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Over the River

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Viewing: Latest News - View all posts

Erik Swanson - songwriter, musician, friend 

Our bandmate and friend Erik Swanson passed away yesterday, February 16, 2021. Half of our songs were written and sung by Erik, but the space he leaves on the stage is much bigger than that. 

I remember the first time I met Erik. I was playing in my first Dallas bluegrass band, Spare the Horses. We were playing at Community Brewing Company and Larry Reed was on bass. Erik came by to make sure we weren't going to make it big and steal his bass player in Shoot Low Sheriff. After hearing us and being assured that wasn't going to happen, he stayed for the rest of the show. 

A collector of anything with wood and wire, Erik came up to me after the show asking me about what kind of banjo I had, what kind of pickup I used, etc. I saw him a few times after that and checked out his awesome Texas swing band and became a fan of his. 

After half the group of Spare the Horses moved away from DFW, I set out to form another band. I enlisted Kim Herriage and Floramay Holliday, who I had met in the Oak Cliff area, as well as my neighbor John Stolly. And of course, I invited my favorite bass player Larry. After a first get together with a few other musicians that didn't exactly go very well, Larry told me Erik was interested in what we were trying to do. I was thrilled. 

Erik joined us for our second jam and the band immediately jelled. We played several of his Texas swing songs 'bluegrass style' and it all just came together. I've always loved how bands bring different flavors to the same music. Spare the Horses had a great Red Dirt influence to our bluegrass. The Atlanta bands I was in, Hicks with Picks and Georgia Mountain String Band, sounded old school gospel and backwoods hillbilly respectively. 

In that second session of our 'new band', Kim and I brought the backwoods hillbilly, Floramay brought the singer-songwriter, and the secret spice to our sound was Erik and his Bob Wills style. It was still most certainly bluegrass, but with a Texas beat and swagger as big as Erik. 

It took a while to come up with a name for the band, but I finally decided on Over the River, because at that time all of us except Erik lived on the south or west side of the Trinity River. The name fit, and it is hard to believe we've been picking together for almost five years. 

We will miss you greatly, Erik, both on the stage and off. As great as a bandmate as he was, he was an even better person and we are lucky to have known him. 

As he's now playing up there with the Angel Band, the name of our band down here just took on a new meaning. As Flormay said, Erik, we'll see you again someday, Over the River. 

- Don Thacker 

Note: There is a Gofundme setup to help the family with expenses during this time. You can find it here, or with the action link on this site.

 

02/16/2021

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Turn Your Radio On 

This Friday, 10/5, we'll be featured on the KNON 89.3 Texas Renegade Show, because, well, we're renegades! We'll be live on the air from 5:30-6 on the famous Mark Mundy show. After that, we are playing at The Opening Bell at 7:30. Dial us up.

10/02/2018

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Friday Night Bath Time 

This Friday, 7/20, Don and Erik will be playing as a bluegrass duo - The Lonesome Johnson Boys. Everyone else is on vacation, but these hard working pickers will still be at it to play some tunes down by White Rock Lake as part of the Bath House Cultural Center's Festival of Independent Theatres. We play from 10-11pm as part of their FIT Underground series. So come on down, because Friday is bath night, whether you need one or not!

07/15/2018

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Foundry - Friday July 13th, 2018 

Come check us out this Friday at the Foundry from 8-10. We'll beat the heat with some cool tunes and breezy pickin'. 

07/08/2018

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From Highland Park to the Trailer Park 

While we thoroughly enjoyed playing brunch at Fearing's surrounded by bottles of wine that cost more than our instruments, we will be playing in a little more familiar surroundings the next two months.

July 12th, we'll be back at Adair's for the 7 o'clock show. Come join us and enjoy one of the best burgers in Dallas.

Then on August 25th, we'll be at Double Wide with the Straw Hat Society. We go on at 9, and then Straw Hat Society will finish out the night. Tickets are $10 for the show and we'll post the link when they go on sale.

Also another thanks to our neighbor Over the Bridge Arts and  Houndstooth Coffee for a very fun time last Saturday at the Over the Bridge Summer Solstice Festival, and to Papa Racz for having us play at his birthday party. 

