If you missed seeing Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights at their previous killer shows at Stickyz, you’ve still probably heard their music — on television.

The band’s songs have been featured in a number of hit TV shows and trailers, including “Devil’s Basement” in the trailer for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”; “Pardon Me” on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” and “The Gordon Keith Show”; and perhaps most notably, “Young & Free” was used throughout ESPN’s 2010 college football coverage and throughout 2010 on Fox Sports channel.

Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, based in Dallas, Texas, has garnered national attention and acclaim since 2008, just a year after the band’s formation and discovery at SXSW music festival in Austin. JTNL immediately began being called on to open for such major acts as Erykah Badu, Leon Russell, The Black Crowes and Cross Canadian Ragweed, among others.

The past two years have seen JTNL’s name recognition and fan base grow as the band toured the country alongside the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, O.A.R. and AC/DC. JTNL also stopped to play at festivals such as Austin City Limits Music Festival, Wakarusa, and, of course, SXSW.

The band has received positive reviews from music critics at USA Today, American Songwriter, Chicago Sun Times, Austin American Statesman, and the Orlando Weekly, among many others. Its 2010 album Pardon Me hit No. 8 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart last year.

USA Today — which named JTNL a “Pick of the Week” in May of last year — writes of the band’s tune “Pardon Me”: “Did you think they’d quit making bands that groove as hard as they rock? You know, like ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aerosmith? Listen to this riff-heavy blast, the title track from this band’s debut album, and think again.”

Texas Music Monthly describes a typical JTNL show as a “kick-out-the-jams-and-take-no-prisoners set,” and you won’t disagree after you see them take the stage. And it just takes one song, as TMM points out.

JTNL headlines at Stickyz Rock N’ Roll Chicken Shack on Friday, Dec. 9 starting at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 are available in advance here or at the door. The show is open to ages 18 & up, and kicking off the night will be Southern rock band Zach Williams and the Reformation of Jonesboro.

To hear the music of Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights and other bands coming soon to Stickyz and its sister venue Revolution Music Room, visit the Love Live Music Internet Radio Station here. It’s free, and who can’t use some new music in their lives!?

On Wednesday night, Casey Donahew Band riled up an already-on-the-verge-of-rowdy crowd of live music fans at Revolution Music Room with some killer Texas country. Much of the audience had waited outside in line to get in (see photo at right, taken as the show was beginning, of the line down the block!), so they were ready to warm up with some fun tunes and libations.

Opening on Wednesday was Matt Stell and the Crashers, who sounded fabulous. Stell has an amazing voice, and when he lets loose on those notes, Katie bar that door! Good stuff.

Casey Donahew Band didn’t need to warm up the crowd much, since they loved Matt Stell and crew and were already into the music wholeheartedly by the time Donahew took the stage.

And, as I mentioned in the preview of Wednesday night’s show, Donahew and gang like to rock with their country — hard. These guys really put on a show, rockstar antics and all.

So by song No. 3, it was appropriate that Casey Donahew Band was already rocking’ so hard that they teased a little Metallica on the jam to the bridge of the song “Crazy,” which is a fun upbeat tune about the author’s crazy significant other, who, of course, is driving him crazy in turn. Great lyrics.

On the next song of the evening, a ballad called “Ask Me To Stay,” I was particularly impressed with the lead guitarist’s skills and the interplay between him and the fiddler. The lead guitar solos were so smooth and liquid, it sounded as if he was using a slide, but he wasn’t, as far as I could see from my vantage point.

Track five of the evening — also the title track of CDB’s brand new album which just hit No. 2 on the iTunes Country Chart and debuted at No. 32 on the Billboard Top 200 — “Double Wide Dream,” was a really awesome mid-tempo, bluesy sort of country-waltz number featuring some killer guitar licks.

And the lyrics to “Double Wide Dream” are atypical of your average country-song-featuring-the-manufactured-home. In fact, they were pretty sweet, even with the tongue-in-cheek lines celebrating his girl’s “redneck” ways:

“She likes to cuss & fight & she can drink all night

And she can roll one up till I’m feelin’ right

She drives a truck with swampers and rims

And an Alpine pumping through Kicker tens

She dips snuff & she don’t spit

Never on the broad her shirts don’t fit

And I love that pretty little country girl

She’s rocking’ this redneck’s world…”

Besides the snuff part, anyway (LOL), the song almost makes you wonder why we all aren’t dreaming this same “Double Wide Dream” — it just makes life and a woman like this sound simple and, well, plain good.

A big crowd favorite of the night followed (though there were actually a number of crowd favorites; I haven’t seen this much crowd participation at a concert in a long time) with the track “Next Time.” It’s a strong “I hate your damn guts” break-up song with emotional lyrics, a good melody and great drumming. Kinda wanted to see a little more emotion instrumentally — as in, I kept waiting on someone, anyone in the band whose heart had recently been broken to step up with an angry outpouring of a solo — but it didn’t really happen, not in a solo at least.

