Wild Bills Atlanta

While I was in Georgia for the Matt Stillwell show at Coyotes, I stopped into Atlanta on the trip home to see Wild Bills. This is the most contemporary trendy country club I think I've ever been to.Below is the lobby of the club where they check your ID.
The hallway wraps around to the entrance of the main club and concert venue.There are a number of bars and VIP seating around the club and then a large dance floor and stage.

The night before, Tracy Lawrence preformed at the club and brought in nearly 5,000 guests. The club was completely full and I heard from guests and bartenders that is was a rockin' party. The night I was there a local band called 35 Cent Rodeo played. They are a cover band that has a strong following at Wild Bills. Below is a clip of 35 Cent Rodeo singing "His Kind Of Money" by Eric Church.

The mechanical bull, pool tables, Wild Bill's Wild Girls, and a great crowd are the reasons that Wild Bills is rated the best Country Club in Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal Constitution several years in a row.
I'd like to thank Dwight Philpott, the Wild Bill's DJ, for supplying promotional pictures and for all his musical feedback.

Mishnock & Friends Country Dance Weekend

I headed to the airport early Friday morning with a suitcase full of clothes and a bag loaded down with CDs and promotional material to pass out. I had no idea what I needed for a Country Dance weekend so I literally packed half my wardrobe. This was the one time that my habit for over packing was extremely helpful.
After two very tiny planes and 4 hours of down time in the Philadelphia airport, I made it to Stewart Newburgh in New York. As we flew over Newburgh I was absolutely mesmerized by the orange, red and yellow tree tops that covered the mountains like a warm quilt.
I was met in baggage claim by Bob holding a "Michnock & Friends" sign. We took a few scheduled and unscheduled detours until we finally made it to Hudson Valley Resort in the Catskill mountains. As we walked in the door I was completely shocked. The lobby was transformed into a dance hall and the room was swarming with dancers and the sound of boots stomping and voices laughing. I will admit I was intimidated. I would not call myself a line dancer though I secretly have dreams of quitting my job and becoming a touring line dancer.
I put my things in my room, grabbed my little handy video camera and raced back to the lobby. As I returned to the lobby "Good Time" by Alan Jackson was playing so everyone in ear shot of the song was on the dance floor. I was seriously impressed.
I made my way around the room beginning to put a face with the voices of contacts Club Connection has made over the years. Everyone knew each other and I understood why it was called Mishnock & Friends. Most of the dancers were from New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York and travel to Kerhonkson twice a year for this particular dance weekend. This is a picture of Dan Albro and myself in the lobby of the hotel.
After dinner, all 600 hundred dancers scrambled for seats in the theater for the dance instructor's demonstrations. Instructors and choreographers do a quick demonstration of the dances they are going to teach so that dancers can schedule the lessons they want to attend.
There were seventeen instructors present ready to teach over forty different dances. Here is a clip of all the instructors demonstrating Dan Albro's dance "Teddy Bear Squeeze" to the Keith Anderson song "Somebody Needs a Hug."

After every instructor demonstrated their dances, there was open dancing on all seven dance floors and karaoke in the lounge. Since I had not learned one single dance yet, I stayed in the karaoke lounge. I met new friends from Silver Spurrs Country Line Dancing and talked with them until it was time to turn it. We had a long day of dancing a head of us and we needed to get to bed early.
By 8am sharp, I was shuffling through my bag trying to decide the logical selection of jeans, t-shirt and comfortable shoes. After breakfast I was in Debi Pancoast's warm-up class nervous and excited about the day.
I started the day off learning an intermediate line dance called Learning to Fly choreographed Christopher Petre to the Jordin Sparks song"One Step At A Time." I don't know really why I thought I could skip the beginner dances and go right to intermediate but I assume my years of Jazzercise paid off. I actually did quite well. Here is the clip of the dance demo from Friday night.

That lesson ended at 9:45am so I got some water and walked out of Ballroom C to the lobby for the 10am Dan Albro lesson. This dance was a little easier and is one from the weekend I actually still remember. Boot Camp was choreographed by Dan and the music is by Lady Antebellum "Love Don't Live Here."

Directly after that I headed back into Ballroom C for a packed class of Sugar Lips choreographed by Junior Wills and John Robinson. I loved this dance so much that I took the lesson again later in the day to make sure I retained what I learned.

Next I stopped in Stompin' Sue's class where we learned Murphy's Law. I was shocked at how quickly I was learning these dances. Each teacher was so patient and clear in their instructions that someone as clumsy as me could even learn them.
After my forth lesson in a row where I literally gave it 100%, I was in need of a shower. After lunch I was ready to learn a few more. I stayed out in the lobby and learned two more Dan Albro dances and then reviewed the Wills and Robinson dance. By this point I couldn't feel my toes and my thighs were screaming at me. I took advantage of the 5-6pm happy hour and decided that it was more important to shower and rest then eat dinner.
I made it back down to the theater for the last portion of the instructor skit that I hear was very funny.
The rest of the night included open dancing and karaoke. By the time we had to pack up and leave on Sunday I was totally worn out but sad to leave such wonderful friends.

