Best in Texas

CountryLine Magazine/CD Warehouse

West Texas Week

Musician of the Year

Rodney Does KORA

Rodney Does Sweden

Rodney Does Italy

Rodney Does Radio

Fan Review MyTexasMusic.com

Review by MyTexasMusic.com

Nash at Night

On The Chart

RADIO MARSEILLETTE FRANCE

Fred & Wally's BlowOut

A Review by Media Mongers

Steamboat Springs

Supper at Threadgills

TBJT Preview Party Rocks Momo's

TBJT Press Release

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Many thanks to the fine folks at MyTexasMusic.com. Rodney was voted the 2002 Musician of the Year.

  Rodney was the CD Warehouse Artist of the Month, featured in CountryLine Magazine in December.

 MyTexasMusic.com REVIEW
"A disc jockey's new best friend, this makes my top-ten list for 2002"
"Rodney Pyeatt has played that sweet Telecaster for Selena and Rick Trevino, but now he's playing it for himself."
"TEXAS BEER JOINT TOUR" (Cedar Break Records) is the debut project from this veteran road musician. Penning six of the
eleven cuts and co-writing two more, Pyeatt has delivered a radio-ready gem. From "In Texas," the opener, Rodney Pyeatt expresses the true Texan within him, blending Country music, Latin flair, and a relentless guitar solo. Pyeatt masters the softer side on "Suppose I Turn The Tables." Every track is a
treasure unto itself, creating an outstanding first project. Pyeatt's voice has a Vince Gill quality, flawless and true to the last note. Since his teenage years, Rodney has performed "House Of The Rising Sun" so it's no surprise that you find it here, in his own unique style, including a nostalgic ending for all of us who spent our youth with one hand wrapped firmly around a Fender neck. Co-produced with Steve Palousek, Pyeatt assembles a Who's-Who of Country pickers for a CD that is nothing less than a Rock-laden Country smash hit factory. Rodney has spent his career making entertainers sound good. Now, it's his turn. A disc jockey's new best friend, this makes my top-ten list for 2002."

Fan Review from MyTexasMusic.com
"If you are looking for a Texas music CD that sounds just like all the others...steer clear of "Texas Beer Joint Tour".  Pyeatt, well known Texas guitarist, has come out of the studio, turned his back on Nashville, and put out what may be one of the "purtiest" recordings on the market today.  Pyeatt's clear high tenor voice takes you up and down on an emotional rollercoaster of heartache, growing up, being on top, back to being betrayed and to just having fun.  The only cover on this CD is "House Of The Rising Son" which, when performed by Pyeatt, takes you to the French Quarter, drags you around a little and sends you home.  The guitar work on this CD is a must for true admirers of the instrument, and the CD is laced with some of the best steel guitar you will ever hear, played by producer Steve Palousek how happens to play with Gary Stewart and Ray Price.  This CD is for people who like good music, and has been described by Dub Miller, "A CD for musicians."  It doesn't sound like all the rest.  It's pretty, edgy, and beautifully performed by people who have been doing this for a long time.  Pick up "TBJT", grab a 6-pack and go for a Sunday drive.  If you will listen, you won't be disappointed."
Ginny Ellis, Houston Texas

Singer, Songwriter, Musician
Verified by the Charts
How's That For a Heartache
charts on September 23 - just 90 days after release!
Other projects that Rodney contributed to, also charting that week;
Mark David Manders "Highs & Lows"
(Rodney played guitar on the album)
Dub Miller "Post Country"
(one of Rodney's songs is on the album)

West Texas Week
October 7     Well, I have really been putting the miles on my little truck since we last talked.  We started to Lubbock on Wednesday, 10/2 and stopped to do a little radio visiting on the way.  The radio folks in Abilene, and Lamesa were great. 
 Thursday Oct. 3rd was a busy day and
...started early that morning when Paula and I visited Scott Farris's Performance and Presentation class at South Plains College in Levelland. We answered alot of questions and enjoyed visiting with Scott and the people in his class. Gabe Wooten, who I had met in College Station a couple of months ago was in Scott's class! He is a song writing, singing fool...sorry, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Anyway... . ..Following a quick lunch at Savannah's with The Gallegley's and Tim McCasland (SPC's steele guitar guru) Amanda and I went back to the campus and visited another class. Amanda was able to talk about her SPC experience and how it has helped her, and mostly we talked about life on the road and figuring out this crazy business.

