Up from the ashes of The Weary Boys rises, The Woodsboss. The Woodsboss features former Weary Boys; Darren Sluyter, Brian Salvi and Cary Ozanian. They are joined by Tom VandenAvond, Molly Salvi and Sean Ziggler. There isn’t too much information available at this time. There is a single song posted on their myspace profile and a few show dates in their calendar. Speaking of thier calendar…what’s that I spy? Is that what I think it is? Well shit fire! It sure is. The Woodsboss will be playing New World Brewery in Ybor on April 24. I hope the old Weary faithful come out.

2007 has been one bitch of a year for bands I like. Drag the River calls it quits, Two Cow loses their drummer, Isbell leaves DBT, Mario leaves The Weary Boys, and now this. It is with great sadness that I tell y’all that The Weary Boys have called it quits. I can not find any “official” announcement anywhere, but a ninebullets.net reader and friend of mine sent me an email asking about bands he could hire for his wedding and I mentioned The Wearys, so he emailed them. A few days later he got the following response:

Hey [name edited out by ninebullets.net],>> The offer is much apprecitated(sic) but The Weary Boys are> no longer playing. The band broke up in August. But> thanks anyway and good luck with your reception…>> Cary Ozanian>> —

Cary is…or rather was…the drummer. I immediately emailed the band for some form of “official” word, but true to form (they still have never really announced Mario’s departure) they have not replied. I’ll take the above reply and the fact that the web site has not seen an update since August as verification and say; Ain’t that a sumbitch. When Mario left the band I assumed the end was near, but then they came through town with the new banjo player/vocalist Matt Downing and I decided they were gonna be fine…maybe even better. I figured wrong. So today I am gonna offer up some tunes from a band that gave me some of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had. They may not have ever been on time, but they were always a mutha of a good time.

Good Luck in your new endeavors you Weary Boys. This one goes out to y’all: Good Times

Here are a couple of tracks from each of their releases. IF you like what you hear they can be purchased here.

From their 2001 debut The Weary Boys

• Freight Train Blues
• Dark As The Night

From their 2002 album The Weary Blues

• Busted Down
• Can’t Keep Me Down

From their 2003 album Good Times

• Cruel Corrina
• Two Long Years

From their 2004 gospel album Holy Ghost Power

• Holy Ghost Power
• Only Jesus

From their 2006 album Jumpin’ Jolie

• Jumpin’ Jolie
• Drink On It

From their 2007 album Coalinga

• Blue Yodel #4
• Orange Blossom Special

While at the recent Weary Boys show I picked up a copy of the Weary Boys newest cd, “Coalinga”. Much like their live show, I was not sure what to expect with Mario gone. Well, The Weary Boys are just fucking fine. Matter a fact, one could say the Weary Boys are back. Now, I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that their last effort, “Jumpin’ Jolie”, was a bad album cause that simply is not the case. It just wasn’t as good as the four albums that proceeded it. Well, I am proud to say they turned the rock/surf down and the Weary back up. Matt Downing has filled Mario’s vocal spot in the band, his banjo replaces the electric guitar, and this immediately ups the country factor of The Weary Boys. Recorded and mixed by Weary fiddler Brian Salvi at his studio and self-released. This is a DIY disc that you need to obtain if you are a fan of traditional country music.

I wish I could tell you how to buy Coalinga but for now it seems like the only way to get it is to see them live. If they are coming to your part of the world (tour dates here) then you should go and see them. As good as their cds are, the live version is better. Every time. If they aren’t coming to your town then contact them via myspace and tell them ninebullets.net convinced you to buy their awesome new cd “Coalinga” and that they need to take your money.

Since there is barely any mention of this album at all on the internets I’ll give y’all the track listing:

1. Coalinga
2. Used to Be
3. Stranger
4. Jack of Diamonds
5. Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin’
6. Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee
7. Darlin’ Corey
8. Theme Time
9. Blue Yodel #4
10. Little Birdie
11. The Orange Blossom Special
12. The Last Stand of El Sorodo

The Weary Boys Official Site, The Weary Boys on myspace

Here is a review of the show that they played here in town last month that I never got around to posting:

The Rock Report - The Weary Boys @ New World (4/26)

Mario’s gone and the Weary Boys continue on. That is my take on the new Weary lineup. Last week while talking about the upcoming show I said, “I imagine it will be a tad awkward for the crowd at first, seeing as how most of them probably don’t know Mario has left the band yet.” That was pretty darn accurate. When they took the stage you could see the crowd start to put it all together and the scuttlebutt kicked up. This went on for about 5 songs before the crowd realized everything was fine, and then it just became a normal Weary show but with a banjo instead of an electric guitar. The remaining members of the band seemed to be much more engaged with the crowd than in previous visits, and Cary (the drummer) gets more mic time. Hell, the bassist even sang a song. They played a lot of songs from their new cd, which I bought, and by the end of the show everyone was clapping, dancing, singing along, and everything was right with the world. With the departure of Mario their underlying rock and roll is gone though. They are much more traditional now. As a friend of mine said during the show “They are a full on hillbilly band now.”

Indeed they are. They seem to be happier with it and that is all that matters. If you liked them before then fret not….you’ll like them now. It’s possible you’ll like them even more.

