We’re gonna be down to the Hastings in Ada around 5:45 on Friday, March 24th to drop off the new album, sign copies, and visit with anyone who comes out to be among the first purchasers. I’m looking forward to meeting as many of our fans as possible.

There will some new merchandise at the show. We’ve always been remiss in the pass about actually getting some things, but we’ve got some shirts that I think you’ll like.

Also, KYKC in Ada currently has a copy of “Hell & Mexico” from the new album, so be sure to call them up and request the song. Traci Nicole will be happy to spin it for you, especially if you call her during the noon request hour. As many of you have probably figured out by now, we have two of the songs from the album up on myspace. Just click on myspace to the left of this blog and the first song will play automatically.

Speaking of myspace, it seems that people go to that site more often than this one. Drop me a line on the guestbook, and let me know if you actually visit this place. Let me know if there’s some feature that you would like to see on this site (as long as your suggestion isn’t directed at me for not updating the blog more often). We will be updating this entire site in the near future.

Finally, I just wanted to let you know that we are excited about having Travis Linville join the Sweetworth Records family. We’re hoping to have his new album out around the end of April. I’ve heard it, and it may be his best yet. The current title of the album is “Bridges”, but that may change for all I know.

That’s about it for now.

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon L. Allensworth

Speaking of CD release parties, our good friends the Redbud Revival are releasing their CD, “The Great Van Edom,” this Friday over to the Belle Isle Brewery in Oklahoma City. We’ll be opening up for them. I’ve heard the album and it’s great. This album is actually being released in conjunction with Sweetworth Records (Our album was released on this label run by Kyle Sweet). Come on out and support this fine band and record label. Hopefully, more good things with the label will be happening soon.

A good show to mark your calender for will be February the 10th at the Wormy Dog with Roger Creager. We’re looking forward to a good turnout and a good time.

AFTER READING THE FOLLOWING, CLICK HERE FOR A HUMOROUS ADDENDUM

Finally, I had to find something to critique, but this time, it’s not a movie. Let me quailify the following by pointing out that I don’t usually bash on Nashville. Nashville music is simply a different type of music than I do, so it’s unfair to take issue with anything except perhaps the inappropriate “country” monniker that is associated with most of what we know as commerical Nashville music (Nashville actually turns out some great stuff; it’s just not typically on CMT). There are all different kinds of music out there, some of which I just don’t like (on a side note, I’ve been listening to Gram Parsons almost constantly for the past two days; great stuff). I have learned to accept that not everyone likes what I like and that doesn’t make their opinion any less valuable. Furthermore, I have no business telling anyone how to write a song. There. The polite, I don’t think I know better than you who has no taste in music, disclaimer is finished.

Sometime during the holidays, I was visiting with a family member, passing the time by cruising through the 90 some odd channels he gets on his television. I decided to watch the CMT top twenty countydown just to keep up with what folks are listening to and to see what really pays the bills for a songwriter (I friend of mine recently opined that the best way to write a commercially successful “country” song, is to imagine that the person you are trying to touch with your lyrics is also deeply moved by The Oprah Winfrey Show).

Unfortunately, I missed the first part of the countdown and came in somewhere during the mid-teens. The song that was on was a Brooks and Dunn tune called “I believe.” Pretty typical song. No cause for any raised eyebrows. The next song was called “Just Might (make me believe)”. This was shortly followed by a horrible Joe Dee Messina number called “Delicious Surprise (I believe it).” How many damn songs on CMT have to do with some derivation of the word “believe” these days? Does no one have a thesaurus on music row?

Soon thereafter, I was subjected to the most emotionally manipulative, not to mention predictable, piece of crap yet by none other than Rascall Flatts. How can you not feel sorry for a little girl enduring such a horrible disease as cancer? Especially when the message is delivered with cirque du soleil performers hanging from the ceiling like a bunch of damn decorations at an elementary school party.

While I’m still on the subject, I heard the word “margarita” at least three times (I should have started counting sooner). I expect to hear some words over and over in country music such as “the” , “country”, or even “whiskey,” but margarita. Seriously. No self-respecting country boy or girl that I know (and I’m from rural Oklahoma), rolls in to the local beer joint after work and orders up a sangria swirl. Has the margarita become the official drink of country music these days? Say it aint so.

I won’t even begin to address the “Big and Rich” craze. I had nothingl left to comment on after seeing Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. Ole Trace, he doesn’t do it for the fame or money. No! He does it for….the badonkadonk.

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Becuase Travis Linville is working with us on the project, we have to keep lots of dates open so that he and I end up being free at the same time. We won’t always be able to make our schedules fit; that’s just how it has to be. It certainly helps, however, to be able to work here around Norman. That way we can record a little any time we have a free day or evening.