The Following pictures include:Bobbe Morhiser, DJ Wild Bill, Stompin' Sue, Vicky Gilbert, Lyndy, Louie St. George, Junior Willis and John Robinson.






































Minutes before I drove back to the airport I was still dancing. This was the last dance of the weekend with John Robinson and Joanne Brady leading Oh Suzannah by Yamboo choreographed by Bill Larson and Chris Watson. Thank you all for a wonderful time!

Kickers

I was very excited to check out Kickers in Clarksville, TN. I have two dance instructor friends that teach there and I have heard wonderful things. My trusty new dance partner and I left Murfreesboro around 5:30 for the hour and a half trip to Clarksville. Our plan was to get up there early and have dinner. That plan was quickly thrown out the window when traffic came to a complete stop on highway 24. Apparently a tractor trailer wrecked and 500 to 1000 gallons of ethanol spilled out on the highway. We sat there for hours! I was not a happy camper. Finally we made it to the club around ten. I was hoping to be there when they opened at 8 to see the larger line dancing crowd but that was not possible. Cindy greeted us at the door and was happy to see that we finally made it! After she introduced me to her friends, we made our way upstairs to meet two of the four owners, Chad and Renee. It was wonderful being able to speak directly to them both and get a feel for the passion they have for this club. We talked about up-coming live shows and common line dancing friends. After almost thirty minutes of chatting, I went back downstairs to take a couple spins on their beautiful dance floor.

The club is really three venues in one. There is a large country dance club, a hip hop club and a little karaoke bar. Though we popped our heads in the hip hop and karaoke bars, they were no where near as impressive as the country side. Unfortunately, by the time I got there the crowd had already started to thin out. Clarksville is home to Fort Campbell, a US Army installation, and is home to the 101st Airborne Division. Troop deployment has affected the clubs population but they look forward to seeing their crowds swell again soon. Here is a video of some of the regular line dancers doing two different dances to Suspicious Minds.

After I tried my very best to teach my friend the Cha Cha, with no luck I might add, we met our new favorite bartender/cook Shawnna. She honestly makes the best fried potatoes I've ever had! We ended up sitting with Shawnna and talking with her for most of the night. Her pleasant smile and fun demeanor made us feel like one of the regulars!
When the band took its second break, the DJ was able to squeeze in Chicken Fried by the Zac Brown Band. There were many tapping toes and bobbing heads.

On our way out of town the next day we swung by the club. It really is a huge building! Thank you Kickers for a great night!

What a GREAT review!! Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the link to my website!!!
You're the best!!
Cindy

Cotton Eyed Joes

Last weekend I started the first ever Club Connection Venue Tour! The purpose of this tour is to create a stronger relationship with club owners, DJs and Dance Instructors as well as gain footage of club patrons enjoying our music. I decided to stay relatively local and head north to Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville, TN. To avoid being that weird girl who goes to clubs alone with a video camera, I convinced two of my good friends to make the trip with me. Shannon, David and I got to Knoxville just in time to clean up, have dinner, watch the rest of the Vandy game and head to Joe's around 9:30 or 10:00pm.

Jackie Hicks was at the front door
supporting the Tennessee Vols and ready for a great night at the hottest country club in Knoxville! The club is equipped to be a source of entertainment for any consumer. Besides having a huge dance floor they also have a Mechanical Bull, two bowling lanes, in-house roping ring, pool tables, dart boards and video games.Their DJ, Billy, plays a great mix of new and classic country as well as mixing in hip-hop and pop dance favorites. Dancers range from young to old and beginner to advanced, but all have a good time every week at Cotton Eyed Joe.

After we met Jackie and Billy we claimed our seats close to the dance floor, got our drinks and made friends with neighboring tables. Though my friends were easily convinced into making the trip, they were not as easy to get on the dance floor!

I was going to be on my own when it came to learning these line dances. About 15 minutes after we got there our Matt Stillwell single "Shine" was played! I jumped up and grabbed the video camera I bought only two hours before, scrambled to turn it on and started taping the dancers on the dance floor. It was still early and the club was no where near full, but the few people that were there immediately got on the dance floor and knew just what to do! Please disregard my unsteady camera hand, I need to work on that!
Here is billy in his DJ booth. It is a little hard to see because of how dark it was in there, but the booth is shaped like the front of a 18 wheeler truck. It was really cool! They also have all the outdoor security guards on horseback! I've never seen that before! Here is on of them by the back smoking deck (there is no smoking in the club).
We had a great time watching some of the experienced dancers put their own twist on a line dance. Here is a clip of our favorite dancer breaking it down to No Authority's "Can I Get Your Number". He kind of adds a couple robot moves...very cool!

We really had a great time at Cotton Eyed Joe and recommend that you stop in and dance with our new friends. Check out more pictures on our myspace page!
If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know! --Bobbe

********UPDATE********
Here is a comment from Jackie at Cotton Eyed Joe that I wanted to share with you!

Thank you for all the nice things you said about us. We really enjoyed having you here and thanks for all the cool stuff you send us. I will be sending you a list soon of all the events that are coming here we are booked through December.

Thank you once again.
Jackie