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3001 Wright Brothers Blvd , Cedar Rapids1710 Marion Airport Rd., MARION
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Official Cancun Airport Transportation
<p>Enjoy the best vacation without spending much money on your Cancun Airport Transfers. We have the best prices on the market and the best customer support available 24 hrs. Our booking process is also very easy, you can arrange a safe Cancun Airport Shuttle service before traveling to get incredible discounts.</p><p>Book the safest and most reliable Cancun Airport Transfers and receive great benefits and promotions. Remember that you can do the reservation of your transportation in advance, so we can be ready and waiting for you to pick you up and take you from the airport to your hotel.</p><p>Phone: +529989800248</p> 2021-07-20 05:27:00 -0500
11/13/318:24 a.m.Official Cancun Airport TransportationCancun -
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Casey Donahew and more Live Outdoor Festival at First Avenue Club in Iowa City
<p>Casey Donahew returns to the First Avenue Club, with special guest artists Wade Bowen and Brad Morgan, for an outdoor show on Sunday, September 5th (Labor Day Weekend), 2021. Pit tickets are $30 (plus $5 service fee). The pit is closest to the stage and is standing room only. No chairs allowed. General Admission tickets are $25 (plus $3 Service Fee). General Admission is located behind the pit and guests are allowed to bring lawn chairs (no chaise lounges). Gates open at 3:00pm and the show begins at 4:00pm. The show will end at approximately 8:00pm. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. This is an all-ages show. THIS IS A RAIN OR SHINE EVENT.</p><p>Tickets: <a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/casey-donahew-outdoor-show-/272?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/casey-donahew-outdoor-show-/272?cs=true&cst=custom</a></p><p>Over the last 18 years, Casey Donahew has risen from a favorite on the local Texas music scene, to racking up 21 #1 singles, to a nationally hot touring act who consistently sells out venues all across the country.</p><p>Donahew has released eight independent albums to critical and commercial acclaim. Donahew’s STANDOFF, quickly topped the iTunes Country Chart at #1, upon its release, and his follow-up album ALL NIGHT PARTY, out on August 19, 2016, immediately rocketed to #3 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart, #13 on the Top Album Sales Chart and Top Current Album Sales Chart and #40 on the Billboard 200 Chart. The project also took the #2 spot on the Internet Albums Chart and landed at #3 on the Independent Albums Chart. His 15th anniversary record titled 15 YEARS, THE WILD RIDE, a collection of Donahew’s most popular songs, and the ones that droves of fans sing night after night at his live concerts, was inspired by and became a gift for those fans who remain loyal in Donahew’s standing-room-only audiences.</p><p>His current album ONE LIGHT TOWN, garnered Donahew his latest #1 single, “Let’s Make A Love Song, which was the #1 most played independent song on country radio for 2019 and had BILLBOARD spouting upon its release “…’Let’s Make A Love Song’ has radio written all over it”.</p><p>Casey, a Burleson, Texas native, has painstakingly (with the help of his wife Melinda) carved out an impressive niche for himself on the country music scene. over the past decade, attracting a solid base of loyal fans who flock to his legendary live shows. Building his career from the ground up one show at a time, he’s managed to perform on countless stages night after night in front of thousands, topped the Texas music charts several times, released four albums independently to critical acclaim, and forged a path all his own through the music scene without the aid or muscle of a major record label or power-suit management company. The country star has risen to new heights he never could have imagined when he first plugged in onstage at the Thirsty Armadillo bar in Fort Worth’s Stockyards in the Fall of 2002, and began constructing his own field of musical dreams.