Valley Fever Every Sunday

Yucca’s Country Music Weekly~

Merle Jagger                                                http://www.merlejagger.com

Guitar Hero meets Honky Tonk Country Rock / Boogie Blues with a mix of amped up Bluegrass….at a bar to discuss the future of Americana music…over a few drinks.

Tom VandenAvond                 

http://www.reverbnation.com/tomvandenavond

Tom VandenAvond was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. his fifth record, “You Oughta Know Me By Now” features touring legends Larry and his Flask. Tom was a contributor on the Independent Music Award winning “Hiram and Huddie”. Both albums available now on Hillgrass Bluebilly Records.
Tom VandenAvond embodies everything that makes alt-country awesome. He’s got a surly, drank-too-much-last-night-and-now-I-gotta-perform attitude. One can hear wisps of such late greats as Jimmie Rodgers or even Huddie Ledbetter in VandenAvond’s songs, which alternate between good ol’ country and low-key folksy ballads.
His vocals are rich with twang and as raw as whiskey, and he could quite possibly match Tom Waits someday for grit, as he croons out subdued menace at times. But even when VandenAvond spins a yarn in “Lost on the Bottle” about possibly engaging in alcohol-fueled spousal abuse (“Some days I got mean things on my mind/There’s an odd chance I might treat that woman unkind/If she don’t pay me mind she might wind up in the pines”), you get the feeling it’s sung with a playful wink.

21+ // Free show