re in the neighborhood…
Hillbilly Surfer Band – Mad South (Buy, Dang It)
Dropped After Week 1
HillBilly Surfer Band is from Daytona Beach, Florida, playing Southern Rock, Rock, & Rockabilly Music. They’re a 3 man band composed of Jim Brantley, Brian Alexon and Mike Beckley. I first got permission to play the HillBilly Surfers well over a year ago, before we did the first of the Hossey Music Awards Shows last November, and I’ve been meaning to put them in a contest ever since. Back then, they sent me the first single from their debut cd, Last Rebel Standing, a song called Mad South, so I’m choosing that for their contest entry this month, finally…
KJ Ferguson – Talk Show (Buy, Dang It)
Dropped after Week 1
KJ Ferguson is from San Antonio, Texas, playing Texas Country, Rockabilly & Americana Music. Born in Alabama, KJ was raised on old style Country Music like Hank Sr., Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. Although nobody in his family played a musical instrument, KJ said they all sang better than he did, so he learned how to play the guitar to provide his “foundation in music”. While KJ may be a traditional singer, he’s producing music with a contemporary edge. He sent me 6 of his songs to add to the HTB lineup and I was considering several of them for this contest, like Hello Beer, and The Devil Went West To Texas, but I ended up choosing a funny C/W song called Talk Show for his entry this month. For more information about KJ and his music, visit his website at www.kjferguson.com. He also has 2 cds for sale on ITunes and Amazon.com…
Little Johnny Trailer Trash -They Sang Country To Me (Buy, Dang It)
Little Johnny Trailer Trash (AKA The Johnny Scott Band) is from Charlotte, North Carolina, playing Country, Southern Rock & Americana Music. They’re a 5 man band, composed of Johnny Scott, Jay Devine, Don Stacy, Jimmy Fallon and Andy Young. They’ve been turning heads on the East Coast now for about 4 years, opening for national recording acts like The Warren Brothers, Blue County, Toby Keith, Gretchen Wilson, Rascal Flatts, and others. Last month they competed in a contest on CMT with the same song I’ve chosen from them for our contest, They Sang Country To Me. You can see a video of LJTT doing a song called If I Had A Dollar, a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd, that’s posted on my MySpace blog. Their self-titled cd is available through ITunes, Amazon or CDBaby…
Matt Stapp Band – Dirt Road Demon – (Buy, Dang It)
Matt Stapp Band is from Eastland, Texas, playing Texas Country & Acoustic Music. They’re a 4 man group, consisting of Matt Stapp on lead vocals & rhythm guitar, Jesse Guess on lead & rhythm guitar, Josh Turnbow on bass & vocals, and Martin McLemore on drums. While this band may be new to the Texas Music scene, Matt Stapp isn’t. After years of writing songs and performing acoustic shows by himself, Matt was chosen as a finalist in 2008’s Ranch 95.9 Pickin’ Party. After that, Matt said everyone kept telling him he should have a band behind him, so he picked some musicians he knew, and they’ve been performing together ever since, lately opening for such groups as Micky & The Motorcars, The Josh Abbott Band and Reckless Kelly. Matt sent me 6 songs from their new live cd that’s coming out soon, and I’ve chosen the song Dirt Road Demon for their entry this month…
Rachel Timberlake – Honky Tonk Queen (Buy, Dang It)
Rachel Timberlake is from Corydon, Indiana, singing Country & Rock Music. Rachel grew up in a small town in the hills of Indiana and never expected to be a singer. She was a standout basketball player in high school and college until an injury sidelined her. She then became a teacher, until in July of 2008, at the age of 26, she sang for the first time in public at a church, where she reportedly left the congregation speechless. In December of 2008, she performed at an open mic night at the world-famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in Nashville. She’s just now completed an EP of some of her music, from which she sent me 3 songs by e-mail. I’ve chosen her song Honky Tonk Queen as her entry in this month’s contest She was also competing in the same contest on CMT that Little Johnny Trailer Trash was. (Unfortunately, at the time I’m writing this, I don’t know how either of them did.) You can visit her website at www.racheltimberlake.com…
Sasha Eleyce –Just One of the Boys (Buy, Dang It)
