COOTER AND HIS GARAGE BAND
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"COOTER" |
COOTER'S GARAGE BAND Everybody knows about garage bands.
Some kid in the neighborhood gets a drum set for Christmas, and pretty
soon he and his buddies are pounding it out in the family garage,
hoping to be the Beatles but sounding more like a garbage truck running
through a mixmaster. Well, probably even ol' Beethoven had a period
like that. |
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Ol' Cooter himself, also known
as Ben Jones, emcees the show and sings lead. Word is he can sing
almost as good as he can fix a car. That's pretty good. Cooter sings
country classics, honkytonk, bluegrass, and rockabilly. He has a couple
of albums out and they sell like the proverbial hotcakes at Cooter's
Cafe.
But what makes the band so hot are the pickers. Like James Bailey, who plays a great fiddle but is better known as one of America's foremost banjo players. James, who also has a new c.d. out, showed his stuff with the famed Country Gentlemen, Virginia's finest. And then there is Ron Reedy on lead guitar. In his career, Ron backed up not one but two members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Roger Miller and the great Patsy Cline. Scott and Clorissa Linton bring musical versatility and great voices to the gang, and Robby Meadows plays bass with the authority of the old pro that he is. Robby toured for years with Lew DeWitt of the Statler Brothers. His better half, Lisa Meadows, is quite simply the best lady country singer in the state of Virginia. If you don't believe it, listen to her new album. The band is a self contained act, complete with a first class sound system. Cooter's Garage Band is about family fun. It is an evening of wholesome old fashioned Southern entertainment with an emphasis on traditional country values. The spirit of the Dukes of Hazzard, still a hit show after all these years, comes alive when the band hits the stage. And sure enough, the General Lee will be there too, still in one piece. |
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