HillBilly Brand’s Weblog

The last South Florida M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays event is going to be held at Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach, FL. The Muzik Mafia is sending down Jon Nicholson, Shannon Lawson, Damien Horn, SWJ, and Rachel Kice to end the Music series that was started by Mafia member Shy Blakeman this past February. This should prove to a fantastic event.

If you can’t make it to the show, HillBilly Live will be broadcasting live starting at 9:00pm on Tuesday April 29th. You can watch the show at HillBilly Live. HillBilly Live is made possible by Camstreams.com

I had the very distinct pleasure of joining Cowboy Troy for dinner last night. The first thing you notice about Cowboy Troy isn’t that he’s a black man that sings country music or that he’s as big as a professional football player, but it is how comfortable he makes you feel around him. Speaking with Troy is like speaking with a family member. Troy is incredibly forthcoming and open and freely shares his personal life and experiences with those around him. We discussed everything from professional wrestling to life with his 10-month old triplet boys.

Cowboy Troy was our latest special guest at M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays. Last night had to be our best night yet. Amber Leigh sounded great last night and busted out a new song or two singing one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs, “Our Song”. Shy Blakeman was up next with the Bad Jesus Brown Band and they killed just like they always do. I think Cowboy Troy raised performance bar a bit because everybody put a little extra energy into the show.

Cowboy Troy took the stage about 10:30. I had not had a change to catch Cowboy Troy in a live performance and to be perfectly honest, I was a bit skeptical as to how good CT’s music would be live because I assumed there was a bit of post-production work that goes into his albums. I could not have been more off base if I had tried. Last night, backed by the Bad Jesus Brown Band, Cowboy Troy caused quite a ruckus with his performance. It was incredible!!!! It is really a great performance and even if you are not a fan of his music, he is well worth trying to get out to see. I promise you will not get a typical country music performance and if he doesn’t get you pumped up, you need to see your physician because there is something wrong with you. I can’t wait to see CT again real soon.

If you are a Cowboy Troy fan, check out his Hick Chick line of clothing. If you get a chance to meet CT, make sure you tell him the HillBilly Boys say Hey!

Hey y’all. I want to tell you real quick about our newest promotional endeavor. We are heavily promoting Asthon Shepherd (and her MySpace Page). I am sure you have heard her on the radio and you may have seen the recent Yahoo! News Story about Ashton. The bottom line…She’s HOTTTTT!!!!! Not only is she a HillBilly Hottie, her music is great too.

We were approached a couple weeks ago by her distributor to see if we wanted to get involved with helping to promote her new album. HillBilly Music said Hell Yeah! Click the banner below and you can download some of her music for FREE! Make sure to pick up her new album soon.

What do you get when you combine great weather, great music, power boats, swamp buggies, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, the HillBilly Hotties, and BEER!?!?!? Why the WIRK Rough & Ready Man Show of course. This past weekend we spent the day at the Abacoa Town Center in Jupiter, Florida. It was a great event. Of course we are not used to staying quite so clean at one of our events, but we still had a great time. WIRK put one a really nice event at a really nice venue. If you haven’t been to Abacoa Town Center and you are close to it, you are really missing out. They have several really nice places to eat and enough interesting shops to give you something to do to kill some time before or after dinner.

The HillBilly Hotties were out there with us and we introduced two new Hotties, code named Houston and Dallas and interestingly enough, here they are with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. Y’all can decide who’s hotter, but my money is on the HillBilly Hotties.

If you have read this blog at all, you all know we are big fans of Shy Blakeman. Shy is one of those guys who grabs you and reels you in and once you are a fan, its all over. Shy Blakeman and the Bad Jesus Brown Band put on one hell of a show. They sounded great! I can’t wait for them to get up to Nashville to record their new album. You can see Shy Blakeman and the Bad Jesus Brown Band every Tuesday night through April at Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach, Florida for M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays. Here are some pics of Shy at the Rough & Ready Man Show.

