(Orange Beach)

Week two of Rockin' Thursdays at The Ferris Wheel Palm Plaza at The Wharf will feature Lee Yankie Thursday May 17th.   Rockin' Thursdays is a weekly free music event featuring local and regional musical acts.  Grab your blankets or lawn chairs and head to the Wharf to enjoy Lee tonight from 5:00-8:00.  When the music is over, try out one of The Wharf's restaurants featuring: Rafters Restaurant and Sports Bar, Ginny Lane, Compleat Angler, Shuckers or Villagio.

For more Wharf information check out:  Alwharf.com

(Orange Beach)

Just two weeks after The Wharf had its inaugural Bands, Barks and Brews event, today they are kicking off "Rockin' Thursdays" at the Ferris Wheel Palm Plaza.  Rockin' Thursdays is a weekly free music event featuring local and regional musical acts.  Grab your blankets or lawn chairs and head to the Wharf to enjoy The Jay Williams Band tonight from 5:00-8:00.

For more Wharf information check out:  Alwharf.com

(Orange Beach, AL)

Abita Beer presents the Inaugural Top of the Hops Beer Festival on Saturday, June 9 at the Marina Lawn at The Wharf.

Top of the Hops Beer Fest – The Wharf will showcase the growing popularity of craft beers from around the world in a relaxed and friendly environment overlooking the Marina at The Wharf. Patrons will receive a commemorative sampling mug and have access to unlimited, two-ounce samples of over 150 world-class craft beers in the four Beer Gardens.

The Brew University Education Area features beer seminars throughout the day such as Cooking with Beer, Beer & Food Pairings and Home Brewing 101. The event will also feature a Cask Beer Garden with firkins of limited edition, unfiltered beer, plus games, food & live music!

The VIP Ticket will gain patrons access to the festival one hour early to take advantage of a more exclusive beer tasting experience. The VIP ticket allows entry into the private VIP Area with heavy hors d’oeuvres and an EXCLUSIVE beer selection not available to the general public ticket holders.

Advance tickets to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival are $34.99 for General Admission or $75.00 for VIP. General Admission Designated Driver tickets are available for $15 and VIP Designated Driver ticket are $25 for those patrons that will not be sampling beer.

Tickets to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival are on sale now at Ticketmaster, Maggie’s Bottle & Tail, The Wharf Box Office or charge by phone at 800.745.3000.

Abita Beer presents Top of the Hops Beer Festival – The Wharf sponsored by Alabama’s Gulf Seafood, Lagniappe, Maggie’s Bottle & Tail and DRAFT Magazine.

**Top of the Hops Beer Festival – The Wharf believes in responsible drinking and does not promote mass consumption. Local taxi cab companies will be made aware of the event in advance and taxi service phone numbers will be listed prominently in the festival guide.

For more information, visit www.TopOfTheHopsBeerFest.com/Wharf or www.ALWharf.com

(Orange Beach)

The Wharf in Orange Beach along with Red Mountain Entertainment, Baldwin Animal Rescue Center, Ginny Lane Restaurant and The Wharf present Bands, Barks and Brews to be held April 29th on the lawn adjacent to the Wharf Marina.

Bring your friendly dog on leash and enjoy the afternoon listening to The Tip Tops and socializing with Fido and Rover.  Activities include a leash-free area, wiener dog races, pet exhibits, local art sale, food, and of course, beer.  The event will be held from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Please visit alwharf.com for more info.

Benefiting the Humane Society of Baldwin County

This event is brought to you by:

(Orange Beach)

The Wisconsin Sno-bird Club met in a NEW location on Wednesday, March 7 - the WHARF Convention Center.  268 people attended this morning - a record # for the First Wednesday in March!  Our actual membership is 725 at this time.  Safe travels to all who have left the area to travel or actually go home.

