I’m Tony, and these are my April 2011 picks…

Caitlyn Brette–Nothin Left Unsaid

Caitlyn Brette is from Houston,Texas, playing Country & Acoustic Music. 12 year old Caitlyn, known in Houston as “Country’s Little Angel”, started her singing career doing guest spots with some Houston-area bands. Now, she and her father have already written and recorded her own original music, which they plan to release on an EP cd sometime soon. She has performed in venues and festivals throughout Texas & Louisiana, and has also performed in Nashville, where she’s scheduled to return this summer. She is also set to appear in Branson, Missouri later this summer with a group called The Texas Gold Miners, and will be in a documentary called “Songwriter In The Sky”, produced by Basilfilm Productions. I chose her song “Nothin Left Unsaid” for her contest entry this month. For more info on Caitlyn Brette, visit her ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/caitlynbrette….

Diamondback TX–I Like Girls

Diamondback TX is from Mexia, Texas, playing Texas Country, Southern Rock & Americana Music. They’re a 4-man group, consisting of Willie Herring on vocals & guitar, Lanky Moore on vocals, rhythm guitar & harmonica, Scott Thornton on bass & vocals, & Bryan “BT” Thornton on drums. The group features 2 lead vocalists, Willie Herring & Lanky Moore, making for a diverse style that blends well. All the band members participate in their songwriting. After working to make a name for themselves, then touring with Billy Joe Shaver as his band “Nashville”, during which they appeared on The Grand Old Opry twice, and at Willie Nelson’s 4th of July picnic twice, they went back home to Mexia to help raise their families. Now, they’re ready to hit the road again, touring to promote their latest cd “Johnny, Jack & Red”, which I’ve added to the rotation of my show here on HTB, and chosen the song “I like Girls” as their contest entry this month. For more info on Diamondback TX, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/diamondbacktx…

Hester–Make You Cry

Hester is from Los Angeles, Calif., and Biloxi, Miss., playing Rock & Southern Alternative Music. Hester consists of singer/songwriter/musician Larry Hester, with Tommy Noland on drums, Rick “The Thrill” McGill on bass, Rusty Byard on guitar, and, for the “Here I Am” cd, Nashville recording artist Bryan Austin on lead guitar. Larry Hester started writing songs at the age of ten, after teaching himself to play the guitar. At 19, he moved to LA, and wrote songs that appeared in several major movies, “Burnin’” in the skateboard film “Thrashin”, and “Love On The Radio”, which was in the soundtrack of Patrick Dempsey’s movie “Can’t Buy Me Love”, and the Matthew Modine movie “Gross Anatomy”. After years in L.A., Larry decided he’d abandoned his roots musically, so he decided to return to Mississippi and write new material based on his life-time experiences of love and loss. Those new songs are now on his cd “Here I Am”, which I’ve added to the rotation of my show here on HTB, and chosen the song “Make You Cry” as his April contest entry. For more info on Hester, check out their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/hester…

Jack County–The Devil That You Know

Jack County is from Weatherford, Texas, playing Texas Country, Western & Americana Music. The 4-man band consists of Jack Doyle on vocals & bass guitar, along with Will Hobbs, Ryan Eldridge & Scott Elkblad. In 2001, women’s shoe salesman Jackson Doyle left his home in Florida to move to Dallas and make a living playing music. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to play any instruments, so he taught himself to play bass guitar. Then, he played with several rock bands, but still wasn’t happy with what he was doing. His last alternative rock group dis-banded in early 2007, leaving him thousands of dollars in debt, since he was the only member of the group with a credit score over 400. He spent almost 2 years working 7 days a week at his old job to re-pay the debt, while spending his nights writing music. Now, he’s produced a cd called “Lonesome Radio”, which I’ve added to the rotation of my show here on HTB, and chosen the song “The Devil That You Know” as his contest entry. For more info on Jack County, visit his ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/jackcounty , which also has links to his MySpace & Facebook & Twitter sites…

Green Tea–Locomotive Breath

Green Tea is from Stevens Point, Wisconsin playing World, Reggae, Celtic, & Rock Music. Green Tea is a 5-person group, consisting of Chad on keyboards & melodica, Sean McCue on drums, Hanna L’Herault on fiddle, Trevor Roark on guitar, and John Coletta on flutes, whistles and hands. Green Tea has been developing quite a following in the mid-west U.S.A., creating a new sound in Celtic Music, adding rock, pop, funk, folk and jazz to the mix, along with their Celtic roots. The band only has a couple of songs up on their ReverbNation page, but you can download their song about an Irish coal mine disaster, “Shafted”, for free. They sent me their cover of Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath” to add to my playlist on the Tony Kinsel & Friends’ Show here on HTB, and I’ve chosen that song as their April contest entry because it blew me away. For more info on Green Tea, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/greenteaworldmusic…