Friday night we were treated to something few have experienced but everyone should try to do it once in their lives. Being part of the whole HillBilly experience, I have had the priveledge of getting backstage a time or two, sometimes legitimately, sometimes not, but it is far cooler to be invited backstage than to sneak in or to bribe a security dude with a hat or t-shirt. This past Friday night we were invited to the after party for the Dierks Bentley, Bucky Covington, and Luke Bryan concert at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had yet. Believe it or not it was up there with the private taping of a Brooks and Dunn video because we got to actually interact with the stars. One thing I can say about country music stars is that they are more like talking to your neighbors than talking to celebrities. They do not seem to forget their roots, which with all the attention they get might be easy to do.

We met Bucky Covington before the show. I am not sure what I expected, but he was not even close. On one hand he’s already had more time on primetime television than most country artists will have in their career because of American Idol and on the other, he was not the winner. I guess I expected him to be arrogant or at least a little bit snobby. I mean afterall, he is a house hold name (even my aunt knew who he was and she doesn’t know a thing about country music). He was the complete opposite. Not only was he nice in meeting us, but took the time on several occassions throughout the night to come over and talk with us. By the end of the night you would have thought we’d grown up with Bucky and gone to the same High School.

While we were speaking with Bucky, Dierks Bentley was standing right behind us chatting with some fans. He was right there. We didn’t have to stand in some autograph line or hang out hoping he would have a few minutes to speak with us. We started talking to him like he was hanging out at a party and was ready to move on to the next conversation. It was that easy. He is a super nice guy. He’s one of those stars who likes to get out in the crowd and was telling us how he likes to get into his jeep before the show and go tailgate with some of the fans. He said often the fans do not realize who he is until he tells them (he goes out with a ball cap on, which I have to say makes him look like he would belong in any crowd, its like a Clark Kent disguise). He makes his fans feel very special and takes the time to keep in touch with reality.

We didn’t really get to talk much with Luke Bryan, but I can tell you from what we saw back stage, he likes to have fun…a lot of fun!!!! He’s that crazy guy at the party that always elevates it to the next level. He also fit in like a hand to a glove, cracking jokes and basically hanging out like everyone else.

 Any one of these guys would fit in at your Sunday football party or your Friday night happy hours and they all seemed like they would actually show up if you asked them. Anyway, it was one hell of a time and I hope we get to do it all again real soon.

 I would like to thank Steve, the bass player for Bucky Covington for inviting us and helping us to get our name out there. Steve is by far one of the best bass players on the country music circuit and one hell of a nice guy. I can see us doing a lot with Steve going forward so you will very like see his name pop into these postings.

I know I am starting to sound like a total Shy Blakeman stalker, but the more time we spend with Shy, the more incredible he becomes and I think you all would agree with me. First of all, I keep wondering if there is an end to his talent. This past weekend at the Okeechobee Mudfest, Shy Blakeman and the Bad Jesus Brown Band came out and played a concert in front of our tent for us. They were short a drummer, but you couldn’t even tell, they still totally rocked. I can promise Shy that he gained some fans this weekend. After the concert Shy MC’d our Wet T-Shirt Contest. Shy will never be homeless as long as there is something that can be used as a stage around him, even if it is a flatbed trailer. Shy is a total natural on stage regardless of what he is doing. A true professional performer in every respect. We’d like to send a big shout out to Shy and the Bad Jesus Brown Band and we encourge all of you to either come see him at M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays or buy his album today.

