Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Swift Tracks: Fish Fry Bingo and The Robert Donahue Band

By Brenna Rushing

A cold beer and greasy fried chicken. This meal of champions is what I’m reminded of when I listen to “That ‘Ol Habit” by Fish Fry Bingo .

The track is a southern-style country tune with a multitude of voices creating the harmony. They combine the mandolin, banjo, dog house bass, fiddle, kazoo, slide whistle, a washboard and a flute to create these classic sounds.

Fish Fry Bingo live at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival

The most humorous aspect is that the song is talking about a cocaine habit. It isn’t very common to hear about the famous white substance in anything but a rock song.

FFB hails from Garland and are currently playing shows all around Texas. Their next will be at the Granada Theater on June 20 alongside Two Tons of Steel and The Gourds.

You’ll have to listen to their live tracks, since that is mostly all they have on their Myspace. I couldn’t find an album for sale. They might not have gotten that far yet.

The Robert Donahue Band blends a snippet of rock with country to create their music. At first glance of their profile picture on Myspace, the lead guitarist resembles Kevin Connolly from Entourage. The band as a whole definitely doesn’t look like they sing country music. The bassist has a long goatee (rocker style) and a shaved head while the drummer looks like he would play in a jazz band. He’s wearing black shades and a red and black button down.

The Robert Donahue Band

Their song, “Live Till You Die,” resembles a single from the radio. The heavier guitar helps add the rock side, while the singer's voice keeps their country roots.

The song places you in a sunny day with nothing to do but enjoy the weather, much like many other country songs.

They currently reside in Mansfield, where they are keeping busy promoting their new album, Songs of the Texas Highways, which came out this year.

Their next show in this area is at Adair's Saloon in Dallas on August 10.

Related stories

• Pegasus News Week in View: Juneteenth edition (June 19, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Popular Music > Bluegrass
• Arts > Popular Music > Country