entertainment ave!

Artist: Ingram Hill
Listenability Scale: 91%
Released By: Rock Ridge Music
A Review by:
- The Dude on the Right

I will say that I didn’t know a thing about Ingram Hill (It’s a band, not a person), when their press release came through my email, and I will also say that I didn’t read said press release, I just started listening to the tracks on their self-titled “Ingram Hill” release. I started tapping my foot, humming along, and somehow kept listening to it over and over, all the while thinking to myself, “Self, I really like them. They fit nicely into country radio these days. I can see nearly every song being a hit on the local country station, and if they would lose a banjo, maybe The Mix.” Then I read their bio, and I became a tad confused as most things about them referenced Southern rock, touring with the likes of Hootie and the Blowfish, Maroon 5, and Hanson, and about the only thing country referenced was how they are from Tennesee  and they drift “much deeper into the tones of traditional country than the outfit’s more rock-influenced prior works,” and “it just naturally ends up sounding a bit country.” Guess I should have read the press release first, but damn, none of that really matters because I really like this record.

I have nothing with which to compare them in their repertoire, but as I stated, and they reflected in the press release, “Ingram Hill” is a solid record in the country vein, with some great storytelling about life on the road and relationships of cities, love, and craziness. The record opens with “Behind My Guitar,” a great look at being that dude on stage looking at the crowd, and continues into “Oh My,” probably the funnest song on the record, about a one night stand that turns into adventure when the girl’s man comes home – “So I grabbed my jeans, and hoped that I’ve seen, the last of old Mr. Right.” Things continue with a tribute to home in “Good Ol’ Dixie,” and we eventually get to “Those Three Words,” sounding similar, and as good, as anything Tim McGraw or Kenny Chesney would put out these days, although, thinking about Kenny’s tendency towards drinking songs, “Yellow House,” where “all the drunkards go hang out,” might be more his ilk.

You get music about a city that just keeps letting you down (“Broken Hearted in Birmingham”) and songs about the right woman (“Those Three Words” and “Who Needs a Sunny Day”), but mostly you get a batch of songs with great stories, and sorry to the band if this isn’t where they want to go, but if Darius Rucker can shift from Hootie to country, Ingram Hill can easily switch teams to the country side as well as keep with the adult contemporary crossover, maybe even better than a Lady Antebellum has, because they are already schooled in a sound that can translate to both parts of the radio dial, they just would need to lose a banjo or two in a remix.

Out of the eleven tracks on “Ingram Hill,” there is only one I can take or leave, so I have to say that this was a most welcome press release as I think I have a new band to pay attention to, and hope their career jumps to that next level. 10 out of 11 leads me to a 91% on the Entertainment Ave! listenability scale for “Ingram Hill.” Download it and have a good time – that’s an order!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The Dude on the Right is

a little melancholy for this podcast, what with Thanksgiving coming up and
his not traveling to the Old Country this year (and it’s not even because he’s a
Radio Shack Manager anymore), but at least he’ll be spending time with his BFF,
which is nice.  It’s also nice for him that he’ll be thinking about seeing
"Twilight" and "Bolt," rather than actually seeing the movies "Twilight" and
"Bolt," but nothing beats his anticipation like getting the initial word that
Britney Spears might be showing up on her "Circus" tour in the Chicago area, in
March of 2009.

Thankfully he still watches "The Biggest Loser" giving him a new batch of
inspiration thanks to "Jillian Michaels’ Clips of the Week!"  The Dude is
now inspired to fight another day!

By:

The Dude on the Right
Nothing gets me more exciting than news about Britney Spears, but, okay, news
about Britney Spears doesn’t normally get me excited, but

I’m podcasting solo, and I got a notice from

Pollstar that as of today she only has one concert date in 2009,and it’s in the
Chicago area, probably for her "Circus" tour, and in the words of "The
Pointer Sisters," I’m so excited!  Yay!

Two movies open this weekend, and
it’s all about the teen girls and children, so I also podcast a bit about
"Twilight" and "Bolt," and as Thanksgiving is upon us, I am a little melancholy
because this will be the first Thanksgiving that I don’t make the trek to the
"Old Country" since my days in retail as a Radio Shack Manager or working at a
camera store.

