May 28th 2009... BOBBY D.SAWYER

One of the many virtues of Bobby's shows is the variety of songs he delivers and tonight he presented our members with loads not heard at our club before despite their making No1 in the American Country Music charts.

   Amongst these were  Heartlands, I Loved Her First, (2006), Billy Currington's, Good Directions (2005), Emmylou Harris, Two More Bottles Of Wine (1978) and Brad Paisley's, Ticks (2007).

Other numbers new to us included Mark Chesnutt's, Woman, Colin Raye's, Angel Of No Mercy, Marcy brothers, Cotton Pickin' Time, recently covered by Blake Shelton, Rick Trevino's, Un Momento Alla, sung in Spanish, Big and Rich's, Kick My Ass, the all girl quartet the McClymonts', You Were Right and Trisha Yearwood's, They Call It Falling For A Reason.

 Bobby also gave us several more popular and better known songs including Tracy Byrd's, Cowboy And The Dancer, George Strait's, You Look So Good In Love and Adalida, Merle Haggard's, Mamma Tried, Conway Twitty's, Hello Darlin'  and I'd Love To Lay You Down, Kenny Roger's, Someone Must Feel Like A Fool Tonight  and  Micky Gilley's super, Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time.

   Bobby also gave us a sample from his excellent new cd, Measure Of A Man, with the self penned, Raincheck, a video of which can be seen on his  website and Utube.

   So professional in his presentation, friendly,  warm and appreciative of his audience's applause, Bobby will always be welcome here at the Northern Renegades.

           Cyril Insley

 

BOBBY D. SAWYER May 17th 2007

It's two years since Bobby was last here entertaining us and tonight he gave us another great show. So at ease with a terrific stage presence, he soon had our members enthusing about his performance and showing their appreciation with ardent applause.

Starting with Charlie Daniels', Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye, he continued with Charly ( Charlotte) McClain's no 1 hit from 1980, Who's Cheatin' Who, more recently a hit for Alan Jackson. Bobby's programme was a fine mix of new and old songs all of which were superbly delivered and suited the listeners and dancers alike.

 Older numbers featured were, Merle's, Working Man Blues, and Mama Tried, Conway's, I'd Just Love To Lay You Down, and Hello Darlin', George Strait's, The Fireman, Johnny Cash's, Folsome Prison Blues, but the majority of songs came from the last couple of decades, with several very new, some of the latter included Gretchen Wilson's, I Don't feel Like Loving You Today, Rodney Atkin's, If You're Going Through Hell, Joe Nicholls, Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, Lee Ann Womack's, I May Hate Myself In The Morning, Brad Paisley's, A Man Around Here, Alan Jackson's, Remember When and Pat Green's, Wave On Wave, amongst many .

As is his custom, Bobby toured the audience to thank personally everyone present and eventually concluded with Rodney Crowell's, Lovin' All Night  to a tremendous round of clapping.

                Cyril Insley
                           

Bobby D Sawyer

See below for more photos

 Tonight's show from an American visitor was our first ' All Ticket' and our club was packed to capacity; So it meant that some people unfortunately had to be turned away.

    Bobby D.Sawyer was born and raised in and around Nashville , Tennessee in a musical family. gospel and country music could always be heard in and around the house and listening to heroes like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Elvis, steered him towards their kind of music.

However,  Bobby is the first to admit that the biggest influence on him was a close friend of his late father one Gerald Willis, whose church singing and guidance inspired him to emulate his surrogate father.

  Having experienced life in England through his service in the American Airforce, Bobby decided to try his luck with performing here and because of his success, has made a base in Farnham, Surrey .

From the first bars of the opening number, Alan Jackson's ' Don't Rock the Jukebox', he had everyone enthralled. Smartly attired and he quickly developed a good rapport with his audience; so the dance floor was soon filled and remained so all evening.

   Bobby's repertoire consists almost entirely of what is generally termed ' New Country'; so there was less opportunity than usual for us who like to singalong, to do so. This did not detract from his performance for his songs were delivered melodiously and powerfully, in stylish manner.

There were loads of popular numbers for the line dancers and quite a few new to me including, Keith Urban's ' Somebody Like You', The Derailers'  'I Just Wanna Be Alone With You', Marty Stuart's ' Sundown in Nashville', Becka and Billy's ' Patient Heart', Tracy Byrd's ' Drinkin Bone' and Buddy Jewel's ' Sweet Southern Comfort'.

   Partner dancers were not ignored and particularly enjoyed Anne Murray's ' Could I Have This Dance', The Bellamy's'  ' Vertical Expression', Guy Mitchell's ' Heartaches By The Number'  and Alan Jackson's ' Remember When'.

My favourite of the evening was a Confederate Railroad number not heard since C.M.T's European demise, ' Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind'.

    All evening Bobby was appreciative of his audience's enthusiastic applause and during his penultimate song, Pat Green's ' Wave On Wave', he mingled with us and personally thanked every individual - A lovely gesture!

For his last number, he accompanied our host, Sheila, on the dance floor to bring an evening of wonderful entertainment to a fine conclusion.

Cyril Insley.