Amanda and I went to rehearse for our guest artist spot on the television show TNL (Thursday Night Live). We started rehearsing and ended up writing a song called "That's the Way Goodbye Goes." Amanda is thinking it will go on her cd. We still need to rehearse. By now it's 5pm and time to go back to SPC so that we can rehearse in the Tom T. Hall Auditorium for the 7:30 show...fortunately Cary Banks, instructor and director of the show, makes us rehearse. Now it's time to go and get ready. Back to Tom T. Hall...lights, music action...The TNL group is awesome this year. A really talented and diverse group. Our set went well and we were able to sit and enjoy the rest of the show. Paula sold some cds in the hallway and we were off to the after party held at the Gallegley's.

Kaua and Gator went all out for the after party. Lots of food, drinks, listeners, and pickers. Amanda and her cousin Rowdy had a big birthday cake. Kaua said she thought there were about 50 people there, but my years of crowd estimation told me 75. The back yard was the site of some of the best pickin' I've heard in a long time. SPC students Anna Teresa, Gabe Wooten, Matt Bowen, Marcelous Roberts, Kyle Aaron, Brendon Edwards (saxaphone picker), Chad Maines ( Kaua made him a drum set of pans), and Mike Bownds played and sang their a****off! Tim McCasland chose the dobro as his instrument of choice for the night, and some Levelland pickers, Carla Smith, Casey Bownds, Rink Bownds, and Darren Welch made up the pickin' group that played until 2am. Kaua had to get every coat in the house and bring them to us crazy fools who wouldn't quit playing. West Texas......there's nothing like it!

We got to bed around 3:30, which most of the time would be ok except that I had a live radio interview at 8am on KLVT in Levelland the next morning. Rusty Huddleson, John Hartin and I picked some more then hit the road to Ft. Worth for a show at Woody's w/Houston Marchman.  Good show...we got a standing ovation.  

Friday, Amanda, Paula and Kaua had a lazy "girl's day". I don't know what they did, but I called when I got to Ft. Worth and Amanda said that Gator was her "man Friday" for the day?? Probably not a bad job...way to go Gator.

Saturday Amanda left for San Angelo to catch up with the Stragglers, and I headed to Waxahachie and the Texas Music Theater...another good show and I got to visit with Gary Barton from KBEC radio.  Gary's one of the coolest radio guys around!  He loves Texas music; He knows Texas music and he's one of the best friends an indie artist can have.  Thanks, man.  

Well this week has been radio radio and more radio. I am going to be in Plano at Love and War In Texas with Peter Dawson on Thursday, then on over to Glen Rose to the Tommy Alverson Family gathering. Thanks to everybody for being so nice to us. Kaua, Gator, Bruce Frazier....I really love you guys. See you down the road

Rodney Does
KORA for 4 Hours
Rodney stopped by radio station KORA in Bryan last week, just for a quick stop to meet the folks and drop off some material.  Primo DJ, John Thompson, was heading home for dinner, when Rodney dropped in.  After intros and handshakes, John hauled Rodney off to his house for dinner.  Afterwards, they returned to the station and Rodney did a 4 hour live gig with John.   It was a helluva show & we can't thank John & KORA enough! 
Texas Radio & Texas Music
Cool!

