Spring has sprung in Texas, and with that, Love & War in Texas (Plano location) kicked off their Shiner Sunday Concert Series on Sunday, March 30th, with a real treat, a double shot of one artist who can fill several musical shoes. 

I'm talking about Gary Nicholson....I mean, Whitey Johnson.  Who the hell am I talking about?  For those of you who know Gary Nicholson, you might know he also has an alter ego called Whitey Johnson.  Now I have seen Gary Nicholson perform before.  He always mesmerizes me with his songs.  He has co-written songs with the likes of Guy Clark, Delbert McClinton and other notable national artists.  He has had his songs recorded by many artists, including George Jones, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo and many others.  If that's not enough, he has also produced records for The Judds, Pam Tillis, and Chris Knight to name a few.  He is, in fact, a two time Grammy winning producer, and was nominated to the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006.  His accolades go on and on, and rightly so.

As usual, there was just standing room only by the time the show started, and everyone was psyched about the start of another Shiner Sunday series.  Gary Nicholson was awesome.  To be a real entertainer, you have to "go with the flow" sometimes.  Gary proved he can flow with the best of them when the song he was performing was drowned out by the passing of a train.  The train tracks are about 10 yards from the patio area where the stage is, and the train blows its whistle as it passes by.  The crowd always reacts when a train goes by.  It reminds me of when my son played soccer at 4 years old and a train would go by.  The game would completely stop because the kids would stop to watch the train.  So, Gary changes in mid-song to "I Hear That Train A Comin", and adlibbing the words saying when it's gone, he'll finish his other song.  That's going with the flow and not letting something out of your control get you off-track (pun intended).

After Gary's set, he returned to the stage after a short break with band in tow as Whitey Johnson, looking like a different man than the performer in the first set.  Decked in an all white suit and cap, complete with three white guitars.  Oh, his tie and shoes were red.  This is who I came to see, as I'd heard about Whitey and wanted to see what he was all about.  Anson Funderburgh played lead guitar along with Whitey, and these boys gave us a set of live blues that I couldn't help getting up and dancing.  I haven't heard much live blues in awhile, and I forgot how much I enjoy the blues.  I hadn't seen Whitey Johnson before, but I'd heard about him and I wanted to see what he was all about.

As the set was ending, Gary, uh, I mean Whitey, was talking about how he almost didn't come because of the rain in the forecast, and he just didn't want to drive and play in the rain.  As he ended his sentence, rain drops began to fall (like they were right on cue) and a short rain shower brought the set to a close right on time, much to the chagrin of the crowd.

I was so glad I decided to come, because that will be a show that I will be talking about for awhile.  And if you ever get the chance to see Gary Nicholson and/or Whitey Johnson, by all means, do it.  You'll be glad you did.

You can check Miss Lana's Calendar for the upcoming Shiner Sunday shows, which I will list as they become available.  For more about Gary Nicholson, visit www.garynicholson.com or www.myspace.com/garynicholson.  You can find out how he became known as Whitey Johnson by visiting www.whiteyjohnson.com.   I'm telling you, if you don't know this artist, you're missing out, and I can only recommend that you should track this guy down as soon as you can.

                                                                                                     Happy Trails,

                                                                                                    Miss Lana

Written by Lana Hughes, March 2008