DeAnne Moore Woos White Elephant

DeAnne Moore‘s forecast called for stormy ballads and a strong chance of playful country music, and she delivered both last night to advance in the 7th Annual Texas Music Showdown at White Elephant Saloon.

Oops, I came up with that lead based on somebody telling me that Moore was a WFAA Channel 8 weather woman. But I’m looking at her Facebook page and she describes herself as “fill-in reporter.”

Regardless, she breezed through the first round of the battle-of-the-bands competition and edged out Scotty Thurman & The Perfect Trouble Band.

Thurman’s bunch is entertaining but band members were struggling with illnesses that affected their vocal deliveries last night.  Throw in a busted guitar string at an inopportune time and it seemed like fate was gunning for this group.

After the strained performance, Thurman explained his problems while nursing a medicinal beverage: “I woke up this morning with my head all…,” he said, waving his hands near his noggin to emulate throbbing sounds. He solicited his doctor for a magic elixir and got two shots in the butt and some antibiotics, but “they didn’t have time to kick in yet.” (However, I ran into him later in the evening at the Thirsty Armadillo in the Stockyards and he was tearing up the dance floor — the elixir must have kicked in finally).

Illness also waylaid The Double Zero Band, whose name, ironically, matches their score on my judge’s card since they were a no-show.

Other judges included silver-tongued host Brett Dillon, morning deejay at KHYI 95.3 “The Range” — and I still don’t understand how this guy delivers an entertaining radio show every morning after staying out late in bars every night. Thurman should have asked his doctor for a shot of Dillon’s tiger blood.

Also on the judge’s panel was alt-country singer-songwriter Darryl Lee Rush and the inimitable Robert Gallagher, longtime entertainment director at Billy Bob’s Texas, a guy who’s got more funny stories than a…uh…book with a lot of stories in it that are funny. Jeez, Gallagher could teach me a thing or two about funny.