Once again, I headed south to escape the snow , but not the rain, to join my Outlaw Cruise family of the Outlaw Country Cruise 8 for good music , good times and , this time , shocking tragedies. Feb 4-9. Yes, this was the one beloved musician, all round character, iconoclast and Sirius XM Outlaw Country personality Mojo Nixon passed away on.
There was two distinct parts of the cruise— before Mojo’s last show and after.
Other than Miami being under a rare tornado warning when we boarded the steadfast Norwegian Pearl under a relentless downpour on Feb. 4, it was business as usual.
I signed up for an early boarding time to catch the country strains of Sarah Gayle Meech, who was a highlight of Outlaw Cruise 3, my first Outlaw Cruise.
She has a new album out as well.
The weather cleared in time for headliners Blackberry Smoke who killed it on the pool deck. “Get Well Soon Brit” was emblazoned on the bass drum for Blackberry Smoke drummer/ band’s CD and merch artist Brit Turner who was away recovering from health issues and passed on this week. As usual they played a solid set of songs from their 20 some years playing music incuding a lot for their latest album “Be Here Now.” I was hoping to get an early copy of it so was in line for merch and missed Steve Earle joining them on stage to play “Copperhead Road.” They didn’t have the new album on board anyway.
Ever since the Outlaw Country Cruise expanded to six days it has become a marathon, not a sprint, both with alcohol consumption and making sure you catch everybody you signed up to see as well as discovering some great new talent.
With 37 bands playing five stages, thankfully most performers played multiiple times, so there was a good chance to catch them, weather and tragedy permitting. Yet I stlll missed a few shows including Steve Earle solo shows, Chuck Mead, whose pool deck show was cancelled because of rain and a Nick Lowe jam with Los Straitjackets. I also missed Mary Gauthier’s sets but caught her interview with Steve Earle about songwriting, which featured some crowd favourites.
I caught the last part of Shinyrib’s first night set on the atrium stage. I didn’t get to Hear “I Don’t Give A Shit, but caught their hilarious cover of Rihanna’s “ Bitch Better Have My Money.”
A lot of people signed up to see Virginia country band 49 Winchester, who are just beginning a tour with Corb Lund, and who played a solid show on the pool deck. I cut that show short to catch my first new discovery— Oklahoma musician Kaitlin Butts in the Spinnaker Lounge and missed Steve Earle solo show in Stardust. Elizabeth Cook missed the boat due to family reasons, so her fiirst show was cancelled . I caught her pool deck show later, which would turn out to be her only show on the boat, but I also caught her great interview with Blackberry Smoke.
The Vandoliers played their usual energetic a tight set of punk infused original music with horns, keyboards and bare chests in the atrium. With so much else to see, that was the only show of theirs I caught.
Raylene Nelson, the eldest granddaughter of Willie Nelson by his son Billy Nelson Jr, was a highlight I caught a few times. They were playing for a packed room in the Magnum Lounge, playing their own mix of ukulele powered folk, country and alternative rock.
They wound up their set with a punkish Pretenders deep cut I think was “ Precious.”
I caught Lucinda Williams’s wonderful set, which focused on her latest album “Stories From A Rock n Roll Heart.”
The first day at sea was the day to ease into the rest of the cruise by sitting in on Sirius Sessions at Sea interviews.
Steve Earle wanted to talk about Texas songwriters and Steve Earle instead of his interview subject Ray Wylie Hubbard.
He missed an excellent opportunity to ask what it was like to work with a Beatle ( Ringo Starr,) an Eagle (Joe Walsh) and a Black Crowe (Chris Robinson), not to mention Don Was all on the same song “ Bad Trick,” a highlight from Hubbard’s Co starring CD, until the self deprecating and ever humble Hubbard brought it up. He delivered that story later on the pool deck. Earle did get him to tell the story of “Redneck Mother” and played it with him.
Hubbard observed he also played a song with Steve Earle on his latest album Co-Starring Too, but couldn’t remember what it was (Hellbent For Leather), but noted it wouldn’t have been on the CD without Earle . He did play “Stone Blind Horses,” which is a duet with Willie Nelson on Co Starring Too.
