Live Local Music with Chris Edwards Release Party and the Piney Rats Opening...

There's a music scene happening with local bands in Nacogdoches, Tx. Last night Maklemore's a restaurant located just a few blocks north of the campus of SFASU was the venue for a record release party sponsored by the Fire House Nac for Chris Edwards with Celtic punk band the Pineyrats opening.  

Chris Edwards is a singer songwriter square in the the long Texas traditional of the many troubadours who have drawn on the culture of the Lone Star State and Nacogdoches is a town where most of them have performed so this was a fitting stage for the release of his Homebrew album which you can purchase on Bandcamp. If you order a physical copy it will come autographed. I am occasionally lucky enough to play in the Brazos River Rats with Chris and once he autographed a copy of his book "Nobody Comes to Visit Anymore" for me. I suggest you get your autograph while he's still giving them out.   

Once Cathy and I were up on stage playing a Todd Snider song at a show. Suddenly out in the audience the damndest whooping and hollering I had ever heard broke out. It was just Chris having a good time hearing a song he liked. In a day and age where we often feel we have to choose this because it's not as bad as that Chris is a real and generous person. As Cathy says "I'm a Chris Edwards fan because he's my fan." 

The band was good and I'm sorry but I did not get their names.     

Opening for Chris was local Celtic punk band the Pineyrats. It was their first show and they did well. I've seen the big Irish punk bands, Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys but I had to get in my car and drive several hours or buy a plane ticket and fly several hours. It was very nice to catch this show 30 minutes from my house. Music at many of the local restaurant venues can be a country band or DAG (dude and guitar) act grinding out pretty much the same set list and if your music tastes are as eclectic as ours punk music can be a palate cleanser. It's people up there with backs to the drum riser making a stand with music about things that mean something to them.     

I visited the Pineyrats facebook page and did the old copypasta so you could have the band members names. 

Bryan Stokes - Bass
Casey Sizemore - Vocals/Guitar
Justin Oakley - Guitar/Banjo/Other Strings
Jeff Jurgonski - Drums

To add in some authentic Celtic/Irish flavor they had tenor banjo. Where else can you go in East Texas to hear tenor banjo? Cathy's late father was a tenor player in the traditional jazz style and I can fake it on tenor banjo but my playing is better suited to an African gourd banjo style but this was the real Irish punk thing. I bet you have used the expression "keeping it real." That's what this guy did.     

The Piney Rats even punked up a Chris Edwards song and I think that leads us to one of the most significant observances of the night. There are those that play it safe with their music. They put it on the channel they like and dump the recliner back. They pull the phone out and let the algorithm do the picking. Luckily we have the people that combine two kinds of music that really don't go together into a live show and it works. It's fun. People came out to the gig, watched and danced. It was a thing that happens in other places in the world and it happened here in East Texas last night. 

P.S. 

We ate supper at Maklemore's. It was good. I had the PhillyNac sandwich which had good fresh peppers but the cream cheese stuffed flank steak Cathy ordered would have fed both of us.