</p><p>Wade Bowen is a Texas Country/Red Dirt artist from Waco, Texas. Bowen was a member of the band West 84 with friend Matt Miller until 2001 when the group became known as Wade Bowen and West 84. Bowen released his fourth studio album, The Given, in 2010. It was his first on a major label, Sony imprint BNA Records, though he returned to releasing music independently after BNA closed. He released a self-titled studio album in 2014, followed by a duets album in 2015 with singer Randy Rogers of the Randy Rogers Band, titled Hold My Beer Vol. 1. Bowen's next album was Then Sings My Soul: Songs for My Mother, a solo gospel influenced studio release. He has released 3 more albums: Watch This, with Randy Rogers, Solid Ground, released in 2018, and a follow up to Hold My Beer Vol. 1, Hold My Beer Vol. 2 with Randy Rogers. During the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020, Wade started a web series of live shows called Wade's World, where he hosted other prominent Texas musicians to play and tell stories about their songs every Friday night. Guests included Bruce Robison, Cody Canada, Jack Ingram, and others.</p><p>Brad Morgan is a country artist and songwriter who was born and raised on a farm near Manning, Iowa. While currently residing in Nashville, TN, he continues to build on the success he has had in Iowa and the Midwest. Brad has an easy going sound while presenting a fun and energetic live performance. His Midwest Country roots are found in crowd favorites such as, “Unlocked,” “Catchin’ Nothin’ But a Buzz,” “Plan B is for Beer,” “Perfect for Me,” and "Grain of Salt." Since 2011, Brad has released a full-length album and two EP’s, including his 2015 self-titled EP, “Brad Morgan.” In 2019 Brad released, "Grain of Salt," a fun, storytelling, summertime single which charted at number 11 in the nation on the New Music Weekly Chart. Brad just released his latest single, "You Don't Know" in 2021.</p><p><br></p> 2021-07-14 20:00:00 -0500
9/05/213:00 p.m.First Avenue ClubIowa City -
"An Evening with Ma Bremer" Special Author Talk with Dale Kueter
<p>DALE KUETER wrote for Iowa newspapers for 41 years, 34 at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. He attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Iowa in 1958. He served six years in the Iowa Army National Guard.</p><p>He has published a children’s book, <em>Hide the Daddy</em>, two full-length, non-fiction books, <em>Vietnam Sons</em> and <em>The Smell of the Soil</em>, and a historical novel, <em>Motel Sepia.</em> His newest book is called, <em>Ma Bremer’s Boys.</em></p><p>He is a proponent of family story writing as a means of sustaining family history. That is the essence of his book, “T<em>he Smell of the Soil.</em>”</p><p>Come and meet local author Dale Kueter at the Hiawatha Public Library. Dale will talk about his newest work of fiction and share how he writes his stories. </p> 2021-06-17 19:30:00 -0500
8/03/216:30 p.m.Hiawatha Public LibraryHiawatha -
Courage Ride
<h5><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Courage Ride is a multi-route bike ride through southern Johnson and Washington counties. Proceeds from Courage Ride support the Sarcoma Cancer Research Program at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.</span></strong></h5><h5><strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Courage Ride, an annual charity bike ride benefiting the University of Iowa’s sarcoma cancer research program, has announced it will resume as both an in-person and virtual event. It also has added a second start/finish location at the Washington County Fairgrounds that will take riders along the Kewash Trail to Keota. The 17th Annual Courage will also return to Big Grove Brewery and Taproom in Iowa City.<br>The Washington location will offer two routes along the beautiful Kewash Trail, a limestone surfaced trail along a former railway.<br>Big Grove will offer six routes that will continue to take riders through the scenic Amish countryside near Hills and Kalona and out as far as Washington and Keota, Iowa for the longer routes. A 5 mile Family Fun ride to the Terry Trueblood Recreational Area is also being offered.<br>Courage Ride is following federal, state and local pandemic guidelines, as of May 2021, to ensure a safe ride experience in 2021. COVID measures are subject to change as regulations, restrictions and recommendations change prior to our August 14th event.<br>“We feel so blessed to be able to return to in-person riding for those who can. Last year was definitely a challenge and we really missed seeing everyone who has come out and supported us over the past 16 years,” said Courage Ride Director Leora Houghton. “And we are so excited to add Washington, Iowa as a second location. This location is a great opportunity to grow our event and offer a different trail ride experience for those who like to get closer to nature. Growing the event means more dollars going into sarcoma cancer research at the university where they are making great progress on this rare form of cancer.”