I caught what turned out to be Mojo Nixon’s last interview, with up and up and comers .49 Winchester. Mojo Nixon interviews have always been a little surreal, but he played it straight with this one, sticking with the five Ws as he bonded with the rural Virginia band. Things got more typically Mojo as he asked them the best way to test the quality of moonshine.
The evening was the time to catch the bands I signed up for.
Los Straitjackets beamed through their lucheador masks a on the pool deck as they worked their way through a solid set of surf rock and instrumentals, but I cut that short for Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Stardust set.
Hubbard played Stone Blind Horses,“Redneck Mother and “Bad Trick” again. I was hoping for “Stolen Horses,” “ Screw you We‘re From Texas,” and maybe even “ Conversation With The Devil,” but it was not to be.
Of course he played his autobiographical epic “ Mother Blues,” ending by deadpanning the ultimate inspirational line “ The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days.” He used that song as an excuse to introduce his new band including his son Lucas, who was playing lead guitar .
He was going to expand on that set on his Thursday pool deck show and was starting to include special guests for his pool deck show on Thursday, but that set, which was to include “Redneck Mother” ended up being cut short.
Nikki Lane is one of the reasons I signed up for the boat, so caught all of her shows. The now blonde, formerly brunette “Highway Queen” stole a lot of the shows including the Lucinda Willaims tribute a few days later with a hot version of “Passionate Kisses.”
One of the other main bands I signed up for was New Orleans based cowpunk bands Dash Rip Rock who ripped up the atrium stage with a lot of their new album Cowpunk with frontman Bill Davis playing a slide guitar solo with a beer bottle, his other guitar and somebody named Dave’s boot while he was lying on the stage.
On the way “home“ I caught a little bit of Drivin N Cryin’s set, but only stayed loing enough to catch “Honeysuckle Blue” featuring some sweet harmonized guitar. They would be one of the few bands to play completely different shows.
Kevn Kinney would be a highlight of the boat for this show and several others including the Lucinda Williams tribute, where his plaintive, solo rendition of “Are you Alright?” captured the mood and choking up of a lot of cruisers still reeling from the news of Mojo’s death, as he name dropped a few other musicians having health issues including Blackberry Smoke drummer/ artist Britt Taylor and Jesse Malin who was on the Outlaw Country Cruise a few years ago.
It was pouring rain in the Dominican Republic, which subsided in time for hot pool deck shows from Shinyribs and Elizabeth Cook, who ended up having to cancel the rest of her shows after getting sick. Luckily she’s on the mend and on the air.
Stacy Earle and Mark Stuart were another great discovery in the Spinnaker. Earle’s big brother Steve showed up to play a few songs with his little sister.
I was about to call it a night, after surprisingly getting to see my Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins on my room’s television, but decided to catch one more, last show — Mojo Nixon. I was glad I didn’t miss this sweat filled, sexually charged set of debauchery.
Jack Kerouac or Hunter S Thompson couldn’t have conjured a more intriguing character than Mojo Nixon.
Mojo Nixon played his most raucous, politically incorrect, hilarious “hits” beginnig with Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with my Two headed love child,” followed it up with “ Louisiana Liplock,” Tie My Pecker to my Leg,” and “Don Henley must Die.” Somewhere in there, he got the crowd to shout along with the choruses, he got the crowd cheering Poontango and chanting“ Fuck AI.” AI Can kiss my ass, and “can AI can suck my dick.”
I was trying to get up the courage to talk to a beautiful blonde woman in a red sequinned dress, so wasn’t paying as much attention to Mojo as much as I should have.
He played like it was his last show, and it was. I was hoping to hear “UFOS and Big Rigs and Barbeque” but didn’t. “Burn down the malls” wasn’t there either
He did play most of his crudest, sexually charged and hilarious songs including “ Tie My Pecker To My Leg,” The PoonTango,” and got the audience shouting along to “Louisiana Liplock.”
He added a few choice, maybe prescient covers including the Rolling Stones “ Dead Flowers”
It got pretty drunk out and maybe Mojo knew something we didn’t as he wound up with a dose of religion Mojo Nixon style as I swear I heard a great cover of the Beat Farmers “ Drinking with Jesus” originally sung by his “de-mentor” Country Dick Montana, who actually died on stage in Whistler back in 1995. And his anti-censorship anthem “You Can’t Kill me, (I Will not Die.)”
