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Wiley Fox throws a party as its first professionally produced CD is released.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 1, 2001
Jesse Embry still chuckles when he thinks how close he and his band, Wiley Fox, came to passing up the biggest gig of their careers to date.
"We were asked to open for Willie Nelson at Ruth Eckerd Hall" in 1998, Embry said. "We had played for (him) on the patio in 1996, but this was going to be on the stage."
The problem was, the Hudson-based band had already agreed to play that same night at Freddie's, a biker bar on Main Street in New Port Richey. The band could have simply broken the engagement, but that's not Wiley Fox style. If the bands says it will be there, then it will be there.
"Finally, we figured out how we could set up at Freddie's, run down to Eckerd to open for Willie, then get back to Freddie's to play," Embry said.
"That day, when we went to set up (at Freddie's), we found out the place had been sold. The new owners had never heard of Wiley Fox," Embry said, laughing. The band went on to do a well-received opening set at Eckerd and rub elbows with Nelson and his band members.
On Saturday, Wiley Fox will be keeping what may turn out to be an even more important play date, this one at Bourbon Street Concert Club. It's a release party for the band's first compact disc made for a bona fide recording company, the new Acclaim Records, Inc. owned by former big-league baseball star Andre Dawson and former Radio City Music Hall executive Joseph Danna.
The CD, Radio Ranch, contains 10 original songs by Embry; his brothers, Brandon and Eric; Tim and Margaret Phelps; Tom Cardenas; and Steve Sklar.
"We've done two other (CDs) on our own," Jesse Embry said. The band sold these CDs at their gigs and sent them to agents in hopes of a break.
"This one has a major distributor and is backed by a label with some money behind them," Embry said. "The difference with this one is we don't have to pay for it."
The CD was produced by Jesse Embry and the band at Studio 19 in Nashville and recorded by Jim Pace. Additional tracks were made at Audio Images by a quintet of professional backup musicians, including mandolin player Eric Horner and dobro player Sonny Garrish.
The result is an easy-on-the-ears collection of dance songs and ballads, with Jesse Embry as lead singer.
The distributor, Southwest Wholesale in Houston, will put the recording into Wal-Mart, Sam Goody's, Barnes & Noble, Wherehouse Record Stores and other retail outlets on July 11. A month earlier, the company is sending copies to 300 radio stations around the United States.
A week or so after the release party at Bourbon Street, a professional film crew will come to Hudson to do a video of No More Cheatin' Songs, which, with its jazzy "shooby-doo-wah" bridge, is the most distinctive cut on the album. Former Dallas actor and Huggabug Club producer/founder Audrey Landers has a role in the video. Ms. Landers, another Acclaim Records client, sings The Lighthouse with Embry on Radio Ranch.
"We're hoping that (video) gets on CMT (Country Music Television)," Embry said.
Wiley Fox was formed in 1990 by the three Embry brothers. Jesse had been playing rhythm guitar and bass with a bluegrass band; Brandon, who now plays lead guitar and sings, was a drummer; and Eric, a musical novice, took over on drums. Other members have come and gone, but Mark Kalisky and Tom (King) Cardenas round out the group now.
Wiley Fox has played scores of festivals, fundraisers -- their favorite is the Angelus home for developmentally disabled -- rodeos and fairs, and, once in a while, a night club. They beat out 800 entries to win the Crystal River Jam talent contest in 1998.
"We have always been interested in working in the community, and friends follow us around," Embry said. If the compact disc takes off, though, Embry said they'll tour to support it, as long as it doesn't take them away from their families for too long.
WHAT: Concert and CD release party
WHERE: Bourbon Street Concert Club, 4331 U.S. 19, New Port Richey
WHEN: Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Opening act, Crystal Lee, at 7:30 p.m.; Wiley Fox at 9 p.m.
TICKETS: $10 in advance at Bourbon Street; $12 at the door