New Album Smoking Barrel Now Available!

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Charlie Hager and The Captain Legendary Band’s new release “Smoking Barrel,” blends Country back beats with Rock n’ Roll attitude, resulting in a unique sound for which the band is known. Produced by Billy Jo High, and engineered by Adam Odor at Ray Benson’s Bismeaux Studios, this new record is poised broaden an already expanding fan base. Featureing epic tales, as well as radio friendly singles, “Smoking Barrel” is sure to impress fans and critics alike, truly a great listening experience.
Additions to the band, Aaron Bancroft on lead guitars and Wace Wilke on drums join veteran members Charlie and Jeff Hager to give “Smoking Barrel” an edgy hard hitting feel. All of the best parts of Southern music are found on this album, a unique Southern blend with broad appeal.
Charlie Hager pens eleven of the fourteen tracks, co-pens another, and the band covers two, including a reprisal of “Moonshiner’s Prayer” in which the band offers a rocky and high energy performance of the previously acoustic laden recording.
The group continues its extensive touring of Texas and the Southeast in support of this new record. For additional information and tour dates, see the bands web site at www.thecaptainlegendaryband.com .

Texas Music AwardsTM
Oh What A Night!
The 8th annual Texas Music Awards began with a star-studded Red Carpet event on May15th at the Marshall Convention Center as nominees arrived to walk the red carpet and be interviewed in front of the crowd by TMA co-founder Lucky Boyd, and several other radio and television stations. The show began with Michael Martin Murphey performing with his son Ryan (who took home Producer of the Year honors!) and Richard Bowden (half of the famed comedy duo Pinkard and Bowden). The talent represented on the stage that day was just unreal, solidifying the fact that Texas Music is the real deal. Host B.J. THOMAS wowed the crowd with his gentile manner and amusing stories as he announced several of the acts. His concert following the event with his Vegas-style band was nothing short of jaw-dropping, as he sang a dozen of his well-known hits. Immediately following the Texas Music Awards, the crowd made their way to historic downtown Marshall to congregate and party it up while the newly crowned Live Band of the Year, The Captain Legendary Band, tore up the stage at OS2 Pub, even sharing the stage with several other nominees during the evening! If you weren’t there, you probably had a good reason, like, maybe you were on your honeymoon in another country (2010 Male Vocalist of the Year David Fenley sent a hilarious videotaped acceptance speech, so he’s forgiven). But next year, we expect to see you there or count you as a valued sponsor! Your support is VITAL to keep the TMAs (presently the only awards process in the state that’s based on the music and not popularity) ALIVE!!
View some awesome pictures from the event, including sound checks the night before, red carpet arrival, and complete show at: www.tomfrancisphotography.com

As promised, for all you cave-dwellers who may not have heard who walked away with the awards at the 8th annual show, here are your reigning title holders…

MALE VOCALIST
David Fenley
FEMALE VOCALIST
Christen Sawyer
VOCAL GROUP
Shake Russell Trio
RISING STAR
Mark Allan Atwood
MUSICIAN
Big John Mills
PRODUCER
Ryan Murphey
LIVE BAND
The Captain Legendary Band
SONG
“Find Your Shine” – Kevin Higgins
SINGER/SONGWRITER
Robert Frith
RECORD
“Utopia” – john Arthur martinez
ALBUM
TOMMY – Thomas Michael Riley
ENTERTAINER
Pauline Reese
DISC JOCKEY
J.B. Cloud – KBCY – Abilene
INTERNET RADIO STATION
RadioFreeTexas.org
BROADCAST STATION
KPFT 90.1FM – Houston
FOUNDER’S AWARDS…
Palmwood Award presented to Grady Lee
Artistic Excellence presented to David Lutes for BIG TOP

Congratulations to ALL nominees…your place in Texas Music history is well-deserved!!

What better way could there be to kick off a season of promoting a new album but to take home the Live Band of the Year award at the 2010 Texas Music Awards?  The Captain Legendary Band grabbed the honors in May, just as their new release was finding its way into the hands of awaiting fans.  This album marks some significant changes for the band.  When I reviewed this band’s last album, I remarked that they “were not the same band they were” two years prior.  It’s been about four years since that release, and I’m forced to say it again.  This is not the band of 2006 who matured on the Texas music scene on the wings of Jeff Hager’s production debut.  This time, the band employed the services of 2009 Texas Music Awards Producer of the Year, Billy Jo High.  It’s a move that will pay off in a big way.  High appears on the album, as he usually does when producing, and brings an attitude to the project that is the foundation of the band’s transformation with respect to recorded product.  An additional change you’ll see is the listing of the band as Charlie Hager and The Captain Legendary Band.  Don’t be alarmed, as I don’t think you’re seeing Charlie trying to distance himself or establish himself in any way.  It’s a common sense move in light of the band’s personnel changes over their career, letting fans connect not only with the band name, but with the solidity of its core performer, writer, and one of the founding members.  For this album, it’s almost as much a solo album for Charlie as it is a band album for TCLB, another reason for the morphed listing.  Hager pens eleven of the fourteen tracks, co-pens another, and the band covers two, including a reprisal of “Moonshiner’s Prayer” in which the band offers a rocky and high energy performance of the previously acoustic laden recording.  “Back Home” received the same treatment, making it hit material.  The album is almost entirely a rock-laden version of the band’s previous offerings, a testament to High’s production and undoubtedly the new direction the band is now taking.  It’s a great move for the band which can now make the full transition from very good acoustic-based band to kick-ass Texas superstar talent.  I’m not a big fan of drug songs, no matter the underlying story, but Hager’s “Cocaine Afternoon” uses the drug reference in a figurative manner to observe an interesting truism of life.  It’s more of a tongue-in-cheek look at the absurdity of all types of substance abuse, rather than an autobiographical issuance.  All those facts aside, the tune has all the elements of a hit song, if not with radio, then most certainly with fans, driving album sales to a point where it can not be ignored.  For those of you who like a good instrumental, check out “Harry The Beast Stomp.”  The title track is an epic story of good gone bad and all that comes with it.  The album is the band’s best work to date, there’s no question of that, but if there’s anything lacking it would be some of that old TCLB diversity that we’ve grown used to.  Many of the songs contain the same intensity and attitude, making it a great disc indeed, but “Close My Eyes” is the only true ballad, and we all know that Hager can throw down a ballad as expertly as anyone.  I would have liked another love song or two.  I think fans will dig the new and improved CH&TCLB, and it wouldn’t surprise me if their fan club calls themselves the CHATCLUB.  Go figure.  This is a great album.  It stayed in my player for three days and then found its way to my personal music device, a distinction for a surprisingly few albums.  There will be surprises if this album shows up on the nominee list in the 2011 awards season.  Excellent work, guys.  You should be proud… I know I am.