You really have to hand it to the Muzik Mafia. I am not sure eclectic is a strong enough term to describe the range of talent associated with the Muzik Mafia. Certainly incredible isn’t a strong enough term to describe the talent associated with the Muzik Mafia. Last night at M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays at Boston’s on the Beach in Delray Beach, FL (sponsored by WIRK 107.9, Boston’s on the Beach, HillBillyBrand.com, Budweiser, and the Muzik Mafia), Damien Horne (A.K.A. Mista D) was the special guest. I listened to his music on his MySpace page the night before and I was very curious to how Damien was going to fit into the mix of Amber Leigh’s pop and traditional country and Shy Blakeman’s Southern Rock sounds. Damien’s MySpace page describes his musical style as Rock/R&B/Soul. Not exactly a good blend with Amber & Shy. Boy was I wrong. First of all Damien knows how to engage an audience. From the story of how he got started (Damien was homeless when he was discovered by John Rich) to selecting songs that kept the audience listening. My only complaint about Damien’s performance which ranges from acoustic solos to freestyling rap was that it was way too short. Damien is clearly a star, but he does not act like a star, he was very cordial and took the time to talk to everyone and anyone who approached him. He hung out in the audience and even jumped in on one of Shy’s songs. I can’t really say how he did it, but he managed to work Boston’s on the Beach, Delray Beach, and HillBilly all into his freestyle. Needless to say Mr. Horne gained at least one (if not more) fan last night. Hopefully we will be hosting Damien Horne in Nashville for an autograph session in our booth at the CMA Music Festival in June.

Well this year’s Chili Cookoff has come and gone, but what a day. First of all we were on the road at 5:30am to get there in time to get set up and ready. So that is rough but that’s about the worst part. The gates open at 8:30am and we had already started selling before that. When the gates do open, it is a stampede of people running to get the best spot in the field.

 This year’s musical lineup included Sawyer Brown, Rissi Palmer, Phil Stacy, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Chris Young, Jewel, Gretchen Wilson, and Big & Rich. We made it back stage to meet most of the stars this year and get pictures with them. They should be up soon.

We did a little better this year than we did last year. We met a lot of new friends and got reaquainted with a lot of old friends. All in all the Chili cookoff is a great event for us and we all look forward to it each year.

Come check us out online at www.hillbillybrand.com. Don’t forget to come see us at M.A.F.I.A. Tuesday’s too.

Hey Y’all. If you made it out to M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays last night, then you probably know what I am about to say. Freaking WOW!!!! Shy Blakeman has really managed to put together something special. The evening started out with the eclectic sounds of Mike Mineo. Amber Leigh was up next and she played some of the songs off of her latest album (which by the way is one of the best CDs I have ever listened to and well worth the money I paid, you can buy a copy here). Shy Blakeman took the stage next and man is he one heck of a performer. Shy grabs the audience and doesn’t let go until he is ready to get off the stage. The performance of the evening has to go to Muzik Mafia’s Shannon Lawson. I had not met Shannon before he took the stage, but I couldn’t believe how fantastic he was on stage. I got to meet Shannon before his 2nd set and not only is he an incredible performer but a super nice guy to top it off. He took the time to meet the HillBilly Boys and invited us to have a drink with him after his set. Its tough to say who puts more energy into their performance Shy or Shannon, but you can bet when you see either of them, you really get your money’s worth at any price.  M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays happens to be free folks, so it is well worth your time to take a trip up or down to Delray Beach, FL on a Tuesday night to see how it all happens.

M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays  is our very own version of Mafia Tuesdays in Nashville. The first event will be January 8th. M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays will feature Shy Blakeman, Amber Leigh, Mike Mineo, and a special guest.  M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays is sponsored by WIRK 107.9, HillBilly Brand, Inc. and HillBillyBrand.com, and is hosted by Boston’s on the Beach. This is a great opportunity to meet some fantastic country music artist and you can also meet the HillBilly Hotties.

We are co-sponsoring a weekly event at one of the coolest bars in South Florida, Boston’s on the Beach. It’s called M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays and it is our very own version of Mafia Tuesdays in Nashville. The first event will be January 8th. M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays will feature Shy Blakeman, Amber Leigh, Mike Mineo, and a special guest. Our first special guest is the Muzik Mafia’s Shannon Lawson. We’ll be posting information about the special guest each week. M.A.F.I.A. Tuesdays is sponsored by WIRK 107.9, HillBilly Brand, Inc. and HillBillyBrand.com, and is hosted by Boston’s on the Beach. This is a great opportunity to meet some fantastic country music artist and you can also meet the HillBilly Hotties.