Adam Carroll, Michael O’Connor, Angie McClure,Gruene Hall & “Hard Times" Part I

Adam Carroll, Michael O’Connor and Angie McClure – Gruene Hall’s Tuesday Song Swap

If the Gulf Coast people don't have a theme song, then it will be found on “Hard Times.”

There are many reasons to miss work and step away from your computer. This is one of the reasons! Adam Carroll, Michael O’Connor, Angie McClure and Gruene Hall! Besides, don’t you need a break from a Monday?

On Tuesday, October 19th from 7:00 p.m.to 10:00 p.m. Gruene Hall with host their Tuesday Night Song Swap featuring Adam Carroll with Plank, Michael O'Connor, Angie McClure. There is no cover charge to see these Texas Music Country greats! And you're in for a real treat from Adam and Michael’s new release, “Hard Times.”

If the Gulf Coast doesn’t have a theme song, then it will be found on “Hard Times.” Like the people of the Gulf Coast who have experienced these hard times, this new release from Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor is just that – the heart and soul of the downtrodden and victims of hard economic and natural disasters. They’ve come from a situation they cannot change. A situation where all there is left to do is try and laugh. The album “Hard Times” has been called ‘scrappy and scruffy,’ and so it is. It is that beautiful and charming homage and a hearty salute to those Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, down home, survivors. Music can help heal. This album is the balm for our souls and puts reality in perspective. When hard times come, this album shows us the reality of the situation – more of the saying “It is what it is,” and with these economic times and helplessness to change the situation, there is nothing left to do but laugh. If you’re going through this, you know what that means.

Adam Carroll has always been a favorite of this Country Music Examiner and now is Michael O’Connor one of those favorites! I’ve been following Adam (or is that stalking?) for quite a few years. This artist has me amazed in his talent to wow audiences with his songs, his versatility and his steady climb to take his rightful place in Texas Country Music… at the top. With seven top charted albums, Adam has proven his musical mastery, much like the icons of Robert Earl Keen, Townes Van Zandt and John Prine. Now with the release of “Hard Times” co-written and performed with Michael O’Connor, there is no doubt that this album will hit top charts in Texas and all over the US (and Europe will be after them soon enough if they aren’t already!) (Angie, you are fast becoming my favorite too, with that Emmylou Harris meets Nora Jones voice and talent!)

Adam is a songwriter’s songwriter. He is fast become an icon himself, spanning Texas, the US and Europe with his incredible mastery of songwriting, vocals, melodies and emotion in all his songs. Adam does it with such ease that I’m wondering if he’s lived many lives of those who have strongly impacted the music world! His wisdom and grasp of these skills are far more than you would ever expect from someone so young, yet so blessed with inheritant music star power and such wisdom in life and song.

From Adam’s first album “South of Town” (one of many of Adam’s albums produced by Maestro Lloyd Maines) to his newest release with Michael O’Connor,“Hard Times,” we have found one of the best lyricists in Texas Country Music (and possibly the best duo!) The music Adam writes, his vocals, instrumentation and melodies cannot be fully expressed in mere words. I have bought every one of his albums and my computer’s CD player now truly believes its name is Adam Carroll with an identity crisis of a second personality named Michael O’Connor!

The new CD release, “Hard Times” is an Adam Carroll & Michael O'Connor alternative/folk collaboration of songs written and recorded by these two Texas songwriters and was produced by Gabe Rhodes.And Carroll, a songwriter’s songwriter who’s drawn favorable comparisons to such luminaries as John Prine and Butch Hancock, respects O’Connor so much, he just co-wrote and recorded an entire album with him, 2010’s "Hard Times.” (A full review is in my next article.)

About Michael O’Connor: “Michael O’Connor’s songs have that ring of truth. You can tell he’s not making anything up. He’s painting a picture of something that’s real. He’s been with those underdog characters; he’s lived in those boarded up towns.”— SLAID CLEAVES

As for Angie McClure, they may have just named her “Angel.” From Austin, Angie is an up and coming new talent reminding me of the soft sweetness of Nora Jones, Alicia Keys meshed with Emmylou Harris - and she has the guitar mastery to fit her into a category of "perfect!) Just check out Angie’s My Space. Wow, I can sure where this girl is going!

This song swap will be a blast – work can wait, computers can go to sleep…don’t miss this one! And isn't Gruene where you want to be anyway?

Tuesday, October 19 · 7:00pm - 11:00pm

Adam Carroll with Plank, Michael O'Connor, Angie McClure

(830) 606-1281

Gruene Hall
1281 Gruene Rd.
New Braunfels, Texas 78130
830.606.1281
No cover charge! Phone: (830) 606-1281

http://www.gruenehall.com/gruenehallnewsOct2010.html

Adam Carroll

http://www.adamcrroll.com/

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Michael O'Connor

http://www.michaeloconnormusic.com/

Angie McClure