Neko Case's homecoming concert will take place in less than a week at the Pantages. And I stumbled onto this cool interview she did with Canada's QTV. Been a while since she's wanted to do interviews with her hometown paper, though. I'll have to see if I can dig up the tape of the last one I did with her and convert it to MP3 for you all between now and the show.

Federal Way’s Vince Mira may have just turned 17, but he’s already parlayed quite a bit with his spot-on Johnny Cash covers. The Teen in Black (a.k.a. Juanny Cash) mostly played for tips back in 2007, the year an appearance on Seattle's Channel 5 led to gigs on “Good Morning America” and “Ellen: The Ellen Degeneres Show."

Last year, Mira released his debut album, “Cash Cabin Sessions,” which was produced by Johnny Cash's son, John Carter Cash. His appearance at Pike Place Market’s 100th anniversary concert a while back led to a friendship with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard who recently recorded Mira for a forthcoming Hank Williams tribute. And at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, the teen troubadour will take the main stage at the Gorge’s Sasquatch festival for the first time.

Not bad for a guy who’s barely old enough to drive. Hey, before long he may be as famous as that other guy from Todd Beamer High School. You know, the Sanjaya? And what are they putting in the lunches up there, anway?

Click here...

... to listen to outtakes from my interview with Mira expressing his desire to be more than a Johnny Cash tribute act and laying out his plans for the rest of 2009.

Just got an announcement about country megastar Kenny Chesney making surprise appearances in parking lots along his summer tour. He'll be at Qwest Field on Aug. 1 with Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum adding support. But simma down, stalkers. If he learned anything from what happened to Tim McGraw when he was last here, he'll have extra bodyguards in tow.

From the press release:

Four-time winner of the Academy of Country Music Awards’ Entertainer of the Year Award, Kenny Chesney, will appear, not only on stage, but in stadium parking lots this summer for the Corona Tailgate series on his “Sun City Carnival Tour.”

[snip]

Never one to miss a good party with Corona beer, Chesney plans to surprise and mingle with fans at two undisclosed Corona Tailgates out of eleven select cities on his “Sun City Carnival Tour.”

Ticket pre-sale for Wynnona Judd's Sept 21 appearance at the Puyallup Fair with the Tacoma Symphony has kicked off. It runs through 9 a.m. Saturday. The Puyallup Fair folks even e-mailed a password to use with Ticketmaster: sing. Reserved tix are going for 15 to 50 bucks.

DRINK! Ten Miles of Bad Road demands this of its growing fan base after every song, earning the outlaw country outfit a reputation as Tacoma’s hardest boozing band. Better be careful, fellas, before you wind up needin' the ol' Schick Shadel.

The country fried rockers posted below come from the band’s March 26 set at the New Frontier Lounge. And when band leader, Rev. Nate, e-mailed me the correct song titles, he also mentioned big outlaw country festival he's planning to replace “the late, great Hotrod-A-Rama” in August at the Swiss Pub. “No hotrods, but there will be plenty of rama,” he writes.

Of course, there's be plenty of places to catch Ten Miles before then. Latest show dates are on the band's MySpace page. Now what are you waitin' for? Listen to the clips. And DRINK! (Um, if you're legal, of course.)

Let Me Be

Sick N’ Tired

You Better Run

Got new music from Broken Trail in the South Sound Mix tape player (over to the right in down if you have yet to investigate, slacker!) It's from the South Sound country outfit's new CD "What This Country Needs." And here are the next few places you can catch 'em live:

Old General Store Steakhouse and Saloon, Roy, Friday and Saturday (April 24, 25)
Lady Luck's Cowgirl Up, Parkland, May 17.
Red Wind Casino, Olympia, May 22-23.

The Puyallup Spring Fair is always a hot spot for catching country’s rising stars, Dierks Bentley, Joe Nichols and Ashton Shepherd being examples from recent years.

