Honky Tonk Confidential
Encyclopedia
Honky Tonk Confidential is a retro/alt country band from the Washington, D.C. area. The band's latest CD is the result of a collaboration with CBS News
chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation
anchor, Bob Schieffer
. Schieffer penned the lyrics to four of the tunes on Road Kill Stew and Other News (with Special Guest Bob Schieffer), and he sings on his own "TV Anchorman." One of HTC's members, guitarist and vocalist Diana Quinn, was a founding member of Tru Fax & the Insaniacs, an early DC punk/new wave band.
, a Falls Church honky tonk
. Since then, the band has played in most major venues in the DC area and recorded four CDs, as well as numerous compilation cuts. HTC has won many Washington Area Musicians Association (WAMA) awards, including Debut Album and Country Album for its eponymous 1999 CD (Honky Tonk Confidential). The band's second CD, Your Trailer or Mine? (2002) won Album of the Year and Country Album, and its third CD, Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year? (2006) received Wammy awards
for Country Album and Song of the Year. Possibly the only song about Pee Wee Herman, "Pee Wee's Gone," is on Your Trailer or Mine? and the first country song (and likely the last) about Hanukkah
is "Honky Tonk Hannukah," which can be found on Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year? Road Kill Stew and other News contains the parody of Johnny Cash
's "A Boy Named Sue," called "A Girl Named Dick."
HTC contributed many songs to the various baseball and Christmas CDs released by the non-profit Hungry for Music, including "Nolan Ryan's Fastball," which was performed widely in 2006 as part of the Baseball Music Project, an orchestral program comprising baseball songs. The band's song "That's Nats" is played during baseball season at Washington Nationals
games. Along with the HTC CDs, Diana Quinn also produced a compilation alt country CD called Greetings from the District of Country, which includes cuts by Louise Kirchen (married to Bill Kirchen
), Tex Rubinowitz, and Kevin Johnson and the Linemen.
Original founding members Diana Quinn (guitar, vocals) and Mike Woods (lead guitar, vocals) perform with Sam Goodall (bass), Mark Lindamood (drums), and Bobby Martin (pedal steel guitar).
The band claims classic honky tonk
and western swing
as major influences, including country music giants Johnny Cash
and Bob Wills
. Quinn comes from a punk/classical background; she was a founding member of one of Washington DC's early punk/new wave bands, Tru Fax & the Insaniacs and she studied for more than a decade with the classical guitar pioneer Sophocles Papas. Mike Woods is considered one of the area's top guitar wranglers, and plays a Fender Telecaster. Diana and Sam also play Fender guitars. Mark plays a unique configuration of Ludwig drums. Bass player Geff King, a prolific songwriter who wrote many of the songs on the group's earlier CDs, left the band in 2006.
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation
Face the Nation
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
anchor, Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
. Schieffer penned the lyrics to four of the tunes on Road Kill Stew and Other News (with Special Guest Bob Schieffer), and he sings on his own "TV Anchorman." One of HTC's members, guitarist and vocalist Diana Quinn, was a founding member of Tru Fax & the Insaniacs, an early DC punk/new wave band.
History
HTC formed in 1997 with its first gig at the JV's RestaurantJV's Restaurant
J V's Restaurant is a Falls Church and Fairfax County, Virginia institution that evolved from a strip mall eatery, founded in October 1947, into one of the Washington, D.C. region's premiere locations for live music, without losing its rustic atmosphere....
, a Falls Church honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
. Since then, the band has played in most major venues in the DC area and recorded four CDs, as well as numerous compilation cuts. HTC has won many Washington Area Musicians Association (WAMA) awards, including Debut Album and Country Album for its eponymous 1999 CD (Honky Tonk Confidential). The band's second CD, Your Trailer or Mine? (2002) won Album of the Year and Country Album, and its third CD, Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year? (2006) received Wammy awards
Washington Area Music Awards
The Washington Area Music Awards are a music award for Washington, D.C. area performers, issued by the Washington Area Music Association . The awards are issued at an annual awards program....
for Country Album and Song of the Year. Possibly the only song about Pee Wee Herman, "Pee Wee's Gone," is on Your Trailer or Mine? and the first country song (and likely the last) about Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
is "Honky Tonk Hannukah," which can be found on Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year? Road Kill Stew and other News contains the parody of Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
's "A Boy Named Sue," called "A Girl Named Dick."
HTC contributed many songs to the various baseball and Christmas CDs released by the non-profit Hungry for Music, including "Nolan Ryan's Fastball," which was performed widely in 2006 as part of the Baseball Music Project, an orchestral program comprising baseball songs. The band's song "That's Nats" is played during baseball season at Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
games. Along with the HTC CDs, Diana Quinn also produced a compilation alt country CD called Greetings from the District of Country, which includes cuts by Louise Kirchen (married to Bill Kirchen
Bill Kirchen
Bill Kirchen is an American rockabilly guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the guitarist with the original Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid 1970s, although, in reality, his time with the Commander accounts for only a portion of his career...
), Tex Rubinowitz, and Kevin Johnson and the Linemen.
Original founding members Diana Quinn (guitar, vocals) and Mike Woods (lead guitar, vocals) perform with Sam Goodall (bass), Mark Lindamood (drums), and Bobby Martin (pedal steel guitar).
The band claims classic honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
and western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
as major influences, including country music giants Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
. Quinn comes from a punk/classical background; she was a founding member of one of Washington DC's early punk/new wave bands, Tru Fax & the Insaniacs and she studied for more than a decade with the classical guitar pioneer Sophocles Papas. Mike Woods is considered one of the area's top guitar wranglers, and plays a Fender Telecaster. Diana and Sam also play Fender guitars. Mark plays a unique configuration of Ludwig drums. Bass player Geff King, a prolific songwriter who wrote many of the songs on the group's earlier CDs, left the band in 2006.
Albums
- 2007 - Road Kill Stew and Other News (with Special Guest Bob Schieffer)
- 2006 – Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year?
- 2002 – Your Trailer or Mine?
- 1999 – Honky Tonk Confidential
Individual cuts
- 2000 – Greetings from The District of Country (produced by Diana Quinn): Includes "Barroom Tan," "I Done It (and I'm Glad)," and Wanda JacksonWanda JacksonWanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
's "Fujiyama Mama" - 2005 – Diamond Cuts (Vol. VIII) (Hungry for Music): "American Pastime in Black and White" and "That's Nats"
- 2005 – A Chanukah Feast (HFM): "Honky Tonk Hannukah"
- 2005 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. VIII)(HFM): "Santa is a Working Man"
- 2003 – Crème de La Crème (HFM): "Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year?"
- 2002 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. VII) (HFM): Buck OwensBuck OwensAlvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
' "Blue Christmas Lights" - 2001 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. VI) (HFM): A cow-surf version of "O Come O Come Emmanuel"
- 2001 – Night of 100 Elvises (HFM): "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I"
- 2001 – Nolan Ryan A Musical Tribute (HFM): Jerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
's "Nolan Ryan" and "Nolan Ryan's Fastball" - 2001 – Diamond Cuts Triple Play (HFM): "Nolan RyanNolan RyanLynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
's Fastball" - 2000 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. V)(HFM): "Who Gets the Fruitcake This Year?"
- 1999 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. IV)(HFM): "Santa's Got That Ol' TB"
- 1998 – A Holiday Feast (Vol. III)(HFM): "Drivin' into BethlehemBethlehemBethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
" - 1998 – Edges from the Postcard II (P2 Records/Twangfest): "Honky Tonk 101"