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Royal Reed (Sergeant Byron Richardson) Broadway debut. Other theatre: The Civil War (Houston), A Lie of the Mind, Only Kidding, Vanishing Act, Life & Limb, Little Shop of Horrors. Film: Colors, In Their Eyes, Undercurrent, Blood Oath, Brothers, Jayne Mansfield Story. TV: "Alone With a Stranger," "Collateral Damage." Royal can be heard on the Complete Works CD of The Civil War.
And here's video of Eddie as the Piggly Wiggly Hometown Heroes singer.
Yesterday The Boot posted a conversation with One Flew South. It's a great post if you want to check it out here.
But this post isn't about that post and actually has nothing to do with The Boot other than their post made me feel guilty about my lack of a post.
Huh? You might say.
Well last month - May 29th to be exact - I visited with One Flew South and then never posted my pictures, interview or anything like that. I did post one blurb about how I was going to get to it real soon, only I never got to it.
Oops. Okay, it wasn't actually an oops, it was more like...gads I'm so friggin' busy, I'll do it tomorrow. Then came another tomorrow and another tomorrow and another tomorrow and now here I am almost a month later. Classic procrastination at it's finest.
So here ya go, my One Flew South experience....at least what I can remember a whole month after the fact.
One Flew South played at a bar in Kuna, Idaho called Cowgirls. I had no clue where the heck the bar was so I left early and ended up there like half an hour before the band. Talk about odd sitting in an empty bar before 5 p.m. Two bottles of water later and the band showed up. Yes, for those of you wondering, I drank two bottles of water in a half-hour period of time. What can I say? I was thirsty.
The band finally came in (on time, I just happened to be early) packing their guitars, gave hugs all around to the workers at the bar that they knew, and then headed up to the stage to get set up. I introduced myself and then picked a spot to watch their sound check. It was pretty quick, a few chords here and a National Anthem there and they were done.
Then we headed next door to a restaurant so the boys could eat and we could do the interview. Okay, I've lost the video of the first half of my interview. I have no clue where it went. It's not on my computer and it's not on YouTube. Hmmm. That's actually okay because I had set my camera up on the table next to us and so you couldn't actually hear most of our conversation due to the surrounding noise. It's really too bad because Chris Roberts, Royal Reed, and Eddie Bush are just about as nice a bunch a guys as you could ever hope to meet. And funny as hell. I laughed through the whole interview. AND I didn't write down the answers to my questions because I had video so who the heck needs notes?!? Well obviously I do. Anyhoo, here's a video of the second part of our interview when I got smart and held the camera while talking to the guys. Next in-person interview I will definitely take my little digital voice recorder to make sure I catch everything.
Funny how no one ever tells you about the learning curve for interviews.
Some of the things I did learn that I actually wrote down were:
Royal (the bald One Flew South-er) was an actor and played a cop in the movie "Colors."
Eddie (the long-haired One Flew South-er) once opened for Carrie Underwood and had solo albums before One Flew South.
Eddie also was the Piggly Wiggly Hometown Hero singer in the grocery store chain's commercials. Check out the video here.
Chris Roberts (the tall One Flew South-er) once performed with Paul McCartney at Carnegie Hall AND with Paverotti another time. Yes, he sang opera.
Eddie once decided to play guitar with his teeth (after watching Jimmy Hendrix do it) and got the strings caught in his braces. Ouch.
Royal played Arnold Schwarzenegger and Loni Anderson's son in "The Jayne Mansfield Story."
Eddie was once picked up by police when he was a teen because his friend decided to shop lift music (CDs, tapes, not sure which) at the local K-Mart. They were caught in the lady's underwear department where Eddie's friend was putting the music in his backpack. Not sure why they were in the women's underwear department, but it's a funny story to hear Eddie tell it.
Chris went to college on a golfing scholarship.
Royal is the only member of the group with a tattoo.
I know, not much there, but like I said the majority of my video from the interview is *poof* gone. The video above does have some interesting stuff on it though.
