NYCBP Blog

Zac Brown Band More CMT Music More CMT Music Videos

It is billed as “country music’s biggest night”, and maybe it is these days. The 2008 CMA Awards take place this Wednesday, Nov. 12, this year, and will be televised on ABC.

But does an awards show which will be dominated by the likes of the soft rock-country of Kenny Chesney get us dive bar lovers whooping and hollering?

Country music has settled down in recent years, like Hank Jr.’s once-rowdy friends. Some of that, no doubt, seems to be the result of many in the country music establishment hitching their fortunes very closely to a political current and administration in Washington which has been soundly rejected by a majority of the American people. Nowadays, the prevailing tone in mainstream country music is subdued, almost the product of demoralization. Even Toby Keith is at present peddling a lot of ballads, and Gretchen Wilson, once the darling of redneck-loving men and women, has had to postpone the release of her new album until next year because its first rock-flavored single did not do well with her audience.

I’ll probably still watch it, or at least part of it, if for no other reasons than to see a couple of good performances and to learn how the powers-that-be want an officially sanctioned show to appear. There are still some contemporary country artists I can sometimes take, such as Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Trace Adkins, and Taylor Swift.

But don’t expect to see or hear much if anything at all of Merle, Willie, or the rest of the outlaws. For that, you can head down to the NYCBP 10th anniversary party this Friday, Nov. 14, at Doc Holliday’s.

When the mostly male, rough around the edges, beer-drinking clientele of Yogi’s assemble at what should have been a national landmark, they (we) like to believe, for a few hours anyway, that they (we) could leave with the bartender for somewhere other than the men’s room there to report the latest flood or filth infesting that most essential parlor.

We also know that this is about as likely as President Obama leaving Michelle and shacking up with Gretchen Wilson (although they both hail from the Great State of Illinois).

Such is the suspension of disbelief at the barrooms.

One lusty lady, who hails from their neighboring Great State of Iowa, helps them (us) fulfill these fantasies even better than her Iowa Hawkeyes wrestle. She has been serving up her unique and humorous blend of sass, skin, and suds for some six years now at our Temple of Sass, Skin, and Suds, Yogi’s, and also at its inbred sister bar, The Patriot.

She is, of course, the one and only Lisa Marie. Now residing in the Great State of Brooklyn, she works Friday days at Yogi’s, Monday days at The Patriot, and Thursday days at the Brooklyn Ale House. She is a bartender for whom, if these shifts are inconvenient for you, you ought to change your schedule, or at least find a way to sneak out for a few hours of memorable fun.

With Yogi’s as we know it set to close sometime soon and its future uncertain, make sure to drink with Lisa Marie there on Friday afternoons while you still can. She is a bona fide superstar and is sure to land on her feet (she also has her own band) if the worst happens and the real estate infidels pillage our shrine for good. Experiencing this goddess at this altar of Willie, Waylon, and Merle is a must for grizzled New Yorkers, and beer- and country music-loving visitors alike.