<br>Courage Ride honors the life of Seth Bailey, a courageous young man who died at age 25 from sarcoma cancer in 2003. His parents, Jackie and Tom Bailey partnered with Bicyclists of Iowa City (BIC) in 2005 to create a ride that all levels of bicyclists can enjoy.<br>Courge Ride organizers anticipate between 600 to 700 bicyclists to register for the event. Beginning at 7:00 a.m., bicyclists will travel on 8 different routes. Routes from Big Grove include lengths of 5, 18, 37 (Seth Bailey Courage Loop), 58, 72 or 107 (The Tom Bailey Century) miles. Routes from the Washington County Fairgrounds include lengths of 17 and 35 miles.<br>Bicyclists at Big Grove can also participate in a silent auction featuring items from a variety of area businesses, organizations and craftsmen along with free skin cancer screenings by University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics dermatologists. The local community is also welcome to participate in the free skin cancer screenings.A Live Facebook Fundraising event will be held Thursday, August 12that www.facebook.com/couragerideProceeds Support Sarcoma Cancer ResearchAll proceeds from Courage Ride go to the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Sarcoma Research Program. Over the past 16 years, Courage Ride has raised over $660,000 for sarcoma cancer research.<br>To date, Courage Ride proceeds have seeded numerous sarcoma cancer research grants. Many of those grants have evolved into promising, larger scale research studies. This newfound momentum in the Sarcoma Research Program has created a lot of enthusiasm among researchers, investigators, doctors and cancer care providers at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The results are leading to new advancements, new partnerships and attracting some of the best research talent in the nation. Patient lives are improved as a result of these research studies and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is gaining worldwide recognition for its expertise in advancing sarcoma research.<br>Courage Ride’s mission is more crucial than ever considering that funding for cancer research has been shrinking over the past 10 years, according to the American Association for Cancer Research. Yet cancer remains one of the nation’s costliest diseases. The American Cancer Society’s 2020 estimates for soft tissue sarcomas in the United States (these statistics include both adults and children) project that 13,130 new soft tissue sarcomas will be diagnosed (7,470 cases in males and 5,660 cases in females) and 5,270 Americans (2,840 males and 2,430 females) are expected to die of soft tissue sarcomas. Over 100 adults and children in Iowa are diagnosed with sarcoma each year. Sarcoma receives one to two percent of all cancer research funding.<br>Discount For Early RegistrationRegistration is now open. Early adult registration is $75 (through Friday, August 6). Beginning August 7, adult registration is $85. On-site registration Friday, August 13 and 14 is $90. Youth registration (13-17) is $15. Registration includes breakfast and lunch, entertaining rest stops and SAG support. A victory party with live music will be held throughout the afternoon.<br>Visit www.CourageRide.org for more information about the event including registration, route maps, parking, or to make a donation. </span></strong><p><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>ABOUT THE RIDE</strong></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Two start/finish locations: Big Grove Brewery and Taproom in Iowa City and The Washington County Fairgrounds in Washington, Iowa</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Over 600 riders are expected to register</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>8 total routes, ranging from a 5 mile family fun ride to a century ride (5, 17, 18, 35, 37, 58, 72, 107 miles).</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Registration at Big Grove opens at 6 a.m. Registration at Washington opens at 7:30 a.m.</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Includes breakfast and lunch</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Rest stops with food, drinks and live music</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Cyclists receive detailed maps, SAG support, bike mechanics and free tent camping.