October 3, 2009 The MCFLA Bull Blast 2009 was just that…a blast! With a record turnout, the event received high praise and many accolades from the public. All who entered this year’s Bull Blast gave an outstanding performance. The only thing we would change, if we could, would have been the weather, but, this is Texas! The winners of the event were as follows: Debra J. Rugeley Fair Assistant Matagorda County Fair & Livestock | Sam Sliva and the Good  With roots in rock, blues and country, it's hard to put a label on Sam Sliva and the Good, the Austin based band that released its debut album, SEE YOU AROUND, in the summer of '08. Drawing comparisons to the likes of the Killers, Steve Earle, and Texas legend Robert Earl Keen, Sliva and his trio lack nothing in the way of style. And recently they've had no shortage of compliments either. Texas Music Magazine likened the group to "channel[ing] the best of The Band and the Counting Crows." While flattering associations with multi-platinum musicians might be new to them, it's nothing that Sam Sliva and the Good stumbled upon overnight. The group has been honing its sound for years, playing gigs almost nightly, across Texas and beyond. For the band's lead singer, this was a journey that began roughly six years ago, when an eighteen year-old Sam Sliva moved from Bay City, TX to San Marcos, just a thirty minute drive from Austin — the city dubbed "the live music capitol of the world." From there, the race was on: songwriting, playing, booking gigs, honing his skill... Sliva, then a full-time college student, saw his future in the music business and ran after it at full speed. Fast forward to early spring 2008. Over the last half decade Sliva had gone from open mics to playing with some of Texas-Red Dirt music's biggest stars — Cross Canadian Ragweed, Randy Rogers Band, Stoney LaRue, and Cory Morrow to name a few. Now he was at Pedernales Studios, the west Austin recording studio of Willie Nelson fame. Sam Sliva had just cut his debut album and the positive reviews and glowing comparisons were already rolling-in. Sliva's musical progression — one that had been in a six year incubator since he'd moved to central Texas — was coming to fruition, leaving as its first product an album of genre-bending rock tunes and raw yet heartfelt lyrics. Through a combination of workmanship and timing, Sam Sliva and the Good have paved their way to the forefront of the Texas music scene and are on a steady rise to stardom. Call them a rock band, say they have a country sound, liken their guitar licks to an outlaw heritage… No matter how you label them, Sam Sliva and The Good are here to stay. |