So we sat for like an hour in the restaurant before it dawned on me that I was probably not supposed to sit there that long. The guys honestly just made me feeL so comfortable and we laughed like old friends that the time got away from me. It really felt like I was chatting with three buddies than a band I was supposed to be interviewing. So I said my good-byes and headed back over to the bar to find a seat for the show. Unfortunately by the time I got back over the bar was full and there were no chairs left so it was standing room only for me.
The show finally started. Everyone was a little confused about what time it was supposed to start because the tickets said one thing while everything else said another. Royal, Chris, and Eddie were doing their own thing and no one even told them what time the show was officially supposed to start. I guess that's the joys of being a performer, generally the show doesn't start until you're ready for it to start. The boys finally got on stage and instantly you could tell there was a major connection between the guys and the crowd. I don't know how many times they've played this area before, but they definitely had fans - fans as in they were on a first name basis with the band.
The guys played songs from their album as well as songs such as Jack and Diane (video here). They chatted with each other and chatted with the crowd. They drank - a lot - and got funnier with every sip. They had fun with a birthday girl and had fun with the audience and had even more fun with each other. Seriously, I can't imagine anyone having a better time on stage. They told stories, joked, played with the audience, laughed and laughed some more. At one point, Royal even danced with one of the ladies in the audience (video below).
I honestly wasn't the hugest fan of the group, but after watching them in concert I'm a convert. They were just so much fun and put on an absolutely fabulous - albeit short - show. I just wish they got more coverage by the media because they really deserve it and success couldn't happen to three nicer guys. My only complaint was that they didn't play for very long. I wanted it to keep on going. They completely rocked and the fans dug it and I was sorry when it ended. I can't wait to see them again when they come back to town.
Oh you guys, I had sooooo much fun on Friday hanging out with One Flew South at Cowgirls in Kuna. They were just about as nice as could be and put on a great show - short but great. I had a few snafus like the fact that most of the interview I did turned out crappy because I totally blanked on my questions even though I had them written down. Probably a product of my first face-to-face meeting with someone who I've heard on the radio. One of the issues I had was that the guys put me so at ease that I sat and just chatted like we were old friends rather than being all business and getting my interview done. Live and learn I suppose. Then there was so much side noise going on around us in the restaurant we were at that my little video camera couldn't pick up what it needed to pick up so much of the conversation is hard to hear. I don't know why I didn't take my digital recorder along with my digital camera. I need a checklist of things to make sure I take with me to these sorts of things.
Other than the few blips, I had an absolute blast. I'm still trying to get the videos loaded to my YouTube account so I'm going to hold off until I get back from having surgery to do an actual review and get my pictures and videos up. I'll also write down the things I did find out that were pretty interesting so people don't have to strain to hear the audio on the crappy video. I just wanted to make sure everyone knows I had loads and loads of fun and that the guys were totally awesome and sweet and sassy and fun.
I also wanted to mention Celeste who I met when she accidentally stepped in front of one of my photos. She told me a funny story about Royal from OFS and I wanted to share. Celeste was there with her husband and she said that last year when the guys played Cowgirls, Royal came up to the bar to order a drink and started talking to her. She said her normally docile husband got really, really jealous until he found out who it was she was talking to. Then they all had a laugh about it. Well when I was in the restaurant (next door to Cowgirls) with the guys someone came in and told Royal that some woman's husband said if he hit on his wife this time around he was going to kick Royal's ass. Royal couldn't figure out who would want to kick his ass but then he was let in on the joke. You probably had to be there to find it funny, but I was so I did. Anyway, Celeste, here's the picture I promised to put up on Saturday and then never got around to. Ooops, my bad.
The Kenny Chesney Twitter contest is going gang busters so let's start up another contest for those of you who don't want to use Twitter (or those that just like entering contests). Yesterday I received 5 copies of One Flew South's CD "Last of the Good Guys" to give away.
Now this CD holds special meaning to me because it's the very first CD I got to review on the site just about a year ago. It's a really great CD and includes the song you may have heard on the radio called My Kind of Beautiful - at least it plays on the radio stations around here occasionally. It's also got special meaning to me because I get to interview the guys in the group next Friday before their show in Kuna, Idaho. Woohoo. That will be another first for me - a live, face to face interview. If you guys have any questions you'd like me to ask, just shoot me an email.
