I managed to cash in some chips at work so that I can be home for Christmas.

This is going to be so awesome. It's going to be awesome spending Christmas with my family. It will also be awesome to go to Lafayette and hang out with Camille's family. Seeing friends. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

What's not going to be awesome is the live country music scene. Now considering that it will be the weak between Christmas and New Years, I don't expect much. But my last three years down there I was treated to outstanding New Years shows by Roger Creager, Bleu Edmondson, and Randy Rogers. Naturally, I assumed that whomever they got would be up to that caliber.

So excitedly I check the Firehouse's website to see what live music I will be listening to as I ring in the New Year. Instead of an anticipatory sound of a song I await hearing, I hear that of laughter. Laughter from a very, very bad joke.

Honeybrowne.

The boys of Honeybrowne are the spokesmen for the Texas chapter of Tampon Sales International. Their music, actually, isn't that bad. I bought their first two CDs, went to the trouble of compiling them into one for easier listening, and Deeper Shade of Blue [lyrics, though the site has popups and you can't go "Back", which is roughly half as annoying as what I'm about to describe] is might actually make the Top 25 Texas music songs. But as a live act, they are utterly uninspiring at best. The first time I went to one of their shows, I left fifteen minutes in - coming to $.67 per minute of entertainment. I went home and listened to their CD instead.

Their lead singer is a boy-toy with vocal chords and gestures that young ladies seem to find appealing for some reason or another (something tells me he could be flipping them all the bird while drooling uncontrollably and he would be similarly "appealing." Their stage presence ranges from passable to that of a high school band trying to be rock-and-roll kewl. Think Ben Folds's Rockin' the Suburbs [lyrics] and you're on the right track.

The second time I saw them play, I again left twenty minutes into their set (this time I got my money's worth as Phil Pritchett opened), as did my two companions (they actually left before I did). The third time I saw them they were opening for Phil and were so bad that one companion said "I swear to god, if they play one more song I'm leaving." and volunteered to sit in the car -- this was after significant improvement. They were, by this point, leaps and bounds ahead of where they were. Deeper Shade of Blue was actually recognizable. And I say all this with at least some appreciation for their music (as performed on the record).

But the lead singer is hot and knows how to shake his booty, so they remain popular with people who really should (and have demonstrated the ability) to know better. And they're getting the prime New Years Show. And the blasted joke is on me.

The entire New Years picture is looking incredibly bleak.

Blanco's appears to be going with John Evans, who is not nearly as annoying on stage as is Honeybrowne, but whose music I don't like. I've been to two Evans shows and stayed the duration for neither. The Armadillo Palace has Jesse Dayton, whom I've never really gotten in to. Maybe I should try, cause the Continental Club is going R&B and the Innkeeper is going with somebody I've never heard of.

If anyone knows of any good music shows on New Years, please let me know. I think we'd even be willing to drive to Bryan or College Station or even New Braunfels or San Marcos.

I just wanna hear some danged music. It's incredible that I got better Texas music in Idaho last New Years than I appear likely to get in Houston this one.