First of all excuse me for not writing in Dutch this time, but I guess I owe it to these guys and “their girl” to write in their language.. Most of us  (Dutch and Belgium readers) are able to read English as well as Dutch I suppose, so hopefully this comes out right.. English is not my native language, so it won’t be as easy as writing in Dutch, but I’ll give it my best shot .

After a drive of about an hour I arrived at ‘In The Woods’, where the managers of the venue (Bart & Jannet) gave me a warm welcome. I took a seat in the back so my camera would have a good view to all on stage.. The gig already started, and Brigitte’s heartfelt voice captured me right away. On my way to this gig I played her cd "Red River Flower**" in my car  (-** see previous cd reviews) , and was looking forward to hearing her sing and play live… hoping for a great show.. You know when you sometimes listen to a cd and it sounds great, and then hear that person sing live and it kinda sucks.. well not Brigitte DeMeyer !! She’s got an amazing voice !! Accompanied by Big Dog 3 members Al Perkins on pedal steel and guitar, Brady Blade on drums and Chris Donohue on bass and her own guitar she started the show very well and got the crowd moving.. That was fun to see.. when she started “Without You” I saw most heads nodding and feet tapping at the beat of the sound.. quite a catchy tune ! More great songs like “Justice”, the bluesy “Looking For Moses”, “Meant For Mine” (featuring Buddy Miller on the cd.. too bad he couldn’t join them !), “Sweet Lady Rosa” and the beautiful “Running On You” were shared with the receptive crowd. Brigitte enjoyed the fine tunes of her buddies as much as singing and playing herself ! Awesome show as I may say !

After a 20 minutes break where cd sales already proved what a great show it was, Big Dog 3 started their own repertoire. First of all Al spoke a word of thanks to the crew members and to Joanna Serraris (bookingsoffice Musemix) ) who made this gig possible. Then the show goes on .

Al Perkins did most lead vocals and varied on pedal steel and guitar.
Brady Blade had lots of fun on drums and Chris Donohue played wonderful bass. “Born To Believe”  was one of the first songs (can’t remember the order of songs as I didn’t make notes being too busy taking pictures), with great lyrics. “Oh Well” really rocked, and “Flat Out Of Love” sounded great even without Jim Lauderdale’s voice. A great country tune. Then Al asked who knew Waylon Jennings… only a few hands went up.. surprised as I was I thought.. what’s up with the audience… don’t you all at least know “The Dukes Of Hazzard” ? (lol)… Anyway, another great song “Wailin’ Man” was next. Inspired by his brand new wife (Al got married a little over a year ago) they played the song “Coming Home”, with Al on vocals and electric guitar. Also Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” passed the revue… wow !!! Brigitte joined them again and “Bird” came along.. what a beautiful song ! Her voice came from her toes as well as from her heart …awesome ! I also very much enjoyed “Shepard”, a soulful song... ‘Teach me to be faithful, teach me to be kind.. oh Lord, make a Shepard out of me’..

I expected tonight to be a great show, ‘cause Big Dog 3 is a combination of three unique individuals.

We all know Al Perkins as a pedal steel and lap steel wizard, who played with The Burrito Brothers, Stephen Stills and on Gram Parsons last 2 albums, joined Emmylou Harris’ band The Nash Ramblers, toured with Chris Hillman, and joined Dolly Parton’s band for a few years before he moved to Nashville. Fans might wanna check out his solo album “Triple Play”, featuring 12 new recordings with Al’s bluesy voice. Al Perkins also features on Tokyo Rosenthal’s latest cd ‘Love Won Out’ where he proved again to be an awesome pedal steel player !

Chris Donohue, who also lives in Nashville, is a member of Emmylou Harris’ and Buddy Miller’s live bands, also a producer and a platinum selling songwriter. He recorded and performed with a diverse array of artists such as Dave Matthews, Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett, Allison Moorer, Solomon Burke, Jim Lauderdale and Shawn Colvin. He also joined Buddy Miller and many others on the Cayamo Cruise earlier this year. If I ever win the lottery my first money spend will be on a ticket to join the Cayamo Cruise. That must be the ultimate gig week.. every evening filled with collaborations of all my favourite musicians on a wonderful cruise… yay !!

As for drummer Brady Blade, who is based in Sweden with his wife and two daughters, we know him as one of the members of Emmylou Harris’ backing band Spyboy, also from touring with Steve Earle and Dave Matthews. He features on many albums such as several Buddy and Julie Miller cd’s and the latest Solomon Burke album. An excellent drummer !  Last but not least, he also produced Brigitte DeMeyer’s latest cd “Red River Flower’, which is a great album, as we all heard tonight !!

So it is obvious that this should work, 3 guys who can sit in with about anyone, chose to become Big Dog 3 (The name ‘Big Dog 3’ comes from Hank Williams who says in his lyrics, ‘Move over little dog, ‘cause the big dog’s moving in’… these are 3 big dogs, each one with their own unique skills, awesome musicians with so much to offer for us music lovers !).
And a big achievement it is indeed !! Cd sales were proof of it, Big Dog 3 cd’s as well as Brigitte DeMeyer cd’s were sold and signed to the max !

Thanx to all for a wonderful evening of outstanding music !! It was fun talking with Al, Chris, Brady (the joker.. lol) and Brigitte. All of them very approachable.
Also a special thanx for having me over at this great venue to Jannet and Bart !
(live4fun).

our reporter with Chris & Brady