Monte Warden Celebrates 100th Live Stream With His Feel Good Hour
“Welcome Feel Gooders to our 100th Monte Warden Feel Good Hour, coming to you from our living room in Austin, Texas.” The introduction has always been the same from singer/songwriter Monte Warden to his dedicated group of Feel Gooders who watch his one-hour streaming show over Facebook every Friday night, but February 18 was extra special. It was the 100th consecutive streaming event for the Texas native and member of groups The Waggoners and the Dangerous Few.
Monte started the live streaming event in March of 2020 after Covid brought on the pandemic and no one had a clue what was going to happen. “We started when all the world was going through something so scary that we had never seen before in our lifetime,” Monte explains. “As a working live musician, I had 200 gigs disappear within two weeks. 2020 was supposed to be our best year since 1991 and all of a sudden, all those gigs were gone. Brand (his wife) and I just went, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do about our income.’
“I noticed a couple friends of mine who are much more tech savvy than me were doing live streams, so I talked to one of them and asked what was required to do a show like that. He said just a telephone, so we said ‘OK we’ll do it this Friday at 7 p.m.’ We came up with the Monte Warden Feel Good Hour because I loved Glen Campbell’s Good Time Hour so much. We had 2500 viewers the first night, and they made enough donations that evening to help us make what we needed for the month.”
On the Feel Good Hour, Monte plays songs from his hit group The Waggoners, described by Billboard as ‘The greatest Honky-Tonk band that ever was.’ He also includes music from his new group, Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few, which Paste Magazine described as “If Buddy Holly sang Harold Arlen…As if Sinatra sang the Lefty Frizzell Songbook.” Additionally, he might try out a new song he just wrote or sing a song someone requested that he’s never sang before.
As the number of shows increased so did Monte’s group of Feel Gooders, as he calls those who watch the show. He was also changing what he did in the show with what was current at the time. “I remember our fourth show fell on Good Friday and I decided to do all spiritual songs and people loved it and were drawn to the Christian message,” the singer recalls. “I decided to do one gospel song a week and call it the Gospel Corner, and then because we’re in Texas, I through we should also do a weekly waltz.”
It took a few weeks for Monte to realize that not only were his fans in the U.S. tuning in, but fans from all over the world were finding the Feel Good Hour and getting their friends to listen in. Fans he made when he toured Europe wrote to tell him how much they enjoyed the show and were delighted they could watch all previous episodes that have been archived on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/montewarden/videos/4958255250897727).
“After a few months it became not about the money but the community of fellowship and brotherhood that was forming,” Monte explains. “Our show will always be free but we do let the fans know that they can donate whatever they want as a cover charge, just like they were coming to see us at a club, through PayPal or Venmo.”
Several things have come out of the live show that Monte had no idea would happen. The singer has had to learn 250 songs that he had never performed before because he allows viewers to make requests. Another thing Monte has learned is always be prepared for the worst. They sailed right through the Friday night when Texas was frozen over in 2021 and never missed a beat. One night the power went out and they managed to go on. They’ve also done the show from different venues now that some of the gigs have started coming back. Monte and Brandi have met many of their new fans as well as welcomed those who have been with them for a while as they come from out of town to see The Dangerous Few in Austin at Parkers Jazz Club or the Waggoners at The Broken Spoke.
“The feedback messages or emails that people send throughout the show, it just means so much to me,” Monte says. “In the height of the lock down people were able to watch the show with their family no matter where they lived. The whole time the show is going on, people are writing messages to friends and family in another city. People have asked for prayers if they are going through a hardship. We’ve been so blessed we have this … It’s really been an incredible community and they continue to thank us for doing the show. Some folks came in from Chicago a couple weeks ago, and one of our fans from north of Dallas said if it wasn’t for the Feel Good Hour he wouldn’t know what day of week it is!
“At first financially it saved our ass. We did not know what we were going do with all the gigs gone. So you put all your faith in God and see what’s next. He certainly knew what he was doing here,” Monte says. “Once we knew the Feel Good Hour was helping us with essentials, then it became about the Feel Gooders and what it meant to them and for them in a time when people were so isolated. This was a nice little oasis for these people to come to and we are so eternally humbled and grateful to be part of these people’s lives during this time.”