Following that song was another crowd favorite and a ballad, which is also a rare combination in my experience. Oftentimes, slow songs are when you see half the audience start talking or leave for bathroom, smoke or refreshment breaks. Not so here. This crowd new every word to “Fallen,” and they wanted Casey and crew to know it.

One thing I appreciated about this song — and as I have shared before, I have trouble staying engaged during many slower-tempo tunes during live shows — was that it featured great forward motion throughout the song and never felt stagnant or slow. I was super-glad I stayed to listen when the lead guitarist began his solo — this dude is a magician! — and then, when his solo was juxtaposed with the fiddle solo, back and forth, it was absolutely breathtaking.

After that, CDB picked it back up with a Jerry Lee Lewis-style rock-and-roller called “One Star Flag.” The fans about went ballistic, and the ladies were screaming like Elvis was in the building. I am not making this up.

Several songs later, Casey made a point to say that he was playing the song “I’d Give Anything because it was requested on Twitter, and he encouraged his fans to follow his Tweets (@caseydband).

“I’d Give Anything” is another ballad, but it impressed the crap outta me. It is the ultimate shoulda-woulda-coulda song, yet it’s got an almost optimistic musical feel, and the fiddle gives it a hopeful flavor. I found myself thinking: This is the song women could have a good Sally Field-style meltdown, a cry-it-out-laugh-it-out catharsis to. Dang! LOL!

Next, of course, was some rock-relief featuring kickin’ drums and awesome keys and percussion on an extended intro to CDB’s hit song “Stockyards,” a tune about the famous live music spot in Fort Worth where CDB has been playing for nearly a decade now.

Aaaaaaand then: The “Antics.” The band broke out into some fun rockstar-dancing-in-unison that appeared somewhat spontaneous but clearly had been done before (because they looked good doing it and were all together). All but the drummer were dancing together in a line, bouncing up and down from side to side — think a really cool, bouncy version of the Snoopy dance. Just for a few seconds, though. FUN!

At this moment, as CDB went back into rocking the song “Stockyards” super hard, Casey asked the crowd, which was singing at mediocre volume: “Anybody ready to let the dogs out?!” The audience, of course, went nuts. So did the band.

And then I saw it: couples country dancing all over the place. I don’t know how long it had been going on, but it was going on all over, and there were some REALLY good dancers. I even saw a young couple doing the “Pretzel” moves I learned while visiting an original Texas country music dance club outside Baylor University many, many moons ago. Yee-haw! It occurred to me: You can’t get any more real-country-show than this… The song “I Love This Bar” popped into my head immediately, ha ha.

After a fun track about Tulsa and a mid-tempo weeper called “Angel” that I can see going far on commercial radio, CDB broke into some Kid Rock before transitioning into their hit song “12 Gauge” — NOW the audience was going crazy.

So was the band, especially the drummer, and the bassist, and the lead guitarist, and the fiddler, and, well, heck, all of them were…

And did I mention the audience?

The keyboardist was killin’ it at this point, and the dueling fiddle and lead guitar solos were mightily impressive and kept the crowd ramped up throughout the song and into the band introductions.

Aside: It’s really cool when a successful band leader — particularly one whose band carries his name — is proud of his band members and it shows. As Casey introduced each member of his group, he stepped aside for each of them to do solo performances. It rocked.

Casey and crew closed it out with a cover of Matchbox Twenty’s “3 AM” featuring a slow, soulful intro that then kicked into high gear and an upbeat tempo, followed by a final crowd favorite of the evening, “White Trash,” with fantastic vocal harmonies, which I could barely hear over the crowd screaming along to every single syllable. Here’s a video clip of the final moments of the finale:

Catharsis indeed. What a great night of live music!

The first time I heard of Big Smith was in the late 90s when I was still involved in the Northwest Arkansas music scene.  I saw their name on the marquee at Chester’s Place one night after devouring a delicious Hellfire pizza at the Ozark Brewing Co. next door.  I was immediately struck with two questions – a) who is this that’s named themselves after a pair of overalls, and b) why is there a line down the street at Chester’s??  It seemed as if their popularity in Fayetteville exploded overnight.  Suddenly they were doing a monthly 2 night stand at Chester’s, and the big “booking secret” around town was  – “Don’t book anything remotely americana / jamband / original” opposite a Big Smith weekend.  Simply put, for a long while BIG SMITH was THE BIGGEST original act in the region.

And they deserved it.  This band of brothers / cousins were playing a style of music unlike any other at the time.  Keep in mind that this was before acts like Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth were playing the area.  I guarantee you that the 2 times we were fortunate enough to bring String Cheese Incident to Fayetteville at JR’s Dickson Street Ballroom we were jealous that Big Smith was pulling a bigger crowd (and probably costing the promoters less of a fortune).  I can easily break into song with several of their “hits”  (not that you would want me to) –   “12inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan”, “No Sir”, “Backwater”, “Burn Down the House”…these are CLASSICS of the genre, and you will be a better person by adding them to your playlist if you aren’t familiar.

