Summer’s finally here… y’all stayin’ cool? Keepin’ hydrated? Don’t forget your sunscreen. Don’t forget our upcoming July shows!

Thursday the 7th we’ll be returning to Scruffy City Hall for another instalment of The WDVX 6 O’Clock Swerve. The Swerve is a live radio show hosted by Wayne Bledsoe and broadcast around the world from downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. If you’re in the area please join us. If you’re not in the area, and can’t pick up 89.9 FM on your radio dial, you can tune in online and listen to the show live via streaming audio at www.wdvx.com.

Later in the month, our friends from central Ohio, Jeff German and Todd May, will be coming down for a trio of acoustic songwriters-in-the-round shows starting in Knoxville on Thursday the 21st at The Open Chord. Friday the 22nd we’ll be at The Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City, then we’ll wrap it up in Athens, GA on Saturday the 23rd opening for The Lanes at Hendershot’s Coffee. We’ve been looking forward to these shows for awhile! For more info make sure to click on over to the Shows page.

The boys musta behaved well enough last time for us to get invited back to play “Behind The Barn.” Behind The Barn is a free weekly concert series held on Thursday evenings at Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria in Maryville. The show is hosted by Jeff Barbra & Sarah Pirkle and broadcast live on i105 WFIV. If you can’t join us at Barley’s on the 23rd you can tune in live on your radio dial at 105.3 FM or online via streaming audio at www.myi105.com

Okay… one last Shapeshifters post… only because we’ve had a few folks ask. The entire album is available to stream and download on my Bandcamp page. Just click on the album cover below and it’ll take you there. THANKS!

Here’s one last track from the Shapeshifters record that I want to share. I’ve enjoyed hearing and seeing your responses [on Facebook], and I’m surprised at how many folks remember the band. This one’s called “Rock City.” It was kind of a novelty song and no doubt our most requested number. I played a Les Paul through a ’74 Marshall Super Lead ll and a 4×12 cabinet. It was recorded live into a Fostex 8-track reel to reel on a hot summer night in Nashville. “So for those of you who are ready to take that next evolutionary step backwards… step right on up!”

Here’s another Shapeshifters tune. This one’s called “Somebody Stop Me.” If you don’t care for straight up “Kiss Style” rock, then don’t bother clicking. This was a fun song to play. One of those riffs that makes you realize how wonderful it all was when you first started playing guitar. I played a Les Paul through a 100 watt Marshall Super Lead ll on this one.

Here’s another Shapeshifters song called “Too Many Strings Attached.” It’s quite different from the one I posted last week. Whereas that song made you bang your head, this one might make you chuckle, and dance like Jed Clampett. It was our attempt at hot rodding some bluegrass. Again, the Shapefhifters is a band I was in from ’96 until 2000 over in Nashvegas.

From ’96 til 2000 I was in a band called the Shapeshifters in Nashville. We released one CD, played a lot of gigs and had a grand time. I thought I’d share a few songs starting today. It’s a straight up rock and roll kind of thang. It might make you smile. I did.

“Seen The Future” was a band and crowd favorite which ended up on a soundtrack of an indie film called “Films That Suck.” I remember playing this song at the Bristol Theatre when we opened for Junior Brown. His country crowd didn’t know what to think of us. People in the front were covering their ears. Good times indeed.

The band and I will be heading back into the studio this month to do some more work on a few new songs, so stay tuned for more details on that.

Friday the 4th I’ll be playing an acoustic show at Boyd’s Jig & Reel with our friends the Jon Whitlock Trio. The beautiful and talented Sean McCollough and Mike Murphy will be backing me up with their wooden stringy instruments. You should come!

Thursday the 24th I’ll once again be playing guitar with the fabulous John Myers Band. We’ll be at Scruffy City Hall on Market Square for The WDVX 6 O’clock Swerve. The ‘Swerve’ is an hour long radio show broadcast live around the globe, so if you can’t join us in person make sure to tune in online via streaming audio at www.wdvx.com.

We’re also very happy to announce that we’ll be opening for Mr. Paul Thorn at The Shed in Maryville later this summer! Tickets for this show go on sale Friday, March 11th at 10:00 AM.

First off, what a great time we had at WayneStock over the weekend! Thank you again to everyone involved!

Now, February is reserved for writing, playing with dogs, and watching the Super Bowl… c’mon Peyton… but 2016 is a leap year, so c’mon folks, take advantage of the extra day.

And while we’re here, let’s jump ahead to March where I’ll be playing Friday the 4th at Boyd’s Jig & Reel in the Old City with our buddies the Jon Whitlock Trio. I’ll be playing an acoustic set featuring the dynamic duo of Sean McCollough and Mike Murphy. This is a free show so please make plans to join us.

The band and I are really looking forward to another wonderful WayneStock this year. We’ll be playing our set Friday night, where I’ll also be sitting in with the Tim Lee 3, then Saturday night I’ll be sitting in with Todd Steed for the “Knoxville Tells” Reunion. Even if you can’t make it out to the Relix Variety Theatre you can still donate to this years beneficiary, Knoxville Girls Rock Camp, by visiting the Donate page at www.waynestock.org. Here’s the line-up for WayneStock 6:

Thursday, January 28
7:00 PM – Jonathan Sexton
8:00 PM – The Jank
9:00 PM – Handsome And The Humbles
10:00 PM – Hellaphant

Friday, January 29
7:00 PM – The Pinklets
8:00 PM – The Lonetones
9:00 PM – Kevin Abernathy
10:00 PM – Tim Lee 3
11:00 PM – Psychic Baos
12:00 AM – Senryu

Saturday, January 30
7:00 PM – EmiSunshine
8:00 PM – Jennifer Niceley
9:00 PM – Lonesome Coyotes
10:00 PM – Heiskell
11:00 PM – “Knoxville Tells” Reunion