Thankfully, though, as a touch of sadness enters this podcast,
there’s nothing like my "Jillian Michaels’ Clips of the Week" segment to snap me
back to reality, and inspire me to face another day!

And as always, thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

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The Dude on the Right is happily surprised that The WGN knows who Night Ranger is, but The WGN didn’t know that Night Ranger also has a new CD coming out, “Hole In The Sun,” which The Dude recommends. If you ever were a fan of the band, and their songs, like “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” or “Sister Christian,” it might not be a bad idea for you to spend a few bucks and get their new CD, because, well, Night Ranger isn’t trying to re-invent themselves, they just rock. They might help you rock, too.

By:

The Dude on the Right
Gosh, it is so much easier to do a podcast when you’ve got someone to talk to,
so, via the magic of Skype, I am thrilled to have the WGN (World’s Greatest
Nephew) back to join me for

this Thursday’s podcast, and with his new headset and him plugged into his
Mac, things are sounding a hell of a lot better than the last time we tried
this.  For this podcast I introduce my nephew to the magic of "America’s
Got Talent," and am happy to hear that the boy, who actually isn’t a boy
anymore, loves George Carlin, even having some of Mr. Carlin’s material on his
iPod.  My nephew is pretty cool, isn’t he, and he reads, too!

We talk
some Texas, how my Nephew has a job at a law firm, has shot a gun even though I
haven’t (which is topical with the Supreme Court ruling today), and how I
probably can’t help with his GF’s accounting class.  I do my best to
explain the differences between our family gatherings and my BFF’s family
gatherings to him, and even though my nephew was -4 when
Night Ranger’s "Sister
Christian" came out, he knew of the band, and he also regales his story of
seeing Radiohead, which I hope to see at
Lollapalooza, maybe
even with my nephew as the guest reviewer!

And lastly my nephew might have
ruined me by suggesting a game,

"Dolphin Olympics 2."  You will know that has happened if I don’t have
any new posting for a couple of weeks.

I hope you have fun seeing

"Wall-E" this weekend (especially if you have kids), or catch

"Wanted," or just have fun.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

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It took The Dude on the Right about a week to get his concert review of “The Swell Season,” you know the duo from the movie “Once,” those duo being Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, posted, and as much as he would like to blame computer issues, he probably just needs to get back into the swing of things about writing concert reviews. He loved the movie “Once,” and even though, at times, Glen didn’t actually relate a story in a way anyone could understand, The Dude, well, he loved the concert.

By:

The Dude on the Right
My nephew might be a guest podcaster guest next week, but today I’m
flying solo for this podcast where I talk about seeing an Oscar winning
group called "The Swell Season," with
the likes of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova,
the duo from the movie
"Once," as I try to get back into the concert reviewing
scene.  And what a great concert it was, and as the folks are leaving the show,
what better song than "Love Me Sexy" by Jackie Moon to lead people into the
night.

The full review for that concert will be coming soon, but this podcast
also lets me trepidate about seeing most of the balance of the family of my BFF
(I hope the first half of the family will have my back!), I think I have some
ideas about how to have my BFF visit the old country to visit my family, and I’m
probably one of the few people left watching "The Bachelorette," but I’m so
wishing one of the dudes would just star crying instead of the dudette.

I also
can’t figure out how I missed "America’s Got Talent," especially, since, during
the premier for the summer, they had a dude do a fantastic job of "Nessun Dorma"
from Puccini’s "Turandot."  Yes, I admit it, I like some Opera, though I’ve
never actually seen one.

Your new movie choices for this weekend are

"The Love Guru" and

"Get Smart," but, if either of those movies give you pause, and you want a
big blast of action-enjoyment, at least at the movies, and if you haven’t seen
it yet, go and see

"Iron Man" while you can, on the big screen, while you are just waiting for

"Hancock" to come out over the 4th of July weekend.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Download and Listen

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By:

The Dude on the Right
I give Stu Gotz a live listen to how I might want to start our podcasts, but
with him being here for our

"Stu & The Dude Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, he just thinks it might make you
not listen because who wants to hear a reason why I don’t fall asleep on an
airplane.  The new opening is inspired by a web site called
"Wallstrip," but after
telling Stu another reason I don’t sleep on airplanes, and Stu telling how he
can’t not help but sleep on an airplane, we get into the heart of the podcast
with both of our takes on

"Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!"  Movie time discussion then turns into
raising and disciplining children, and I tell Stu about my DVD Sunday because
Stu’s weekend was pretty boring.

