After the brief detour, we were back on the road and headed east on 32.  Once we hit Athens we checked into our hotel before heading over to Miller’s Chicken for dinner.  Miller’s Chicken is a little hole-in-the-wall dive that serves up really tasty fried chicken.  The Colonel would be jealous, nothing more really need be said.  After shoving more chicken down our gullets than was advisable we made the short drive up to Nelsonville and headed into the festival.  The festival grounds are on the campus of Hocking College and were really quite beautiful.  We spent some time wandering around, checking out the eats and chotchkes for sale before tucking into the “No-Fi” stage.  The “No-Fi” stage turned out to be a tiny one-room log cabin that could seat about 20 where artists would play acoustic sets.  We checked out a couple of tunes from Liz Pahl before grabbing a couple brews and heading to the main stage to see fellow Cincinnatians The Buffalo Killers.  The Buffalo Killers are a three piece band who turned in a solid set of 70′s style folk rock.  After they finished up we made our way over to the “Porch Stage” which is, fittingly enough, a porch on a log cabin.  Playing there was “Those Darlins” who immediately captured our attention with a high-energy set that was like a 60′s girl band managed by Sid Vicious.  They’ll be playing again tomorrow on the main stage, so we’ll be sure to check them out again.  Next we made our way back to the main stage where we caught about half of the Detroit Cobras show and stuck around for a raucous set of funky soul from Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.  After they wound down we headed over to catch a few songs from The Ragbirds, then caught the end of a strange spectacle going on in the “No-Fi” cabin by Missoula Oblongata.  We capped off the night by listening to some kind of awful racket from a “band” called Weedghost and hung around for a couple of numbers from the unusually instrumented Man Man before heading back to the hotel to get some rest before a full day of music tomorrow.

And then it was time. Lockhart, Texas, the BBQ capital of Texas loomed just a few miles away. Our first stop in Lockhart was at Smitty’s Market, our favorite place from last year’s BBQ tour. At Smitty’s we got a bunch of brisket and hot rings and chowed down. Again Smitty’s demonstrated why they were the best last year, and easily topped everywhere else we’d stopped earlier in the day. Filled to the brim with ‘cue, we headed about a mile south to Chisholm Trail Bar-B.Q., the one place in Lockhart we hadn’t made it to last year. Upon entering, I was surprised to see that the Chisholm Trail actually had a salad bar and BBQ buffet. But as this was technically our 5th lunch I decided to pass. As I stood in line waiting to place my meat order, I turned around to find Matt loading up at the buffet! Some are just gluttons for punishment, I guess. To my further surprise (and horror) I then noticed that he’d ordered himself a giant hunk of chicken-fried steak! I can’t imagine what he was thinking, but all took our orders back to a table where we discovered that the brisket at Chisholm Trail was fantastic, right up there with Smitty’s or anywhere else in Lockhart. Definitely worth the stop. (Matt never quite made it through that chicken-fried steak.)

Unable to consume any more, we returned to our respective hotels to digest for awhile, before meeting back up on SoCo for a show at The Continental Club. The show was opened by Sarah Borges who put on a fun, high-energy show that completely won over the crowd. The headliner for the night was James McMurtry, who Sarah Borges introduced as, “fucking weird.” Is he? I’ll let you judge for yourself.

On the way to Amarillo, we stumbled across the largest cross in the western hemisphere. Just west of Amarillo we visited the Cadillac Ranch, which is basically a bunch of old, graffiti-covered Cadillacs stuck nose-down into the dirt in the middle of a cornfield. By now we were starving, so what better place to satisfy a craving for meat than The Big Texan Steak Ranch? The Big Texan Steak Ranch is famous for it’s “free” 72 oz. steak. It’s free, alright, if you can eat it all, along with a baked potato, 3 fried shrimp, a side salad, and a roll….all within 60 minutes. Otherwise it’s $72, though you do get a souvenir t-shirt for the effort. I decided to pass on the tempting offer and instead had a considerably smaller (and gristly) steak with mashed potatoes and mac ‘n’ cheese. None of that was particularly good, but that wasn’t why we were there anyway. As luck would have it, just as we were placing our orders, two guys decided to take the challenge. The wait staff set them up at a table on a small stage in the middle of the large dining room, with a digital clock situated behind them. After signing waivers, the steaks were delivered along with the sides, and the clock was started. Those poor guys didn’t stand a chance. By the end of the hour it seemed as if they had hardly made a dent in their oversized steaks. On the way out, I noticed a sign listing recent visitors who were successful in tossing all that food down their gullets in an hour, including one man who ate it all in a shocking 25 minutes! After leaving The Big Texan Steak Ranch, we had a looong drive south and east to Breckenridge where we’re currently staying the night.