Sasha Eleyce is from Clifton, Virginia, singing Country, Jazz & Pop Music. Sasha is another artist who gave me permission to play her music well over a year ago, even sending me an autographed copy of her debut cd, and I’ve never gotten around to including one of her songs in a contest. For this month’s contest, I’ve chosen her song, Just One Of The Boys, off that cd, and I apologize to her for taking so long to do it. Her cd is available for sale on her website, SashaEleyce.com, and it’s got music from several genres on it, even including an aria. As she says on her MySpace page, she likes to sing and make people happy “so enjoy my music & have fun, because that’s what it’s all about”…
Six Gun Britt –Jack Daniels & PBR (Buy, Dang It)
Six Gun Britt is from Knifley, Kentucky, playing Country, Rockabilly & Psychobilly Music. Next to her picture on her MySpace page, it says “Tell ‘em what they want 2 hear, & don’t give a shit!”, which pretty much describes her musical philosophy. I chose her Fuck Your Fucking Love Song for August’s contest and, though it did make it into the top 10, it didn’t make it to the top 5, perhaps because of Mrs. Hoss’s objection to the title, which actually was a reply to Joseph Christ’s A Fucking Love Song, which was also in that contest. I really think that Six Gun Britt is one of the great undiscovered talents of Alt-Country Music, like Dirt Road Randy said, so I’ve brought her back this month with a song called Jack Daniels & PBR. Listen closely to the lyrics. If you like her as much as I do, visit her MySpace page and buy her cd Half Cocked and Fully Loaded for only 5 dollars, plus postage & handling. It has 22 songs on it, including her covers of Your Cheatin’ Heart and Freebird, and is well worth the price. I also just heard that she’s doing a remake of the song Wildwood Flower, and will be posting it on YouTube in the near future. She is on tour this month in Florida, with Joseph Christ, so, if you’re a Floridian, be sure to look them up…
Trainwreck –Another Round (Buy, Dang It)
Trainwreck is from San Antonio, Texas, playing Rock Music. They’re a 4 man group, consisting of Bryan Boyce on vocals & rhythm guitar, Kendall Merryman on lead guitar, Kyle Reed on bass & harmony vocals, and Robby Fernandez on drums & harmony vocals. When I last chose them for a contest, they were in a fight over their own name. It turns out that there are about 20 groups across the U.S. named Trainwreck, so they briefly were forced to change their name to Hero’s Prayer, the name of one of their songs. They then released a cd with that title, and then were informed that they could use the name Trainwreck, again. In the other contest I’d chosen a song from that cd called Holes In The Wall, about domestic violence, that didn’t do very well. This month, I’ve decided to use a song that Bryan Boyce sent me by e-mail, recorded during their Bramble Creek Sessions, called Another Round. I hope this one gets more of your votes, it deserves them. By the way, Trainwreck will be appearing in concert November 14th, at the Wormy Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City, made famous by Cross Canadian Ragweed…
Twisted Pistols –4 Warned (Buy, Dang It)
Twisted Pistols are from Sadler, Texas, playing Southern Rock & Folk Rock, or, as they say on MySpace “Red Blood, Red Dirt” Music. They’re a 4 man group, consisting of Zach Hendricks on vocals, guitar, mandolin & harmonica, J. Town Walsh on bass & harmony vocals, Johnny Wilson on lead guitar, and Justin Boren on percussion. The group started playing together in the winter of 2006, blending Country & Rock Music into their own, unique blend of Texas Red Dirt Music. They have 1 cd available through their website, called Rusted Shut, which is on it’s way to me, and will be added to the HTB lineup as soon as I get it. Town also sent me 2 of their songs by e-mail, to make sure I got their music in time to get them in this contest. I’ve chosen their song 4Warned for their entry this month. By the way, if you’re in Gainsville, Texas on November 7th, you can catch Twisted Pistols in concert at the Marine Ball…
White Rabbits –Percussion Gun (Buy, Dang It)
White Rabbits are from New York City, playing Rock, Punk & Club Music. They’re a 6 man group, consisting of Brian Betancourt on bass guitar, Matt Clark on drums, etc., Alex Even on guitar & vocals, Jamie Levinson on drums, Stephen Patterson on piano & vocals, and Gregory Roberts on guitar & vocals. This is another group that I ran across on MySpace, liked their music, and asked for permission to play them. They were all for it, and sent me 4 of their songs by e-mail. I chose their song, Percussion Gun, for this month’s contest, because I really liked the drumwork in it. Their cd, It’s Frightening, is available on Amazon.com for download for only $5.00. Be sure to check it out…
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. Listen to my own dang show on the station every Sunday night at 7 p.m. Central.
