Hardcore Honky-Tonk at Shank Hall

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Music Features

A dynamic duo indeed comes to Shank Hall this Thursday: Chuck Mead and Jason Ringenberg.

The hardcore honky-tonkers share the same booking agent, and a long history, says Mead, whose band BR549 played on several occasions with Ringenberg’s Jason & the Scorchers.

“We did a New Year’s Eve show one time with them, and Jason would come down in and sit in with us at Robert’s,” he says. “That’s how I met his wife. She was there to watch the shenanigans at Robert’s Western World on Lower Broadway back in the day. 

“Yeah, we did play a few dates with those guys, including some TV dates. There was a show called ‘Primetime Country’ on the old Nashville Network. That was like a talk show, but it was kind of music-oriented, and I think we played on that show together at least once.”

Cosmic Honky Tonk Review

More recently, in 2019, Mead and Ringenberg teamed up with Jim Lauderdale for a series of shows they called the Cosmic Honky Tonk Review, which Mead thinks would have gone over well in Milwaukee.

“They were great shows, man,” he says. “It was we kind of did some stuff together, and we did our own thing. It wasn't like anybody opened up for anybody. It was all kind of like, melded into one another, and we would sit in on each other songs.”

Mead, who will be backed by his band the Stalwarts at Shank Hall, says he’s uncertain if he and Ringenberg will join forces on stage again this time.

“It’ll be a rockin’ good time, you know. We’ll go out there and we’ll throw it down and see what people throw back at us,” he says. “And then we’ll add Jason into the mix, and it should be a good night.”

A New Single and a Radio Show

This past spring Mead released a new single, “Lonely Boy,” a song he co-wrote with Marty Stuart many years ago.

“I kind of reimagined it,” he says. “I do kind of a three-piece hillbilly trio. I call it ‘The Who on Haybales.’ I would like everybody to go out and stream that right now on Spotify just so I can get my numbers up because I’m proud of it. We recorded three songs, and I have a little 45 that I made that I sell at the shows, but only one of the songs has been digitally released.”

Through his work with other songwriters around Nashville, Mead says he has learned the importance of not just settling for something when he’s not satisfied with a song.

“A lot of it, you know, and I’m not sure who this quote is really attributed to whether it’s Thomas Edison or somebody else, genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration,” he says. “And so, you’ve got to kind of sweat through it sometimes. You can’t just write a song like Jack Kerouac on a roll of paper towels. It comes out perfect the first time. You’ve got to worry about the craft as well.”

Mead is also keeping busy with “Face the Music,” his monthly radio show on Nashville’s WSM 650. He’s interviewed people like Carlene Carter, Hays Carll, Charley Crockett and others.

“The conversation is very relaxed because it’s not like they're coming into a situation where they're doing some sort of press, you know, it's all, here's what's happening, now here's what I'm doing. It is a little bit of advertisement, but mostly it’s just sitting around playing cool records that we like.”

Mead says he loves Milwaukee, which he calls “Chicago-lite.” 

“It’s a great town, great weather,” he says. “And I have a lot of friends up on the Oneida reservation, just north of there. We’ve spent some time in Wisconsin, some good times.”

Chuck Mead and Jason Ringenberg play Thursday night at Shank Hall. The show starts at 8 p.m.