(Orange Beach)

With concert season a week away The Amphitheater at The Wharf continues to release upcoming concert dates with the announcement of Snoop Dog and his "On The Doggumentary Tour" featuring Wiz Khalifa on May 4th.  Tickets for this event will be $22, $35.50, $45.50, $55.50 and will go on sale Friday March 9th at 10AM.  You can purchase tickets at The Wharf Box Office or at Ticketmaster.com.

For more information about upcoming shows and the Amphitheater at The Wharf check out: amphitheateratthewharf.com.

Snoop Dogg Bio from Snoopdogg.com

DOGGUMENTARY

With today’s proliferation of mass media, pop culture icons have a tendency to seem overly ubiquitous. They stare at us from the covers of glossy magazines, talk to us from both the small and silver screen, interact with us through our laptops and hypnotize us with their inescapable hit singles. But too often these days, while our biggest stars may be omnipresent in our lives, we feel no genuine connection to them or their artistry.

Yet, hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg is different. While, he’s everywhere, all of the time—from The View to 106th & Park, Sportscenter to One Life To Live, and from commercials with Adidas to Pepsi Max—Snoop’s continuing appeal to his legions of fans stems from a true bond that they have built with him through his music. And like Bigg Snoop, the music’s been everywhere. Whether it’s a stadium stage or the screen on your mobile phone, Snoop has most likely rocked it.

Now, as anticipation steadily climbs for his quickly approaching 11th studio album, Doggumentary, Tha Doggfather is continuing to enhance his connection with his fans through his music. Not only is Snoop utilizing his unrivaled digital presence to offer his fans inside access to the creative process behind the Doggumentary, but the album itself acts a memoir of sorts—both chronicling his journey in the game thus far and plotting where his path will lead him in the future.

The latest collection reflects everything that the world has come to embrace about the man born Calvin Broadus. While delivering several of the bombastic street raps that initially propelled Snoop to stardom, Doggumentary also boasts the sort of unpredictable collaborations that have made him a pop culture phenomenon.

Unafraid to experiment with his established sound, the intoxicating lead single "Wet" sees Snoop working with the newly hot production duo The Cataracs. Together, they unite to startling effect, creating an entrancing and atmospheric club jam that has already pounced on various radio formats. Another first-time contributor to Snoop's illustrious catalogue is producer Lex Luger. The native Virginian (responsible for Rick Ross' thunderous anthems “MC Hammer” and "B.M.F.") provides Tha Bigg Boss Dogg with something even more triumphant—the fittingly titled "Platinum," a song that also reunites Snoop with famed crooner R. Kelly.

From here, Snoop continues to roll out the blue carpet, inviting alternative heroes Gorillaz to provide the psychedelic organ thrusts to Snoop’s unusually playful flow on "Sumthin Like This Night". Rising sensation Wiz Khalifa stops by for the playful, self-explanatory "This Weed Iz Mine," which sees our host gleefully announce that he's taking it back to "classic Snoop." Then the melancholy strings of the Kanye West produced "Eyez Closed" inspire a wizened D-O-Double G to both reflect and caution, "If you taste success, make sure it's from a tall glass." Still the energy immediately ramps up with the surefire hit "Boom" featuring T-Pain. Here, Snoop announces himself the "chief rocka" over producer Scott Storch’s ingeniously utilized sample of Yaz’s “Situation”.

While mainstream audiences will undoubtedly rapturously receive the aforementioned, Snoop spends ample time on Doggumentary rewarding his loyal core fanbase. "My Fucn House" is as authoritative as its title suggests, as Snoop, Jeezy and E-40 delve into the trap over Rick Rock's energetic pomp. "We Rest N Cali" is Snoop's unapologetic ode to California's more sinister dwellings, aided by a typically merciless Goldie Loc. "Gangbang Rookie" will be considered vintage Snoop as he asserts himself as, "a Boss out here on the West" over Jake One's rattling funk. While Jake does an impeccable job recreating West Coast G-Funk on both "Rookie" and the album intro "Toyz N Da Hood," Snoop recruits a few other notable comrades to assist. These include Battlecat ("The Way Life Used To Be," "Wonder What It Do"), Fredwreck ("Peer Pressure"), and Meech Wells ("Take U Home.") All mentioned succeed in conjuring definitive Snoop, whether he is shamelessly spitting game, confronting adversaries, or reflecting on his incredible career trajectory

