DAVE'S DIARY - 29 JULY 2012 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 9 - SERIES 18

SUNNY SWEENEY - CONCRETE COWGIRL

Texan troubadour Sunny Sweeney headlines Nu Country TV at 10 p m this Wednesday August 1 - on C 31.

Sweeney is joined on the show by two Oklahoma born latter day Texans - Jon Wolfe - former roommate of August tourist Hayes Carll - and Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Riverina raised singer-songwriters Susan Lily and Steve Case also debut on the show repeated Thursday - 4.30 pm, Saturday - 11.30 p m and Wednesday - 2 am.

We have more good news.

The Nu Country TV show has been added to the C 31 streaming list.

Just follow this link on your computer or mobile phone -
http://www.c31.org.au/program/view/program/nu-country-tv

SUNNY FINDS STAYING WORSE THAN LEAVING

When Sunny Sweeney wrote recent hit Staying's Worse Than Leaving she wasn't referring to her second spouse - an Austin cop.

The singer, who filmed a graphic video for the single from second album Concrete, may have morose memories after splitting with her previous husband.

But Sweeney is Sunny again - she wed longtime beau Sgt Jeff Hellmer in November last year.

They chose a fitting venue for the nuptials - famed Little White Chapel in Las Vegas - also locale of second wedding of Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines.

Sweeney, 35, wrote seven of the 10 songs on Concrete.

The couple has perfect balance of careers and married life.

"He has no connection to the music business, except for that he's my fan," she joked of her husband - a former staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.

"People are always like, 'So what does he do?' And, I'm like, 'He's a police officer.' They're like, 'totally far removed from the music business!' And I respond, 'Yes - intentionally! I would not date somebody in the music business.'"

Sweeney is aware her husband has a dangerous profession in and beyond the Lone Star State capital but doesn't let it worry her.

"We just do our own thing and we're super supportive of each other," Sunny revealed.

"I know nothing of his work and he knows nothing about mine. We just support ourselves in our respective jobs and it's cool. He loves his job. I've never met anyone who loves their job more than he loves his. I'm proud of him for doing job. He's a Sergeant in Austin Police Department, and the guys who work under him respect him, and I think that's cool. I've seen him in work mode with them and it's completely different than when he's at home."

Sunny is working on her third album after the Country Throwdown Tour with Gary Allan, Justin Moore, Eric Paslay and Josh Thompson.

CLICK HERE for an exclusive interview with Sunny in the Diary on March 27, 2011.
CLICK HERE for an earlier interview in the Diary on April 25, 2007.

JON WOLFE - THAT GIRL IN TEXAS

When Oklahoma born Jon Wolfe wrote That Girl In Texas he wasn't referring to Sunny.

Wolfe proved why he was in love with a girl in Texas in his video that we debut this week.

The singer kept his dog, pick-up truck, girl and her horse.

Wolfe's song is on his second album It All Happened in a Honky Tonk - his 2010 sequel to 2005 debut disc Almost Gone.

Wolfe gave up his career as a British Petroleum commodities trader to be a professional singer in Houston in 2003.

"I was rooming with Hayes Carll for a while and I definitely had the bug to sing and try to write songs," Wolfe revealed.

"They took me in with open arms at Kay's bar and it was a pretty non-threatening environment to learn in. And that's where I met John Evans, who produced my first album."

He became a regular at Tulsa's historic Cain's Ballroom and played New Year's Eve 2006 party for George Strait when another act cancelled at the last minute.

Wolfe moved to Nashville and immersing himself in the Music Row co-writing scene.

"The business side of Nashville can be pretty rough but I can't say enough about having been there around some great writers for a few years," Wolfe recalls.

"I've gotten to co-write with some greats like Tim Johnson, who wrote Mark Chesnutt's big hit Thank God for Believers. Mickey Newbury, one of the greatest writers ever, brought Tim to Nashville. I made some great friendships in Nashville, and now I have a little team I can count on as far as songwriting and recording goes."

