Monday, January 13, 2014

More imaginary wild west in Italy! Video of Colosseum Country festival!




Here's a video report on the Colosseum Country Festival that took place near Rome back in October. Mostly line-dancing, and lots of tropes....



I posted about this festival and other events in the slowly growing Italian wild west & country scene back in August. It's gettin' there, I guess.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Off geographic topic: upcoming Country Music Festival in Borneo (and a mention of Tamworth)




By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I know it's not Europe, but I just have to post about the Miri Country Music Festival coming up next month...on Borneo! This certainly testifies to the worldwide appeal of twang!

The festival -- reportedly the first ever country music festival in the region -- takes place Feb. 15 at the Park City Everly Hotel in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. (Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on Borneo.)

According to MySarawak.org the lineup includes the Malaysian band D'Renegades, the Johnny Rodgers Band (Nashville), The Corn Cake Kings (Kuala Lumpur), Eia and the Superband (Brunei), and two bands from Singapore – Wandering Mustangs as well as Mel and Joe. The program will also include games and competitions for adults and children, pony rides, line-dances and drum workshops and food stalls.
D’Renegades has been around since 1980 and it was formed by accomplished United Kingdom pianist Asif Pishori and Malaysian singer cum songwriter Ady Wow.
The duo who now resides in Kota Kinabalu had been performing at various shows and concerts.
For this coming festival, Ady and Asif had teamed up with three other equally talented musicians.
They are Ozone, Kichi and Zul and together they will get the festival goers dancing to their country rock pop tunes.


The Borneo Post online reports that another Malaysian band, Hi Breed, will also perform.

Festival-goers will enjoy bluegrass, folk and contemporary country music with an impressive mix of tempos for both the young and old.
Tickets are available at www.ticketxpress.com.my; Utopia in Kuching; Parkcity Everly Hotel and Planet Borneo Travel and Tour Services in Miri; as well as El Centro in Kota Kinabalu.

The festival is organized by UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd, a professional conference organizer, and is endorsed by the Miri City Council and supported by Parkcity Everly Hotel, Planet Borneo Travel and Tours Services, as well as Curtin University Sarawak.





I also have to note that the vast and venerable Tamworth Country Music Festival in Australia starts in a few days.

The 42nd edition of this huge event (held in Tamworth, New South Wales) runs this year from Jan. 17-26. Considered to be the world's biggest country music fest it is a showcase and celebration of a thoroughly local scene that draws 50,000 fans or more, with more than 600 performers and 2,500 events staged during the course of the festival -- a rodeo, line-dancing, the annual Australian country music awards and more.

The line-up this year includes  some international artists including Quinn Keister of Canada, Monte Goode from the USA, Australian/Austrian group John Deer Band and Alessandro Nicoletta from Italy, but it's mainly many many local acts.


Check out the web site or the Facebook page for information about the line-up, events and more

See my previous posts about Tamworth

Versace goes cowboy (sort of....)


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Italy's Versace fashion house has gone cowboy (sort of) for its Men's Fall/Winter 2014-2015 collection that was shown yesterday in Milan.

Click here to see a video of the entire 10-minute show

The collection features narrow suit jackets sprinkled with rhinestone cactus, horseshoe and sheriff's star designs, and with shoulders broadened and enhanced by what looks like leather. Some of the models wore necklaces with big shiny stars -- I guess they were sheriff's stars, but they look like enormous Stars of David.

And then there are skin-tight tank tops -- and underpants -- in classic bandana-style prints. And oh, boy, the butt-baring chaps!

Actually, I likes some of the clothes -- especially the jackets with the leather shoulders, and some of the long, frock-coat length jackets.

But the rhinestone devices are pretty much a cliche -- I imagine they were supposed to be ironic comments, harking back to Nudie et al, but I don't think they were ironic enough, at least not on the bodies of the Ken-doll-like models who rather reminded me of Star Trek the Next Generation's android Data, but without as much personality.

Associated Press correspondent Jennifer Clark, however, called the collection "outrageously fun, even by Versace standards" and mostly "a camp celebration of manhood in many forms."

"Our cowboy is macho, he's a biker ... he doesn't have a horse," designer Donatella Versace said backstage after the show.
Donatella's cowboys wear their boots with sharp, tight suits decorated with rhinestone horseshoes and cactus plants on both front and back. These cowhands head out on the town wearing red leather chaps over their jeans, or sometimes just over their bandanna-print underwear. Cheeky indeed!
Read full article


Hmm. Well. I think I'll stick with Nudie.








Saturday, January 11, 2014

Italian country (sort of). Max Pezzali "i cowboy non mollano"


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Released Jan. 10, the latest single -- and video -- of the Italian popstar Max Pezzali is a country-style song, with the video filmed at an Italian wild west theme park, the Cowboys' Guest Ranch in Voghera.

The song is a single off his album Max 20, one of the top 10 selling albums in Italy in 2013.





Pezzali is not a country singer, and as far as I know none of his other songs approach the country music genre or use wild west props in the videos.

According to a quote carried on his web site,  the new song reflects the fact that "in these difficult times, the world seems like a gigantic Far West without certainties or points of reference: charlatans, hucksters, and thugs of all types rage in the boundless prairies of the third millennium. Luckily there still exists a silent majority of people who tend to the facts, concreteness and hard work, getting up every morning without ever giving up. Because cowboys don't let go."









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Saturday, January 4, 2014

Lucchese cowboy bootmaker returns to Italy

Comparing boots. My Burgundy Lucchese at bottom. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber


By Ruth Ellen Gruber


The Wall Street Journal reports that the El Paso, TX-based Lucchese cowboy bootmaker is returning to Italy "with a drawl."

For 130 years, Lucchese, the brand of luxury cowboy boots founded by Salvatore Lucchese —the immigrant son of an Italian shoemaker—has been bringing European craft to a Texan style. For its newest collection, the El Paso-based company is branching out from the cowboy look and introducing Italian classics like the driving loafer and the oxford. Part of the range will be produced in Italy. "It's nice to be able to work within both worlds, to draw inspiration from Europe and combine that with the new West," said William Zeitz, Lucchese's executive vice president and creative director.
Read the full story in the WSJ 

I have two pairs of Lucchese boots -- both among the most comfortable footwear I've ever owned.

The first pair, black boots with white stitching, I bought in Austin, TX, in 2006....I found the model of the boot I liked but I think I tried on about six pairs in several boot stores before I found one that fit just right....and they fit right from the start. One of the first "excursions" I did in the boots was to take a long walk in them at Kinky Friedman's ranch in the Texas hill country south of Kerrville...

My second pair of Luccheses is more elegant -- Burgundy-colored leather and ostrich skin. I got them in a consignment store in Berkeley CA. They were the first things I saw, displayed behind the counter, when I went there a few years ago with a friend. We weren't looking for boots -- but she immediately pegged them as Luccheses (she collects cowboy boots). And they were exactly my size. And they fit like the proverbial glove....