</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Courage Ride jerseys available to order</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>A silent auction at Big Grove featuring items from area businesses, organizations and craftsmen</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Free skin cancer screenings performed at Big Grove by University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics dermatologists</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Adult-Early Registration (through Friday, August 6th) $75</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Adult-Week of Registration (starting Saturday, August 7) $85</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>On-site registration Friday, August 13 and 14 is $90.</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Youth (13-17) $15</strong></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Children 12 & under are free.</strong></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Visit <a href="http://courageride.org/" target="_blank">CourageRide.org</a> for route maps, registration information or to make a donation. </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14px;"><strong>Also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!</strong></span></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Join us for this fun event and help us "Fight Sarcoma Cancer. Together."</span></strong></p></h5> 2021-05-13 17:00:00 -0500
8/14/216:00 a.m.Big Grove Brewery & TaproomIowa City -
The Bellamy Brothers at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City
<p>The First Avenue Club welcomes The Bellamy Brothers on Friday, December 17th, 2021. TABLE OPTIONS: Reserved Table for 4 with tickets $185. General Admission Ticket with a seat at a shared table (seated with other patrons) $40. Reserved table patrons must have at least one person check in at 7:00pm to get their table assignment. Standing General Admission Tickets: $25. Doors are at 7:00pm and the show begins 8:00pm. This is an all-ages show.</p><p>Tickets: <a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-bellamy-brothers/275?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-bellamy-brothers/275?cs=true&cst=custom</a></p><p>Howard and David Bellamy continue to prove that the trail they’ve ridden to fame has been as unique as their music itself—music that is now celebrating over 40 years of success.</p><p>The road that started on the pop music charts in the ‘70’s, took a winding turn into country music in the ‘80’s, paving the way for duos to come, such as Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Big & Rich and previously—The Judds. But before the road forked into country, the musical odyssey of brothers Bellamy started creatively smoldering in their home state of Florida, before exploding nationally amidst the ’70’s pop music culture of L.A.</p><p>The brothers first official gig was in 1968, playing a free show with their father at the Rattlesnake Roundup in San Antonio, Florida. They honed their early skills playing Black clubs throughout the south, and singing backup for artists such as Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd and Little Anthony & The Imperials. Within a few months, the brothers moved north, immersing themselves and their rock/country sound in the Atlanta market, where the Allman Brothers were the emerging kings of the music world.</p><p>With the dawning of the Age of Aquarius on the horizon, and America embroiled in a smoke haze of drugs, civil unrest and an unpopular war, The Bellamy’s music picked-up the hard driving edge that bespoke the times. Songwriting had become David Bellamy’s drug of choice during the long road gigs he and Howard were regularly pulling bodies and equipment to and from. It was his songwriting that was posed to soon provide the duo a national breakout.</p><p>The break came in the form of the hit, “Spiders & Snakes,” written by David and recorded by Jim Stafford. The song became a smash, eventually selling more than three million units worldwide. It became the catapult that rocketed the brothers onto the L.A. music scene. Young and impressionable, Howard and David fell into the musical circle of the greats of the day: Bob Dylan, James Taylor and Van Morrison, as well as West Coast based country rockers like Poco and the Byrds.</p><p>It was a creative shoe that fit.</p><p>Now known by their music and the company they were keeping, The Bellamys officially lifted off the launch pad in 1976 when their single, “Let Your Love Flow,” became an instant smash in both the U.S. and Europe. It stayed on the international charts long enough to build a huge international fan base for the hip young brothers that endures to this day. In Germany alone it perched at No. 1 for more than two months. The love was indeed flowing as The Bellamys jammed for audiences on their sold-out concerts and shared stages with the likes of Loggins & Messina, the Doobie Brothers and the Beach Boys with their patented blend of rock/country music. True to their musical roots, their style and their songwriting was moving steadily more towards their raising.