To promote Doggumentary, Snoop has wisely conceptualized the album’s title. By aligning his social media prowess with his creative output, Snoop is "doggumenting" the album’s progress online. He has already launched the much discussed #PuffPuffPassTuesdays campaign, where he releases exclusive visual and audio content to his 2.5 million Twitter followers every week. Next, unprecedented access to Snoop's inner circle is granted via his frequent Ustream sessions. These afford millions of fans across the globe the opportunity to log-in and interact with Snoop live, as he streams new music. Snoop is also responsible for the prolific WestFestTV channel on YouTube, which regularly uploads candid footage of Snoop in action and a slew of viral music videos.

Snoop Dogg's ability to stay at the forefront of popular culture and connect with his fans has resulted in unwavering relevance. While he’s a TV and movie star, the founder and coach of a hugely successful youth football league and a savvy adapter of new technology, Snoop Dogg remains Tha Doggfather of hip-hop. Incredibly, his music is as "doggumented" now as it was in 1992 around the launch of his timeless debut Doggystyle. In fact, a stronghold over the various social networking platforms makes him more accessible than ever. With all eyes on the skinny kingpin from Long Beach, Doggumentary is the perfect title for the man who continues to occupy the throne as the world’s most famous rapper.

(Orange Beach)

The Cheer Tech cheerleading competition scheduled for February 18th at The Amphitheater at The Wharf has been relocated to the Orange Beach Event Center due to foreseen in climate weather.  The Orange Beach Event Center is located at: 4671 Wharf Parkway.

Nashville, TN -

Kings of Leon today announced the establishment of the Kings of
Leon Tornado Recovery Fund. This fund is to provide long-term tornado recovery
primarily in the state of Alabama, which was devastated by a record 53
tornadoes on April 27th, 2011. Proceeds from the band’s July 26th concert at The
Amphitheater at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama, will be donated to the
fund, which will be administered as part of the Community Foundation of Greater
Birmingham, in conjunction with Kings of Leon.

Kate Nielsen, President of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham:
“We are glad to work with Kings of Leon through an Advised Fund to find the
most effective ways to assist individuals, families and communities rebuilding in
the wake of the April tornadoes. Establishing this tornado recovery fund
demonstrates yet again how much people care about the long-term needs of
Alabama’s tornado survivors.”

About the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham: The Community
Foundation of Greater Birmingham is the oldest and largest community
foundation in Alabama, dedicated to driving positive change through grants and
to leveraging donor giving to meet community needs forever. The Community
Foundation has experience in support for previous disaster recovery efforts,
including tornadoes and Hurricane Katrina. For more information, go to
www.foundationbirmingham.org or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
For more information

(Orange Beach)

Saturday July 23rd is sure to be an incredible night of music at The Amphitheater at The Wharf.  Miranda Lambert and Gary Allan are set to put on one of the best nights of music the Wharf has ever seen.  For ticket information call 251-224-1020 or log on to Ticketmaster.com.

Miranda Lambert Bio from MirandaLambert.com:

On the caution-vs.-candor scale, it's not hard to figure out where Miranda Lambert comes down. "I'm really not careful at all," she says. "I probably should be. I pretty much don't have anything to hide, though. I never hid anything growing up. My parents were PIs, so I really couldn't."

She may have become a songbird instead of snooper, but in her own fashion, Lambert is following in the family business, as a private investigator of the heart -- a trade she recommences with relish in her third album, Revolution. The 25-year-old star's biggest hits have tended to be her boldest songs, so she's not about to put a lid on her plain-spokenness now.