So, you saw my review of the Radio Moscow show and felt like you missed out (you did) and you don’t want it to happen again. I understand. It’s hard to get away from VH1…shit, I’ve lost many many hours to it…..but it’s time to break the vicious cycle. This is the perfect week. We got a lot going on in the Tampa Bay area this week so stop picking your nose and get out on town. Here are the highlights, per me:

Thursday night @ New World Brewery: The Weary Boys w/local favs The Diviners opening

Here we go. The moment of truth. What will The Weary Boys sans Mario be like? I haven’t seen any bad reviews from other shows. I imagine it will be a tad awkward for the crowd at first seeing as how most of them probably don’t know Mario has left the band yet. I am maintaining a positive attitude towards the whole deal. Plus, the remaining Wearies added a banjo player and there is nothing like a banjo to amp up the energy of a good show. These guys pull a huge crowd that drinks their fill and then dances it off every time they come to town. I would advise each and every one of you to not miss The Weary Boys when they come to your neck of the woods.

You can see my review of The Weary Boy’s last cd, Jumpin’ Jolie, here.

The Weary Boys - Jambalaya
The Weary Boys - Baby Have No Fun

The Diviners - Remember the Beatnicks

Saturday night @ Tampa Theater: Kenny Wayne Shepherd w/Bryan Lee

Kenny Wayne Shepherd brings his Ten Days Out tour to the Tampa Theater. He is also bringing Bryan Lee (sings Tina Marie) with him. This show promises to be a shit ton of fun and I know the ticket price is enough to scare some people off but if you got the money to spend you should go to this show. As a taste of what this is gonna be like I am posting a few mp3’s from Bryan Lee’s cd “Live at the Absinthe Bar” where he is performing with Kenny Wayne. I defy you to listen to these and not think this show is gonna be one of the best of 2007.

You can see my review of Ten Days Out here.

Bryan Lee w/Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Going Down
Bryan Lee w/Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Look on Yonder Wall

Kenny Wayne Shepherd w/Bryan Lee - Tina Marie (from Ten Days Out)

Saturday night @ New World Brewery: The Dark Romantics

Yes Yes Yes….I know, I am posting about 2 shows on a Saturday night. Basically, the plan for the wife and I is to bust ass to New World after the KWS show in time to see Lakeland art-rockers The Dark Romantics. The last time these guys played Tampa they basically played a show for me, my wife, ninebullets site master Trevor and his wife. To say it was embarrassing would be quite the understatement. So come on Tampa. Get out and support your local talent. You can see my review of The Dark Romantic’s debut cd here.

The Dark Romantics - Baby Boy Baby Girl
The Dark Romantics - So Confused (and we like it)

This weekend and all the events listed above are Autopsy IV approved and I hope to see some of y’all out!

I read some sad news on the internets yesterday and thought I would pass it along. Apparently, Jon Snodgrass, co-vocals and guitars for Drag the River has left mid-tour. There are plenty of rumors and much conjecture out there already, but as this is an .mp3 blog and not a gossip site, I’ll quote the closest official source I could find. The following comes from one of the fellas at Suburban Home Records:

I have spoke to both Dave and Jon twice now. At this point, it is definite that there will be no Jon Snodgrass on the rest of the tour. Drag will continue to play as a 3 piece and as Chad will be the only vocalist, he will only be doing his songs.

As far as what happens after this tour, there is no official news at this point. I would like to think that after everyone has had time to think about it, things will work [themselves] out. Drag are just way too good for this to be the end. They have an entire album recorded and let me just say that it will blow people away.

So that’s it. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and a little time heals all wounds. I sure am glad I made it to the last Lucero show in time to see them open though. Drag the River was a band I have just started getting into after ignoring them for quite sometime due to a misunderstanding. Hopefully all of this will just turn into a quit the tour thing and we’ll all laugh about it in next tour. For now I’ll have a whiskey drink and put It’s Crazy in the cd changer.

Drag the River - Fire and Flood
Drag the River - Tired and Fired

While we are on this sort of news. Mario left The Weary Boys to pursue his solo career. Neither Mario nor the band have said anything about officially so I keep hoping that it will all be a terrible joke and Mario will take the stage here in Tampa come April 26 but I do not think that will be the case. Again, there is rumor and speculation but I am not in the business of spreading such things so I’ll just reprint what I was told by Mario via email:

Basically, we are all still friends but I was just feeling like my heart wasn’t in it anymore especially in regards to creativity. I think the rest of the guys sensed this and started to resent me for it. It just seemed like I should quit before I became an enemy to my friends. So, I’m doing my solo thing now and I’m gonna see where it takes me.

Hopefully things will work out for both Mario and The Wearies. As I said earlier, The Weary Boys are playing New World here in Tampa on April 26. I am not sure what to expect of a Mario-less version of the band but you can beat your ass I’ll be there to find out. I also hope Mr. Matteoli manages to make it down to Tampa with the same frequency he did as a Weary Boy. Here’s to wishing the best of luck to both efforts.

The Weary Boys - Good Times
The Weary Boys - Baby Have No Fun

Mario Matteoli - Hard Luck Hittin
Mario Matteoli - Sun Keeps Beatin’ Down

Tomorrow we’ll try and lighten things up a little by talking about Tijuana hookers a donkey shows and a bad rash.

update: Jon left this message on the DTR message board today:

I did not quit Drag the River. Drag the River is Chad and I’s band….Chad is also my best friend.
I did however quit this tour….it had to be done.
…talk later, sorry everybody.

Well, that is good news indeed.