In order to do something a little different to celebrate the 100th episode of the Feel Good Hour, Warden decided to release a video for the Dangerous Few’s song “Black Widow” which the local Austin 360 paper filmed when it featured Monte Warden and the Dangerous Few after the release of their self-titled album.
“When we went into studio to do the video I told the crew to be ready to go because we would probably get it done in 20 minutes. So videographer Kelly West had her crew, lighting people and technicians all ready and we set it up and it was done in two takes, no edits. It sounded great, the band was great, and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. It sounds and looks like everyone is having a good time.”
Warden is as great a songwriter as he is a singer and entertainer. He writes for the Waggoners on one hand and the Dangerous Few on the other, never losing sight of his love for rockabilly, jazz, swing and country and how they all intertwine. “I think a lot of it has to do with when I write, everything comes from what I’m trying to express. I was trained on Hank Williams Sr.’s songwriting and Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, Burt Bacharach and Gene Vincent. I’ve always been able to write songs people want to hear.
“If you have that gift, you can’t take credit, because God gives you that gift the day you are born. What you do with it is up to you. As I got older my palate got more sophisticated, and as I wrote more traditional pop, I found there are so many richer and different chord structures but also a deeper and rich vocabulary and a greater opportunity for eloquence. Having said that no one in the history of the world can express more than Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers. Having said all that, it’s what I’m trying to say, whether it’s with the Waggoners or the Dangerous Few, that people are drawn to. The great thing about a song is if I do my job as a songwriter, it just lets the person listening know whether they are happy, sad, angry, or whatever emotion.”
Monte has had a number of cuts in country music, including George Strait’s “Desperately” which was first cut by co-writer Bruce Robison and more recently by Josh Turner. He received a BMI Million-Aire award (for one million plays on radio) for Strait’s version. Travis Tritt recorded “I Wish I Was Wrong,” a co-write with Tommy Conners and the first time Monte had a song on an album tht sold a couple million copies. Patty Loveless recorded “If You Don’t Want Me” after she heard her husband, Emory Gordy, and Monte writing it at their house and asked if they were writing it for her. Other cuts for Monte include Carrie Underwood, George Jones, Merle Haggard and Kelly Willis. He has also had songs in television and film soundtracks including The Circus (Showtime), The Ranch (Netflix), Northern Exposure (CBS), One Life To Live (ABC), General Hospital (ABC), Step Fast (Jungle Jim), Barry Show (A&E), and Nashville (ABC), as well as the movies Hope Floats (20th Century Fox) and The Life of David Gale (Universal Pictures).
The singer is also known for his knowledge of music history, much of which he shares on The Feel Good Hour livestream. “Journalist Michael Corcoran once said, ‘Before there was google there was Monte Warden’,” Monte reveals. “If I’ve read it I’ll never forgot it. That made it easy for me to learn lyrics. So if a Feel Gooder asks about a song I’ll probably know about it. One thing I do is I’ll make sure I get the years right. And Brandi will give me her eyes are glazing over sign if I’m going on too long about the song’s history,” he adds with a laugh.
Monte also has great stories about meeting some of his heroes. He started early, he admits, relating how he was able to get backstage at a Waylon Jennings concert before he was a teenager. “I was so excited, I was 11 and I had my Crickets album, my Waylon’s Greatet Hits, and it was only the third show I had ever gone to. It was an outdoor concert, and it was so hot. I didn’t think about taking the vinyl out of the jackets, so I was trying to protect the vinyl in the heat.
“Finally, I got backstage. I was just a kid so people were taking care of me, giving me cokes and hotdogs. Then I see Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis (of the Crickets), so I walked up to them and said, ‘Excuse me sir can I get an autograph?’ Jerry said, ‘Waylon is on his bus and he probably won’t be up here ‘til right before the show.’ I said, ‘No sir I want your autograph’ and I pulled out the Crickets album. Joe B. Mauldin and the others started laughing. So they all signed the Crickets album and the great thing, I got to be friends with Jerry and every time he tells the story I get younger and younger! And I got Waylon’s autograph too.”
Monte is a rare two-time member of The Texas Music Hall of Fame, both as a solo artist and as a member of The Waggoners. He won his first of a dozen Austin Music Awards when he was just 15 years old for Best New Band, honoring his rockabilly trio Whoa Trigger!. The Waggoners were the first band to be signed to a major record label deal after playing at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. It happened in 1987, the year SXSW debuted.
