Swampland: : Back to The High Lonesome with Tom Hambridge & The Rattlesnakes

Back to The High Lonesome with Tom Hambridge & The Rattlesnakes

Posted: Nov 12, 2007

I made my way down to Rome, Georgia for my third ever visit to the High Lonesome Saloon, a place that is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to play. I had been fortunate enough to attend a rehearsal by Jimmy Hall and Chris Hicks with their band, and then returned to join Donnie Winters in opening for the great Paul Thorn, so when Mike Proctor invited me to return and “play a few” before Atomic Boogie and Tom Hambridge, I jumped at the opportunity.

Proctor had told me about this young musician named Keith Tressel who is a pro B-3 player, guitarist and harp player. (And former member of David Allan Coe's band.) He said Keith would sit in with me if I wanted, and when I got the the club Saturday afternoon, Keith and I rehearsed a bit and we were ready to roll.

Pretty soon we got word that Tom Hambridge’s tour bus had gotten stuck in a curve on the mountain and would have to be pulled out, so Proctor and his posse went off to rescue the band and their equipment.

Meanwhile I met John Barton, the lead guitarist of the rockabilly band Atomic Boogie, and had a great time talking shop with him. In fact, I met a whole bunch of nice folks that night, and it was good to see our friends Debbie and Dale Anderson of Cartersville, Georgia as well.

Around 8 pm, Proctor introduced me and Keith, and we played for about half an hour and had a great time. Next up came the three-piece band Atomic Boogie, and I must say, I enjoyed every single minute of their set, which included originals and covers of both rockabilly and blues numbers, including “Ready for Your Love,” “67 Ford Mustang” and the slow blues, “I’m Gonna Murder My Baby.” With Steve Duncan wailing on drums, Chad Vaillancourt on doghouse bass and Barton on the hollow body Gretch, the trio could do no wrong, and the crowd loved them.

Barton said that they had gone to see the legendary Johnny Winter the night before, and he had played “Sugar Coated Love,” so they decided to whip that one out tonight. “Rockabilly Bop” brought the patrons onto the dance floor, and the band sizzled to a finish, leaving everyone wanting more. But it was time for the headliner.

Tom Hambridge is not only a world-class songwriter, he is also a record producer, having worked with Susan Tedeschi, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Delbert McClinton, George Thorogood and many others. He has written hit songs for all of the above, as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Van Zant. Tom brought his red hot band The Rattlesnakes into the High Lonesome Saloon and blew the roof off of the joint.

From the opener, “Rattlesnake Man,” and though a wide variety of great songs, Hambridge won the crowd over big time from the get-go.

Tom and his band smoked through “The Fixer,” a song he wrote for George Thorogood and The Destroyers, and into a rockin’ “Sweet Mama,” a tune recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd and then again on the VanZant brothers album.

Speaking of Van Zant, Hambridge has written and co-written a whole bunch of great songs with Donnie and Johnny, and he played several, including “The Things I Miss the Most” and “If it Goes Down Easy.” All good.

Hambridge took a moment to comment on some fine peach moonshine he had tasted since arriving in Georgia, saying, “And as soon as I get cell phone service again (yes, we were out in the country) I’m gonna call Johnny (Van Zant) and tell him about it.” The crowd roared their approval. Ah, Southern comfort at it’s finest.

Bassist Tommy McDonald kicked off the excellent and funk rocker “Shot Glass,” and Hambridge got behind the drums to lead into “Rachel Fay,” delivering a drum solo like none I’ve ever witnessed before. The guy plays the cymbal stands, the rims of the drums, anything that makes a noise. I was very impressed with this multi-talented cat’s percussive stylings.

His song “19” was dedicated to all of the veterans of war when he announced that the next day was Veterans Day. The song had everyone choked up, and at the end there was a standing ovation. Pretty cool.

Hambridge played a new song he had written called “Shoebox,” another hit waiting to happen, and rocked out on one he co-wrote with Delbert McClinton called “I’ve Got a Right to Be Wrong.”

The band played two of the songs Tom wrote for Susan Tedeschi, “Hurts So Bad” and “Rock Me Right.” As an encore, Tom and The Rattlesnakes pulled out Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin” before diving headlong into “Lone Wolf,” one he wrote fro Johnny Winter, incorporating a bit of “Good Golly Miss Molly” into the middle of the song.

It was a great show, and I told Hambridge after it was all over that I had no idea he had written so many of the songs on my iPod. Seriously. He just smiled.

It had been another great time at the High Lonesome, with great fun, great friends, great food (oh, I didn’t mention the most excellent BBQ plate!) and great music. And I got turned on to some great music from Atomic Boogie as well as Tom Hambridge. I look forward to my next visit to Rome, and the well-guarded secret that is The High Lonesome Saloon.

-Keep it Real, Keep it Southern.
Buffalo