Dallas Wayne
The Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo
September 3, 2005
by Kevin J. Hosey
Dallas Wayne and Buffalonian Carl Eddy on guitar
He followed this with Dale Watson’s “Old 45s,” which Wayne recorded on his “Big Thinkin’” CD, a sad country song; going from sadness to dread and warning, Wayne performed “Coldwater, Tennessee,” which he co-wrote with Robbie Fulks (the song appears on both Wayne’s “Big Thinkin’” and Fulks’ “Georgia Hard” CDs). Wayne joked about the song before singing it, noting that as a parent, he was now nervous that his son and other people’s kids were at the age where he and they worry that they will be killed in their sleep. The song’s surprise ending for those not having heard it before, the father’s death, becomes clear after the event hits them. Of course, in describing the song before he sang it, Wayne gave the murder away, and then said, “damn it, I just gave you the ending. Please, pretend I didn’t say anything and just listen to the song.”
At this point, the band, comprised of Duane Hall (also proprietor of the Sportsmen’s Tavern) on bass and backing vocals, Carl Eddy on Telecaster and occasional vocals and Popeye on drums, joined Wayne. While the Stone Country Band was originally to back Wayne up, not all could make it, but Hall and Eddy, members of the 30-year country vets and Buffalo legends, did their part.
Blending fun, absolute honky tonk, a showman’s ability to win a crowd and the urge to play for a long time, Dallas Wayne delivered one of 2005’s best Buffalo shows to an audience that ran the gamut in age, musical taste and ability to recall the fine covers he performed along with his original songs. Scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m., Wayne actually started at about 9:15 p.m., so by the time Val and I got there at about 10 p.m., he had already finished an acoustic set. But we had certainly not missed the show, as Wayne followed this with two more sets, the first starting out acoustic solo and ending with him playing behind an electric three-piece band, and the last set was all with the band.
Wayne opened his second set with “Crank the Hank,” a smart honky tonker off his newest CD, “I’m Your Biggest Fan” (Koch Nashville), which, as you might imagine, is an ode to the late Hank Williams and needing his and similar singers’ music and a couple of cold ones. Wayne and his acoustic guitar gave the song a driving country sound with a touch of blues.
Sportsmen's owner Dwane Hall on bass with Dallas
The band and Wayne smartly stepped out with “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” and continued the honky tonk parade with Wayne’s “Here I Am in Dallas,” Buck Owens’ “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail,” which featured some nice guitar work from Eddy, and Eddy then took a turn at lead vocals on George Jones’ “The Race Is On,” which was another real crowd pleaser. Wayne then sang another weeper solo, a song I thought was called “You’ll Be Glad When I’m Gone,” before returning to the upbeat honky tonk of (again, I thought) “Honky Tonk Midnight Man.” As Wayne and the band played the introduction to the next song, he broke a pick and searched his pockets for longer than he expected for another pick. Still not able to find one, he laughed, shook his head and said, “Well, I’m having a ball,” before finally locating one and leading the band into Shel Silverstein’s/Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” to end that set.
The third set began with some classic covers, Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” Ray Price’s “The Other Woman” and Haggard’s “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.” This was followed by the one display of unhappiness Wayne showed all night, which was directed to New York State and its anti-smoking in public places laws. “This would really be a perfect night if I COULD JUST HAVE A FUCKING CIGARETTE.” When Hall intimated that Wayne could light up, he smiled and replied, “Naw, I said I would be a law abiding citizen while here,” and he waited until the end of the night before heading outside to smoke. After a real nice version of “My Baby Thinks She’s a Train,” Wayne brought the house down with laughs discussing possibly the topic farthest from anyone’s mind, the very large size of Porter Waggoner’s penis and how Waggoner should wear one of his Nudie suits with little blue Viagra pills on it. He ended things with several more songs, including covers of Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?” two other Haggard tunes, “Sing Me Back Home” and “If We Make It Through December,” concluding the night with George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care.”
Between sets and after the show, Wayne was very friendly to everyone, signing lots of CDs (I am pissed that I have $0 in my wallet and was unable to buy one; my wife Val, who has toured and worked with bands, notes with great accuracy that it is better to buy a CD from a performer at a show, because most likely, the band can use the cash getting to the next show/on tour). Among his humorous stories, Wayne noted when p2 member and musician Jeff Wall’s name was brought up that, “Oh, God, Jeff and I are like two old women; we talk at least once a day.” As we left, Val gaining a peck on the cheek, I made mental note to order Wayne’s new CD and thank Ken Biringer for his help with this article.