"I mean every word I say in every lyric of every song on this record, and every record I've ever done," she declares. "I would never take back one word or lyric or point I've ever made, because it's part of who I am. And there are plenty of artists who wouldn't do so much of that, if that's the kind of music you're into. But if you're into honesty, I have the records for you," she laughs.

In her most successful single to date, "Gunpowder and Lead," Lambert declared that some little girls are made less of sugar and spice than more combustible substances. And the title track of her 2005 platinum debut, Kerosene, established her in the country music firmament as a figuratively and maybe even literally incendiary personality. But it may be no mistake that the new album's title, Revolution, could be taken as similarly aggressive or just a simple pledge of personal reinvention.

"I'm a little more stable in my life, and not the crazy, wild-eyed kid that was writing 'Kerosene' at 18," she says. "I've been through a lot and grown up a lot on the road. And I've always kind of been a little older than my age anyway. I have the regular 25-year-old small town girl side to me that likes to make cupcakes and live on a farm, and then I have this rowdy, crazy, headbanging, rock-star-girl side that is my life on the road. I feel this record shows more a complete picture of who I am.

On one end of the gamut lies the hard-rocking, vengeful "Sin for a Sin," cowritten by Lambert with Blake Shelton, in which it sounds like there might be the hint of a homicide. "Maybe, maybe not," she laughs, refusing to commit to an interpretation. "It's basically about cheating, love gone wrong, and the death of something, whether it's love or a person... That's trademark Miranda -- the song on my record that most sounds like me from 'Kerosene' or 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.' Nobody really gets to live out all their fantasies; I just get to sing mine in songs."

At the other end of the Revolution-ary spectrum is the tender but still thoroughly realistic "Love Song," cowritten with Shelton and two members of Lady Antebellum. "A song called 'Love Song' I would never think would be on my record," she admits. "You know what I mean? Because I just don't sing songs like that. But this song is about real people in real love, not the fairy tale. And you know, I guess I've reached a point where, it's all right to maybe love somebody.

Lambert is an artist of many complementary qualities that only appear on the surface to be contradictions. You can even see it in some of the magazine covers she's appeared on. She was recently the focus of her first cover story in Country Weekly, after previously fronting an issue of No Depression, a publication usually devoted only to non-mainstream, critically acclaimed, alt-country singer-songwriters. She's equally at home on the cover of First, a women's magazine ("Miranda's Bliss Tips!"), and Garden & Gun (which trumpeted her as "The New Loretta Lynn"). People named her one of 2009's "100 Most Beautiful People"... just a year after Esquire named her "Terrifying Woman of the Year."

She may be comfortable embodying qualities at the far extremes of a particular divide, but don't call her a centrist. "I just think it's boring to be straight down the middle vanilla," Lambert says. "I have people that absolutely love me, and I'm sure I have people that absolutely hate everything that I ever stand for. But that's good. At least people are passionate about something, and talking about you either way. But just down-the-middle plain, that's never been my style, personally or professionally."

That may have come as a surprise a few years ago to anyone who expected a certain acquiescence out of a former reality show contestant. Lambert came in third in the first season of Nashville Star, which certainly set up preconceptions about just what kind of artist she'd turn out to be. Yet, with years of playing Texas nightclubs under her belt even as a teenager, she faced down Nashville executives with the same steely determination with which she'd stared down rowdy bar crowds. And despite Music Row's rep for remaking impressionable artists in its own image, she says she's never faced resistance on her vision from anyone at Sony Nashville, on up to the label chairman.

"Joe Galante is another person that absolutely let me be myself artistically. I don't know why, but I'm incredibly thankful for it, and I don't want to question it too much. I feel sorry for people that don't have that. But I think a lot of it people might bring it on themselves, because if you don't know who you are, then it's a lot easier to be swayed one direction or the other. And I came into this business it with such strong convictions. of: 'This is me. I can go back home to Texas and do what I do there playing in clubs, or I can try to become bigger. Anybody want to help me out here?' And it's worked thankfully."

