As part of our annual Wilson Family Fest, some of us journeyed out to hear Nashville band “Wild Bill and the Bruisers” at a bar in Austin, Texas, that was literally less than 5 minutes from our south Austin home. The Nashville-based band that plays on Broadway at various venues was only supposed to be the opening band for a band that had double-booked themselves, leading to the band playing from 8 p.m. until midnight at Sam’s Town Point at 2115 Allred Drive on Friday, August 30th.
Son Scott, Wild Bill (Will Allison), me on Friday night in Austin.
Since the daughter (Stacey) is a Nashville resident, and a graduate of Belmont University just like band leader Will Allison (aka, Wild Bill) she knew them all. Also in the 3-member band are lead guitar and vocals Ryan Hartman and Roger Ross on drums.
The band has an infectious enthusiasm; the crowd this night got into the spirit quickly. The band is releasing an album of their original songs. I think they announced the album would drop on September 14th, but don’t hold me to that. (Some of us were imbibing and dancing at the time.) I learned that my daughter has been doing the two-step a lot, and the rest of the crew (me included) certainly saw some accomplished dancers sweating up a storm in the low-ceilinged and hot Sam’s Town Point. If you look up “dive” in the dictionary, after the verb definition, you might find a picture of Sam’s Town Point, but it’s hard to fault the performance of the three musicians or the response of the crowd.
A friend of Will’s asked me to dance “the two-step,” a dance which I had never seen, let alone danced. Houston (my dance partner) informed me that the rules for this dance were: “Don’t look at your feet. Two steps left and one step right. Keep it close, like you’re in a closet.” I had just drunk my third or fourth Diet Coke (yes, I was drinking plain Diet Coke; after all, I’m here for the Texas Liver Institute to figure out why my liver enzymes are sky high, and your liver hates alcohol.) So, at least I was sober. (As Bill Murray would say, “At least I had that going for me,”)
Will Allison, aka Wild Bill of Wild Bill and the Bruisers
I was intent on hearing the band, as I had seen video of the lead on the bass throwing that thing around like it was a child’s toy. Will (Bill) needs a fairly high ceiling to do it justice and said he had developed a bit of a bad knee from going down on one knee to hoist the rather large fiddle into the air.
All-in-all, it was very entertaining. The honky-tonk and country tunes were big crowd-pleasers. I haven’t thought of the name Conway Twitty since the movie “Bye, Bye Birdie,” where it was changed to Conrad Birdie. That was 1963 and I was a senior in high school, so I was definitely not “up” on the catalogue of tunes that the band covered, but the original song “Do You Want to Dance With Me?” (on the new album) had a Huey Lewis and the News vibe. I certainly know who Johnny Cash was, but my knowledge of honky tonk and/or country music is seriously impaired by devotion to rock-and-roll. Enjoyed the Johnny Cash song Wild Bill selected, as he sold it well.
If you’re going to be in Nashville, check them out by checking their blog for dates and places, https://www.wildbillandthebruisers.com/
You won’t be disappointed.
Guitarist Ryan Hartman at Sam’s Town Point in Austin, Texas, on August 30, 2024.