Yesterday, on the spur of the moment, Cookoff and I decided to run over to the Crawfish Festival in Old Town Spring to meet a few friends after she got off work. Beer, live music, crawfish, vendors selling all manner of arts and crafts, what's not to like?

This entailed first stopping at the local Wal-Mart to buy suitable clothes, as she was in her uniform, and I had been running around all day in the heat and my apparel needed to be fumigated.

A quick trip to the rest rooms at the store for a quick washcloth defunkify and change, and I was suitably attired, and less likely to slay the elderly, the young, and the otherwise infirm with my manly odors.

The Festival was a blast, as there were three stages with live acts. We watched Luther and the Healers, a local blues act, Duck Soup, a venerable oldies band out of Austin, and a zydeco band who's name escapes me.

By far, the highlight of the evening was seeing Bleu Edmondson, a young country act. I'd never had a chance to see him before. Bleu played a show of his original music, peppered with traditional hard-core redneck country (think Waylon, Coe, and Merle, folks) and a smattering of Southern Rock (Allman Bros., Skynrd).

The crowd was young, enthusiastic, and packed in the front of the stage, as the band fed off their energy and put it all out for them. Some acts are much better in the studio than in a live setting, while others (George Thorogood and The Killer come immediately to mind) can only be appreciated in person. Bleu and his band belong in that latter category. They didn't leave much on the stage

It was refreshing to see an act so unapologetically retro. In between songs, Bleu carried on a running conversation with the crowd, as he and the band slammed brews and preached the gospel of traditional country music. I had to laugh when Bleu stated that he really wanted to Make It Big, so he could meet Tim McGraw and whomp him upside the haid for being such a "CheeseAss." He must have been referring to the recent popularity of syrupy love songs that are all the rage these days in Nashville recording studios. If so, I can heartily concur.

I had happened to have the AGFA along, so I snapped a few pics from down in front. Bleu's bassist, a lean skrawnky dude, was a particularly fun subject to shoot, as he played his instument with boodles of body english, twisting and jerking around the stage with every plunk on his five-string.

As I was shooting, a few of his fans asked if I would email them a pic or three, and I promised I would put them up on the web. Folks, you can find more pics of the band here.

Unfortunately, our evening ended a bit early, as CG got kicked in the Achilles tendon while she was dancing, and was in a good bit of pain. She couldn't walk, and had to be taken to the car in a golf cart, after being examined by the medics on duty at the festival, and having it wrapped and iced. As it turns out, it was a deep bruise, and she'll be OK. Kudos to the EMT's.

Texas has recently given rise to a new wave of country acts, as performers like Pat Green, Cory Morrow, and Roger Creager have grabbed market share and airplay from the more established names of Nashville. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Bleu Edmondson as the next young performer to join this procession. Catch him now, while the tickets are cheaper and the stage closer than at the Houston Rodeo. He'll be there. You heard it here first.

Related Links:
www.bleuedmondson.com www.texascrawfishfestival.com More Bleu Edmondson Pics