Friday (April 17) the main musical attraction at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center will be husband-and-wife team Joey and Rory Feek, a.k.a. Joey and Rory, best known for smash hit “Cheater, Cheater” and appearing on CMT reality show “Can You Duet?”

I’ll have a story on it in tomorrow’s GO section. Meanwhile, here are some clips from the interview they did with me, on break from shooting another one of those Overstock.com commercials.

Part 1: The ACM nomination, making new friends in Nashville

Part 2: Their new video and the politics of Nashville

Part 3: Before they were famous and what lead up to “Can You Duet?”

Part 4: Rory’s ties to the Northwest and Blaine Larsen

Joey + Rory are the latest rising country stars to visit the Puyallup Spring Fair. They'll play the Puyallup Fair & Events Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (April 17).
BRYAN ALLEN

Last week I caught up with country husband-and-wife act Joey + Rory, who will sing their big hit "Cheater, Cheater" on Friday (April 17) at the Puyallup Spring Fair. I'll have some interview clips posted before then, and a story in GO the day of the show.

Meanwhile, here's a YouTube.com clip from behind the scenes at the "Play the Song" video shoot. Rory says he expects CMT to get finished copies next Tuesday and start playing it after that.

I sought out Spanaway country artist Jonathan Harris for my second Grit City bootleg subject. And the challenges were many Friday night when he headlined Applini’s Two Clean & Sober Club in Puyallup. (It opened a few weeks ago at 1015 N. Meridian, in the spot that used to be Mugs & Jugs Sports Bar, if you haven’t heard of it.)

It’s a cozy joint, so there were no remote corners where I could retreat to escape the chatter around the pool tables or burger and fry transactions taking place within arms reach of my microphone. Oy! But just when I thought all was lost, Jonathan hands me this pristine, soundboard recording from a show he did last year at the Muckleshoot Casino. Shweeeeeet! Problem solved. Enjoy.

A Night Like This

A Good Day to Run (Darryl Worley)

Little Cabin/I’m Over You (Keith Whitley)

Something Like This/All Shook Up (Elvis)

Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me (Keith Urban)/Brother Jukebox (Mark Chesnutt)

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off (Joe Nichols)/Seminole Wind (John Anderson)

All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down (The Mavericks), Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down (Merle Haggard)

Sounds Like a Deal to Me/ Duke of Hazzard Theme (Waylon Jennings)

Acoustic jam

“Redneck rap,” Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett)

Like what you hear? Check out Harris' tour schedule, including details on a new country night he's trying to get started at the Tacoma Sportsmen's Club, here.

OK, so that webcast of Neko Case's concert in Amsterdam that I blogged about recently didn't quite pan out, with the show getting canceled and all. But soon, local fans will get to see her live and in person. The Seattle Theatre Group just announced Case, a former Tacoma resident, will headline the Paramount Theatre on June 4.

Case -- who immortalized T-town with her songs "Thrice All American" and "South Tacoma Way" -- will be touring in support of her new album album "Middle Cyclone," which was released today.

Grandaddy's Jason Lytle will add support for this show, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. that day. Tickets are $22 to $27, and they'll be available through Ticketmaster beginning 10 a.m. Saturday (March 7). You can also learn more here.

Country star Brad Paisley gets the party started with a little "Mud on the Tires" Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.
ERNEST JASMIN

So why isn’t Brad Paisley on one of those Guitar Hero, anyway? They could make a special “Guitar Hero: Nashville” or something.

Such were the deep thoughts that sprung to mind as I sat in the Tacoma Dome press box last night, inspired by a funny spoof of the popular video game that popped up on Paisley's video backdrop as he performed his hit, “Celebrity.”

Hey, there's no doubt the guy can shred. Fans knew that well before Paisley put his hot licks front and center on his latest instrumental disc, “Play: The Guitar Album.” And if you haven’t noticed, the guy is kinda popular, as evident from the 12,000 or so folks who showed up at the T-Dome to catch his two-hour set (Paisley’s biggest draw for an indoor show, they were saying behind the scenes.)

