Search - Blue Dogs :: Live at Workplay

Live at Workplay Theatre was recorded in January, 2005, at the Birmingham, Alabama concert venue. The Blue Dogs' lineup on the new CD includes Hank Futch (upright electric bass, acoustic guitar and vocals), Bobby Houck (acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals), Greg Walker (drums and percussion) and David Stewart (electric guitar and vocals). Recorded before a very lively audience, the new CD features in-concert versions of songs from such previous albums as Halos and Good Buys, Letters from Round O, Music for Dog People and the band's self-titled debut, as well several previously unreleased songs. Many of the Blue Dogs' most-requested songs are present, including "Cosmic Cowboy," "Bill Bill," "Half of My Mistakes" (co-written by Bobby Houck and Radney Foster) and "Make Your Mama Proud," plus the band's unique take on the gospel song, "Children, Go Where I Send Thee," Arthur Smith's "Conversation with a Mule" and Lyle Lovett's "L.A. County."The Blue Dogs' last CD, Halos and Good Buys, was produced by Don Gehman and released in early 2004, garnering excellent critical reviews and extensive airplay. "The road-seasoned band effectively straddles the line between loose rock swagger and radio-friendly hooks," said Billboard magazine in its review. An earlier CD, Letters from Round O, was produced by Cracker front-man-turned-producer David Lowery and generated radio response from Modern Rock, Triple A and Americana radio, as well as glowing reviews in The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others.The band was founded in the early '90s by South Carolina natives Bobby Houck and Hank Futch, who have played together in one incarnation or another for almost 20 years, but it wasn't until the release of their debut self-titled album in 1996 that the band committed to making music full-time. Through the years, the Blue Dogs have achieved a host of accolades, including numerous national tours, regular airplay at commercial radio across the country and a host of album and DVD releases. Although the band has grown a legion of fans over the years, the Blue Dogs' musical diversity has been difficult to classify. Having started as a bluegrass/country/folk-rock duo, and then with the advent of a full band, the Blue Dogs found themselves with echoes of bluegrass, jam band rock, commercial roots pop/rock, and Americana... somewhere to the right of Americana and left of mainstream Nashville.