This is obviously the homepage for myself and my band "The Flyin Spurs". And although it's been a mostly electric band in the past (and continues to sometimes be), I've been doin a whole lot of acoustic stuff here lately. And to make things even more interesting, the band has become a loose knit and revolving organization of players.
In a live situation you'll usually see: Keith "Wild Man" Wehrle playin drums. Kristian "The BeBop Cowboy" Meisling on dobro, steel, and guitar. "Doctor Rick" Van Eman on fiddle and mandolin. And Charles "Neckbone" Murphy playin bass. (I intend to try to get pictures of these guys up on the site here in the future) But that's gonna depend on how big a band I have at the time, and the availability of players. These guys are all accomplished at their jobs, and stay fairly busy. Even I still go out and work with other people from time to time.
In whichever format we may be performing at the time, the music still falls into the basic category of "Honky Tonk". So for those of you who ain't quite sure exactly what that is, allow me to explain...
What is Honky Tonk?
Well, as I understand it, honky tonks were pretty much indigenous to the gulf coast of Texas. I'm sure they're probably called different things in other places. But, as I grew up in Texas and that's what we call em here, I guess I'll just stick with that.
One of the key things that defines a honky tonk is that you're likely to hear most any style of music there, rangin' from blues and rock, to country, to well...whatever. The primary music however, is still country. So, in a nutshell, that's what I do.
Truth be told, I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so I also play a lot of different styles. Face it, good music is good music, no matter where it came from. But don't get to thinkin that just because I like country I think it's all good. Not by a country mile!
In my opinion, a lot of what Nashville and the big companies put out these days is nothing more than bad 70's pop rock with fiddles, steel guitars, and big hats. And I ain't too keen on perpetuating that drivel, so don't expect to be hearin it on our jobs. (A couple of Ben Franklins in the tip jar might change my mind for a few minutes, but don't count on it.)
Oh yeah, and like a lot of folks out there today, I've recorded a few CD's. Now I ain't gonna lie to you, they're country! The first one from a few years back is titled Honky Tonk Diary, and the new all acoustic one is el CD. At this point you'll have to get the old one from me, but the new one is available online at www.cdbaby.com/ribnikar.
Thanx, Steve
P.S.
I send out a weekly email newsletter of what's goin on that also has a cooking column and an advice column written by a couple of members of my staff. If you'd like to sign up for it, contact me at Steve_Ribnikar@yahoo.com.
This page was last updated on 07/23/04.