 

 

06/29/2017

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BBQ, Bourbon, and Bluegrass 

06/01/2017

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Summer Solstice Artspot: First Annual Festival! 

Over the Bridge Arts is having a free, family-friendly arts festival celebrating the summer solstice and the creative arts at Sylvan 30, and they were kind enough to invite us to play from 2-3p on 6/24.

They have a kickstarter campaign if you would like to donate or be a part of this event. Sylvan 30 is a fun area in our part of town with several of our favorite hang outs. The festival is from 9a-9p with several bands, dancers, artists and other performers throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

06/01/2017

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Bluegrass Brunch - Dallas Style 

We have several new shows on the calendar. On May 21st, we'll be at the Dallas Farmers Market from 11am-2, AllGood Cafe on May 26th at 7:30p, and back at our favorite honky-tonk, Adair's Saloon, on July 12th for the 7:00 show. 

We also have a real swanky gig on June 18th. We are very excited because it is a brunch gig, and we've been after one of those. My friends in Atlanta, The Georgia Mountain String Band and the Glumson Brothers, play bluegrass brunches all the time. There are three or four bluegrass brunches every weekend in Atlanta, but it hasn't caught on here just yet.

And not only are we going to have a bluegrass brunch in June, we're doing it in a decidedly Dallas way. At the Ritz-Carlton. 

Oh yeah. We are proud to be the entertainment this Father's Day at Fearing's, arguably the finest restaurant in Dallas. The event is a Father's Day BBQ and Bluegrass Brunch; we are playing from 11am until 3. You won't need a ticket for this show, but you will need a reservation, and I would suggest getting one soon.

You can find all of our upcoming shows on the shows tab of this site, on the Instagram, Facebook, or Bandsintown.

04/27/2017

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We Got To Have A Fiddle In The Band 

 

We had a real treat Saturday at AllGood. Dustin Ballard, who plays fiddle with Erik and Larry in Shoot Low Sheriff hopped up on stage and did several songs with us.  You see, up to this point, we've been quite the outlaw bluegrass band, playing with a drummer and in Texas without a fiddle. And that fiddle sounded really good. Dustin said he'd join us again sometime, and we might also have another fiddle player join us too.

Our next  show is April 20th at Adair's Saloon. Hope you can join us. To get a preview, and to see some of Dustin's fine rosin rubbin', check out this video and the ones the Home page. See ya on 420.















 

03/27/2017

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We'll be back at Adair's on 4/20 

Sunday night was a ton of fun at Adair's. They have one of the burgers in town and it is the perfect venue for some country music and pickin'. We'll be back there on Thursday, April 20th. We will also be playing near the Oak Cliff Mardi Gras parade on Clifton Street the afternoon of the parade, 2/26. Float on by and hang out with us.




01/26/2017

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Next Sunday 

January 22, we'll be playing at Adair's at 7pm. So come join us right after the Cowboys punch their ticket for the Super Bowl.

Here are a couple of songs we picked for you in my living room last week. Hope to see you next week!

01/15/2017

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Pillers of the Community 

We just booked a show at Community Brewery for Saturday, November 19th at 5:30pm! Fantastic space to hear some bluegrass while sampling the best craft beer around. I highly recommend the Mosaic IPA. We'll be playing until 8:30, so come by the Community Tap Room and tap your feet with us.

10/28/2016

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Adair's Saloon Show 

We are rebooked at Adair's for 12/4, and no conflicts with any Cowboys game. Come out and see us pick a few.

10/07/2016

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Date Change 

We are rescheduling our gig Sunday at Adair's because, due to a boneheaded scheduling move by the banjo player (me), we booked a show at the same time as the Cowboys game. Not a good idea in this town. So we are looking at an alternate date. However, we have added a date - 10/1 at 10am at the Kessler School Pumpkin Patch. We'll be playing for 45 minutes when the festival starts. We are also working on a Sunday afternoon at the Dallas Farmer's Market and a few others, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are a couple of vids from our show at AllGood. Hope to see you soon.