Rodney Does
Sweden
"I really appreciate your music and have of course been using many of your tracks in my shows lately.
You may go and listen to our streamed broadcast at   if you like to hear some of the Hottest Hits and Sounds from my "daily work". It´s not the same as MCWC but a Great Music station who I´ve been working with for the past 7 years.
Have a Great Day my Friend.......and keep it Country!"
Sincerely, Lars G Lindberg
MCWC Radio
Mora Sweden

Rodney Does Italy
Click to read
what Italy has to say about the TBJT

RADIO VISITS
Rodney has been traveling all over the state of Texas, promoting his TBJT cd to radio.   Initially he expected it would be difficult just to meet the DJ's & Program Directors - then to pitch a song & get them to play it??  Uphill battle, right???     WRONG!  He's been welcomed at every stop and many of the DJ's invited him in for an impromptu live interview & musical performance.  He's done live shows with Gary Barton, KBEC, Waxahachie; Egan Barthels, KZAM & Texas Thunder Radio in South Texas; Shay Hardy, KBAL, San Saba; Tracy Pitcox, KNEL, Brady; Rick & Sabrina, KBAE, Horseshoe Bay; Susan Cholopisa, KYCX, Mexia; Bill Gregory, KRXT, Rockdale. Thanks to all the radio stations and the DJ's that have given the TBJT some spins and for being so gracious when Rodney has knocked on the door.   
We encourage everyone to support the local stations that are playing real Texas music.  Tune in to keep radio real.  Also, be sure and let us know every time you hear a Pyeatt song.
Largest Crowd Ever
at Fred & Wally's Sports Bar in Waco
The Beer Joint Tour cranked it up and turned it on for the record-breaking crowd at Fred & Wally's last Saturday.  Doctors, lawyers, bikers and Indian Chiefs - elbow to elbow - SRO - a Hot crowd incited and encouraged Rodney, Amanda, Joey, JP & Scott to perform  wayyyyy beyond the norm.  HARD drivin, country ROCKIN, Riffs & Texas Blues - emphasis on "hard" & "rockin" - one more variation of the Texas Beer Joint Tour.  Fred & Sambo, thank you for invitin' us.

NASH  AT  NIGHT Rodney & Paula had a BLAST in Wichita Falls with Jim & Kim Nash, doing the live KLUR Nash at Night show.  The show was broadcast from the hottest venue in WF - the NEON SPUR.  After hooking up with Ron & PJ Berry for dinner they all headed over to the NEON SPUR where they made a lot of new friends.   Jim and Kim are really cool people and they've put together a great Texas music show for KLUR.

A Review by Jeff Ermoian
Texas Beer Joint Tour - Rodney Pyeatt

In reading a review, it is important to understand where a reviewer is coming from. I write as a fellow songwriter. I write as a friend of the man I am talking about, and I write as a man who has had a part to play in helping to
launch the careers of many people more talented than myself. As a friend I want to say only good things, but I owe my honesty to Rodney as much as my kindness so my real feelings will not be hidden from him or you readers.

When debut cd's sell well, there is a great demand for a speedy follow-up. A first cd may contain your best efforts from the previous twelve years. A second recording can almost never take that long. The result can often be a flash in the pan. I can confidently say that the best is yet to come. Though I like this cd a lot, it don't think it really gives you a very clear picture of Rod the picker. It's musical scope is pretty much limited to country and only hints at the musical depth of this feller. My biggest complaint about TBJT is not what it is, but what it is not.

This cd is Rodney's debut of his own music. This is a frightening time in a songwriter's life. It is like sending your children off to college hoping the world will accept them with love and grace. You always hope that you have invested enough of yourself into them to keep them from suffering some of the rejections you had to endure. On TBJT we have eleven of Rodney's children to scrutinize and judge on their own merits. His influence over them has now ended and they will become what they are to you and not to him.

Let's meet his kids now.
In Texas is a beer soaked boogie proclaiming the writer's love of Texas. Danceable and familiar in form, it is an easy child to like. It gives you a variety of guitar styles to hook into and lyrics that do not demand
self-examination.

