Posted by Pete Smith on January 26, 2008, 12:31 pm
81.132.17.23
"The Advertiser" (UK) 25 January 2008
Pete Hicks was born in the Peace River area of Canada where he has been busy singing and writing songs for many a year. He spent seventeen years in the USA but the pull of his Alberta home was too strong and he returned to work for CFCW where he has been for more than a quarter of a century, more than half of those years presenting his own “Classic Country” show. Pete is respected for his great knowledge of country music and this he brings to bear in “Home Is You” (Comstock), a collection of eight Hicks originals and four covers. The covers have been selected with care; the Dick Curless trucking classic “A Tombstone Every Mile”, Hugh Moffatt’s beautiful ballad “Rose Of My Heart”, Joe Hayes wonderful “Sunset Years Of Life” and the Johnny Cash favourite “Wings In The Morning”. Pete’s own songs stand up extremely well alongside these respected pieces. I particularly enjoy “Home Is You”, “How Proud You Make Your Dad” and “If You Ever Get Around To Loving Me”. www.comstockrecords.com
Bob Rohan, or Bad Bob as he is fondly known, has been singing and playing his award- winning fiddle for more than three decades. He has opened shows for Willie, Merle, Charlie Daniels, John Conley and many more top names. He has backed Ray Price, Hank Thompson, Jack Greene and others. Such is the stature of the guy who has brought us “Prairie Rose” (EHK), a collection of 12 superb country tracks that transport the listener back to the 30s and 40s, an era when country was country and little else mattered. Bob is a cowboy at heart and this shines through on wonderful performances of “Out Where The West Winds Blow”, “Don’t Fence Me In”, “Happy Rovin’ Cowboy” and his own “Prairie Rose”. There are a couple of spiritual songs too; “Live Every Day” and “The Angels Finally Came”, both penned by Rohan and four really great instrumentals; “Sweet Georgia Brown”, “Robyn’s Waltz” (an original), “Red River Valley” and a unique version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Though Bad Bob is an excellent vocalist I suspect most will rave about his fiddling for Bob is truly one of the great fiddler players. Supporting Bob are some of Texas’s finest including; Ron Rebstock (banjo), Ricky Davis (steel), Jim Black (piano) and Liz Talley (drums). www.badbobrohan.com
Remembering: Clayton “Pappy” McMichen was born on 26 January 1900. He made his reputation playing fiddle on the classic Gid Tanner recordings “Sally Goodin’”, “Wreck Of The Old ‘97” and “Down Yonder” before breaking out on his own in the 1930s to lead such bands as The Georgia Wildcats. After a long and illustrious career Clayton retired in 1954 and died just short of his seventieth birthday.
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