Sportman’s Tavern
August 8, 2004
 |
||
| By Kevin J. Hosey A large part of the Buffalo music community came out to say goodbye to Rex and Paula Hobart when Rex Hobart and the Wrecks played their final gig at the Sportsman’s Tavern before the couple left Buffalo for Santa Fe. A crowd of several hundred people crammed into the club itself and overflowed onto the sidewalk and the small eating/lounge area in the alley, which had an additional barbecue grill/pit in place for the show. As well as people, the club and environs were packed with balloons, barbecue and booze, the makings of a great afternoon and evening. Before the show, Hobart sat/posed for a photo shoot for a project (web mistress) Val is working on, and showed himself to be a natural without really being a ham. During the shoot, Val asked him who he would be playing with in Santa Fe: “Well, I’ll play with myself,” Hobart replied with a laugh, then added, “I’ve still got the guys I play with in Kansas City (The Misery Boys) and I hope what happened here is what will happen out there, that people will be interested in what I do. I suppose that’s how I can get back to here, by playing with these guys (The Wrecks) again, if they’ll have me.” The Wrecks are made up of Charlie Quill (Steam Donkeys) on guitar, Jim Whitford (The Possums, Jim Whitford and His Real Beat Band, ex-Pine Dogs) on bass, Rob Lynch (The Possums) on drums and John Dieckman (Steam Donkeys) on pedal steel guitar. |
||
 |
|
| Hobart and company started their first set in fine, upbeat fashion, including songs early on such as the swinging honky tonk of “Between a Rock (And a Heartache)” and the more straight honky tonk of “Baby, Don’t Make Me Break Your Heart,” highlighted by some good pedal steel from Dieckman. Hobart’s singing sounded fantastic from the start and continued on songs such as “If I Can Sleep Forever” and what is probably my favorite of his newer songs. “Here Comes Nothing,” in which Hobart is trying to be loyal to his woman but is being seriously tempted by a woman who just walked into the bar he is in: “Here comes nothing/and nothing’s looking pretty good tonight.” The music is very cool and bluesy, but with enough twang coming through, particularly in Hobart’s voice, so that you don’t forget. Hobart, who has a dry sense of humor, asked between songs where so many of these people were when he and the Wrecks played during the week at the Sportman’s Tavern during the winter; believe you me, those shows were one of the few ways, and no doubt one of the two best ways, to warm oneself up during the Buffalo winter. After an emotional version of the crowd pleaser “Jack Daniels, If You Please” and the slower “Loving on the Backstreets,” Hobart looked out and with a smile said “I’m glad we’re all sweating together,” despite the large fans blowing the hot air. Between his deeper singing voice and sharp songwriting, Hobart sings several smart songs on heartbreak, including the twangy weeper “Take It Back (Before You Mean It),” and then performed a cover of one of his apparent favorite country artists, Johnny Paycheck (Hobart and Whitford once performed a mini-set of Paycheck songs during a songwriters circle), with “I’m the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)” and “Motel Time Again.” Hobart actually forgot how to start “Motel Time Again,” and had to ask his bandmates for the first line, which Whitford and Quill provided: “Look what you guys made me do,” he joked with the band, while the audience got a pretty good laugh out of the situation. Hobart continued to play his own songs, new as well as older ones, with a couple more covers mixed in, including his new tune “The Dear I Left Behind,” solid honky tonk with a touch of rock edge; during “Hello Darling,” he took photographs of the audience, and was joined by Steam Donkeys’ singer/songwriter Buck Quigley for “Heartaches by the Number.” Hobart also sang a version of Waylon Jennings’ “Just a Good Ole Boy” as well as another newer song that is becoming a fan favorite, playing a particularly kicking run through of the swinging “Do Die Do Die.” |
||
 |
||
| Hobart quickly became known as one of the most friendly, gracious and accommodating members of the country, roots and Americana community, as well as the Buffalo music community in general, with a sense of humor to go along with his musical talent; he and his wife, Paula, would no doubt have appeared on any list of most enjoyable couples had one existed in Buffalo. Val and I were among the fortunate people to get to know them; we were among three couples invited to spend a weekend at the cottage/island part-owned by Whitford and his wife, Lynne O’Meara, in Magnetawan, Ontario, about three hours north of Toronto, a few weeks before Rex and Paula left for Santa Fe. Also invited up for the weekend was Tom Fischer, his wife Tracey and their twin daughters; Fischer played bass in the Pine Dogs and plays in the Outlyers, of which Whitford was a former “associate member.” To end the star-studded lineup, when the Hobarts and Val and I were leaving to drive home in our cars, we passed on the road, just before the parking area to take the tractor to the boat dock, Whitford’s childhood friend Gurf Morlix and partner Brende Fuller. Both cars of course stopped to talk with them before leaving. Besides being an unbelievable four days of no electricity, running water or the worries of a political job for me, computer job for Val or Web site/writing concerns, the fun we had on this island through the company we shared it with are all but indescribable. Canoeing, swimming, hiking, relaxing, reading, making meals, doing nothing or doing whatever came up were what the doctor ordered for all of us, as well as our dog, the Rottweiler/German shepherd blend Walker Evans, who we brought with us to join Jim and Lynne’s dogs Merle and Hazel. Each night ended with a musical get together with Rex and Jim playing guitars, Tom playing bass and Rex doing most of the singing, with songs ranging from some of their own to those of Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck and others. Getting to know Rex and Paula in this relaxed setting (we’ve known Jim, Lynne, Tom and Tracey for about 15 years and Val worked for the Pine Dogs) was much better and more personable than 100 shows would have been. The Steam Donkeys opened the show at the Sportsman’s Tavern and delivered a strong set of their country and country swing-based originals mixed with a couple of covers; the best songs included “Can’t Find a Place to Stay,” “Fever,” “Here I Sit” (with some fine steel guitar from Dieckman) and “Jesus on the 90,” and Hobart joined the band for “She’s Two Stepping Out on Me.” |
||
 |
||