Suppose I Turn the Tables is a much more risky tune. Much of himself is invested here. The lyrics allow you feel some of the artist's pain as he wonders if he's getting as much as he's giving. This is a little like getting naked with a stanger, allowing them to see your scars as ugly, or to see how much his pain makes him beautiful like you. The sweet acoustic guitar and restrained slide guitar understate the song's musical content, allowing you to focus on the emotional content. Good harmonies and solid musical arrangement to like here.

That's When I'm Coming Home starts as if it might be more of the same but quickly morphs into a country-rock foot stomper. Cool lyrics give you a feel
of the writer's when-hell-freezes-over resolve. A good vehicle for Rodney's vocal work showing his easy transition between soft and hard.

Where Do You Call Home is a painful chronicle of a relationship falling apart. It's got a lot of the elements that we associate with the traditional approach to country. Hard to tell if this is more autobiographical or simply an invented ballad. A solidly crafted piece of song style that graciously tips it's Stetson to Nashville by virtue of tempo and twang.

How's That for a Heartache is the first single that Texas radio listeners will hear. It may well be the most commercially accessible tune on the cd. It seems a little cliché at first but realizing this is a debut cd leaves you amazed at the maturity of it's craftmanship.

I Believed Them gives you a peek into the guiding principles that make up Rodney's moral life. The song has some great guitar work and vocal arrangement but I like it best for it's gutsy admission that he will judge
you by what you do and not what you say. Admitting this revelation comes from his dad and is not his own shows more honesty than was necessary to carry off this tune. It is unapologetically Christian without being preachy. Testify brother!

House of the Rising Sun I think every artist should record at least one cover tune at some time in their career. Familiar tunes call other versions to mind
and give the listener an apples to apples comparison. This song allows you to see the spin Rodney puts on his sound. A sense of his unique style is conveyed in the passionate singing and adept guitar work set down in this song. Though it has never been considered a country song, if you had heard this version first you would insist that it was always a country song.

Flesh and Blood
Hearing this tune is a little like finding a single page from someone's diary. Some part of you knows it's none of your business but can't quite help reading it anyway. It makes you wonder what things happened that lead up to that moment. If you have ever felt guilty for not being perfect, and had that guilt used against you, you will be able to identify at some level. I love the line about getting your teeth kicked out. There is a sense of comfort with himself contained in the lyric. Talking about getting stoned is still risky business in most places but I expect that at least Austin is prepared to handle the subject with some maturity.

How Can I Tell You Goodbye I admit that on my first hearing of this song the twang of steel guitar made some part of me think, oh no, not another. I thought that if Rodney did not want to seem too countryfied, why would he use that much of it? Then the musician in me realized that if I had access to that kind of talent (because the playing is extremely solid) that I would use the heck out of it too. The more I play this one, the more I like it. It is, in my opinion, probably the purdiest dang song on this disc. I hope it will be the second single to be released from TBJT.

Love the Doubt Out recalls some of the things folks like best about country music. There's hurtin', lyin', cheatin', and forgiveness. By itself, that's not enough to carry a tune but where there's a solid melody, good
arrangement, and an appropriate beat you're looking at a winner. This is another of the tunes that I expect will play well to the radio audience.

Rock Bottom has the self restraint to keep itself from being as rockin' as it might have been. Let's face it, as the last tune on what will be seen as a country music record, hard rock would be a very hard gear change. When you listen to the lyric you will hear familiar country themes but they are presented in the same sort of country rock groove that begins this cd.  Reaching up to touch rock bottom is a word picture I like even when the familiarity of the notion makes me uncomfortable. Like many of the songs here, this one invites some introspection. The more uncomfortable you are
with yourself, the more uncomfortable you are likely to be with songs like this one.

TBJT shows that Rodney is a person in the process of learning to see himself (and consequently others) more clearly. It is well produced without being slick. Rodney will be playing these songs on the road for many months to come and when you go to see him they will sound as good live as they did on the cd. No, better in fact.