Her 2005 freshman effort, Kerosene, put her in an exclusive club, as one of only seven artists in the history of SoundScan to come out of the box at No. 1 on the country sales chart with a debut album. Critical support was immediately forthcoming: It was named one of the year's 10 best albums by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and CMT.com, among many others. She picked up key nominations for the CMAs, Grammys, CMT Awards, and other honors, beating fellow newcomers Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler to be named as the ACMs' top new female vocalist.

In 2007, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend also debuted at No. 1 on the country chart. After a slew of top 20 singles, the sophomore album generated her first top 10 hit, "Gunpowder and Lead." It was named one of the top 10 albums of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Blender, and "dean of rock critics" Robert Christgau. In the Village Voice's annual all-genre poll of America's music critics, it placed No. 15, the highest showing ever by a country album amid the usually rock- and hip-hop-favoring survey. It fared even better -- No. 1, to be exact -- in the Nashville Scene's annual poll of national critics who specialize in country. "This year, our 96 voters handed Texas singer Miranda Lambert one of the most dominating victories in the poll's history," the Scene wrote in announcing the results. (The critics also named "Famous in a Small Town" the year's best single, as well as naming Lambert female vocalist of the year, songwriter of the year, and artist of the year.) It wasn't just journalists handing out the accolades, but the music industry, as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won the coveted album of the year trophy at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards.

What to do for a three-peat?

To some degree, "we went with the school of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'," she says. "We worked with the same guys to do the record that did my last two -- same musicians, same producers." In the latter category are Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke. "Frank is such a great song guy... And Wrucke's the total brain behind the way my records sound."

But there are crucial differences, too. For one thing, Revolution includes 15 tracks instead of the Nashville-standard 10 or 11. "To me, if there's a story to tell in 15 songs, then people get 15 songs. I really wanted it to feel like a piece of art -- a real body of work, a musical journey if you will. And it is an album. The whole album is this huge circle with a picture of my face at the end. If you don't have the whole thing, then you don't have the complete picture."

To ensure the album had both cohesiveness and spontaneity, the vast majority of it was recorded in one whirlwind session in early 2009 (excepting two tracks that were laid down last November). "It was old school," says Lambert. "We went in and cut the whole project in a week. I didn't want to go record two songs one day and then two weeks later go record some more, and so on. We did it all as a single project, a vibe record. Usually the studio is really stressful, and this time it was just fun. It just felt like making music... not work."

Stylistically, she says, "This record is country -- a lot more country than the other two. And I'm so glad about that. I didn't plan on writing more country songs or go into it with a style in mind, I just wrote what I felt and put it on the album." Of course, diehard traditionalists should be warned that, while she's capable of getting as pure honky-tonk as any young performer out there, Lambert is definitely a volume dealer. "My bass player brought up a good point: 'You write country songs and put a rock beat to 'em.' So 'Maintain the Pain' is definitely a country lyric, but it's got a classic rock sound to it."

And mind-set? "I still hear the classic Miranda Lambert lyric and voice and attitude. But I definitely feel like this record's more well-rounded than the other two. I feel like it's a little more grown up." Not that she didn't always have a certain precocity. "My parents were private investigators, and I saw a lot and heard a lot growing up. As a family we went through financial hard ships while growing up, off and on we had to "grow" our own food. Going through all that really does stick with you, builds your character and lets you know who you are.

Miranda has been through some changes in the last 2 years, like moving from Texas to Oklahoma, where she bought a farm a few miles away from her boyfriend Blake Shelton's.

"It is like moving to another country, if you're from Texas!" she interrupts, laughing. "I have a little house on my parents' place that I've had for a long time. But I felt like I couldn't live 100 feet from my parents the rest of my life. So I bought a farm, and it's been the most amazing place. I feel like I gained some independence by buying some land and some animals and raising chickens. I really feel very grown-up now!"

