ALBUM REVIEW: Bleu Edmondson - Live At Billy Bob's Texas
Bleu Edmondson is a great live artist, and the limited edition CD/DVD combo of "Live At Billy Bob's" showcases the live performer in good form. And the DVD by itself is worth the full price of the 2 disc set.
At his heart, Bleu Edmondson is a talented singer-songwriter who began writing songs at age 19 and later started a band when he was 22. His career was forever changed after he wrote a letter to Lloyd Maines who welcomed him into his country music family. Maines gave Bleu Edmondson the industry credibility he needed to start his career.
Edmondson's first album "Southland" produced two of his signature tracks "50 Dollars And A Flask of Crown" and "Travelin' Man" which are highlights of "Live At Billy Bob's Texas. Three other top tunes on the album are taken from Edmondson's "Lost Boy" album including "American Saint," "Jesus Is Crying" and "The Echo (Maybe Tonight)."
The raw emotion on this album is what makes it most interesting. Bleu Edmondson's voice has a more scratchy, raw quality to it than is heard on his other albums. It gives you a sense that the artist just hopped off the tour bus and stepped to the mic to give a concert to a few friends. This quality adds new resonance to some of the songs we've heard before, like "Resurrection" and "Back To You."
On "Live at Billy Bob's Texas," Bleu Edmondson oozes songwriting talent and Americana charm. On the song "Last Call" Edmondson sings: "Last call, we all fall down." And Bleu Edmondson may be right, because country music fans will probably be falling all over each other to get tickets to his high energy live show that is brilliantly showcased on this limited edition CD/DVD set. CountryChart.com
About Bleu Edmondson
Bleu Edmondson began writing songs at the age of nineteen, got his first guitar on his 21st birthday and formed a band at twenty-two. Now 30, Bleu has not looked back since as he and the Bleu Edmondson Band have sold tens of thousands of records and amassed a rabid fan base on the hot Texas music scene. Building on a tireless tour schedule throughout Texas and the Midwest and the brilliance of the late 2007 release “Lost Boy”, the Bleu Edmondson Band now stands perched at the edge of a national breakthrough.
As a relative unknown in 2000 and with little money to his name, Bleu wrote a letter to legendary producer Lloyd Maines asking him to take a chance and produce a record for him. Maines took immediate notice of Bleu’s songs and took the young artist under his wing, producing his debut Southland in 2001, and follow-up The Band Plays On in 2002. Maines was instrumental in guiding Bleu through the development process any artist experiences and Bleu is grateful for his help. “Lloyd was a great teacher in every way. He was such an important part of my learning experience as an artist. I am so honored to have gotten the opportunity to work with him.”
Maines’ unique ability to help craft a record played a major role in Bleu’s rise to prominence on the Texas Red Dirt scene, and behind the strength of hits “50 Dollars and a Flask Of Crown” and “Travellin Man” Bleu’s place was cemented on the Texas music charts, while word of mouth of the band’s live shows spread and ignited the groundswell that continues today in their home state.
In 2007 after several years of heavy touring and over four years removed from The Band Plays On, Bleu felt it was time to come off the road and head back into the studio. After the musical and personal growth he’d experienced over the past four years, he knew that the next project had to be extraordinary. “I really wanted this record to be my best work yet. We had been touring so long and hard and developed such a great relationship with the fans that it was important to me to make this record special,“ he said. The result was his recently released CD, Lost Boy, a collaborative effort with producer Dwight Baker which has garnered critical raves, topping the Texas New Music and Americana charts.
Fusing country, rock and Texas soul, Bleu’s music offers a fierce, independent spirit while drawing on such influences as Robert Earl Keen, Waylon, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones. The record features eleven songs that detail Bleu’s life on the road for four and a half years. Songs like “Jesus Is Crying,” “American Saint,” and “The Echo (Maybe Tonight)” are evidence of Bleu’s amazing gift of honest songwriting. While cuts “Last Last Time” and “Another Morning after the Night Before” (co-written with Ray Wylie Hubbard) prove that real country music is NOT dead - A message Bleu Edmondson is the perfect evangelist for.
