Day 3 of the Rockin' Race

The sun came out in time for the car show at the Rockin' Race so we wandered down there and joined the crowds. Watched a bit of the Domestic Bumblebees from Sweden who seemed pretty good.

Day three of the festival itself was a decent one. First on were the Rimshots from Wales who played to a rather thin crowd (the place was heaving later). The singer has a strong voice and the material was a mix of country and fifties style pop.

On the small stage next were the Po' Rambling Boys, a very competent bluegrass band comprising four colourfully dressed guys and a gal.

I didnt stay long as the main stage then featured the amusing but very well performed hillbilly hokum of the Dave and Deke Combo who were accompanied on stage by a bunch of hillbilly extras. Dave Stuckey and Deke Dickerson played some decent country and hillbilly tunes amonst the mayhem including 'Corn Dog', 'Hillbilly Twist' and 'Hey Mae'. There was a tribute to Larry Collins with Deke assisting Kyle Eldridge on his double necked guitar and a wacky sequence with Deke and drummer Bobby Tribble doing a weird dance.

It was packed in the small stage area and I couldn't get in at first but I did eventually and I'm glad I did. Playing was double bass player Jimmy Sutton whose act ranges from jazz to wild rock and roll. I enjoyed his 'Don't Make Me Beg' and his encore of 'Don't You Just Know It' with a bit of 'Justine' was brilliant.

The high quality continued on the main stage with Big Sandy and the Fly Rite Boys who oozed class on some country flavoured rockabilly numbers including "It's A Mystery To Me", 'Spanish Style','Walk Me To The Door', 'Before The Last Teardrop Falls' and, as an encore 'Chalk It Up To The Blues'.

The next act, German band the Ray Collins Hot Club, went down a storm with the crowd. There were ten people on stage including three horns and together they produced an exciting show in the swing and jump blues genres. Very visual indeed. There was a genuine clamour for an encore at the end and they came back to perform 'Knockout Boogie'.

We stayed for the penultimate act the Reverend Horton Heat but we didn't stay long. Jim Heath's heavy guitar playing was not to our taste so we exited stage left quickly, thereby missing the final act Sonny George.