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To:
shorty@danhicks.net Hi Gang... It's the morning after Dan's September 8th appearance at The Ramshead Tavern in beautiful historic Annapolis, Maryland. Dan has played this venue before and seems to enjoy the room immensely. The night began at 7:40 ish. Two guys on stage doing sound checks and stuff. Checking equipment, etc. They finished their work and left the stage, returning, guitars in hand, to mild applause and the house announcer saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, The Ramshead is proud to introduce to you, Jeremy Kay." The songs they played were unknown to me so I can't give you the titles, but these guys were GOOD! SurfDog has them touring with Dan, warming up for DHTHL... Trust me Hixters, they made a great pick! Each song brought about applause that was louder than the preceding one! By the time they were done, you realize that they can go far! Jeremy Kay is the leader/songwriter... His bass player and vocal harmony guy is Dave Barber... They have a CD available from SurfDog.... Give it a listen! After a short break, Dan & co. appeared to thunderous applause... Dan, of course, followed by Tom Mitchell on guitar, Brian Godchaux on violin/mandolin, Ozzie Andrews on standup bass, and lastly, with Dan smiling broadly, The Lickettes... Debbie Key and Susan Raymond. Dan announced their first number... and they slipped into "Canned Music". Played in the familiar fashion I remember from the vinyl days... Much applause! Dan began talking about the next song saying, "This is a song from our new CD that's coming out soon, er I mean that just came out. It seems that for years, I've been saying, coming out soon..." Much laughter and smiles from the audience.... "Anyway, this is from the new CD "Beatin' the Heat"... The girls turned to the mikes and did the "Beat, Beat, Beatin' the Heat" routine I had heard of before in other's reviews. Then came "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy" Followed by more of Dan's humor and patter with the audience... Dan built us up with the story of a guy whose girl had dumped him on his pay day and the band began "Pay Day Blues" Again, all in familiar styling... At this point I was thinking to myself that the girls are more than just fluff... They can really sing! In harmonics that reminded me very much of Maryann and Naomi... I began to wonder about what I have read in other reviews... Then came a song by Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross, "Somebody Tell Me The Truth" Dan was working the audience beautifully! The occasional mention of "BTH" immediately followed by the girls... "Beat, Beat, Beatin' the Heat" Only now... seemingly a bit out of sync... Okay, I know it was fun... and Dan seemed to love it too, by his dropping the CD title often... And by surprise it seemed, so that the girls often would not be turned to the mikes... Dan smiling at their delays and problems, the girls grinning at each other when the other was late... Then came "My Cello", followed by "Long Comma Viper". I've heard reviewers refer to Dan's sometime deadpan vocals.... They definitely weren't there this night! All the inflections, (and some new ones) I have come to know... The girls were right there, even though this seemed a bit more up tempo than it's usually done! They were great! Then Dan played a standard I've heard him do before... The "Caravan/Four Brothers" medley... I'd love to hear him record these numbers one day. A few more "Beat, Beat, Beatin' the Heats" later, Dan began to introduce a song about aliens visiting from outer space... Yes gang, it was "Hell, I'd Go". The Lickettes and Tom and Brian were especially effective as the "Martianettes" Dan seemed to enjoy playing this as much as the audience enjoyed hearing it. Slipping right into "I Scare Myself", I was eager to hear which version Dan would be doing tonight... To my amazement, it turned out to be sort of a combination of all three versions! Brian's solo was phenomenal! The real surprise came from Ozzie on his electric stand up bass fiddle... An exciting intricate play on this six string instrument for which he received a huge audience response, as did Tom when his turn came! Dan remarked that Rickie Lee Jones accompanied him on "Beat, Beat, Beatin' the Heat", but they sent her out for food and she was still in the car. "...if these people knew how I talk about them...." The next number was , "Wild About My Lovin' " followed by Dan's explanation of the use of a capo. Needless to say, "I've Got Capo On My Brain" was played next. At this point Dan brought out his snare drum and told us that at some places he'd been asked to put away his guitar and just stay on the drums... Anyway, they played "End of a Love Affair" He continued on the drum for "I Don't Want Love" . During the bridge, he sidled over to the Lickettes and "Soft Shoed?" with them for a bit... The audience loved it! Onto "The Buzzard Was Their Friend". Finally! A chance to see what The Lickettes could really do! The rendition was fairly true to the original, but when it came to the girls line, "...the bacon grease don't matter none.... Dan sang the line as he has when the girls weren't there... Hmmm... Maybe it'll just take some time... As I said earlier, these Lickettes can sing... Perhaps some time together, some woodshed work... The Lickettes will be back as we remember them. Dan and the band left the stage to a thunderous applause... standing ovation... Sure enough, after a few moments, they all came back with Dan telling us he knew he was coming back, it's just something he does.... They did a slow number... "Driftin' " and closed the evening with "Milk Shakin' Mama" More applause..... Then they were gone...... After the show, Dan and the others came out into the room and signed some CD's for people... As I approached Dan was signing someone's something and the Sharpie he was using dried out... The fan saw the pen that I had brought and asked if Dan would sign with my pen... As I offered my pen I told Dan to keep it since he had a few more autographs to sign... I asked Dan if he sees Maryann much anymore? He said that every time he gets to Austin they try to connect... On that subject I asked about "Austin City Limits" and he told me that they are trying to work something out for that show real soon... I guess we Hixters better start watchin' So that's it folks... I hope I didn't bore anyone... Baltimore Dave
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