Bob Wills Meets Brisbane Bop
Keith Holter and Longhorn plus
The Western Swing Society All-Stars
Duff’s Garage, Portland, Oregon
Friday, August 14th, 9:00 pm
On Friday, August 14th, Keith Holter and the Longhorn Band will share the stage with an all-star band of Western Swing players from California and Oklahoma. Come out to dance or just listen, but don’t miss a night of the finest Western Swing around!
Guitarist Keith Holter, playing professionally since 1947, leads the 7-piece Longhorn Band with stacked-harmony instrumentals from the Bob Wills songbook, Ray Price-style shuffles and Western Swing songs backed by twin guitars, fiddle, and pedal steel.
Longhorn Bassist Rudy Alexander will join three players from the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame whose playing credits can only briefly be noted here.
On Pedal Steel and vocals will be Chuck Hayes from Muskogee, Oklahoma.
A native of Oklahoma, Chuck moved to California at age 14 and began playing with local bands as well as backing up many touring country stars.
He spent several years playing twin steel guitars with Pee Wee Whitewing’s
Band, and played with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys on their last tour in 1968. After retiring to Oklahoma in the 1990’s, Chuck continued to play with former Texas Playboys, and is currently president of the Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest.
Red Gillian, a fine vocalist and drummer, played alongside Bobby Austin and Ralph Mooney backing up Wynn Stewart and many other Country artists at Wynn’s night club in Las Vegas in the early 60’s. In 1964 he started a 7-year stint with legendary
guitarist Jimmy Rivers and steel player Vance Terry, playing clubs around Sacramento and the Bay Area, including the famous 23 Club, where tracks for the Jimmy Rivers album “Brisbane Bop” were recorded. Red played (though uncredited) on many of those tracks.
Guitarist Gary Howe, a northern California native, honed his chops playing
with former members of the Billy Jack Wills Band, including Tiny Moore, Cotton Roberts, and Vance Terry, and worked as a side man on the Nevada circuit in country bands as well as the Sacramento Jazz and Western Swing scenes with Jimmy Rivers.