Charlie Hager and the Captain Legendary Band
Smoking Barrel
http://www.thecaptainlegendaryband.com

It’s summertime. Put the top down if you’re so well healed, but Texans! Roll down the windows on the F150, open up all eight, and turn up the tunes. The tunes should be Charlie Hager and the Captain Legendary Band’s latest disc, “Smoking Barrel.” It is powerhouse, Southern rockin’ guitars screaming over that country/rocking rhythm that makes Texas rock really ROCK.
Because everybody’s screaming “Freebird!” and “Sweet Home Alabama!” there’s a perception that Southern Rock is pretty easy to play. Maybe so. If you want it to be. But this outfit can play the hell out of the music. I’ve seen them shake up a club, and now I’ve got a copy of “Smoking Barrel” and they prove they can do it in the studio, too. What makes this different for me is that there’s a tinge of morality floating under the music. Typically a Texas rock outfit is all about the party. And this is definitely a party to listen to, but there’s simply a maturity in the songwriting that suits an older and wiser fan base. I think veterans would really dig this, as would enlisted men who’ve seen the ugly stuff that grew them up quick. And demanding intellectuals like me won’t feel traitorous for throwing over our Americana and folk for a fast ride through the Texas countryside while blasting Hager’s well honed craft across the cow pastures.The disc kicks off with “Brothers,” which is the story of brothers who willingly go off to fight for the Confederacy only to discover what a terrible mistake it is to freely go off to war. However, before things get too heavy, they follow up with the chewy, rockin’ frolick, “Northeast Texas Women.” This song pays homage to every corner of the state of Texas and the legendary beauty of Texas women. This is definitely a disc for stoking up Texas pride, but the songs pay homage to the South, and that’s what’s getting these guys across the border, and I think it will help build them a regional (if not national) following beyond the Lone Star State. “Smoking Barrel” is definitely a great calling card if Captain Legendary is looking to conquer the country.
-Christy Claxton

Young Guns impress. Mainstays continue to hold the bar high

May 16, 2010

Just a few quick words before I retire and regenerate after a big weekend at the Texas Music Awards.
Yesterday, I strongly encourage the new guard to buddy up to the old guard and learn how to be great. In a few days, I’ll go into great detail with words from the masters’ mouths. However, the young guns gave me the discovery I was looking for. During the awards, as I waited backstage to present the award to the top DJ of 2009, I got a back curtain seat to an awesome band out of Dallas. Blue Condition rocked the house with high energy blues tinged rock. These guys should settle into a nice long ride in Texas and beyond. Check them out on your own until I have time to really dig in and write about them. www.blueconditionmusic.com

However, the universe didn’t stop with my wish for one stand out surprise. After getting a lovely burst of inspiration from Blue Condition, I made my way to the TMA after party at the OS2 pub and walked in on the recipients of the “Live Band of the Year” giving the packed house a jaw dropping acoustic rocker of a night. After being nominated 3 times, FINALLY, The Captain Legendary Band got a chance to take away the well deserved award. And if anybody was wondering who and how, they blew a bunch of old timers like me, Ken Gaines, TC Smythe, Danny Santos and Steve Brooks away. Catch this band live! The performance is constant energy; even during what would usually be a tuning lull. I can’t describe it in this short brief, but here’s one thing that will illustrate… a get down and dirty blues number in three four time. Anybody wanna try it? That’s what I thought.Here you go – www.thecaptainlegendaryband.com
If you can close your eyes and imagine what it’s like to walk into a deep Texas bar packed with scrappy Texas boys and beautiful girls who move with a carefree groove, add some whiskey, sweat, attitude, long wavy curls, scratchy beards, intense stares while flying up and down the fret board like it’s just something you do when you breath, and do it with grit and twang… you’ve got the Hager brothers and their Southern rockin’ jam band giving a one two punch as legendary as a late night bar fight.
I’ll be back in a few days with more from the TMAs. I have CDs to review, conversations to share with you and impressions of the 8th installment of the event. In the meantime, anybody wanna send me some cool pictures from your point of view. I’ll take shots from the awards show and the pre and after parties. Bring it on! Thanks.

The Captain Legendary Band is what great rock and country used to be. Their style is from a time when music was about songs and lifestyle and not about music just as a business. Their bayou and musical roots obviously run deep with tunes that grove like a 60s peace pipe. They are a delightful combination of the old classic country and rock sound that comes out in their own way. They have a unique sound that is not contrived. It is original and fresh with reflections of the past great days of music.
— Keith Howerton.. Americana Music Times
San Antonio, TX 2009