We are recording at Bell Labs. The owner and engineer is Trent Bell who was a member of the group the Chainsaw Kittens. Strangely, I can remember of a copy of their album making it’s way down to Rattan when I was in high school. I enjoyed their music. He’s a great guy, and is really working hard to make our project everything we’re seeking.

We have now finished recording all of the drums, bass, and most of the rhythm guitar for a full fourteen tracks. I can’t promise that all fourteen will make the final cut, but at this point in the project, I intend to release them all. Everything is sounding great. Now we just have to overdub the lead guitar and fiddle parts, add vocals. record any additional instruments we decide to use, add harmonies, mix the tracks, have them mastered, approve the artwork, and send everything to print.

Perhaps the most fun for me, is working on a trilogy that I wrote for the album. Those kind of things are always fun. On that note, I’ve got to run. I’m supposed to be recording some electric guitar here in just a little bit.

Come see us at Wall Street, and definitely make plans to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Ada over to the C4. As always….

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

P.S. Not that you give a damn, but I haven’t been to the moving pictures lately.

Saturday, we’ll be at Kongo’s following the bedlam game. I’m really looking forward to the game and the show.

Recording continues as scheduled, but now, I am shooting for a release date close to the end of February. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Many people have asked my opinion on the recently released Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line.” I must admit that I counted the days to release as enthusiasitcally as any Lord of the Rings Fan (I wouldn’t go so far as to place myself at the level of Star Wars Fanatic). I had my reservations, however, about Joaquin Pheonix’s role as one of the greatest recording artists ever. Even more disconcerting for me, was the choice to cast Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Images of Sweet Home Alabama and the Legally Blonde pictures clouded my ability to imagine Reese adequately handling such a role. Consequently, my expectations weren’t unusually high. This proved to be a positive thing. My mediocre expectations allowed me to enjoy what I would ineloquently describe as an “okay” movie.

The story line was too shallow for me (although I fully realize that a two hour time limit greatly restricts the ability to illimunate events contained in a lifetime). It was basically lost John Cash (he had strayed from “walking the line” with pill addicition, he hadn’t found himself on a personal level, and it alludes, via a brief church scene with June, to the idea that he was lost religously) being obsessed with June who helps him find everything he’s looking for including his soul mate. I could go on and on about scenes with other famous people that seemed forced, the inconsistent use of facts (I know, there’s only two hours to tell the story), and cliches, but you get the idea.

As for the performances, I thought Phoenix must have put a great deal of time into his musical performances, and I laude him for it. The music in the movie is good. His acting was good, but as I suspected, he was always Joaquin Phoenix to me, and never Johnny Cash. Perhaps it is because I respect and admire Mr. Cash so greatly that no one would have performed to my satisfaction. Johnny had such a unique sound even in his regular speech, that it would be difficult to duplicate. Everyone always asks “who would you have cast?” I must admit, I don’t know. I think I would have tried to find an unknown actor, but as Will pointed out, this may have affected billing.

Reese Witherspoon was a pleasant surprise. She did a great job. I went in with a fairly closed attitude regarding her role, but I warmed to her quickly. She won me over.

Overall, I give it 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5. It’s worth watching, and should be considered a “good” movie; it’s just not a great movie.

Hope to see you out soon. You can let me know what you thought about “Walk the Line.”

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Tonight, I’m going to be playing at a little place in Edmond for the first time. It’s going to be an acoustic show, and I’ll be bringing my friend Luke from Red Bud Revival along. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s a great songwriter from Oklahoma City.

Friday, the boys and I are going in to work on some songs for the new album. I’ve spent the last few nights in the studio and have started recording the rhythm tracks for the new album. It feels good to finally be officially started on our new project. Travis Linville of the Burtschi Brothers is co-producing the album with me. He’s definitely going to be an invaluable asset to the new songs. He’s basically been engineering everything up to this point, and will go back and lay a second, but tonally (yes I meant to write tonally, not totally) different acoustic track over the ones I did. We’ve been working from the time I get off work until well after midnight. I hope to be releasing the album around February, but you know how those things go.

Finally, this weekend, we’ll be playing at the new Red Dirt Cafe (same location) in Norman. Come check out the new place and wish a happy birthday to our drummer, Andy Finnefrock. Also, don’t forget to mark your calenders for November 26th at Kongos in Norman after the always highly anticipated OU/OSU game.

Hope to see you soon, and as always…

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Howdy good folks. The Oklahoma/Texas weekend is rapidly approaching. I’ll be watching the Oklahoma game this weekend and hope to see some marked improvement. If none proves to be forthcoming, it may indeed be a rough Saturday in Texas.

