Blogs

There’s something to be said about hanging out on Hump Day in a honky-tonk joint, especially if it’s the Hall of Famers Bar & Grill in Brooklyn. In the old Aces nightspot, country-rock bands get their twang on while patrons in flannel shirts and blue jeans belly up to the bar for the requisite shot of JD chased with a PBR. (Paging J.R. Ewing!)

Tonight, the revered Lawless quintet command the stage to crank out tunes from their critically lauded CD, Long Gone. There’s self-taught guitarist Steve Skrant, who’s been nothing short of a local icon to Cleveland’s country-music fans since 1990. He’s joined by singer John Dillon Hardy, who signed on with the six-year-old band in 2003. Ernie “E-Dawg” Arrojo has been handling the basslines since 2005, while drummer Ray Brown has added his vocals to a song or two since the group’s beginnings. Don McGown brings up the rear on his Fender guitar as he channels Chet Atkins and Wes Montgomery on fired-up originals like “Get There From Here” and “Outlaw Ways.” Even if you never hear these dudes on WGAR radio, they make up for the lost airtime in spirited concerts that’ll make you walk out the door with a John Wayne swagger, a faux Dallas drawl, and a dead dog. Showtime is at 9:30 tonight at Hall of Famers, 6600 Biddulph Road in Brooklyn. Call 216-741-4911 for deails. – Cris Glaser