Given the stature of the two performers and my love for their music, I sprung for some front row seats where I could really take in all the action. Willie Nelson hit the stage and launched right into a rollicking version of “Whiskey River” which really set the tone for the rest of his set. I was amazed at how spry Willie was for a man of 72 years. You’d never mistake him for Steven Tyler onstage, but he did move around the stage quite a bit and was interacting with the crowd for the entire show — pointing, waving, tossing things into the crowd. I’ve not seen an artist instantly connect in such a personable way with a crowd like Willie did. Willie played most everything you’d expect him to, from his fantastic covers of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “Me And Bobbie McGee” to “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” as well as some unexpected covers such as Merle Haggard’s “Working Man Blues” and Toby Keith’s “Beer For My Horses.” Throughout, Willie maintained a comfortable, laid-back vibe that made everyone in the audience feel like they were hanging out on Willie’s back porch while he worked through a few songs. Willie finished up with a great medley of “May The Circle Be Unbroken,” “I Saw The Light,” and new tune called, “I’m Not Superman,” and, surprisingly, “Beer Barrel Polka.”

John Fogerty took the stage as a stark contrast to Willie Nelson’s easy-going style. He immediately lit the place us with a ferocious rendition of “Travellin’ Band” and rarely slowed down from there. Fogerty was in particularly fine form — his voice hasn’t sounded as good in twenty years and he can still work his guitars like few in the business. John appeared to have boundless energy as he ran around, jumping and shouting, all over the stage for entire two hours he played. He also appeared to be having a blast, smiling, mugging for the crowd and joking around with his band. Fogerty mostly stuck with the CCR classics the majority of the crowd seemed to be expecting, but he did sneak in a few songs from his solo catalogue, “Centerfield,” “The Old Man Down The Road,” “Hot Rod Heart,” “Rambunctious Boy,” “Deja Vu (All Over Again)” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls.” Early in the set he called Willie Nelson back on stage and together they did a fun version of Hank Williams’ “Jamabalaya (On The Bayou)” that brought the house down. Fogerty also pulled out a few lesser-known CCR chestnuts such as “Ramble Tamble,” “Keep On Chooglin’,” “It Came Out Of The Sky,” and “Bootleg.” Fogerty finished his high-energy set with knockout renditions of “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Proud Mary” that had the crowd tired and sweaty but thoroughly satisfied.

I took a bunch of pictures at the show, but since only disposable cameras were allowed at the show, I have to get them developed. Stay tuned.

Elana James and the Continental Two started off the show. The Continental two turned out to be more like the Continental Three as the band consisted of a stand-up bass and two guitars, with Elana on fiddle. They played an infectious blend of hot jazz and western swing with a little bluegrass thrown in for kicks. Think Squirrel Nut Zippers meets Bob Wills. The band really appeared to be having fun onstage, ripping off one hot number after another, a highlight being their cover of “Nagasaki” (Where the women wicky wacky woo.) The enthusiasm of the performers definitely rubbed on the crowd who were completely won over by a band I’m sure most had never heard of.

Elana James was followed by the inimitable Junior Brown. Junior started off with a cut from his first record, “Broke Down South of Dallas” and followed it up with his DUI anthem, “Party Lights.” He got off to a slightly rough start. He was missing some notes on his “guit-steel,” a contraption of his own devise that features a guitar and a lap steel fused together with two fretboards that he sets on what appears to be a small music stand in front of him. Early in the set he appeared to be having difficulty keeping his mouth in front of the mic, which led to some sound issue on vocals. But, after accidentally unplugging his guit-steel in the middle of a song, he came around and brought the house down during the second half of the show. The crowd was particularly receptive to his hits, “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” and his fabulous cover of Red Simpson’s “Highway Patrol.” He finished off the set with a blistering rendition of the instrumental pick-fest of “Sugarfoot Rag.”

After the smoke from Junior’s guitar picking cleared, Jimmy Vaughan, brother to Stevie Ray and founder of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, took the stage to cool things off a bit with some blues. After two quick songs with his band, he called out “Austin’s Queen of The Blues” Lee Ann Barton to do a few numbers, which included his hit “Boom-Bapa-Boom” which got the crowd rocking almost as much as his cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood.”

Bob Dylan took the stage at around 9:00 to massive applause and what appeared to be one giant toke from the mostly well-medicated crowd. He started of his set with a nice version of “Maggie’s Farm.” It’s impossible to discuss his show without bringing up his voice. Let’s face it, Dylan was never much of a singer, but now his voice is truly shot. He seems to have a range of about three notes and grunts out his lyrics in odd staccato rhythms. If it weren’t for his superb band which cranked out nice bluesy arrangements of his songs it would have been difficult to identify what song he was singing. A gruff version of “Times They Are A-Changing” was a crowd favorite. Dylan himself seemed an odd bird onstage. He stood the entire concert at his keyboard about halfway back on the stage and just to the right of center, rarely glancing at the audience, much less acknowledging their existence. Overall the performance felt forced — as if Dylan were just cashing a paycheck. It wasn’t until after the encore of “All Along the Watchtower” and “Like A Rolling Stone” that Dylan finally spoke to the audience to introduce his band and say goodnight. Dylan left the stage at about ten till eleven, leaving me to suspect perhaps a second encore, but none was forthcoming.

For any UK alums, we stopped at Tolly-Ho for a quick snack before heading back north. I had a Tolly-Ho with cheese fries and Shelly had two eggs scrambled with a fried ho. The perfect way to wash down a concert if you ask me.