I know many of you are planning to come down to the Big D for the game and for our show at the Sons of Hermann Hall. I expect a large crowd based on the responses I have already received personally. This will end up being a gathering place for Oklahoma Football fans, so be sure to come out and bring friends. Hopefully, we’ll be celebrating together rather than commiserating. At any rate, we plan on having a great show for you.

I anticipate the show starting around 10pm-10:30pm and lasting until nearly close. We are greatly honored to be playing at such a historic venue which has hosted some of my most admired singer/songwriters. For those of you who haven’t heard anything about the place, click here and explore their website. It includes a very handy and informative directions link, in case you were wondering how to get there.

Have a safe trip, and I look forward to seeing you at the Sons of Hermann Hall Saturday night after the game!

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Saturday we’ll be at the Wallstreet Bar in Duncan. My brother is coming out to celebrate his birthday, so come on out and celebrate with us.

Here’s a song I wrote with my friend, Kyle Sweet. I sent him the lyrics and he suggested putting in a bridge. He was right, it needed one. He had some great ideas for lyrics, so we got together and hammered it out.

TRUCKER’S LAMENT
(c) 2005
Allensworth/Sweet

I’m 300 miles and 3 Vicodins
from maybe feeling just okay
I’ve been driving all night
but don’t know where I’ve been
and it’s coiming up on the break of day

But I’m 300 miles and 3 Vicodins
from maybe feeling just okay
I’ve been driving all night
but don’t know where I’ve been
Sun’s coming up
on another morning.

Hope to see you this weekend, and as always…

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

This week is a light week, but we’re excited about playing at the Wormy Dog on thursday (Sept. 1).

I mainly wanted to let everyone know that the charter bus to Bricktown is almost full. At last count, there were only 8 seats left (8 people away from free beer for the ride up). For more information, or to book a spot, call Tammy Prentice at 580-436-7059 ASAP.

I’m counting on the rest of you to come out and show us a little support. We hope to have a good turnout and good time at the best place to catch a show in Bricktown.

Be sure to check the dates page often for updates, find a show near you, and come on out and see us!

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Will and I have finished all of our testing and all we can do now is wait. We get our bar results on the 9th of September and the MPRE (this is a legal ethics test) results should be in around the middle of September. Thanks to everyone for asking about our progress.

We’ve got a great fall tour set up thanks largely to our new booking agent Tammy Prentice. She and her husband Mark have always been great friends to us and continue to provide invaluable support. Most of the dates are up, but I wanted to fill you in on some highlights.

Perhaps most exciting, Tammy and Mark have decided to put together a charter bus to go to our show at the Wormy Dog in Bricktown on September 1. The bus will leave around 6:30 or 7:00 from Ada. This means the bus will arrive in Bricktown in time for everyone to go out and have a nice dinner before the show at one of the many fine establishments within walking distance. The cost is only $25 and includes a ticket to the show. Drinking is permitted on the bus. Here’s the best part. There are currently only 22 seats left. If all 22 seats left are booked and the bus is filled, then beer will be provided for the ride. How can you beat a chartered ride to OKC and back, free beer, and a ticket into a show at the Wormy Dog. If you happen to be a fan of Briar Branch Road, then you should definitely take advantage if this deal. Seats are obviously limited, so please contact Tammy Prentice at 580-436-7059 as soon as possible.

The Red Dirt Cafe is opening back up this Friday. We are in the process of working out some dates, so look for those soon.

On September 10th, we’ll be doing a benefit show at Arcadia for Cody Yelton. Cody is a three year old boy who lost his arm after being attacked by three pit bulls. You may have seen this incident in the news. As soon as I get more details, I’ll fill you in, but this would definitely be a great thing for you to come out and support.

October 8th is the much anticipated OU/TX game in Dallas. A show is in the works and I’ll provide more details soon. Just keep it in the back of your mind if you’re planning on going down for the game.

Finally, I wanted to let everyone know that we’re planning on going in to the studio soon. We have currently set aside a week in October, but the project will probably take a couple of weeks worth of time to record. The plan is to release a 14 song album sometime around the first of the year. Also, we are working on merchandise including T-shirts, stickers, and hats. We want everything to be really good, so it’s taking us longer to put these things together than we had hoped. I’m excited to reveal that one of the items is a tour shirt that will include all the dates from the fall with a listing of all the local venues where we will be playing.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to view my interview on www.tossmmusic.com by clicking here.

Check out the dates page, come see us soon, and of course…

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon

Thanks for Lisnen,

Dameon