At his heart, Bleu Edmondson is a talented singer-songwriter who began writing songs at age 19 and later started a band when he was 22. His career was forever changed after he wrote a letter to Lloyd Maines who welcomed him into his country music family. Maines gave Bleu Edmondson the industry credibility he needed to start his career.
Edmondson's first album "Southland" produced two of his signature tracks "50 Dollars And A Flask of Crown" and "Travelin' Man" which are highlights of "Live At Billy Bob's Texas. Three other top tunes on the album are taken from Edmondson's "Lost Boy" album including "American Saint," "Jesus Is Crying" and "The Echo (Maybe Tonight)."
The raw emotion on this album is what makes it most interesting. Bleu Edmondson's voice has a more scratchy, raw quality to it than is heard on his other albums. It gives you a sense that the artist just hopped off the tour bus and stepped to the mic to give a concert to a few friends. This quality adds new resonance to some of the songs we've heard before, like "Resurrection" and "Back To You."
On "Live at Billy Bob's Texas," Bleu Edmondson oozes songwriting talent and Americana charm. On the song "Last Call" Edmondson sings: "Last call, we all fall down." And Bleu Edmondson may be right, because country music fans will probably be falling all over each other to get tickets to his high energy live show that is brilliantly showcased on this limited edition CD/DVD set. CountryChart.com
About Bleu Edmondson
Bleu Edmondson began writing songs at the age of nineteen, got his first guitar on his 21st birthday and formed a band at twenty-two. Now 30, Bleu has not looked back since as he and the Bleu Edmondson Band have sold tens of thousands of records and amassed a rabid fan base on the hot Texas music scene. Building on a tireless tour schedule throughout Texas and the Midwest and the brilliance of the late 2007 release “Lost Boy”, the Bleu Edmondson Band now stands perched at the edge of a national breakthrough.
As a relative unknown in 2000 and with little money to his name, Bleu wrote a letter to legendary producer Lloyd Maines asking him to take a chance and produce a record for him. Maines took immediate notice of Bleu’s songs and took the young artist under his wing, producing his debut Southland in 2001, and follow-up The Band Plays On in 2002. Maines was instrumental in guiding Bleu through the development process any artist experiences and Bleu is grateful for his help. “Lloyd was a great teacher in every way. He was such an important part of my learning experience as an artist. I am so honored to have gotten the opportunity to work with him.”
Maines’ unique ability to help craft a record played a major role in Bleu’s rise to prominence on the Texas Red Dirt scene, and behind the strength of hits “50 Dollars and a Flask Of Crown” and “Travellin Man” Bleu’s place was cemented on the Texas music charts, while word of mouth of the band’s live shows spread and ignited the groundswell that continues today in their home state.
In 2007 after several years of heavy touring and over four years removed from The Band Plays On, Bleu felt it was time to come off the road and head back into the studio. After the musical and personal growth he’d experienced over the past four years, he knew that the next project had to be extraordinary. “I really wanted this record to be my best work yet. We had been touring so long and hard and developed such a great relationship with the fans that it was important to me to make this record special,“ he said. The result was his recently released CD, Lost Boy, a collaborative effort with producer Dwight Baker which has garnered critical raves, topping the Texas New Music and Americana charts.
Fusing country, rock and Texas soul, Bleu’s music offers a fierce, independent spirit while drawing on such influences as Robert Earl Keen, Waylon, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones. The record features eleven songs that detail Bleu’s life on the road for four and a half years. Songs like “Jesus Is Crying,” “American Saint,” and “The Echo (Maybe Tonight)” are evidence of Bleu’s amazing gift of honest songwriting. While cuts “Last Last Time” and “Another Morning after the Night Before” (co-written with Ray Wylie Hubbard) prove that real country music is NOT dead - A message Bleu Edmondson is the perfect evangelist for.