My previous Hossey Music Award Picks
Hi!
I’m writing in regards to Sasha Eleyce! Please don’t remove her from the voting list! She is so upset right now because someone hacked into her MY SPACE page and we all are trying to contact MY SPACE to get it back up along with all her fans, followers, etc. Sasha has over 28 MILLION VIEWS on her profile and many of her songs have been heard by between 2-5 million people. I know she is very busy in December but we love Sasha and want her to have the chance to compete! She has worked so very hard, she answers all her fans, she is so devoted to this I am sure you can understand why she is upset. Hard work, dedication and years of making that many fans, followers, and a wonderful MY SPACE page, she can’t possibly get that back with so little time. Again, your Nov 2nd place and I KNOW it would have been higher had this not occured! Her song Just One For The Boys is awesome and I know she will do well if not WIN in the finals. Please email me back and if possible, encourage her NOT TO give up while we attempt to reach MY SPACE and demand her profile be put back up in all fairness.
Many many thanks for letting me vent. Sasha deserves to be here and earned it! I promise we won’t let her down and I personally will do my best to help inform people of her entry in the FINALS!
God Bless.. Thank you!
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Don Cudd (aka Hoss) Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Thanks for the note, Lynnie. I want to be clear that the decision to include Sasha’s song in the finals is entirely hers. She wrote me an email (unless we can verify that someone faked the email for some low-down reason) in which she specifically requested that I not include her song in the December finals. My policy is that the singers and songwriters control their music. I will NEVER leave a song in this contest is a musician wants it out. Not for a second.
In my response to Sasha, I told her that she has until the start of the show on Saturday to change her mind if she so desires. So, even though we’ve already promoted Six Gun’s song, if Sasha decides to stay in for the finals, we’ll just have to have 51 songs in the Finals. No biggie. But it’s entirely Sasha’s decision. I’m not going to try to pressure her one way or the other. I will still continue to admire her, and we’ll surely find places to include her in other HossTheBoss.com shows in the coming months. To stay in, all Sasha has to do is notify me or Tony. Until then, I’m happy to respect her wishes — and her copyrights.
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Hi! I was shocked to read that it took you a year to discover her awesome talent! Sasha Eleyce, is going to go far with her unique talent! I love everything about her! I love all her songs, but I really adore her song: “Reach Out and Love Somebody!” Listen to all of her songs and you will see, she is just magnificient! Thank you for doing this contest for her! I hope she wins! Much love, Madonna~
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Don Cudd (aka Hoss) Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Wow! Even Madonna says Sasha is great! Now, that’s a testimonial!
But, some clarification may be in order here:
Tony didn’t take a year to discover Sasha. He’s known about her (and has even been telling me about her) for well over a year. But he did take some time to get her onto the show finally. And, as we both have learned, that was a tremendous oversite. I’m very glad to have her in this dang contest before the end of the year!
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you are one sexy lady
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