For what it’s worth, by the time you read
this synopsis, Erin Go Bra-less, and if there isn’t another podcast before this
weekend, and you are a Christian, Happy Easter!  If not, I hope you can at
least save some money during the Easter Weekend sales.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Download and Listen

Subscribe Here

By:

The Dude on the Right
So it’s 80′s night, and it’s ladies’ night, hope they’re feeling right, and
wearing clothes that are tight.  I’m gonna stop now and just get to what I
thought of the signing…

Asia’h Epperson
- She fell on her roller skates, wow.
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
- Sings well enough and is smart enough to know she isn’t Whitney, but she
performs well.  Paula is on her feet.  Yay!
- Randy has to show how cool he is.  Dude, we get it.

Kady Malloy
- Who Wants to Live Forever – Queen
- One of my favoritist songs ever, and singing wise I thought she way great. 
If she actually did the entire version instead of a shortened version I might
actually buy the thing on iTunes, but sadly it was shortened.  The other
problem is that I guess they aren’t letting these people actually perform,
seemingly being restricted to that small circle in the center of the stage.
- And Paula knows where the magic is, but Simon kind of gets it right on the
personality side.

Amanda Overmyer
- I Hate Myself for Loving You – Joan Jett
- She almost seems to have lost her confidence and keeps looking at something at
the edge of the stage likes she’s not sure of herself.  Too bad because she
should have bolted this song out of the ballpark.  The singing was okay for
it, but for me it seemed timid.
- I guess the judges saw something different or maybe she was singing to them,
and for that it would work, but for my TV it didn’t.  She almost looked out
of it.  Guess we’ll see.

Carly Smithson
- On a personal note I don’t want her to win because she already had her
chance at a recording contract and has the performing experience, but I
digress…
- I Drove All Night – Cyndi Lauper (1989), Celine Dion (2003)
- She sang great, her tattoo bugs me, and fine, give her a recording contract
but get her off the competition.
- Paula thinks Carly is a dependable dog.

Kristy Lee Cook
- She thought she was a dog?
- Faithfully – Journey
- What are the odds on Randy mentioning he worked with Journey?  We’ll see.
- She’s a girl, but can’t hit the high notes like Steve Perry did?  And
what’s up with the red tongue?  She would have done better trying to turn
this "Faithfully" into a country version.
- Yup, Randy called Steve Perry, "Perry." Paula thinks it could be a country
hit, but for me it wasn’t country enough except for maybe the looks.  Maybe
the red tongue is from medication as it sounds her voice is having problems.

Ramiele Malubay
- Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) – Phil Collins
- I like her, thinks she sings well, but man, this song didn’t work for me. 
Worst song choice of the night, mostly because she couldn’t sing the entire
thing to work it.
- Paula is, well, in full Paula mode.

Brooke White
- Love is a Battlefield – Pat Benatar
- She sings purty, she is purty, but this song is all about passion, and her
performance totally lacked it.  And what’s up with the giant "looks like
one of those candy, sucker" rings on the girl’s fingers.  I guess I’m just
not a fashion guru.  She needed to kick butt on this song, and didn’t.
- Randy proves that he doesn’t know things, again, and I don’t agree with Simon
on his take on her performance.

Syesha Mercado
- Saving All My Love for You – Whitney Houston
- At times she sings like an angry Whitney Houston, which is okay, and does a
fine job with the rest of it..  She should move on, and with no real
comments from the judges I’m guessing they are running out of time, but if you
watch her doing Whitney compared to Asia’h at the top of the show, you can see
Syesha being the better singer.

