-- Hoss (aka Don Cudd), Reformed Corporate-Style DJ Hoss’s March 2010 Hossey Award Picks
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.
Chris Brazeal – Beer Pong Saturday Night
Chris Brazeal is another West Texas All-Star checking in with HossTheBoss.com these days. This song is off his first CD that he finished up not long ago and, if his MySpace page is any indication, it looks like people around Midland-Odessa (and plenty of other spots, too) are really diggin’ it. Any song about beer pong is going to catch my attention just from the title, but this one has got a unique, interesting twist: it’s more “sentimental” than “party.” It’s almost as if Chris has anticipated the day, 20 years from now, when he’ll be sittin’ around with some buddies from his crazy, party-animal days gettin’ all nostalgic about the Beer Pong Nights. Who knew that Beer Pong could be something special afterall. Hahahahahah.
Bewarned! If there are any Vegas oddsmakers taking bets on this silly little contest, Christian will certainly be their favorite. This guy, like his friend Steve Carlson who won this deal in 2009, has a huge set of fans who are active on several fansites. Look for many, many votes to come in once all those people find out about this contest.
Christian is a Dallas native, but ended up not too terribly far away in Norman, OK as a boy and then followed the lure of movies and music to L.A. where he and Steve set up the base from which they’ve both done a lot of very impressive things so far. This song is the first release off a new CD that Chris is finishing up and planning to go public with this summer. Thanks to Chris and his crew for letting ole’ Hoss be one of the first to play this song. The meticulous production values alone give me confidence that the song will have no trouble attracting attention from plenty of other stations in the weeks and months ahead, and but I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind if you contacted your favorite “real” radio station to let them know that a solid new CD from Christian Kane will be arriving soon.
Oh yeah, for more on Christian’s impressive movie jobs, check out his website (links to all the fan sites are on there too) and, if I get to interview him during Top 10 Week, on March 20, I’ll be sure to get him to talk about all that, too.
Cindy Lane Adams – Tree in The Front Yard
I am always surprised when singers in New England send me some great, old-style country music. By now I shouldn’t be, of course. But I am.
Cindy Lane Adams lives in Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts County Music Awards named her the 2009 Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Steel Guitar Player of the Year. Oh yeah, and her band True Country one the 4 Piece Band of the Year Award, too. Geez. Was there any other award left?
And her band is going for a 4-peat in 2010 for the Rhode Island Band of The Year Contest.
Looks like Cindy has built herself quite a following in her 25 years of pickin’ and singin’ along the East Coast. I’m certainly glad she finally found her way to my email inbox with this inspirational, sweet, even spiritual song. Who knew a dang New Englander could have it in ‘her?
For more about Cindy and her band, here’s her website.
Dennis Gurwell – Waitin’ For The Other Shoe To Drop
And speaking of musicians who do the kind of music that’s not exactly what their regions are known for … Dennis Gurwell lives in Burbank, CA where he is a singer/accordian player for a cool little band called Bonne Musique Zydeco (which means, Good Zydeco Music). This song is one that he did independently of that band, however. He’s got some other cool stuff on his MySpace page, but, since Mrs. Hoss is STILL talking about the New Orleans Saints big Super Bowl win, I couldn’t help but think that this song might be one that all NFL teams besides the Saints are singin’ these days as they get ready for next season. I don’t know if Dennis is a Saints fan or not, but that’s the kind of trivia we’ll find out if you get him to the Top 10 and “Interview Week” on the show.
Griff Parrish – Sun Shone Over Memphis
This song was actually written by Mike Parrish — but not the Texas Mike Parrish that has become something of a legend on HossTheBoss.com in the last few months. No, it turns out there are SEVERAL Mike Parrish’s on the music scene across the United States — and none of them are in the least bit related, apparently.(Maybe one day we’ll have a Mike-Parrish-Off on HossTheBoss.com, and the losers will have to agree to change their dang names.) At any rate, the guy who wrote this song lives in Alabama and Griff is his son. Griff’s finishing up a rockin’ new CD (due out April 23), and this is one of the songs on it. I hope it’s not a buzz kill to tell you that it’s not a true story, but I’m guessin’ all our HossTheBoss.com friends in Memphis will especially dig it anyway. If this song doesn’t get your “independent music spirit” rockin’, then you’d probably be better of spending your time at a Miley Ray Cyrus fan site or something. Check out more from Griff on his MySpace page. (Unlike Texas Mike, the Alabama Mike Parrish doesn’t sing or play. He just writes cool lyrics.)
