set up the two acoustic guitars, plugged into the house sound system, tuned and got a quick sound check. We spoke for a few min- utes, and then they made their way to the stage. From the time they started playing, all the way til’ the last song, I felt myself grinning like a stuck possum. They were very well re- ceived by the audience. It wasn’t a huge crowd (thanks to the ice cold rain storm) but it was a listening crowd. You have to love that. Dallas pulled out an amazing hour and a
half first set. No wimpy 40-minute sets for this ol’ cowboy! Kicking off the show with “Rollin’ On,” Dallas pulled out songs from several of his albums, including one of my fa- vorite Moore tunes, “Hank to Thank.” It’s like David Allan Coe and Merle Haggard had a baby and named him Dallas. Wait a minute now, I didn’t mean it that way. Dallas performed a great rendition of the
old song “Freeborn Man,” a song that was a hit for Jimmy Martin and recorded by dozens of artists including The Outlaws. By this point in the set I had decided that Chuck is one of the better guitarists I have ever seen play live, and that is saying something! His style re- minded me a little of Chris Anderson of the Outlaws combined with a good deal of influ- ence from my old buddy Tommy Crain. It was a theory that proved to be dead on, according to Chuck during the break. “Texas Tornado” is another crowd pleaser
by Dallas, and he rocked it on this night. The guys started playing songs from the latest Dallas album, Dark Horse Rider, starting with the first track on the record, “Bottle & a Bible,” and playing most of the album in chronological order, including another fa- vorite of mine, “Raisin’ Hell and Slingin’ Gravel.” Dallas spoke several times during the
evening about the great songwriter Wayne Mills who was murdered in his Macon home last year. He dedicated a new song to Wayne, “Beats All I’ve Ever Seen.” The song is really
good and the lyrics are very poignant. He went on to perform one of Wayne’s songs, “When They Burn the Last Honky Tonk Down.” A great rendering of an amazing song. Later in the set they played a new song that will be on the new Dallas record coming in a couple of months. The song, “Let’s Drink to the Good Times,” was co-written by Dallas and Wayne Mills, and the album will be called Shoot Out The Lights. Another good one. Moore also paid tribute to the late great
Jody Payne, the guitarist for the Willie Nelson band, singing “Crazy Again.” He went on to talk a bit about how he ended up doing a songwriters spotlight with the great Dean Dil- lon. It was funny hearing him recall playing a song of his, and then Dean performing his “Tennessee Whiskey,” or one of the many number ones he wrote for George Strait, like “The Chair.” Set one concluded with “Blessed Be The Bad Ones,”another great original by Dallas Moore. After a break, Dallas and Chuckie returned
to the stage for a short set spotlighting some of Moore’s favorite artists. One of the audi- ence members, Doc, had asked for some Billy Joe Shaver, so Dallas pulled out a nice hand- ful of Shaver, including “Georgia On a Fast Train” and “Honky Tonk Heroes.” He went on to pay tribute to Willie Nelson (“The Night Life”), The Allman Brothers Band (“Melissa”) and kicked off a two-fer by saying, “When in Rome!” and launching into some Marshall Tucker Band with my all-time favorite Toy Caldwell tune, “This Ol’ Cowboy,” and “Heard it in a Love Song.” It was a great night of music by one of the
hardest working, most talented Road Dogs I know, Cincinatti’s own Dallas Moore. Great artists, great music, a great venue, good food, adult beverages and good friends made this rainy night in Greer well worth the trip from Sparkle-City. If they come to your neck of the woods do not hesitate, do not “pass Go,’ do not collect $200. Just get there. And tell ‘em ol’ Buffalo sent ya. •
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