There is a measure of romantic contentedness in some of Revolution's songs, like the aforementioned "Love Song," or even the wryly mocking opening track, "Only Prettier." But if you're worried that Lambert might get a little too settled for her own musical good, don't. Was it hard to tap into tension when she was feeling that good about her personal life? "I found it amazingly easy," she counters. "Being happy and in love is the worst thing for your figure and your country music songwriting. But even though I'm happy and have a really great life right now, I found some angst."

The maturity of ballads like "Virginia Bluebell" and "Love Song" doesn't preclude a fair share of new material in which Lambert definitely still acts her impetuous age. "I wrote from my perspective and where I am at 25 years old. It is who I am, and it's pretty honest." That bluntness extends to interviews. "I've always been open and really say my opinion. Not in a rude way; I don't ever want it to come across as cocky. I'm not cocky, I'm confident. I just think I have something to say. If people don't like it, then they don't like it. You can agree to disagree."

You may get an even greater sense of Lambert's firebrand side from "Heart Like Mine," in which the singer writes about her expectations of the hereafter... which involves Jesus greeting her with a couple of wine glasses.

"I grew up in church, and I've been a Christian my whole life. My mom always says I cut my teeth on a church pew. It could be autobiographical in a way, because I've definitely had my share of being judged but I'm playing a character a little bit in every song, too."

Lambert is a character, in a lot of people's minds -- and while she doesn't actively try to go against the Music Row grain, she doesn't mind if she's perceived that way.

"I hope I've been able to break open some doors for more open-mindedness in country. People have told me I have. But it's been a lot of work, and it's been a lot of putting my feet in the dirt and saying, here's the line I won't cross. I may have lost a lot of things for it or I may have gained a lot of things. But I know that I sleep great at night.

I hope to do this forever, whether it will be performing for 10,000 fans or singing in some bar, 20 years from now.

Fortunately for country fans, we're still at the relative beginning of Lambert's career, able to relish a performer who only seems to be as seasoned as someone in her 40s while really having decades ahead of her. May she continue maturing in all the right ways -- and failing to lose her youthful feistiness in all the right ones, too. As they say: Viva la Revolution.

Gay Allan Bio from Garyallan.com:

“I ain’t really happy,” sings Gary Allan on “Get Off on the Pain,” the down-home masterstroke that begins and provides the name for his new MCA Nashville collection, “until the sky starts driving rain.” Unhesitatingly frank, mercilessly guitar-crazed, it’s the rocked-out country confession of a smart guy drawn to what the rest of the world calls wrong roads and long shots, or complains of as aching bones and stubbornness, or — as Allan sings in a spectacular stretch of drawn-out soulful vowels — underestimates as dark horses. And as the California-born superstar releases his eighth studio album, it’s about the most Gary Allan piece anyone could imagine.

“That’s, like, very autobiographical,” Allan understates, talking about the song. “I feel like I’m living that right now. It’s got a lot of life in there for me: It represents the relentless quality of life on the road. You’ll never hear me singing about tractors or farms, just because I don’t know anything about that stuff. Wrong roads and dark horses I know about. Still, I think the pain can get to be some kind of a positive for me because it connects to everything I’ve ever dreamed of. While it’s relentless, it’s confirmation of the actual existence of this big musical drama, the result of the dream.”

That dream, for Allan, was to become exactly what he has become over the course of a lifetime in the field: a singer and songwriter forever cognizant of country music’s rough and storied past yet never wholly enslaved by its stylistic or social traditions. As a teenager performing in California, he skipped the bars that didn’t want to hear him play George Jones music; as a Nashville artist, he never worried about rocking things out or missing an awards-show red carpet. “It’s almost become a challenge to get into this town. But I’m also really comfortable with where I am, being slightly on the outside.” Allan always has developed and continued to refine his own tattooed power and finesse.