Jon was raised in a traditional and religious home in the small Oklahoma town of Miami on the music he heard in church and classic pop vocalists Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick, Jr.

He graduated to country as a teenager when his stepfather played bass in the house band at Oklahoma's Grand Lake Opry.

Also in the house band was a friend from a nearby rival high school - Joe Don Rooney, now a member of Rascal Flatts.

Wolfe lives in Austin - same city former roommate Carll, touring here this month - now calls home.

Further info - www.jonwolfecountry.com/

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD - MOTHER BLUES

Oklahoma born singer Ray Wylie Hubbard has vivid memories of his first encounter with a Dallas strip club teenage door girl who became his second wife.

The latter day Texan wrote Mother Blues about spouse Judy and the club where he played and she worked.

Hubbard, 65, also reveals how a Mother Blues stripper decamped with his Les Paul guitar.

But the song and video - featured in our new live concert segment Behind Bars - have a happy ending.

The guitar boomeranged to the country outlaw.

Now, it's in the capable hands of the couple's son Lucas, now 19, who has played in Hubbard's road band since he was 12.

The song is on Hubbard's 16th album Grifter's Hymnal - released on their family label Bordello Records.

Hubbard details the song embryo in his on stage entrée.

A stripper comes in at the end of her shift.

She asks him if he's ever heard of a song called Polk Salad Annie.

In the song he quotes her as saying, "Every time I hear that song my insides feel like warm butter, and I just wanna take off my clothes and dance around in my underwear."

Hubbard plays a line from the song for her - "down in Louisiana where the alligators grow so mean."

EMI owns the rights to this Tony Joe White classic and wanted $5000 and 66% of the publishing on Hubbard's song for permission to use the line.

Judy Hubbard, emailed back and said, "Fuck you!"

Then Tony Joe called Hubbard and said, "I called the old boy in New York and they're not gonna charge you nothin.' You're all free to go ahead and do it."

Ray says "I thought that was pretty cool because with Tony Joe, it's not about the money. It's about the song."

CLICK HERE for exclusive Hubbard interviews in our diary on July 7, 2012.

SUSAN LILY - MAKING HAY

Riverina born singer-songwriter Susan Lily debuts on Nu Country with the video for her song Broken.

Susan hails from Hay in southern NSW and wrote all 14 songs on debut album Butterfly.

Paul Norton produced and played guitar and dobro on the CD that also features Wendy Stapleton, Gerry Hale, Michael Christiano, Gary Young and Angus Birchall.

Lily has a post graduate degree in Radiography from Sydney University after earning her stripes at Charles Sturt University in Wagga-Wagga.

She follows a daytime career as a medical imaging technologist but is unlikely to revert to a previous role as stand-up comedienne.

Lily is a generous benefactor of Nu Country TV at showcase-benefits.

CLICK HERE for a CD review in our Diary.

STEVE CASE - ALWAYS RUNNING

We continue the Olympic spirit this week with Steve Case & The Fallen Trees showcasing their video clip Always Running.

Case sprinted out of hometown Wagga-Wagga a few years back and settled in Brisbane to pursue his music dreams.

The theme of his song is a little like the David Allan Coe hit Take This Job & Shove It that inspired a movie in which Lacy J Dalton played Coe's wife.

In this case Steve got the blonde in the video in the song on his second EP Leaving Home.

Case also scored a Top 20 placement in JB Seed - an artist development initiative founded by blues and roots musician John Butler.

Wagga Wagga means "place of many crows" so Case was surprised to see invasion of the birds north of the border when Adelaide was not in town playing AFL football.

"Wagga is meant to be the place of many crows - but there are hardly any about these days," Case jokes.

"But up here they seem to be everywhere - and if you can't see them, you can hear them - first thing in the morning!"

Further info - www.myspace.com/stevecasemusic

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