Alright, this contest is one of the easy ones, just send me an email at blogginmomma@hotmail.com and I'll get you entered. The contest will run for one week and will end on Thursday, May 28th.
I've become a fan of One Flew South and Heather asked me nicely to post this press release about them performing on the Saturday Early Show on CBS this Saturday so I thought I'd oblige. I will post a video of their performance once I can get one.
NEWCOMERS ONE FLEW SOUTH TO PERFORM ON THE CBS SATURDAY EARLY SHOW JULY 12TH
July 10, 2008 – Newcomers One Flew South will make their national television debut July 12th on the CBS Saturday Early Show. Fans can tune in to hear the trio made up of Chris Roberts, Eddie Bush, and Royal Reed, perform their debut single “My Kind of Beautiful” at 8:45am EST (check local listings). The guys will also answer a few questions about their life since releasing their debut album Last of the Good Guys on Decca Records in May.
“To get the chance to perform on the CBS Saturday Early Show is amazing and we are thankful for the opportunity to get our music heard by such a wide audience,” said Eddie Bush. “The last few months have been incredible but I think this takes the cake as far as unforgettable moments are concerned. We cannot wait.”
One Flew South teamed up with Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon to produce their debut album Last of the Good Guys. A Nashville-based songwriter whose catalog contains six No. 1 hits from the likes of The Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, and Rascal Flatts’. Marcus bought out the best in all three members of the group from singing to songwriting. The guys also teamed up with legendary songwriter J.D. Souther, to write several of the tracks on the album. J.D.’s notable lyrical ability is prominent on the album and the result is nothing less than an amazing album of trio harmonies and sound that the music industry has not heard in quite some time.
Just got my new One Flew South CD today and was very excited to listen to the whole thing after listening to a few of their songs last week.
First off, I'm not exactly sure how to describe the overall sound of the CD. Much of it has a very classic country sound, but then you get a song such as It Is Good and it sounds almost like a Christian rock/Christian country song. This I say happily, it's a good sound, a different sound than you'd expect from a country CD today, and sometimes different is just what you want and need. Then you get to the last song on the CD, Too Old to Die Young, and I actually got chills. It was absolutely beautiful, short and sweet, and definitely a great way to end the disk. My favorite song of the group is still My Kind of Beautiful, and I hope to start hearing this on my radio soon. Maybe it's already been playing there and I just haven't caught it yet.
I think this CD will make the country traditionalists happy because it doesn't have that country-pop sound that a lot of music these days has, but it has enough appeal to play on the radio and make the contemporary listeners happy also. In this day of country cross-overs, it's nice to find a group who's willing to be country and embrace their unique sound. You can listen to their music and be pretty sure country is where they belong and where they'll probably stay.
Now that I've said all the nice things, I do have one complaint and that is that the trio is almost too harmonious, if that's possible. I found myself wanting to hear one singer more often with the others as backup. Not one singer stood out from the rest, which is I'm sure what they were going for, but it left me wanting to be able to tell who was who in the music. I guess since my only complaint is that they are too good at working as a group, I can't really say this is a bad thing, just a wish for their future music.
Overall I think country listeners will be happy with this debut album. If you want something to soothe your ears and tap your foot to I think you'd be happy if you picked up One Flew South's new CD, Last of the Good Guys.
Had a nice email today about this new group called One Flew South who released a new album on Decca Records back on May 27.
The music that I listened to is a great mix of three very talented singers who sing in perfect harmony. Their sound is a very new sound but also somehow a very classic country sound. If I had to pick one word to describe this group it would be harmonious (obviously since I've mentioned that word twice now). The press release is after the jump.
The three singers, Eddie Bush, Royal Reed and Chris Roberts sort of remind me a bit of Little Big Town, which I love, just minus the women. It's catchy and fun and easy to tap your foot to. My favorite of the three songs listed is My Kind of Beautiful. After listening to five songs from this group, I've found that I like the fifth song just as much as I like the first. Enjoy the music and check out some of their links below.
If you love the music you can buy the singles by clicking the iTunes box next to each song.
