While in Bakersfield, CA. to perform at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace to celebrate the late legend’s birthday Dwight Yoakam took some time to talk to 23.com about his upcoming Owen’s tribute “Dwight Sings Buck”(Oct. 25 - New West)

An excerpt - Saddened by thoughts of Owens not being alive to celebrate, Yoakam, a longtime friend of Owens, said, “It’s always a little melancholy now. It was New Year’s Eve the first time I was here since he passed, to do this without him being in the building. Sometimes when he didn’t feel well he’d go home early. It was never with him not coming back.”

Dwight Yoakam - Close Up the Honky Tonks - Crystal Palace, Bakersfield, CA.

Still waiting for the resurrection.

Elliott Randall is a man to watch.

Randall, not Elliott Randall the ex-Steely Dan guitarist best known for his guitar solos on Reelin’ in the Years, but the Bay area by-way-of Charleston, South Carolina, alt.country rocker has a lot going for him. On first listen it’s easy to be lazy and compare Elliot Randall’s superb release “Take the Fall” (self released) to some of Ryan Adams best work.

For instance take the melancholy slide-guitar and Rhodes keyboard steeped “Elephant” and the soul-wrenching title track, Randall sounds much like he’s channeling Adams more soulful moments. But Randall is his own man and as an artist he’s in many ways more focused in his compositions than Adams has been of recent. “How to Get Old” is a damn fine song that could have come from Uncle Tupelo with little mainstream Nashville hook added in to sweeten the experience. It works skillfully and without coming off as sterile and contrived. More Early Guy Clark storytelling than Kenny Chesney clichés.

Barn-burning rave-ups like Don’t Give Up On Me” and “Leaving This Town” show that the man can get a room moving when he wants to.

A recent feature on an Americana Roots podcast, Randall straddles the country and rock worlds proficiently and his work sounds both timeless and fresh.

The Austin Chronicle has a nice write up on Austin, Texas’ honky-tonk sweetheart Rosie Flores.

Rosie talks about her childhood in San Antonio, her early band - Rosie & the Screamers, featuring the Band’s Rick Danko brother Terry Danko on bass and getting to wear the pants Gram Parsons wore on the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gilded Palace of Sin. Rosie is also quite forthcoming about her mother’s death and how she started taking pain pills and sleeping pills to deal with the grief.

Rosie Flores-You Tear me Up

COUNTRY FEST 2007 is a fundraiser which a portion of all proceeds will benefit The American Cancer Society. Country Fest is to be held on Friday, August 17th from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm—Saturday, August 18th from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm with fireworks starting at 10:30 pm and Sunday, August 19th from noon to 6:30 pm. The event will be held at Renziehausen Park (aka Renzie Park) on Eden Park Boulevard in McKeesport, PA. There will be crafts, food, games, live bands, fireworks and more. Children 12 years of age and under admitted free. There will be a $5.00 gate fee for everyone over the age of 12 years. For more information please feel free to call 412-537-7644.

The band schedule is as follows.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17TH

6:00 PM TO 7:00 PM—-LOIS SCOTT & THE PLUM LOCO BAND
7:30 PM TO 8:30 PM—-GIRLZ IN BLACK HATS
9:00 PM TO 10:00 PM—-DALLAS MARKS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18TH

2:00 PM TO 3:00 PM—TJ HOUSTON
3:30 PM TO 4:30 PM—-CRANKY YANKEE
5:00 PM TO 6:00 PM—-JERRY SCHICKLING
6:30 PM TO 7:30 PM—-BRYAN COLE
8:00 PM TO 9:00 PM—-TBA
9:30 PM TO 10:30 PM—-DALLAS MARKS

Fireworks are at 10:30 PM

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19TH

12:30 PM TO 1:30 PM—-SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
2:00 PM TO 3:00 PM—BLIND DATE
3:30 PM TO 4:30 PM—-WHISKEY GRIN
5:00 PM TO 6:00 PM—-DALLAS MARKS

The Brits are bonkers over Steve Earle, who headlined Brampton Live, north England’s biggest folk/roots music festival and and will release the The Dust Brothers’ John King produced Washington Square Serenade (New West) Sept. 25.

The Belfast Telegraph asks “Is Steve Earle America’s greatest living songwriter?” and The UK News & Star says Earle’s “every inch the hardcore troubadour.”

Earle also hosts the The Steve Earle Show: Hard Core Troubadour Radio on Outlaw Country, SIRIUS Satellite Radio Outlaw Country channel 63.

The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press have some nice articles on Porter Wagoner. When I saw Wagoner a few months ago at Joe’s Pub, and and a few weeks ago opening for the White Stripes and Grinderman at Madison Square Garden (both backed by Mart Stuart) he seemed at the top of his game and has gone on to do other live dates and even a stop on the David Letterman show.

All the while “The Thin Man from West Plains” seems deeply appreciative for the response this comeback has given him. Blessed as he has said.

If you get a chance, go see him. If you can’t go out today and buy his newly released “Wagonmaster” (Anti Records) and remind yourself what country music can sound like it’s performed by a legend that helped invent it.

An excerpt from the AP: “I stopped making records because I didn’t like the way they were wanting me to record,” he sighs. “When RCA dropped me from the label, I didn’t really care about making records for another label…”

That was 1981, after he had been with RCA almost 30 years. Except for the Grand Ole Opry and work on the now defunct Nashville Network, his career dried up like an old corn stalk.

His comeback began in 2004 with a series of gospel records. Soon, he and Marty Stuart, a fellow Opry member, were plotting an album that would recreate the sound and feel of Wagoner’s vintage recordings.

 Porter Wagoner on David Letterman - Albert Erving

I’ve said in the past that I though the Dixie Chicks‘ “Taking The Long Way” was their move towards the soft-country rock of the Eagles. Seems the transformation may be coming to completion.

Dixie Chicks will be part of a special grand opening concert event this fall to open downtown Los Angeles’ new 7,100 seat state-of-the-art venue NOKIA Theater L.A. Live. Dixie Chicks will be teaming up with The Eagles to co-headline these special shows, and the Nokia Theater appearances will be both groups’ only concert performances in 2007. Tickets for October 18th and 20th concerts go on sale Monday, August 13th at 10:00 AM via ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000, and at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers. Additionally, tickets will be available at the STAPLES Center Box Office and the Box Office at TEAM LA at Universal CityWalk starting Tuesday, August 14th.

Dwight Yoakam has finally made the MySpace plunge (or some lackey at New West Records has) and as a fine intro to the new page New West has posted a snippit of “Close Up the Honky Tonks” from the forthcoming tribute to Buck Owens “Dwight Sings Buck” (Oct. 23).

Alex Battles’ Whisky Rebellion is slated to play the amphitheatre at Grey Towers’ Festival of Wood at 4:30 p.m. this Saturday (11th.) The band got a nice write up in the local Pocono Record. An excerpt:

Though living in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the past 10 years, Battles grew up on a tree farm in Chesterland, Ohio, and has a deep appreciation for and understanding of forestry and the many ways wood is used in everyday lives, including music.