Review – Wayne Hancock & Lucky Tubb on Thanksgiving
For the last 6 years, Wayne “The Train” Hancock playing Austin, TX’s legendary Continental Club on Thanksgiving Night has slowly morphed into a full blown tradition. Though Wayne is based out of Austin, he plays in town maybe twice a year, keeping his A-Town appearances exclusive, and special.
Opening this year was the greatness of Lucky Tubb with His Modern Day Troubadours. Lucky & Co. were their usual dapper selves, still holding on to the tightness they’ve acquired from much more consistent touring these days. They’d also acquired a new Tele player since I’d seen them last, a hot shot silly sider named Will Owen Gage that was a standout player in a night full of them (wait till you hear who Wayne boasted in his band).
My crossed fingers gave rise to the event I was hoping to see the last time I saw the Wayne/Lucky pairing, which was a live rendition of one of their duets off of Lucky’s new album Hillbilly Fever, and sure enough, The Train was called to the stage early and they rocked out a version of “West.” Unfortunately my moving picture camera was forgotten on the charger at the Saving Country Music headquarters, but the still one was in hand (see pics below) and so was a recording device:
[audio:https://savingcountrymusic.com/audio/west-wayne-hancock-lucky-tubb.mp3]
Download or open with media player
Then it was Wayne Hancock’s turn, and man, Wayne was in rare form. I think this had a lot to do with Wayne being able to cherry pick all-star players from his past to fill out the night’s lineup. Hancock had a smile form ear to ear all night, as some of Austin’s best players traded licks back and forth across stage.
Musicians included Bob Stafford on lead guitar AND trombone, aka “Texaco” that you can hear Wayne call out on his early albums. A mad keys player TJ Bonta who played with Wayne on the album Wild, Free, & Reckless manned the side of the stage, Chris Darrell was on stand up bass, and the great Eddie Rivers was on stand up steel. Eddie is a legend around Austin who now plays with Asleep At The Wheel, but played with Wayne first.
Hancock has a funny way about him, where his smile and mood is infectious. I relate it somewhat to Ray Charles. When Ray Charles would smile, when you knew he was feeling warm, it made you feel warm; some sort of empathetic relationship with the audience that makes the moments that much more special. After each song, the packed Continental Club would burst with applause and cheers. I’ve never seen such reception for Wayne’s music. At one point I saw him utter “Wow” under his breath at the outcry, and Wayne and the band took that energy and reciprocated, as Wayne picked out a songlist that kept the mood moving just right.
Near the end, Wayne’s wife, Gina Gallina Rose Hancock, a performer in her own right, got up on stage for another rare moment. Never before has anyone made a cheat sheet look so hip, as the love birds belted out “I’ll Never Be Free.”
[audio:https://savingcountrymusic.com/audio/Ill-never-be-free-wayne-gina-hancock.mp3]
Download or open with media player
(The person growling “wow” from about 0.10 to 0.14 is Lucky Tubb)
Enjoy an extended picture gallery below.



November 26, 2010 @ 1:10 pm
Great pics! Sounds like a great show. I gotta get that interview transcribed one of these years. Seems the sound wasn’t good since it was in the back of the venue when we chatted.
Bravo!
November 26, 2010 @ 2:42 pm
My bro-in-law is up here in Colorado from Austin, and we talked about how we woulda liked to catch the show. (Family obligations prevail.) But, thanks for report – and tracks, gives us a little taste of what we missed.
Keep up the good work!
November 26, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
Uhhhhh….Trigger Man ol’ buddy, the “mad man” on the keys is T Jarrod Bonta (often called T.J. Bonta), don’t know where you got the name “McFarland” from unless T is using “aliases” these days. He ‘s the All-World piano player I’ve been trying to get you to come hear ever since you moved to Austin, T plays with everybody, it seems like, including Jim Stringer, Cornell Hurd, Johnny Bush, Rosie Flores, Roger Wallace…..heck, EVERY band in Austin wants him as their piano player. Now you know why! The important thing is you finally got to hear him- ain’t he kick ass?
November 26, 2010 @ 10:16 pm
Fixed.
I won’t say who told me his name was TJ McFarland, but let’s say that played a PROMINENT role in this article as well. And they were asked twice what the name was, and it it was written down to make sure it was correct.
🙂
November 26, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
OK, to be fair to this PROMINENT person, I did receive a text message at 3:18 in the AM with the correction I’m now just seeing.
November 27, 2010 @ 6:57 am
*gulp* it was totally Taylor Swift who gave you the wrong name. Yup. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Thanks for this awesome review!!! Was a fantastic evening!!!
November 27, 2010 @ 3:53 pm
Whether you call him TJ McFarland, T Jarrod Bonta, TJ Bonta, T Bonta, or just T, he’s right up there with the best piano players anywhere in the world (by the way, the “T” in his name, like the “S” in Harry S Truman, doesn’t stand for anything).. T has a very dry “Monty-Pythonesque” sense of humor, I’m sure he’d have a very funny comment about his name being posted incorrectly.
November 26, 2010 @ 9:15 pm
Thanks for posting this stuff, I bet that was a GREAT show.
November 27, 2010 @ 6:23 am
Wayne The Train, his lovely talented wife + his crew making a Thanksgiving “tradition” in Austin is a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday…
November 27, 2010 @ 7:50 am
This does sound like it was a fantastic show. Thanks for bringing it a little closer to us!
November 27, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
Awesome review man.. The first time I saw Wayne was in Maumee Ohio and Im guessing I left feeling like you did from this show.. It was amazing to say the least. Now if we could only get Gina to record more music. 🙂
November 27, 2010 @ 4:54 pm
Just sawem in Mississippi .. Great show.. Yeah. Wishful thinkin I guess
November 28, 2010 @ 2:30 pm
Great stuff Triggerman. Pictures, Music AND Review! Great pipes Gina!
November 29, 2010 @ 7:50 am
Very nice, Triggerman. Makes me wish I had enjoyed the holiday roadtrippin’ to the Continental.
November 29, 2010 @ 3:47 pm
went up to austin from san antonio to see this show, it was quite the event lemme tell yah
December 9, 2010 @ 5:59 am
Great site. Thanks for the review.
Any chance I could get a copy of this concert, both Lucky and Wayne? mp3 is fine for me.
December 9, 2010 @ 7:33 am
The only audio I have is up top. I did not record the whole concert.
I do have another full Lucky concert from earlier in the year:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/listen-to-lucky-tubb-live-the-granada