The Blue Dogs

With the May, 2006 release of their new Live at Workplay Theatre CD, the Charleston, SC-based Blue Dogs enter into a new phase of their neverending quest to reach out and touch people with their unique blend of country, roots, bluegrass and Americana music. Produced by Doug Derryberry, Live at Workplay Theatre was recorded in January, 2005, at the Birmingham, Alabama concert venue. The Blue Dogs lineup on the new CD includes Hank Futch (upright electric bass, acoustic guitar and vocals), Bobby Houck (acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals), Greg Walker (drums and percussion) and David Stewart (electric guitar and vocals). Recorded before a very lively audience, the new CD features in-concert versions of songs from such previous albums as Halos and Good Buys, Letters from Round O, Music for Dog People and the bands self-titled debut, as well several previously unreleased songs. Many of the Blue Dogs most-requested songs are present, including Cosmic Cowboy, Bill Bill, Half of My Mistakes (co-written by Bobby Houck and Radney Foster) and Make Your Mama Proud, plus the bands unique take on the gospel song, Children, Go Where I Send Thee, Arthur Smiths Conversation with a Mule and Lyle Lovetts L.A. County. This show at the Workplay Theatre fell on the night after the President's second inauguration, for which we had been invited by the RIAA to play a huge "after-inauguration party" at a club in Washington, explains the Blue Dogs Bobby Houck on the new CDs genesis. So, we hired a crew to get our equipment from DC to Birmingham and the band flew. With such a huge gig on the line (and a live recording going down the next day), and given that we werent able to get much sleep, I feel that it's an amazing document of the fact that when we were touring hard (much of the last 10 years), we were like someone in training...you could get in the zone and pull off an emotional show, even without much rest and regardless of how the band felt individually. You can tell by the crowd on the live CD that they were very, very enthusiastic, and I'm sure that helped pull us through, he continues. Some of our longtime fans think this is the best actual document of what this band sounds like from night to night. We've put out good studio records, and have three other live records which have been well received, but I have to concur that this CD represents well what the band has been able to conjure up over the past 8 years or so, with just the four of us - just drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitar and three voices; no backup musicians and no drum machines; just a great room, a great crew, a wonderful audience, and four sleep-deprived Dogs. The Blue Dogs last CD, Halos and Good Buys, was produced by Don Gehman and released in early 2004, garnering excellent critical reviews and extensive airplay, particularly on the Texas music charts. The road-seasoned band effectively straddles the line between loose rock swagger and radio-friendly hooks, said Billboard magazine in its review. An earlier CD, Letters from Round O, was produced by Cracker front-man-turned-producer David Lowery and generated radio response from Modern Rock, Triple A and Americana radio, as well as glowing reviews in The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others. The band was founded in the late 80s by South Carolina natives Bobby Houck and Hank Futch, who have played together in one incarnation or another for almost 20 years, but it wasnt until the release of their debut self-titled album in 1996 that the band committed to making music full-time. Through the years, the Blue Dogs have achieved consistent rave reviews from the press, numerous national tours, support at several radio formats and a host of album and DVD releases. Despite the Blue Dogs musical diversity, which has made them difficult to classify, the band has developed a solid, national fan base. Having started as a bluegrass/country/folk-rock trio, and then with the advent of a full band, the Blue Dogs found themselves with echoes of bluegrass, jam band rock, commercial roots pop/rock, and Americana. somewhere to the right of Americana and left of mainstream Nashville. For more information on the Blue Dogs, please visit the band online at www.bluedogs.com . To purchase merchadise or CDs please visit: www.bluedogs.com .