</p><p>By the late ‘70’s The Bellamys were emerging on the country charts with another bona fide smash. “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me),” originally scrawled on a dinner napkin by David, rocketed them to the top of the country charts the way “Let Your Love Flow,” had done in the pop market just a few years earlier. It proved to be the first of a string of fourteen No. 1 singles in the U.S. alone.</p><p>Success followed success: “Dancing Cowboys,” “Sugar Daddy,” “You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie,” “Lovers Live Longer,” “Do You Love As Good As You Look,” “Redneck Girl,” “For All The Wrong Reasons,” “I Love Her Mind,” “I Need More Of You,” “Old Hippie,” “Too Much Is Not Enough,” “Kids Of The Baby Boom,” “Reggae Cowboy” and “Crazy From The Heart,”…all have lined the corridors of the Bellamy’s musical history and their walls with platinum and gold.</p><p>Along the way, Howard and David created a patent on the newly cool “duo” category in country music. In the era of the 2000’s, The Bellamy Brothers hold the record in both the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and the Country Music Association Awards (CMA) for the most duo nominations. Numerous GRAMMY nods have also been directed toward the brothers. Internationally, the story has been the same—though the titles may be different. The Bellamys have released more than two-dozen hit songs outside the U.S. that were never released here. With a sharp eye on the songwriting skills that have been the bedrock of their success, Howard and David concur that their career is unique in their international finesse for matching their songs to the market.</p><p>“For the international releases, you have to have a strong melody,” notes David. “The lyric is very important, but internationally the melody is something fans can lock into, even if they can’t understand the lyrics.” Howard and David continue to perform and film TV specials in Europe and around the world.</p><p>These days when the subject turns to touring, The Bellamys are showing a new generation of country music how it’s done. Country superstar Blake Shelton has helped introduce a new era of fans to the hits of The Bellamy Brothers during his annual Friends And Heroes Tour, where they continue to captivate arena audiences around the country. “We’re old road dogs,” grins Howard when asked about the motivation behind the brothers 200 plus concert dates each year. Adds David: “Our live draw is bigger than it was in the ‘80’s. I think the same people that grew up with us and with our music in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s obviously have raised a whole new generation of Bellamy fans who started toddling to our music. Now they’re turning up at our concerts as college kids, who are really turned on and tuned in to us and our music….it’s a great feeling.”</p><p>On the infrequent off days from the road, Howard and David head the bus back to their 150-acre family ranch in Darby, Florida just north of Tampa. A working ranch, the spread consists of Purebred Brahman Cattle and quarter horses. The Bellamys are opening up their lives to television audiences with their hit reality show “Honky Tonk Ranch.” Each episode of “Honky Tonk Ranch” enthralls viewers with the unpredictable misadventures of the Bellamys attempting to balance their globe-trotting touring schedule while also running their sprawling family ranch in south Florida. The show was originally broadcast on “The Cowboy Channel” (a subsidy of RFD-TV) and streamed around the world. Season two of “Honky Tonk Ranch” airs now on Thursday evenings at 8:30 p.m. ET on the Circle Network and will also be available for worldwide streaming in the very near future.</p><p>The Bellamy Brothers celebrated their 40th anniversary with the release of a two-CD collection, 40 years, an ambitious project containing 20 of their biggest hits and 20 brand-new songs. In 2019, the Bellamys released Over the Moon as well as their first book Let Your Love Flow – the Life and Times of The Bellamy Brothers. The book is about two Florida cowboys who journeyed from country poverty to worldwide musical stardom because they had the talent and because it never occurred to them, they couldn’t make it.</p><p>Their most recent project, Bucket List, debuted in July of 2020 with “Rednecks (Lookin’ for Paychecks),” a timely take on the current situation, leading the EP. Bucket List also includes “No Country Music For Old Men,” a collaboration with longtime friend John Anderson inspired by the loss of Kenny Rogers, and more light-hearted songs like “Lay Low, Stay High,” which ties into Howard and David’s recent partnership with the Florida-based medical marijuana company, Trulieve, on their flower product line Old Hippie Stash.</p> 2021-07-14 00:00:00 -0500
