D. Striker

My daughter’s first RR Party, my niece’s too. nüni is wearing a (rare) vintage D. Striker t-shirt designed and printed by , original logo by

Before leaving Athens for Nashville in 1999, I met Clay Leverett through Orenda Fink. The two of them played my “Moving To Nashville” gig at the High Hat — Clay on drums, Orenda on bass, Bob Todd on guitar, Lew Card on mandolin, Phil Estes on electric guitar, and Peter Smith on banjo.

Somehow Clay escaped being in any photos that night, but at some point during the show, Clay and I traded hats— so at least his hat made it into a photo. I’m also including one I snapped of Clay and his wife Jenny wearing my hat during a 2014 trip to Athens.

Over the years, Clay and I have stayed in touch, and I’d help him with Nashville gigs whenever he wanted to come to town. He’s one helluva singer — whether belting it out with Lona or crooning with his country band, The Chasers.

Get to the RR Party early to see Clay Leverett kick it all off! Doors at 7p, show at 8p, Flicker Bar. Take home issue No. 50 of the RR zine—come on down!

📷 (BW): Felicia Graham

We’re excited to have Annie Neeley join us to sing some backup vocals and a real sw***er of a duet, but you won’t want to miss her set earlier in the evening to witness some West Virginia magic.

I’m going to go ahead and request her song “Old Scratch,” which begins with the line: “Old timers say / we’ve been damned since the day.”

And to repeat myself, plan on the whole damn thing. It’ll be a strong night of songs all the way through.

Doors at 7p. Show at 8p. Flicker Bar. Athens, Georgia. RR Party for issue No. 50 of the RR zine.

As the saying goes, we “ate” on Friday the 13th.

Burgers — and our set, too.

Thanks to JJ Niceley and Hans Chew for kicking things off, Brown’s Diner and Terry for hosting, Nikki for serving up the drinks, my band for bringing it, and everyone who packed that 99-year-old trolley car of a bar.

Next Friday the 13th lands in March, and we’re taking the show to Athens, Georgia — back to where it all started. More on that soon…

📷: and