Saw him, maybe for my 6th time, last night at the San Antonio rodeo. Didnt realize he was 70. Go see him before it is too late.

FWIW, first time was at Silver Taps.

Always mix up him and David Alan Coe

What makes you think someone with a handle that ends with 17 knows or cares about the 1990s?

Claude! said:

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NormanEH said:

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Always mix up him and David Alan Coe

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You never even called him by his name.

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I don't know which one sings that. Just know one of them has the super shocking racist songs.

We saw him last night at the rodeo as well. He sounded better than he has in a while, thank God.

And yeah, I've always been more of a rock guy than country, but still listened to a ton of good country music over the years. REK has always been a solid Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Jeff Walker-type storytelling country.

3rd Platoon said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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3rd Platoon said:

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jetch17 said:

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I've never listened to a REK song

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You've either acquired a fake Ag tag or you did ZERO with your A&M experience. REK was everywhere at A&M, especially in the 90s.

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Some of us don't listen to country. Weird how that works.

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I'm not huge on country music either, but you mean to tell me that you never spent 5 minutes at the Chicken, anywhere else on Northgate, Harry's, etc? I did Bonfire cut/load/stack with my Corps outfit. REK was everywhere out at stack, at least in my mid-late 90s.

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how would a non-country music fan know he was listening to REK? Full disclosure, I love country and REK. He played at my company's OTC party several years ago.

Well then you heard and saw what I saw. A LOT better then what I've seen recently. He sounded really good compared to some of the recent stuff I've seen.

And.. for the folks who don't know... he is more Aggie than most.

Even gave a shout out to A&M last night. Gave a whoop and everything l.

Overrated

I've seen REK several times over the years. I've never been all that impressed with him until last summer. It was a whole different experience. Either he found a setlist, band, and sound that works for him, or he needed to get old to make his songs right.

jetch17 said:

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I've never listened to a REK song

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I just heard the name a few years ago. Had no idea he did country specifically or had any ties to TAMU until Texags told me so.

If I've heard a song from him, I did not know it was him. And the chances of me having heard a song from him are vanishingly small.

You are absolutely not alone.

NormanEH said:

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Claude! said:

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NormanEH said:

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Always mix up him and David Alan Coe

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You never even called him by his name.

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I don't know which one sings that. Just know one of them has the super shocking racist songs.

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They are not that shocking if you know racists.

I don't like contemporary country. When some country artists started basically doing rap country music, it turned my stomach. Also a lot of songs from many genres rely on one sentence phrases in their songs.

I like a song that tells a story.

REK, Ray Wylie Hubbard (you can see him for $60 Saturday, March 31 at a small venue In Conroe), Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie, Gary P Nunn, and Lyle Lovett are not contemporary country and some are outlaw country (also Lyle is so creative he has his own category - maybe country folk.) Story tellers. I've only seen one on this list perform. Saw Lyle perform at Northgate before he was wildly popular with maybe only 30 people there. Then years later at Rudder.

Chatted with Gary P Nunn at Poor David's Pub 36 years ago the night it was closing (I don't know if it ever opened up again). 3 minute conversation and bought him a beer. I asked him why he never played in College Station and he told me that he's never been asked. He was sitting alone at the bar when my ex brother-in-law said hey he wrote London Homesick Blues (knowing it was one of my favourites.) My ex-BIL was a major music critic at The Dallas Morning News and of course recognised him and probably interviewed him before. Gary was very down to earth.

I don't know the layout of Bryan College Station these days, but it would be great if there was a medium sized venue to get some of these people. We will never compete head to head with Austin in terms of live music, but we should be able to draw a lot more people on occasion other than at a music fest.

A favorite Nunn song is also "What I like about Texas."

Gig 'Em '83

Proper venues for live music is a problem in Bryan/College Station

A few years ago, I realized I couldn't name a single REK or George Straight song, so I spent an entire weekend afternoon listening to both. Definitely better than I expected, but hard to get passed such a simpler type of music production.

Dont put the 2 together. They are in 2 completely different genres. Strait is over produced, commercial, and has no soul. He is everything that is wrong about music.

On the other hand, I get why some folks dont like REK. Not everyone's cup of tea. But for me, he seems to have always been true to himself.

Hoose, you listen to 92.1 in NB? That was my go to growing up.

Of course. The only station that doesn't suck. Got their app so I can listen everywhere. I didnt grow up in NB. Just lived here for 28 years. My daughter is a Unicorn. Valedictorian and everything.

Nice. I'm a unicorn 2004.

Haha, definitely different. I remember thinking it felt like a musical embodiment of UT-Austin versus Texas A&M at the time. GS for people that run the state and REK for people that built the state type of thing.

Saw REK at Billy Bob's when I lived in the Ft. Worth area about 25 years ago.

Greatness!

You definitely don't know the man.

REK is performing at a BBQ/Concert in Bryan next month

Would...either one.

NormanEH said:

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Always mix up him and David Alan Coe

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C'mon now. If you're going to mix up all the 3-name country singers and serial killers it's going to be a confusing existence.

I've seen REK 40+ times at 21 different venues since the mid 90s. His band is tight, but not as good as when Rich Brotherton (just diagnosed with ALS, by the way) was playing guitar and Marty Muse was playing pedal steel. I think his shows lack a little "musicality" now. After his big retirement in '22 or '23 he went to rehab for a while. I think his voice is a little better now than it was from say '15-'22. His drummer and bass player have been with him for 30 years now and his new guitar/fiddle player and new mandolin player have both been with him for nearly 10.
He mixes his shows up more now. Has a list of songs he always plays, but throws in a cover or 2 and a couple deep cuts from his extensive catalogue. For instance, the last time I saw him in December he opened with "The Road...". It was his Christmas Tour so it was completely different from what he will play here in March. The crowd was not thrilled with his selections, but I enjoyed hearing different songs.
I will keep going to see him whenever I can because I really enjoy his live shows and you never know when it will be the last one.

I agree with your comment about Brotherton. A huge talent.