It was only natural upon landing in Little Rock and opening Stickyz that Big Smith was at the top of our “wishlist” of acts to bring to our new home.  It took exactly 11 months to make it happen with the first show being scheduled for May of 2001.  And here’s where our story gets interesting.  A couple  of weeks after we had locked down the date with BS (this was probably Feb of 2001) I got a call/email from an agent in dire need of that same date (it was the second Saturday in May, I’ll never forget it).  The agent in question was desparate to route BLACK EYED PEAS into Stickyz on that date.  After much deliberation, we knew exactly what we had to do – keep Big Smith on the date and tell BEPs “no”.  It was way more important to us to develop the relationship with our boys from Springfield than to take the one-shot with what would become one of the most successful artists of the decade.

As many times as we’ve discussed that story through the years, we’ve never regretted it.  Working with Big Smith for 10 years has been an absolute pleasure, and we wish the guys nothing but the best in their future lives.

One final footnote on my favorite Big Smith moment (maybe you were there?  seems like most of Little Rock was) – Nov 3, 2001.  The band was playing their 2nd or 3rd show at Stickyz on the same night that Arkansas went 7 overtimes against Ole Miss.  I’ll forever remember our showtime getting pushed back later and later as the Hogs kept the game going longer and longer.  When the game finally wrapped, BS launched into the Razorback fight song and the place went BERSERK.  Few times I’ve been as stressed and thrilled simultaneously as in that moment.

God bless, Big Smith.  We’re gonna miss ‘em.

South Texas indie dance-pop/punk quartet The Young Maths returns to Little Rock Wednesday Nov 23, bringing what is sure to be a super-fun show to Revolution Music Room on Thanksgiving Eve.

Probably best-known for their hit “Fingered on the Dance Floor,” The Young Maths have taken the Austin music scene by storm, where the music critics at Austinist.com had this to say about the group:

“At the Southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley is where you’ll find the sharp and anxious dance punk sounds of The Young Maths. Their sound settles somewhere in the vein of earlier Hot Hot Heat on several tracks, with a high energy that is transmitted via pokey guitar angles, a knee-quaking beat and higher pitched, frenzied vocals.”

Around the region and country, fans and critics are raving about The Young Maths. Nitesblog.com writes:

“They’re The Faint’s younger snot-nosed little cousins. Think McAllen’s Zlam Dunk. Think Funeral Party, with a little less funeral and a lot more party. And with song titles like “Meet Me at the Gay Bar” and “Fingered on the Dance Floor,” it appears they have a sense of humor to match their catchy-as-hell tunes.”

Theneedledrop.com:

“Their new EP Thank You, Goodnight! We Are… sports some nimble musicianship. Tight guitar licks interlock like Tetris blocks with an off-kilter bassline. The fevered vocals and hectic ending give the appearance of chaos, but this track fails to derail — not even for a second. Call it a controlled demolition.”

Come get demolished with us on Rev’s giant dance floor Wednesday night! Opening up the night are an awesome new local two-piece, Vitamin Overdose and one of our favorites, Mainland Divide.
The show begins at 8:30 pm and is open to ALL AGES. Admission is just $5 for 21 and up and $8 for under 21.

For more information or a look at Rev Room’s restaurant menu, visit www.revroom.com.

**To hear some of The Young Maths’ music, and the music of other bands coming to Rev Room and its sister venue, Stickyz Rock ‘N’ Roll Chicken Shack, in the coming weeks, check out the Love Live Music Channel on Last.fm here. It’s free — and we can all stand some great new music in our lives!

Chart-topping roots-rock singer/songwriter Kate Voegele — who played songstress Mia on TV’s “One Tree Hill” — makes a stop at Revolution Music Room on her “Gravity Happens” tour on Friday Nov 11.

Voegele is young but very talented and well-respected in the music industry, and deservedly so: At 19, she was the youngest person to ever win the USA Songwriting Competition, and she’s released two Top 30 albums since then, 2007′s “Don’t Look Away” and 2009′s “A Fine Mess.”

Her latest record, released in May, peaked at No 53 on the Billboard Top 200 and at No 8 on Billboard’s Indie Albums chart.
Her hit songs include “Only Fooling Myself,” “Manhattan From the Sky,” “99 Times” and “Heart In Chains.”

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain and Joni Mitchell, Voegele says that “sharing the stage with Neil Young at Farm Aid in high school nearly made me faint. And opening for Patty Griffin and Grace Potter changed the way I thought about what it means to play live music.”

She has recently toured with Natasha Bedingfield and is currently supporting Parachute’s North American tour.

This all-ages show begins early at 7 pm. Tickets, available for purchase online at http://www.ticketalternative.com/Venues/32.aspx, are $10 in advance, $12 day of show.