Concert Odyssey Day Four: Reckless Kelly at the House of Blues

Well, I guess I'd better tie up loose ends before jumping into the new year...

Thanks to a massive New Year's Day hangover, subsequent head cold, holiday travel, work travel, and general winter malaise, you've probably noticed that I've been away for a bit. Rest assured, I'm back in business, and I need to close the book on 2009 and Day Four of our holiday festivities.

Mrs. Scampwalker and I had the treat of seeing the Reckless Kelly boys ring in the new year at Dallas' House of Blues. For those of you who haven't had the chance to see one of their live shows (or God forbid, even listen to one of their records) then you're really missing out.

I'll refrain from going into a long bio (if you want a decent one, go here), but suffice it to say these boys have been together (in one iteration or another) since the latter half of the 1990s and have turned out seven (soon to be eight) progressively better sounding albums. I've had the pleasure of knowing them for the last six or eight years, and I can honestly say they're not only great musicians and songwriters with a killer stage presence, but they're also princes among men (sorry if that hurts your image, boys). And no one works harder at their craft, either.

The New Year's Eve show was vintage RK. They played in a venue larger than I'm used to, and while hearing them on NYE was a great way to ring in the new decade, it was to be expected that certain elements in the audience treated them more as background music to their own private celebrations. No matter -- I was celebrating in Texas, next to my lovely wife, seeing the band I enjoy like none other. It was a fitting way to round out our four shows in four nights odyssey, and one hell of a way to say goodbye to 2009.

Look for Reckless Kelly's new album, Somewhere In Time, available on February 9th. It's a tribute to/interpretation of the career of Pinto Bennett and the Famous Motel Cowboys -- a hardcore honky-tonker if there ever was one. Willy and Cody Braun, RK frontmen, grew up around Bennett, and they often cite him as one of their first influences. You can hear some clips from the new album on the Reckless Kelly website, and after hearing a couple played live on 12-31, I'm giddy with excitement. (B&W photo credit goes to RK)