You see nothing compares to live music. You can't stuff freshness into a container of any kind and expect it to stay the same as fresh. (Trust me I've tried.) I always tell people who miss a live show that it's kind of like sex.
No amount of description will convey what it was like to just be there. You gotta be there. If you like country and don't have a copy of TBJT, buy one. If you can, buy it from Rodney at his live show instead of a record store.
You'll see why I respect this guy and why I like him. Oh yeah, buy him a beer and tell him to hang in there too. It's easy to find critics. It's great to find friends.

Sixth Street and MOMO's Rocked by Rodney Pyeatt

(Austin,Texas)
Rodney Pyeatt’s cd release and media preview party ripped through MOMO’s Club in Austin, Monday, June 3.  The turnout was huge and the party was successful beyond anything that Rodney had imagined.  Sean Oveissi, co-owner of MOMO's with brother Paul,  brought in extra personnel and more beer to handle the crush.  MOMO's great bartenders came to work expecting a little Monday night party and wound up working their butts off!   It paid off because the service was exceptional, as always,  at this great Austin venue.

After a fast load-in (up-stairs, no less) and even faster clothes-changing, Rodney and the guys were ready to meet their guests by 6:30.  It was impressive to see the number of people that arrived that early.  The crowd was a very cool multi-generational mix of family, media, long-time fans, new fans, musicians and strangers that just wandered into the best party in town.

After all the wonderful words from these Texas greats, it was time for the Texas Beer Joint Tour
to roll.         >>>>>>>More>>>>>>>

Rodney Back From
Steamboat Springs
Every musician in Texas is gonna have something to say about the music fest in Colorado, this year. I think the best part of it was having 4 days to hang out and talk shop with other musicians that are trying to turn art into a marketable product. It's a strange job we have.
What did I take away from Colorado - besides the great onstage riffs with Jason Boland and then Wade Bowen??? Just a little stomach virus. From Colorado to Temple, I met up with some fine and some, not so fine, restrooms and roadsides. Glad to be home!

RADIO MARSEILLETTE FRANCE
DOMINIQUE COSTANOGA
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
RADIO MARSEILLETTE
33 RUE DES HTS SERRES
11000 CARCASSONNE
FRANCE

DEAR FRIENDS,DEAR TALENTED ARTISTS,

I AM VERY HAPPY TO SEND YOU
MY OCTOBER TOP TWENTY CHARTS OF "DOWN THE RUST...TEXAS' SPIRIT" SHOWS

1 ROGER WALLACE........BLOW WIND BLOW

2 PAULINE REESE........NIGHT LIFE

3 AUSTIN CUNNINGHAM....THE BEST I COULD DO

4 DOYLE HOLLY..........BEFORE YOU GO

5 TONY PRICE...........HOT DOG

6 RODNEY PYEATT.......ROLL IN TEXAS

CONGRETULATIONS CONGRETULATIONS CONGRETULATIONS

RADIO MARSEILLETTE WHICH AIRS SIX HOURS OF COUNTRY,
AMERICANA, TEXAN MUSIC, TEX MEX, EACH WEEK IRRIGATES A
WIDE URBAN AND RURAL AREA WHERE 500 000 POTENTIAL
PAIRS OF EARS LIVE.

BEST REGARDS FROM FRANCE

DOMINIQUE COSTANOGA

RODNEY PYEATT - GUEST SPEAKER AT SUPPER AT THREADGILL'S - PBS PLEDGE SPECIAL

May 21 Rodney spoke to invited guests of Chris Ermoian, producer of Texas Music Cafe, about the plight of independent musicians and the importance of gaining exposure via shows like Texas Music Cafe.  

The producers of the Texas Music Cafe, in conjunction with Threadgill´s, are producing a 1-hour PBS video special on the musical development of Austin as seen through the history of Threadgill’s. Archival photos, recordings, and film footage will be combined with current interviews to highlight the influence of Kenneth Threadgill, his humble North Austin hangout, and the many artists who performed there.