A joyful noise

The Tuesday night open jam scene at Bullshooters is in danger, and anybody who occasionally enjoys strapping on the guitar, limbering up a saxophone reed or breaking out the drum sticks needs to take a note and head down to this comfortable, working man’s tavern on Tuesday night to keep things rolling.

The core group of musicians, consisting of guitarist Eric Wrayman, bass player Bojo and drummer Sparky Smith, is as solid a group as you’ll find anywhere, and last Tuesday evening the trio was fleshed out by the blues harmonica of Steve Rubinstein and the additional guitars of Bill Strong and Philip Heithecker. Opening with a deep blue groove that gave everybody on stage a chance to limber up and bust out a few choice chops, the impromptu band established a relaxed vibe that highlighted the superb musicianship of each player.

And when Wrayman led the band into the most gorgeously melodic of all country songs, Merle Haggard’s “The Lonesome Fugitive,” I knew that fate had guided me into the earthly embodiment of honky-tonk heaven. “I’d like to settle down but they won’t let me,” indeed.

Any night of music that spans everything from Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen’s “Smoke That Cigarette” to Weird Al Yankovic’s “One More Minute,” and allows a rusty old drummer to feel like a hero playing a jammed out version of "Honky-tonk" is a great night.