I saw Darrell McCall on Memorial Day weekend at Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar in Bandera in 2019. I saw Doug Kershaw at the Sagebrush Inn last night (February 26th, 2022) in Austin. Darrell McCall was seventy-eight or seventy-nine years old when I saw him. I pooped out towards the end of his first set (I guess he did a second set), while Doug Kershaw headlined an evening of three acts with a forty-five minutes set that consisted of about eight songs and quite a bit of Doug's stage banter with the audience. I'm glad I got to see both these guys, because, Darrell McCall was in his late seventies when I saw him in 2019, and Doug is EIGHTY-SIX as of this writing.
Darrell wore me out, like I said, but not before he did everything such as his own material, "It's the Water," "Tennessee," and I guess "Down the Road of Daddy's Dreams" is his as well, to Merle Haggard, and Johnny Paycheck (he grew up with Johnny in Ohio), and Willie Nelson. Arkey's Silver Dollar provided a great venue to see him. Located in the basement of a property on the main drag in Bandera, the dance hall's been Arkey's since at least the '70's. One can see Arkey do a short set with his band when they book no one else on Saturday nights. On the night I saw Darrell McCall, Justin Trevino played bass and did a customary fifteen minute opening segment before Darrell came on and played for what must have been an additional hour and ten minutes of the set before I bailed.
Two very capable acts opened for Doug last night: Kathryn Legendre and Jesse Daniel. They had Doug in the middle slot on the original bill, but Jesse took the middle and did an hour and half set. Doug opened with his most familiar song, "Diggy Diggy Lo," and followed up with other familiar tunes such as "Louisiana Saturday Night," "Jambalaya," and "Louisiana Man." Doug played fiddle on a few, played a little guitar on one, and accordion on another. I had to get closer to hear his stage banter. The most noteworthy thing he said came when he talked about how Cajun people used to bear some shame at being Cajun. The variety of the material and the short length of the set kept the feeling of sameness from creeping into the music they played, which my friend Jason complained about when he ran sound for a Cajun band at the Continental Club some years back.
One may listen to an episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones to get an idea about Doug Kershaw's legacy in Country Music. The episode appears in the first season of that podcast and goes into the legacy of Doug's brother Rusty as well. I don't know Darrell McCall's status as a performer these days, but he lives on a ranch outside of Brady, TX, and one could count on him touring the state on a regular basis before all of this mess started. Me, I'm glad I got to see Doug last night, and as of this writing, I don't feel COVID sick from hanging out in that club last night.
Darrell wore me out, like I said, but not before he did everything such as his own material, "It's the Water," "Tennessee," and I guess "Down the Road of Daddy's Dreams" is his as well, to Merle Haggard, and Johnny Paycheck (he grew up with Johnny in Ohio), and Willie Nelson. Arkey's Silver Dollar provided a great venue to see him. Located in the basement of a property on the main drag in Bandera, the dance hall's been Arkey's since at least the '70's. One can see Arkey do a short set with his band when they book no one else on Saturday nights. On the night I saw Darrell McCall, Justin Trevino played bass and did a customary fifteen minute opening segment before Darrell came on and played for what must have been an additional hour and ten minutes of the set before I bailed.
Two very capable acts opened for Doug last night: Kathryn Legendre and Jesse Daniel. They had Doug in the middle slot on the original bill, but Jesse took the middle and did an hour and half set. Doug opened with his most familiar song, "Diggy Diggy Lo," and followed up with other familiar tunes such as "Louisiana Saturday Night," "Jambalaya," and "Louisiana Man." Doug played fiddle on a few, played a little guitar on one, and accordion on another. I had to get closer to hear his stage banter. The most noteworthy thing he said came when he talked about how Cajun people used to bear some shame at being Cajun. The variety of the material and the short length of the set kept the feeling of sameness from creeping into the music they played, which my friend Jason complained about when he ran sound for a Cajun band at the Continental Club some years back.
One may listen to an episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones to get an idea about Doug Kershaw's legacy in Country Music. The episode appears in the first season of that podcast and goes into the legacy of Doug's brother Rusty as well. I don't know Darrell McCall's status as a performer these days, but he lives on a ranch outside of Brady, TX, and one could count on him touring the state on a regular basis before all of this mess started. Me, I'm glad I got to see Doug last night, and as of this writing, I don't feel COVID sick from hanging out in that club last night.
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