Hot Smokin Pistol–Rock & Roll Rodeo

Hot Smokin Pistol is from Leesburg, Georgia, playing Rock, Southern Rock & Classic Rock Music. The 4-man band consists of Marshall Lindsey on vocals & rhythm guitar, T.C. Clifton on bass guitar, Brian Hicks on percussion, & Austin “Baby Face” Young on lead guitar. Hot Smokin Pistol was founded in 2008 by Brian Hicks and Marshall Lindsey and has since seen it all, from playing music halls to dives and corn fields. They are currently working on a 2011 concert tour in support of The Wounded Warrior Project, and all of their proceeds will benefit that cause. Their songs are getting airplay as far west as Corpus Christi, Texas (meaning HTB). They sent me a couple of their songs, “Night Devil” & “Rock & Roll Rodeo” to add to the rotation of my show. It was a tough choice, but I went with “Rock & Roll Rodeo” for their April contest entry. For more info on Hot Smokin Pistol, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/hotsmokinpistol…

Katie Thompson–Good As Gold

Katie Thompson is from the West, the West Coast of New Zealand, that is. Playing Country, Acoustic & Pop Music, Katie has been honing her craft for a number of years now, appearing on such New Zealand TV shows as The Breakfast Show, Nightline and Close up. She has reached the $50,000 mark on SellaBand, an online platform where music fans from all over the world fund the projects of Indie artists like her. Her 1st release was a song called “Tall Poppy”, which she sent me and I added to the rotation of my show here on HTB, (which she told me reminded her of an Indie radio station she listens to in New Zealand). She then sent me her debut cd “Impossible”, which I also added, and from which I chose the song “Good As Gold” for her contest entry this month. For more info on Katie Thompson, visit her ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/katiethompsonz…

Mad Stone River–All Alone

Mad Stone River is from Lowell, Indiana, playing Rock, Heartland, & Midwest Rock Music. They’re a 4-man band, consisting of Roger Lange on lead vocals & guitar, Tom Ashe on lead guitar & vocals, David Tyler on bass, & Shane Jenkins on drums and vocals. Mad Stone River first got together in June of 2010, and have since produced several songs you can listen to, or buy, from their ReverbNation page, but have not come out with a cd, yet. They describe themselves as “an American, modern rock band, with classic hard rock roots, and a light salting of southern and heartland rock music”. I chose their song “All Alone” as their contest entry this month. For more info on Mad Stone River, and to download “All Alone” for free, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/madstoneriver…

Push Water Band–Whiskey Burn

Push Water Band is from Jewett, Texas, playing Texas Country, Country & Red Dirt Music. They’re a 5-man band, consisting of Jesse & Jerry Duke, along with Daniel York, John Sunkes, & Randy Stevens. Jesse Duke and Daniel York got their start playing together on the tailgates of pick-up trucks, to mud park campfires. Sensing that their music had potential, they recruited Jesse’s father, Jerry, to be their bass player, and then added John and Randy. The band has since been packing venues in East Texas, and they would like to come to Corpus Christi to do a gig, Hoss. Push Water Band has just come out with their debut EP cd, “Whiskey Burn”, which I’ve already added to the rotation of my show here on HossTheBoss.com, and chose the title track as their April contest entry. For more info on Push Water Band, and to download some of their songs for free, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/pushwaterband…

Southern Fryde Inc.–Tear It Up In Texas

Southern Fryde Inc is from the South, Southern Canada, that is. Actually, they’re from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, playing Rock, Southern Rock, Country, Alternative Country & Outlaw Music. They’re a 6-man band, consisting of Ddroyd on vocals, Dave Allan on guitar, Stu Brandon on guitar & vocals, Cruz on bass guitar, Big Daddy on keyboards & vocals, and JP Esser on drums. Southern Fryde Inc is a group of long-time friends who’ve been playing with and without each other for the last 25 years in venues across Ontario. They now have a soon-to-be-released cd with 11 songs on it, and have sent me a couple of their songs as an HTB preview of it, “Southern Songbird” & “Tear It Up In Texas”. It was a tough choice, but I chose their song “Tear It Up In Texas” as their contest entry this month, mainly because it was great to hear a Canadian group singing about Texas. For more info on Southern Fryde Inc, and to listen to more of their music, visit their ReverbNation page, www.reverbnation.com/southernfrydeinc…

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.

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My previous Hossey Music Award Picks

November 2008 | December 2008 | January 2009 | February 2009 | April 2009 | May 2009 | June 2009 | July 2009 | August 2009 | September 2009 | October 2009 | November 2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | November 2010 | January 2011 | February 2011 | March 2011