Of course he played his signature song Elvis is Everywhere, because it wouldn’t be a Mojo show without it.
He got called back for an encore of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers’ ” Roadrunner,” sending the audience away screaming along “ Turn the Radio On”
Mojo Nixon left an indeliable impression on everybody he met and all the musicians he supported over the years, so his loss is felt unutterably. On the last Outlaw Country Cruise, I had a great chat with him about playing Moose Jaw.
He noted to a few other people he had never played so well and I believed him as he attacked his hollow body guitar like it had just insulted his wife.
It was pouring rain in Puerto Rico. I wanted to tour a Spanish fort and learn about pirates with a good crew including the couple playing drums and bass with Ray Wylie Hubbard.
As people were coming out of the rain,word started to spread about Mojo’s death after a lunch with friends and band mates, having a nap and a heart attack with like 50 people doing their best to save his life.
As expected the mood was sombre, but also rocking.
I found out as Dash Rip Rock were ripping into “Pack Your Bags” with the line “serious as a heart attack,” from their latest album “Cowpunk.”
Jesse Dayton, who was one of Mojo Nixon's early protegés, and , fresh off a Grammy appearance for “ Death Wish Blues,” his Grammy nominated album with Samantha Fish, joined the cruise in Puerto Rico. He and noted he didn’t feel much like playing, but l the last thing Mojo would want was to cancel a loud rock show.
He played his usual entertaining and a harder rocking show.
The new discovery on Thursday was “Laid back Country Picker,” who was neither laid back nor country The Laid Back Country Picker, who looked like comedian Brian Posehn with thick white mutton chops played menacing slide guitar while “ Granny” pounded on the drums in a set that was part country, part punk and part blues, but 100 per cent awesome. I caught bits and pieces of his shows thoughout including guest spots with other musicians like Warner E Hodges.
For some hot country picking, I was impressed by Katie Rose and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin, a couple who added the traditional country feel to the cruise with aplomb.
The evening was a little subdued.
“ A tribute to Lucinda Williams” was a chance to see most of the performers putting their own stamp on the songs of on popular songwriter Lucinda Williams , who seems to be recovering really well from a stroke she suffered a few years ago.
There were a lot of highlights. Nikki Lane’s upbeat version “Passionate Kisses,” was my favourite though Drivin’ N Cryin frontman Kevn Kinney’s solo rendition of “ Are You All Right?” brought a tear to many eyes.
After that he ran up to the Spinnaker Lounge on the thirteenth deck for a laid back, easygoing, intimate set of Drivin’ n Cryin’s more country tinged songs. As a bonus, they asked a banjo picking cruiser to join them on stage for a song. After that Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr joined them to add a few tasteful leads, as Laid Back Country Picker shouted advice from behind the sound board.
Shinyribs opened their Thursday night set in the Stardust theatre by showing their gospel side, which they dedicated to Mojo Nixon.
The last full day of the cruise, is always the last chance to catch performers you missed or catch your favourites one more time.
Dash Rip Rock tore up the pool deck stage in the afternoon.
Drivin N Cryin also tore up the pool deck with all of their more punk rock inspired numbers, including the sweet harmonized guitars of “Honeysuckle Blue” and a singalong of “Straight To Hell.”
I missed Jason Ringenberg’s sets, but finally caught him as he joined his former Jason and the Scorchersb andmate Warner E Hodges’ during his all star jam, which closed off this year’s cruise and featured most of the other performers playing their favourite hits. The impromptu Scorchers reunion was “Lost Highway.”
Blackberry Smoke covered most of their career and lots of the new album “ Be Right Here” in the Stardust. Steve Earle joined them for a rocking set , but instead of “Copperhead Road,” which would have fit in well, opted to slow things down for a pretty version of “My Old Friend The Blues.”
And that was that.
It has been a blast looking at everybody’s photos on the Outlaw Cruisers Facebook page and we get to relive a ferw of the interviews and shows which are airing on Sirius XM Channel 60 now.
Outlaw Cruise 9 departs from Miami, Feb. 22- 28 next year with stops in Nassau, Bahmas and St. Thomas with the first lineup being announced on March 5.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
