Country alternative

John D. Hale, guitarist and lead singer of the John D. Hale Band, wants the music fans of Southeast Missouri to hear some great original music and see respected songwriters more often -- so he decided to put a show together.

Going down at Flickerwood Arena -- an indoor rodeo arena in Jackson -- on Oct. 27, Hale said he got the idea for the "The Loudest Show on Dirt" while JDHB was recently on a radio tour in Texas.

"Down in Texas they do these every weekend, so we thought it would be great if we could get a show together back in Cape," Hale said. "Basically, down there you could always go somewhere and find some good original music playing somewhere, and that's something we want to bring here."

The show's lineup includes:

n Billy Joe Shaver: Billy Joe Shaver is known for the song "Live Forever" performed by The Highwaymen. He also wrote numerous songs for artists such as Patty Loveless and Willie Nelson. For his efforts, the Americana Music Convention awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting.

• Chris Knight: Considered by many to be one of the best songwriters of today, Knight plays a good deal of acoustic shows but will be playing full band here.
• Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans: The Alberta, Canada natives have released four full length albums to much critical acclaim, winning the Canadian Country Music Award for Roots Artist of the Year three consecutive times and Album of the Year in 2006, among other accolades.
• The Dirty 30s: Local alt/country band famous for "The Crackle" and having an extremely good time at every show.
• John D. Hale Band: Not your average, everyday country band. They pride themselves on playing a fantastic live show and making country music their way.

Hale said the main focus he had when organizing the show was to bring in "thinking man's country."

"We wanted the best of the best to come, but we wanted edge country ... not your typical county music," Hale said. "And it's great to have it at Flickerwood, because it goes hand in hand with the music. Basically we're just going to go have a big party in the middle of a barn."

Hale has already said he wants to make "The Loudest Show on Dirt" an annual event, and hopes local music fans give it a chance.

"Our mindset right now is that the show will probably lose money," Hale said. "But we're not doing this to make a bunch of money, we just want people of Cape to come out and see something different. This area just hasn't been supporting that before."

Tickets can be purchased for $22 at www.johndhaleband.com or www.snortyhorse.com.