Ed Burleson & band kicked off the party later than usual at 1 p.m.  What I mean is that the event started later than it has in the past few years.  By the time the set ended, the smaller room was filled and the crowd was warm, giving Eddie the normal TMR welcome he gets every year.  He's always a crowd pleaser.  Ed had a bass player and a rhythm guitar player I haven't seen play with him yet.  The band sounded good...and Eddie only forgot the lines to one song....1 p.m. is early for night owls like musicians.

Kevin Deal put on a great set singing several of his new songs from his just released CD, "The Lawless".  In fact, I think they just rolled them out in time for TMR.  I've heard several cuts from it, and hopefully, we will get to review it soon. Of course, Kevin did some of the crowd's favorites from his previous CDs as well.   Freddie Spears always adds a lot to the live shows and the CD with his many talents.  Kevin is in the groove!

Darrell Scott's solo performance was one of the highlights of the show.  He has an amazing presence on stage and pleased the crowd with his originals of "Long Time Gone" and "It's A Great Day To Be Alive".  He paid tribute to the recently deceased Johnny Paycheck, and left the audience wanting more from this great artist that doesn't play often in our area.  As one TMR fan said on the radio this morning, "He made a believer out of me".  With the hundreds of people in the room, you could have heard a pin drop when Darrell started a song.

Eleven Hundred Springs came on stage in their traditional Eleven Hundred Springs style... but with a new drummer.  Alas, Bruce is no longer with the band, but he was spotted in the crowd enjoying the festivities.  These guys put on a rocking set as usual.  TMR wouldn't be the same without them.

Ray Wylie Hubbard brought a great band with him, complete with Darcy Deville on fiddle.  She can play with the best of them.  Ray has a new CD coming out April 4th, and used his ever so clever shtick to promote it, of course.  But Ray can do this in a way that is so entertaining, the crowd responds positively and it's all good.  I always enjoy seeing Ray Wylie Hubbard...and I've seen him many times.  No matter how many times I see his show, it's still entertaining.  God bless Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Mark David Manders and band followed and they are a crowd favorite at this event.  The front of the stage filled quickly with MDM fans and Heather Woodruff was playing fiddle for him.  Is that a permanent thing?  I don't know.  They sounded tight though, and everybody was having fun.

Deryl Dodd performed next, and what I saw of his set was from the TV truck behind the building where they were actually filming the show.  Our friends at Intelecon and The American Roadhouse graciously invited us to visit them while they were filming.  It was absolutely amazing.  One person sitting there talking to all seven or eight cameramen at the same time, instructing them how to shoot and from what angle, while another person is in the other room doing all the "shading", which are the color adjustments made during the filming.  It was VERY interesting.  This group of professionals know exactly what they are doing and how to do it.  I am so excited that we have a working relationship with this group of talented and enthusiastic people, and I am thankful to them for their dedication in bringing OKOM (our kind of music) to the world.  Although I was distracted by all that was happening inside the truck, what I saw and heard of Deryl Dodd, I liked.  He's one of those artists, I've found, that either people like or they don't.  I do, because he has that traditional country sound that I love so much. 

We made it back to the AT&T stage about the time Jesse Dayton started performing.  What a show Jesse and his band gave the crowd.  He had fans around the entire stage dancing and singing along.  It was good to have Jesse there this year.

We missed the first part of Chris Knight's act, but managed to get inside the now "more than packed" room to see Chris Knight with a full band for the first time.  The audience was pumped, and it was wall to wall Chris Knight fans.  He announced he is releasing another CD in about three months.  What great news.

Jim Lauderdale was about to hit the AT&T stage about the time we decided to call it a day.  After a long night with Clay Farmer & Band at Adair's on Saturday night, I reluctantly headed toward the parking lot while fans were chanting for Jim Lauderdale.  I know he gave the crowd a helluva a show as he always does.

So out of 17 acts, I missed eight.  I wish I could have seen Pinmonkey...that's the only band out of the eight I've never seen live.  Maybe one of the posse members that was there will pick up where I left off and tell you about the rest of the show.

I'm not sure why the price of the ticket for this event goes from $18 in advance to $30 at the door.  That seems like excessive service fees to me.   They did a much better job this year of keeping on schedule so the acts didn't overlap from stage to stage.  I would say TMR VII was as successful as any they've had.  It was as crowded as any they've had, even though the crowd did thin out considerably about 6 p.m. or so.  There was still a big party going on nonetheless.  South Fork felt like home for this party, so despite the limited space, it was still better than Plano Centre.

Addendum:  The rumors that I've heard since I wrote this review are that Radney Foster really tore up the house as well as Jack Ingram (as always).  I'm sure the Derailers and The Domino Kings did a blow-away set as well.  I knew I was going to miss some great acts...maybe next year I'll make it through the whole show.

                                                                                                      Happy Trails,
                                                                                 Miss Lana

Lana

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