AUSTIN ROADHOUSE BAND
Live at Maggie Mae’s
"I want to waltz across Sixth Street with you in my arms,
A Shiner Bock beer in my hand.
Like a storybook ending, I'm lost in the charms
Of John Casner's Austin Roadhouse Band.
They are four pickers smooth as good 'shine,
Brimming with pure country gold.
Classics by Merle, by Ernest and Hank
Lovesick blues sung straight from the soul.
Vintage George Jones (some originals, too)
Boast a honky-tonk flavor so real.
It's the way country was played before it got spayed;
Plenty of hot fiddles and steel,
John Casner's stout tenor is the lonesome whistle moan
A haunted heart never outruns.
It can soar through the haze and the din of a bar
With a power that shivers and stuns.
The locomotive bass of Mr. J.C. George
Beats a move-it-on-over tattoo.
Against Casner's lead licks -- no fancy tricks,
Just tight, solid rhythm, thank you.
Barefoot Ben Hogue makes a steel guitar glide
Like a crystalline cloud in your ear.
And for bluesy swing fiddle, Jim Justice is choice;
His glissandos will ripple your beer!
If you're hankerin' for music with that good Lone Star feel
Here's a band that won't let you down.
This is music for hobos and street-corner Iobos --
Hillbilly Heaven on the ground.
I want to waltz across Sixth Street with you in my arms,
A quart of 90-proof in my hand.
This live shot is ending, I'm still lost in the charms
Of John Casner's Austin Roadhouse Band."
-- L.E. McCullough
(with apologies to Ernest Tubb)
The Austin Chronicle
1983 Austin Chronicle
Reader’s Poll
BEST COUNTRY BAND
1. Supernatural Family Band
2. Rank and File
3. Austin Roadhouse Band
4. Willie Nelson
5. Asleep at the Wheel
6. Al Dressen
7. Alvin Crow
8. Tex Thomas
9. Stackabones
10. Billy Joe Shaver