By the time I got to the Slice, Jan. 14, the Coal Creek Boys CD release party for their new CD “Hard At It in Old Town” was already going full bore.
Ryan Dyck from Treeline added pedal steel guitar to the upbeat country music of Johnpaul Smith, Dino Scavo, Devin Gergel, Dustin Gergel and Ali Stuart w
ho got to shine on several songs.
It was packed with people, most of them on the dance floor during a slower song from he new CD by the time I arrived, but they picked up the tempo pretty quickly with a couple of my favourites from the CD including “Genie— Lose the Bottle.”
They invited Kelsey Jesperson on stage to add fiddle to some of my favourites “Ten Feet Underground,” and “You Ain’t Got To Like Everyone,” before they introduced a new, upbeat number “Brand New Summer Dress.” They slowed things down for a spell on “This Old Heart.” Then picked up the pace again by ending their set with another foot-stomper “Raspberry Mary.”
Their second set included a variety of covers, beginning it with a cover of Neil Young’s “Ohio,” followed by Steve Miller’s “The Joker.”
Johnpaul Smith sang an excellent version of Bruce Springsteen’s “ I’m on Fire.” 
Stuart got to shine on a couple of songs including a cool version of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ “Homemade Wine” and a good version of Hank Williams Jr.’s “Outlaw Woman.”
Shaela Miller joined them on stage to belt out Johnny Cash’s “Going to Jackson.” And they were still going well into the wee hours with the crowd keeping step with them.