But none of it has ever confused him. “I just wanted to be viable and, I guess, prove that the viable stuff can be necessary,” Allan says, and if his career often has seemed less loud and permanently neon-lit than those of some of his peers, Allan has indeed achieved a robust viability, consistently hitting all the gold and platinum sales benchmarks by which those kinds of determinations are measured. “I remember talking about this when I first got signed to a Nashville major label,” Allan says. “Even then I was able to say, ‘Look, I’m never going to be the latest greatest thing, because that usually goes straight up and then burns out.’ My goal was — and remains — to be like Willie Nelson or George Strait, people who consistently rise. I think because I’ve done this since I was a little kid that I want it to be in my life forever. I want to be like Willie, playing until I’m 70. That’s what I’m swinging for.”

With aspirations like that, Get Off on the Pain sure fits the bill, an eighth album that shows no signs of musical fatigue and, moreover, promises an undeniable future. Songs like the atmospheric “We Fly by Night,” the indestructible title track, and the dramatically cascading, deliberate “I Think I Had Enough” consolidate the strengths of previous Gary Allan music — the Orbisonesque elegance of “Smoke Rings in the Dark” (1999), the brute power of “Man to Man” (2001), the smarts of “Watching Airplanes” (2007). The album strikes out in different directions, too. This is country music from a guy who effortlessly can sing the wry, despondent “Kiss Me When I’m Down,” which imports elements of rock chamber-pop, into the same collection song cycle that contains the rollicking “That Ain’t Gonna Fly,” whose choruses taps the richest harmonic fundamentals of gospel music turning into pop.

Whatever style, these songs, produced by the award-winning Nashville music man Mark Wright, proceed with an unusual confidence. “They’re more focused,” Allan says. “Everybody just knows more of what we’re going for now, because I always use the same players in the studio; I’ve done that since day one. This is nine records, counting our Greatest Hits album, we’ve made together. So I think everybody just knows what I want. It’s just a lot easier. I’ve sat down and played those guys things on my guitar, trying to show what I wanted. I think just with time you just get better with it.”

A couple albums back, Allan did a triumphant version of Jessie Winchester’s “A Showman’s Life”; packing lifetimes of drama and consequence into his performance, he uncovered and demonstrated what it feels like to live your life on the road, day in and day out, to play music. “You beat yourself up pretty bad doing it,” Allan says. “There are lots of sacrifices, mostly personal, but it’s a rush.” Get Off on the Pain, is like a ten-song demonstration of Allan’s version of Winchester’s song. The album sums up and expands Allan’s fifteen years of Nashville music-making as it lately has arrived out of the frenetic pace of his jam-packed touring schedule.

‘I relate to the road,” he says. “It’s a relentless life you live out there. But it’s been my life for the last four or five years. Since Ange passed, it’s been like a healing process for me — a way to sanity, a way of keeping my mind on something else, namely my music.” The reference is to Angela Herzberg, Allan’s wife, who committed suicide in 2004 after suffering from depression and migraines; Tough All Over, Allan’s album from 2005, contained songs that addressed her death. “We were crying,” Allan says, “the whole time we were making it.”

Right now, Allan finds himself in a different although not disconnected place; the new collection climaxes with “No Regrets,” a ballad that retraces and reexamines some of those still-present 2004 emotions. “I feel like I’m always,” Allan says, “going to be writing songs about Ange.”

He returns to the notion of his road album being also his current career summary album. “It’s a consolidation of everything I’ve done, and what’s to come is the settling of Gary Allan,” he says. “I’m still not there. I’m still in a transitional state, healing and partying and trying to find out how we’re going to bring all this home — how to grow up, settle, find a place where I’m content. Some place I can go, I guess, to bring it all home, when it’s all done. I hope to be able to put it all on paper and in the sound waves so you can watch and hear it. That’s what I’ve tried to do with every record before this one. It’s the accumulation of it all. And right now, I feel like the ground is trembling.”