Biography
Open Mics & Writer's Nights
The band blanketed the clubs and music venues along the coast from Oceanside to San Diego with promotional packages. And they also drove in to L.A. to try to generate some interest, and to perform at both the world renowned Palomino club and the Troubadour.
At a talent show at the Palomino they were amused to find that they recognized a fellow contestant from the Gong Show, a Little Person doing a Bob Dylan impersonation while strumming a child’s plastic guitar and singing “Blowin’ in the Wind,” all the while being heckled by another Little Person. No one was sure if the heckler was part of the act or not! Sawdust Charley played "You Can't Be A Lover" late in the show and 'killed it,' winning the Talent Contest which came with a $100 prize and the chance to open for a major act. They got the money, but not the gig.
Being unemployed, Dondlinger and Webb made numerous day trips to LA scouring record companies, nightclubs and booking agents—most often greeted with indifference. However, at the Troubadour, Webb was met with a sympathetic smile from a young woman in the upstairs office area. “Don’t expect to hear back,” she said with kind understanding, “We get hundreds of these tapes every week.”
However, within two weeks, Webb received a phone call from the Troubadour’s manager saying that he taken a stack of tapes home to the house he shared with friends in Santa Monica. When the Sawdust Charley tape was played, he said, the entire house was energized. People started to dance about cleaning, dusting and doing chores. He said he had never seen anything like it, and asked if the band be interested in playing a weeknight at the club, there was an opening.
At the Troubadour they put in a fantastic performance. It caught the attention of a management team that included Gary Borman who would go on to create Borman Entertainment, and manage Keith Urban, Faith Hill, James Taylor and others. Of course, at the time the team were unknowns, managing two unkown acts: Sweathearts of the Rodeo, and Vince Gill.
They set Sawdust Charley up with a gig at a club in Marina Del Rey so they could hear all of their music, and Sweethearts of the Rodeo opened for the band. This gig also went very well, and resulted in a possible management offer from Borman & company, BUT..."Chuck Luck" was about to swoop in and change everything...
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