12/17/217:00 p.m.First Avenue ClubIowa City -
Country Fuzz Presents: The Cadillac Three at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City
<p>Country Fuzz Presents: The Cadillac Three with special guest Jobe Fortner on Friday, November 5<sup>th</sup>, 2021. There are 3 price levels: Reserved Table: SOLD OUT Reserved tables are in a gated off elevated area on exterior walls of the club. Cadillac Pit: SOLD OUT. Pit consist of reserved standing area in front area of stage, beverage coupon and can koozie. General Admission tickets: $25. Doors are at 7:30pm and the show begins at 8:30pm.</p><p>Tickets: <a href="https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-cadillac-three-/55?cs=true&cst=custom">https://first-avenue-club.square.site/product/the-cadillac-three-/55?cs=true&cst=custom</a></p><p>It may be a ballsy move for The Cadillac Three to name their new album LEGACY, but if any country band has the shared history to lay claim to such a weighty title, it’s the longhaired trio of Nashville natives.</p><p>Singer-guitarist Jaren Johnston, drummer Neil Mason and lap-steel player Kelby Ray have known one another since they were teens and have been sharing stages together for nearly 15 years. This summer, they’ll headline their hometown’s most famous venue, the Ryman Auditorium, just a few blocks from where Johnston and Ray sat in high-school math class daydreaming about one day playing the legendary hall. Johnston’s connection to the Ryman goes back even further: his father has been a drummer at the Grand Ole Opry since Jaren was a child. And now he has a son of his own, who, like his old man, will be well-versed in all the sounds that make up both Music City and The Cadillac Three, from country and blues to rock & roll.</p><p>So, yeah, “legacy” looks good on this band.</p><p>“We’re trying to build something and do it our way, which is always harder,” says Johnston. “If you’re going to leave something that people are actually going to remember, you can’t take the easy way. So we took all of our history, mixed it with the energy of The Cadillac Three and put it into a record that makes sense of where we’ve been and where we’re going.”</p><p>After nearly a full year on the road in support of 2016’s BURY ME IN MY BOOTS, their first full-length album recorded for Big Machine Records, the group returns with a more mature perspective. Johnston, Mason and Ray have experienced a lot on tour, whether opening arenas across the country on Florida Georgia Line’s Dig Your Roots Tour or headlining their own consistently sold-out string of sweaty club and theater shows in the U.K. and Europe. As they prepare to head back in November for another big run, for The Cadillac Three, the old saying really is true: this band is huge overseas.</p><p>“Europe showed us that we should bet on ourselves. It was a big gamble the first time we went over there,” says Mason, “but the shows and the fans have continued to grow.”</p><p>“And going overseas reinforced that we wanted to get more music out more quickly,” adds Ray. “They go through singles really quickly over there. They want more, more, more and that encouraged us to go into the studio, knock this album out and keep going.”</p><p>All that travel, from city to state, country to continent, could decimate a lesser band, but it only served to creatively inspire the mighty TC3. They wrote many of the 11 songs that make upLEGACY on the road, cut the tracks on rare days off in Nashville and then recorded all of Johnston’s vocals – one of the most “country” voices in the genre – in the back lounge of their bus in between shows, adding a crackling sense of vitality to LEGACY. They also produced the album themselves.</p><p>“We knew what we wanted to do with this record. Instead of putting it together in bits and pieces, we started with a batch of songs and then picked a single,” Johnston says. “That’s how this shit should be done.”