I’m just sayin’, Activision. You’re leaving money on the table. Think about it. And I want a cut when you make the game.

The Guitar Hero clip pitted Little Jimmy Dickens against Taylor Swift, the first in a string of celebrity video cameos that included fun flashes of Keith Urban, Alison Krauss and William Shatner, the guy who actually showed up in person last time Paisley played the Puyallup Fair. But it was just one component that went into a pricelessly clever video presentation, one of the slicker multi-media setups I’ve seen at a country show.

Nearly every song got a special treatment, from the Saturday-morning-cartoon-style band avatars that battled diabolical villains during the “Play” medley (Paisley himself was credited with the animation) to the critters-eye view of a tick stalking babes and hounds during encore selection, “Ticks.” Paisley even breathed life into the obligatory band intro during “Letter to Me,” with “Tonight Show” worthy shots from each player’s high school yearbook presented next to their current mugs. That included a not too studly shot of the band leader himself, class of ’91, by the way.

“I think back to high school every time I sing this song, how scared I was with everything,” Paisley said, introducing to that cut. “I was scared I was gonna fail math … scared that my parachute pants were out of style.”

Not that the slick presentation totally overshadowed Paisley’s guitar heroics. During "She's Everything," the guy delivered a soaring solo reminiscent of “Purple Rain” as coronas pulsed from his body (you know, video again.) And it was obvious he's taken notes from some of rock's greats, whether he was dropping snippets of Dire Straits into the early set or delivering a cozy, campfire version of Clapton's "Layla" during a short acoustic set.

Paisley is one talented guy, and his goofy, self-deprecating sense of humor just makes him that much more lovable.

Check out a few scenes, or click here for the full set list.

Paisley and his band performed in front of a vivid, video backdrop. Their early set included "Mud on the Tires," "Better Than This" and "The World."
ERNEST JASMIN

Paisley roamed up and down three catwalks that jutted out into the crowd when he wasn't jamming in front of a giant video screen. Here he pauses to sign a fan's guitar as "The World" comes to a close.
ERNEST JASMIN

Rising country star Dierks Bentley channeled a mostly party vibe during his 40-minute opening set, too, which wound down with his biggest hits "What Was I Thinkin'" (which broke in Seattle) and "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)". With time limited, he didn't showcase his introspective side with cuts like "Better Believer" and "Pray" from his new disc "Feel That Fire." Saving it for his next headlining tour? Or maybe tossed those in his private set earlier in the day at the Varsity Grill.
ERNEST JASMIN

Portrait of a country guitar hero: Brad Paisley Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.
ERNEST JASMIN

Brad Paisley’s show was a gas Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome, thanks in no small part to a slick video presentation that brought us Guitar Hero, Brad Paisley stye, and virtual cameos from the likes of Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Alison Krauss. Check back later and I’ll have more comments and some pics up. Meanwhile, here are a couple of set lists for you.

Brad Paisley set list
Tacoma Dome
Feb. 28, 2009

Mud on the Tires
Better Than This
The World
Wrapped Around
Waitin’ on a Woman
Celebrity
Mr. Policeman
I’m Still a Guy
Letter to Me
Start a Band
Fishing Song
She’s Everything
Instrumental “Play” medley
Whiskey Lullaby
Acoustic covers medley feat. Roger Miller's “King of the Road,” George Strait's "The Chair" and Clapton’s “Layla”
When I Get Where I'm Going
Online
Alcohol (with Dierks Bentley and Crystal Shawanda)

Encore:
Ticks
Let the Good Times Roll (B.B. King)

Dierks Bentley set list

How Am I Doin'
Feel That Fire
Lot of Leavin' Left to Do
Trying to Stop You Leaving
Sideways
Settle for a Slowdown
Closer
Every Mile a Memory
What Was I Thinkin’
Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)

Opening act: Crystal Shawanda