Jason Suthern – I’ll Still Be There
Jason is perhaps my last hope that one of the All Stars from the music scene in the HossTheBoss.com hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas will finally do well in this silly little dang contest. (I cannot believe that you people have not seen fit to push David Martinez, Hilda Lamas, and several others into the Top Dang 5 yet. But such is life. As pessimistic as the first 6 words of this blurb are, I’ll probably end up trying many more times. We’ve got some damn good music talent in this little ole’ city that tends to think negatively of itself.) Jason is as deserving as anyone of big time music biz success, and he’s been working hard at gettin’ it. I hope you’ll agree that this song, which features some powerful vocals and very meticulous production quality, is as solid as anything playing on “real” country radio these days. In fact, it’s so “real” country that one of our local Clear Channel owned radio stations has taken to playing it every now and then over the last few weeks. I guess this marks the first time that those guys have ever been ahead of HossTheBoss.com on givin’ the deserving local guys a little air-time. I can’t win them all I guess. Sorry, Jason, for takin’ so dang long to get you on the show. We’re about to make up for it! Now, everybody, go vote for him and give me reason to put even more Corpus Christi talent into our mix in future months of this silly little contest. Check out Jason’s MySpace page. (And, if you’re in drivin’ distance to Corpus, make sure you head down to check out Jason’s next big gig: the cool little “No Excuses BBQ Cook-Off” they’re planning in downtown. Some
Larry is a graduate of the prestigious music program at South Plains College in Lubbock, Texas and now lives in Houston giving guitar lessons and playing gigs whenever he can. He recently got screwed over at the day job he slaved over for more than a decade and calls it the “best thing that ever happened to me,” because it forced him to finally start getting serious about doing music for money. And I’ll testify that the world is better off for it, too! This guy really learned his craft well up in Lubbock! Make sure you say toss some love and support to him via MySpace (and a vote on this site).
Leroy used to play with Shooter Jennings, and this song is off the first CD he’s done after the Shooter years. (Shooter, by the way, now has a new band called Hierophant that is due out with a CD sometime in 2010.) I was flattered when Leroy sent me the album, and, to tell the truth, I had a difficult time deciding which of the songs to feature in this contest. They’re all powerful and solid. This is one of the songs that Leroy specifically suggested, so I went with it. My guess is that there’s an interesting story behind the song, and, if ya’ll vote Leroy into the Top 10 for “Interview Week,” I’ll do my best to get it out of him. Check out Leroy’s website.
I had such a good time with this band from Ireland in the February contest (check out the entertaining interview with Ollie Dempsey in the “interview downloads” section of this site), that I was heartbroken when “You, You And Nobody Else” they came up just short of hte Top 5. So I decided to give Ollie and his friends another shot right away. This is a brand spankin’ new song. In fact, as I type this little blurb, the final mix hasn’t even been completed. So this is a HossTheBoss.com exclusive in a very cool way. (I hope it doesn’t suck! 
) Ripcord64’s MySpace Page.
Vic-M lives in Montreal and he’s the kind of guy I especially like to support with HossTheBoss.com. A couple of years ago, he just started hearing music in his head and, despite very limited musical experience, went to work at bringing those tunes to life. He taught himself to sing and play, and started teaming up with helpful pros around town, and this song is one that he finally came up with. I think it’s a hell of an effort. Check out Vic on MySpace.
See My Previous Picks
I tried to vote for Chris Brazeal several times and couldn’t make it go thru. Whats up with that?
Don Cudd (aka Hoss) Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
The voting system ain’t foolproof. Who knows what happened! Just keep trying. (And be thankful that no one uses my system for elections that really matter!)
Hey Don, great picks man. I can see a lot of votes coming in for this month’s contest, much like the November one of last year. Good luck ma man.
P