Once again I question some song choices
because I seem to remember that during the 80′s there were many a decent, power
song for dudettes to sing, in just about every genre.  Fine, I don’t know
if they were given a list of songs and were told "Here, pick something from this
list," or at least were able to make some suggestions before being told they
couldn’t sing them, but then again, as I think about it, how many of these girls
actually know any decent songs from the 80′s because while I was attending high
school and college, well, some of them weren’t born yet.

Right now most of any
of them can be voted off the island tomorrow, I mean booted from "American
Idol," because I have no emotions tied into their stories, but when the final 12
time comes next week I think this competition turns in to "cute dudettes" v.
David Archuleta.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see for a week.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
So it’s 80′s night, not to be confused with Ladies’ night, and dude scandals are
all over the place, from David Hernandez once being a stripper to someone
looking like Danny Noriega spouting stuff about Santa.  Doesn’t matter,
here comes the singing…

Luke Menard
-  Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham!
-  Dude, what in the hell were you thinking?  I know the 80′s is a
weird place to find music, but umm, Wham!?  Very boring, lame, and how in
the hell does this make you shine?
-  Paula Abdul is starting to look to be in rare form tonight.  I hope
it keeps going.

David Archuleta
- Another Day in Paradise – Phil Collins
- Does his own piano playing – nice, then works from the piano to the stage to
work the crowd.  Outfit blows, but he’s got everything this competition
wants in someone to win and take control.
-  Simon is correct, though, that David needs to pick things up a bit with
a "happier" song.

Danny Noriega
- Tainted Love – Soft Cell
- The problem is that when you try to cover an 80′s song, and be an 80′s poser,
unless you were living in the 80′s, you probably can’t pose like the 80′s. 
The song was boring, and at this point I would like to see the list these dudes
were given of the songs they could pick.  If he picked this song on his own
it’s another "Dude, what in the hell were you thinking?"

David Hernandez
- Dude, I know it’s embarrassing, but we don’t want to know about your boogers.
- It’s All Coming Back to Me Now – Celine Dion (and Meat Loaf)
- You are not Meat Loaf, and you are not Celine Dion, because you’re not a
performer like Meat Loaf, and, well, you’re not Celine Dion.  David sang
nice enough, but this is a performance song, and for me he fell flat. 
He’ll still, probably, go on to the final 12, but if you want to know how to be
a performer, find some video of Meat Loaf singing this song, or any song.

Michael Johns
- Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
- I’m guessing, so far, that every one of these people have to pick a crappy
song from the 80′s because why else would all of these dudes be singing these
songs?  I liked "The Breakfast Club," but songs from that soundtrack aren’t
the best songs of the 80′s.
- The other thing I wonder is why Randy Jackson is referencing Michael Hutchence
from INXS for this song, unless I missed something, or Randy just thinks this
Michael is being Micheal Hutchence.

David Cook
- Hello – Lionel Richie
- I’ll give him credit for trying to turn this song into his own, and playing
the guitar, but the problem I had is that for him this should have been a 90′s
theme, with him turning it up another notch and being possessed by either the
spirit of Nirvana or maybe The Offspring (ala their version of "Feelings") for
the song.

Jason Castro
- Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen (I think).
- Sure, this song has been done by the likes of U2, and Jeff Buckley, and tons
of other folks but do you really think any of the kids have heard this song
before, except from maybe "Shrek"?  He did a nice job, but is pulling out
an obscure song the way to go for "American Idol"?  You sing well, the
judges loved it, but will the kids like it?  Hmmm?

Chikezie
- All the Woman (Man) I Need – Whitney Houston (Luther Vandross)
- He did good enough singing, is coming into his own knowing where he needs to
be in the R&B nation, but as an "American Idol" finalist, he still has some
work.

Part of the problem is that the singers are in that mode of "too many
singers, trying to fit too many songs, into a one hour show" so they have to cut
the songs pretty much in half.  This doesn’t let anyone really be able to
state the song, work the song, and then show they are fantastic doing the song. 
I don’t care what anyone says, and especially if he can pull out some spunk,
David Archuleta already has this thing won.  And I still want to see the
list of songs these dudes could pick from the 80′s because there was some decent
music from that decade, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the dudes sing.

We’ll see how the dudettes sing tomorrow.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!