</p><p>That back-to-basics approach to making music yielded the band’s most infectious single to date: the woozy sing-along “Dang If We Didn’t.” Written, as is most of the album, by Johnston and Mason (here, with Jonathan Singleton; other times with songwriters like Laura Veltz and Angelo Petraglia), “Dang If We Didn’t” teases fans with its ambiguous title, before revealing what the guys actually did in the chorus: get drunk last night.</p><p>“When you’re a songwriter, you can be critical of song titles,” says Johnston. “But with ‘Dang If We Didn’t,’ I thought it was a little bit mysterious. It makes you wonder, ‘Dang if we didn’t do what?'”</p><p>“Eat pizza last night,” quips Mason. “It could be anything.”</p><p>“American Slang” rivals “Dang If We Didn’t” in its grandeur. It’s a huge song, akin to Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” or The Cadillac Three’s own “Graffiti,” off BURY ME IN MY BOOTS. Lori McKenna (Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush”) began writing the tune with the intention of having The Cadillac Three finish it. “We are vampires on Hollywood Boulevard / angels and sinners of our hometown streets,” go the lyrics, painting a picture of life’s rebels, before a massive country-radio chorus kicks in: “We are the back roads, dirty water shore banks…we are born and raised on American slang.”</p><p>The constant throughout LEGACY, however, lies in the players: as on all three of The Cadillac Three’s albums, only Johnston, Mason and Ray are the musicians. There’s no guest keyboard player, no second percussionist and certainly no bassist. Ray holds down the low end on his lap steel.</p><p>Especially on the standout LEGACY track “Take Me to the Bottom,” which features Johnston reaching high for a breathtaking falsetto. “‘Take Me to the Bottom’ has the best bass sound of anything I’ve ever done,” says Ray, who also keeps things greasy on the intense “Tennessee.” A thrashing love song, it evokes the stomp of ZZ Top – a favorite of TC3 – and features a lyrical shout-out to progressive country hero Sturgill Simpson, a kindred spirit of the band.</p><p>No matter the influence, though, the trio stays faithful to their own unique sound throughout LEGACY. “Hank & Jesus” glides along with Tennessee twang; “Demolition Man” is distinguished by the space between the notes; and the swaggering “Cadillacin'” is a band anthem. “We don’t put anything on our albums that we can’t re-create live,” says Mason. “If there is a TC3 rule, it’s that: keep it honest.”</p><p>Honesty, or authenticity, is a favorite buzzword around Nashville. But few artists come to it as naturally as The Cadillac Three. These guys couldn’t fake it if they tried. In the album’s title track, they offer a heart-on-the-sleeve testimony to what’s really important at the end of one’s days: love and a family tree.</p><p>When Mason and Ray heard “Legacy,” co-written by Johnston, they flipped, and pushed for it to be the title of the record. “We’re far enough along in our careers where doing an album called LEGACY doesn’t feel presumptuous to me,” says Mason.</p><p>Not when you run through The Cadillac Three’s milestones. It’s all there, from boundary-pushing albums, Grammy-nominated No. 1 songwriting across genres and fan-favorite singles to sold-out club shows and massive festival gigs alongside Aerosmith.</p><p>“With this album, we’re continuing to build this thing we’ve created. We’re touring nonstop, headlining shows in the U.K., playing the Ryman, and putting out a new record,” says Johnston. “Shit, that’s a pretty good legacy so far.”</p><p>Jobe Fortner: Hailing from Dahlonega, Georgia, country singer and songwriter Jobe Fortner’s musical roots run deep. Jobe grew up singing hymns in church alongside his family. “You didn’t have to be good, and it didn’t matter if you were bad. I think everyone would just feel the environment, room, music, and love… that’s really what translates directly to what I do today!” Jobe moved to Nashville in February of 2016 to start to make a name for himself. His debut self-titled EP was released in early 2018 and sparked a different level of buzz for Fortner. It garnered the attention of other national acts and led to opening gigs with Frankie Ballard, Riley Green, Toby Keith, The Cadillac Three, Whiskey Myers, Cody Johnson, The Steel Woods, Dwight Yoakam and also led to more shows with Luke Combs. Jobe’s sound crosses over extremely well from Southern Rock all the way to some modern country influence. It blends all his aspects of his gospel roots, to his country upbringing and his time on the road.</p> 2021-07-14 00:00:00 -0500
11/05/217:30 p.m.First Avenue ClubIowa City