 


 

09/20/2016

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Upcoming Shows 

We have two fun shows on the schedule. Aug 26th, we'll return to AllGood Cafe to pick and get some more of that good chicken fried chicken. Floramay Holliday will be with us with a bunch of her great Texas tunes and harmonies.

Then on Sunday, Sept 25th, we'll be down in Deep Ellum at Adair's Saloon from 7-10. 

We are working on some additional dates, and you can keep up to date through Bandsintown, liking us on Facebook or visiting www.overtheriverband.com. 

Hope to see you there.

08/13/2016

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AllGood 

We had a blast last night at the AllGood Cafe. I highly recommend their chicken fried chicken, and we'll be back there in August so that I can have it again. Thanks to Mike for having us, and to everyone that came out to hear us play. See you soon.

07/17/2016

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Announcing - Over the River 

I pleased to introduce the newest bluegrass band in the Metroplex, Oak Cliff's own - Over the River! Veteran pickers (and a drummer), assembled in this configuration for the first time, have come together to bring some old time and newgrass tunes just in time for the heat of Summer. Our belief is that fun times with family and friends get even better with foot tappin', swing dancin' or cryin' in your beer music. 

We will debut this Saturday, July 16th at the Allgood Cafe in Deep Ellum, from 7-9. Come join us for a good time and some chicken fried steak.





07/11/2016

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New Band 

Larry Reed and I are working with some pickers in Oak Cliff to form a new bluegrass band and will be releasing more details soon.

06/09/2016

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Spare the Horses News 

I'm sad to announce that, barring a very possible reunion gig at some point, Spare the Horses' last ride was the one in April. Andrew had already moved to Austin and just this month front man and band leader Kevin Joseph moved to New York City. I'm very happy and excited for both of them and the opportunities they have. Both moved for their careers, and to cities that not only are amazing for music, but cities where I like having a friend with a place to crash.

It all started with me responding to a serendipitous Craigslist ad Kevin posted the same week I moved to Dallas. I had just moved from Atlanta where I played with two bands, and was concerned about the bluegrass opportunities I'd have here. Kevin had posted looking for a bluegrass guitar or bass player, not realizing he had opened the door for a banjo player to be the one to respond.  After one jam, Kevin and I realized we had very similar taste in bluegrass as well as non-bluegrass songs we wanted to play. He had selected several less common bluegrass tunes I loved, such as Chatham County Line's Carolinian and Frank Solivan's version of July You're A Woman.  

It took us a little while, but we lucked out landing Andrew McWilliams on guitar. A great musician and flat picker, he fit right in and gave the standard bluegrass tunes a little bit of red dirt flavor that worked very nicely. Andrew also provided sweet vocal harmonies, got us to play some funs songs like Wake Me Up bluegrass style, and once did a Vanilla Ice rap during an extended jam of Sweet Appalachia. Yes, you read that correctly.

We cycled through several bassists in our short band life. Devon McCauley, Zach Fields, Clayton Edwards and Larry Reed performed with us at various times. They each brought something different and cool while holding down the foundation and rhythm. We also played with drummer Jordan Sullivan on occasion, which is banned in most bluegrass denominations, but fit right in with our newgrass/red dirt/backwoods way of playing. Jordan knew just how to blend or stand out as the song required. All of these guys are top notch players that picked up the music quickly. It has been an honor to play music with these guys.

Many thanks to the venues and sound guys that took us on, especially The Foundry, Community Brewery, Barley House, Rustic, Pecan Lodge, the middle of the street in Bishop Arts, Flying Saucer Ft. Worth, Klyde Warren Park and an especially memorable night at the Renaissance Hotel. We highly recommend the hotel restaurant Amador.

And finally, huge thanks to all the friends old and new, family, and Facebook followers that supported us. Special thanks to my wife Kate for being at all those gigs and the encouragement throughout.  We can't express how rewarding it is to get to share the music that we so enjoy playing. All those foot taps, kids dancing, girls getting onstage to sing with Kevin, friends we made and people that came out to see us play are memories that we will always cherish. 

