Honky Tonk Revival

Puckett's Farm Equipment

Nov. 16, 2007

The Deal: Hick'ry Hawkins, Jem Crossland, Wink Keziah & Delux Motel and The Bo-Stevens showcase their honky tonk stylings.

The Good: Three locals and one Winston group gathered for the first ever Honky Tonk Revival, thanks to Wink Keziah. Each band hit the stage for about 45 minutes, starting with Hick'ry Hawkins. Hawkins crooned his way through a set that included the humorous "Panty Song." Jem Crossland conjured up the spirit of Elvis for a moment or two and put good use to the synthesizer on his guitar. Wink Keziah & Delux Motel came across as the most polished and professional of the group - you can tell these guys have been at it for a while. The night closed with the music of The Bo-Stevens - honky tonk with a splash of rockabilly mixed in.

While the band's talented Billie Feather slapped away on the only stand-up bass of the night (the band also features the only steel pedal guitar of the evening courtesy of Jeff Shu), singer Richard Boyd II called up some of the previous singers to help out from time to time during their set. You'd never know their drummer was a stand-in for that night. They rifled through Johnny Cash's "Hey Porter" and "Honky Tonk Saturday Night" from their latest album, but it all came to a fantastic conclusion as Crossland, Keziah, Hawkins and a handful of others in the crowd were on stage to sing a cover of Cash's "Ring of Fire." They're all bands worth checking out, and having them all under one roof was an early holiday gift. They couldn't have picked a better venue, either. Puckett's has a flavor that lends itself to honky tonk, rockabilly and americana music. Let's hope the revival keeps going strong for years to come.

The Bad: Maybe the Bud Light tap stopped working, but it's not like they ran out of beer. The show got off to an early start of 8:30 and was over around 12:30 - starting at 9 or 9:30 might have offered a bigger crowd in the beginning.

The Verdict: Local, original music. Good people. Down-to-earth venue. How can you go wrong?