Bucket City Brings You The Music
We talk about the artists in insurgent country all the time, but I also like to pull the curtain back and give props to the behind the scenes people who work their arses off, lot’s of times for moderate pay if any pay at all, to help bring the music to you. People like Hank III’s steel guitar player Andy Gibson who does recording for other bands and artists, or Wayne “The Train” Hancock’s wife Gina Gallina who does booking for Wayne and Bob Wayne.
One of the hardest working outfits out there trying to bring REAL country, punk, and generally good underground acts to your town is the Bucket City Agency. Look at the kind of talent their stable boasts:
.357 String Band
Joe Buck
Antiseen
T-Model Ford & GravelRoad
Cicada Omega
Creech Holler
And there’s many more where that came from.
Bucket City is also booking the upcoming Fall tour for A Bitter Harvest with Rachel Brooke and Lonesome Wyatt.
Christian Brooks is the mastermind behind Bucket City, as well as the drummer for Creech Holler. The whole thing started kind of accidentally. Brooks was tired of getting booked on bad gigs with Creech Holler, and decided to take over those duties himself. Then he met Joe Buck while playing in a band opening for Hank Williams III, and Joe and Christian became friends. When Joe Buck was off doing a solo tour between Hank III tours, Joe asked Christian to help him book some gigs on the West Coast and on the way back home. Brooks saw a need that needed filling and soon there were many other bands on board.
I’ve seen the name Christian Brooks come up a number of times, and not just with Creech Holler. I was first introduced to him through an amazing Swedish documentary about the underground music scene in Nashville. Christian, along with Joe Buck, Hank III, And Jason from Jason and the Scorchers give some of the most amazing commentary about the state of country music today.
I know the audio is out of sync, but that is Christian at the beginning of this video talking about Nashville and country music:
(you can find the rest of the documentary by navigating the YouTube menu at the bottom)
Couldn’t say it any better myself.
Christian Brooks and Bucket City are another great example of the people sweating behind the scenes, that don’t get applause and encores and stacks of fan mail, but are vital to getting the music out in front of people.
And for that, I want to give him a standing ovation.
July 11, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Thank you for the high praise of my friend and business assosiate Christian Brooks. I’ve had the pleasure of being his Pacific Northwest Contact. and over the last 3 years its been a privilage and honor to work for him and the great entertainers he represents. From Joe Buckyourself and .357 String Band to Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dolls to the pack A.D. Along with everything in between, Its been a blast and filled with a lifetime of memories. Thank You Christian and everyone @ BUCKET CITY AGENCY………. BOBBY GUNSTROM,
ADDED ATTRACTION ENTERTAINMENT(SEATTLE, WA.)
http://www.myspace.com/bobbygunstromjr
Addedattractionentertainment@live.com
July 11, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
How annoying, the audio being out of synch with the Swedish subtitles! Haha. Great blog acknowledging the people behind the scenes. We don’t know what they look like because they always have their heads down and their bums up. Andy’s a great man, know him and have alot of respect for him. Joe Buck might have the worst haircut but he sure has the BEST accent! Oh and here’s the last sentence of your blog translated into Swedish: Och för att jag vill ge honom en stÃ¥ende ovation.
July 11, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
You know Swedish?
Wish everyone could have seen this doc when it first came out on the Swedish site. The audio and video were top quality. The Youtube translation didn’t really work, TWICE. Christian made some prophetic points.
July 14, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
good stuff triggerman, you know me well enough that I’m not a huge/hardcore III fan but a fan none the less, but this documentary was impressive, III didn’t seem as much of an asshole that’d i’ve assumed before, really liked it this post.
July 15, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
I was impressed with how all the people in the doc conducted themselves. Why does it take someone from Sweden to get this content out there?