Best of luck to Kevin and Andrew. It was a fun time. I'll let everyone know the next time we are all in town and get the band back together.

And for those of you in DFW wondering where to get your bluegrass fix, Larry and I are teaming up with some musicians in Oak Cliff to start up a new band. I'm going to keep the STH site and Facebook page up and will announce the new group when we schedule our first show.

- Don

 

06/07/2016

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Foundry - April 9th 

We'll be playing on our favorite stage at The Foundry April 9th at 8PM. Perfect time of year to be outside and listening to bluegrass.

01/21/2016

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Liza Jane 

Another video from our show at the Foundry in August. We'll be there again this Sunday from 2-5pm. Hope you see you there!

09/24/2015

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The History of Bluegrass Brunch 

If you live in any major city in Georgia, Alabama, or Tennessee, or in any city with a population over ten people in the Carolinas, Virginia or Kentucky, then you can find a 'Bluegrass Brunch' on any given Sunday. It has become a very popular thing, and my old mates in The Georgia Mountain String Band play at least four brunches every weekend back in Atlanta. Fortunately for folks in Dallas, Spare the Horses is bringing the tradition West with four new dates at The Foundry in September and October (see the shows tab above, or follow us on Bandsintown for more information). The Foundry is one of our favorite spots and a perfect place to spend Sunday afternoon.

What most people don't know is that this tradition goes back to the original origins of Appalachian folk music. You see, back in 'the day', people worked in the fields or the mines six days a week for twelve hours or more. To blow off steam and celebrate the weekend, they would then have a square dance on Saturday night after the last shift of the week. Usually the band at the dance was no more than a duo with a fiddle and a banjo, but over time it evolved to the bluegrass and old time genres we know today.

So the next morning, everyone would wake up tired from a week of hard work, a long night of dancing, and inevitably, a moonshine hangover. Then, as the story goes, they would skip church and sleep late. Once they mustered up enough energy to face the daylight, they would find a local bistro that served rosemary potatoes, crab cake benedict and bottomless mimosas. Without fail, the two folks with the fiddle and banjo would start feeling better and begin playing to entertain the crowd until they all remembered they had to work the next day.

At least I think this is how it all started. Oral history is difficult to verify. 

So come out out to the foundry on 9/13, 9/27, 10/4 or 10/25 and enjoy our take on this rich tradition.

08/12/2015

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Hoedown in Cow Town 

We had a very nice time at the Flying Saucer in Fort Worth this past Sunday. Special thanks to J.C. and Cal for their excellent work on the sound. What a night! The US Women's Soccer team had a 4-0 lead by the time we went on, there was plenty of great beer and food, and of course an awesome Ft. Worth crowd. The Flying Saucer has a fine stage and outdoor patio, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as we were. We look forward to doing it again soon.


07/09/2015

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Sweet Deep Ellum  


This is us admiring a mural before our show at Stonedeck a few weeks ago. Below is us playing one of our favorites, Sweet Appalachia by Del McCoy. We always have a good time at Stonedeck, as you can tell from the recording.

We will be back at Henderson Avenue Country Club (Country Club like Travis Tritt, not like Brushwoods) on May 27. They've asked us to play there more often, so you'll see some more events posted for June soon. Last week was nice and rowdy and we made some great new friends. Hope y'all all come out again next week.

Then June 4th we are playing at Klyde Warren Park, and are really looking forward to that. It is a nice stage, and a fabulous park with downtown Dallas as the backdrop. 

And on June 6th, we are back at Community Brewing Company for another Saturday 2pm show during the brewery open house and tour. If you haven't been to Community on a Saturday afternoon yet, you really should come out. Beer that's made on site, a little bluegrass pickin', food out of a truck and corn hole. Just like Christmas back home.

 
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  1. Sweet Appalachia
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05/19/2015

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Henderson Avenue Country Club 

We are excited to play at Henderson Ave CC again tomorrow night. We will be playing there on a semi-regular basis, as it is our kind of place and we are their kind of band. Some come grab some brews and bbq and join us for a fun Wednesday night.

05/12/2015

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Pickin' and singin'.
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