MUSIC

Goode's Armadillo Palace is proud to welcome Shy Blakeman. 

Shy Blakeman is damn sure country, in fact just about as country as a singing, guitar playing and songwriting guy can be. All that, and also a whole lot more. And his third and truly definitive album, LONG DISTANCE MAN, is damn sure country and a whole lot more as well. It’s rich with the true to the music yet renegade spirit that launched Blakeman out of Kilgore, Texas. It’s also rooted in the outlaw country and classic country-rock he was all but literally weaned and teethed on as a child in Wyoming.

For anyone who loves country that’s as bracing as a shot of moonshine and all other rural musical styles from below the Mason-Dixon, the sound of this disc declares: I love my roots! “All the musical decisions led to such a sonically rich and interesting listening experience,” Blakeman notes, “but it all still feels within the realm of what country music is and used to be.” The sound also offers a bracing freshness sure to bring a new liveliness to the contemporary scene.

“Texas is a big part of who I am,” Blakeman stresses. “It’s where I’ve lived longer than anywhere in my life, and I’m glad I lived in Texas in my most impressionable years when I was coming of age. What makes Texas music great is that it’s organic, it’s real, it’s just what it is. Texas was the launching pad for me, and what has allowed me to do this.” By 2006, the hundreds of shows Blakeman played every year were catching up with him, along with his days on the Nashville music business treadmill and nights out on the town.