We’ve got a tenuous Everybody Loves Raymond band connection, plus some Goose Island news that’s just ducky. Read on:

– Stephanie (Vavoom!) Varone, as she’s much more gorgeous than, say, Ray Barone’s TV wife and is not just another pretty face — and also a blonde and a bit younger — brings her earthy, old-school Kansas City roots with a love of country, pop, classic rock and soulful blues to the Similin Moose for the first time on Friday night.
– As the Minnesconsin battle and its fowl terminology plays out, is it called “Goose, goose, gray goose,” or “Duck, duck, gray duck?” Well it turns out you can have them all, depending on which venue you hit. Promoted at Buffalo Wild Wings is the Goose Island V Formation pale ale that is now offered along with some new appetizers. And at Dick’s Bar and Grill, there is the now to be ongoing Goose Island Rotational Draft beer special. Also, as previously reported on this site, and is honored at a series of local establishments, you being among the gaggle of people joining the Goose Island club, order six of them and get a free T-shirt. OK, its not exactly a feather in your cap, but its still a little cool.
– And when speaking of “draft,” you’ve got to think football, especially the Viking Big D. At Buffalo Wild Wings, when that over-the-border team and its new Purple People Eaters get three sacks in a game, which is frequent, you and your buddies get a sharable appetizer. If they don’t come through, you might feel sacked! But beats concessions at their home stadium.

When talking about Rudy Rudesill, who plays The Bungalow Inn in Lakeland this Tuesday from 5-7 p.m., it is hard to find a more varied list of bands and styles that are near and dear to a performer. Despite this resume, he still is much more humble than many musicians, not into self-promotion and definitely not a diva. “I guess this is the part where I tell you a little about myself,” he wrote to start off his home page. “I am a guitar player-singer songwriter born and raised in the country between Baldwin, WI and River Falls, WI. In 2006 my wife Nancy and I relocated to Woodbury, MN where we lived for seven years before I moved back to my hometown of Baldwin which is where I still reside.”

His influences in music have varied greatly throughout the years: Growing up listening to Gospel and old classic country, to today, taking in all kinds of singer-songwriters, bluegrass, blues, country, rock or whatever strikes him. Along the way, favorites have been southern rockers like The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Add in songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Prine and Guy Clark, to name a few. And of course many older rock and rollers like The Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and probably his all-time favorite, The Grateful Dead. You can see all kinds of this on Tuesday, although its hard to fit them all in.
“I got my first guitar as a teenager and have always enjoyed playing and singing. I learned how to sing in a country church where my family was very involved … This is where I learned to harmonize and loved the sound … with another person or in a choir,” Rudy Rudesill wrote.

For Thanksgiving, they have the meats and music, the more the merrier:
– At Season’s Tavern in North Hudson, this will be their first-ever Thanksgiving buffet, workers say, with reservations available for usage from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The buffet costs just $18, ($10 for children 12 and under), and what really makes this a value is that those prices include a non-alcoholic beverage, and you can get one of those for the kids, too. (Although the adults could also order one of their signature Bloody Marys). You will have all the requisite Thanksgiving items people clamor for: Roasted turkey and stuffing, mashed potatos and gravy, wild rice pilaf, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and even a relish tray assortment and two kinds of desserts, pumpkin bars and apple crisp. Call (715) 386-8488 for reservations.
– To get an even earlier start at that same cost, starting at 9 a.m. and running until 2 p.m., try the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, where you can get a buffet with 11 kinds of meat — multiples of everything from surf and turf, to poultry (turkey of course heads the list), brunch-style favorites and meaty comfort food. When the chefs add in their other items, the volume of food choices available swells to double the number of just meats. Call (715) 386-2201 for reservations. And don’t forget that on the eve of the holiday, to work up an appetite or wear it off in advance dancing, you can come listen to the country music, and related types of popular tunes, of James Zachary. Twas the night before Thanksgiving …
– Meanwhile at Dick’s Bar and Grill, they are changing it up on Thanksgiving by having the kitchen opening at 8 a.m., then shutting down at 2 p.m. But wait, there is pizza available in the bar until closing time 12 hours later, at 2 a.m. On Wednesday, there is a pre-Thanksgiving celebration with unspecified activities starting at 3 p.m. They have revealed that they are featuring the usual “tokenomics” until 6 p.m., with deejay music with Ben Michaels to follow starting at 10 p.m.
– To get an even earlier jump on your holiday, take in Kurt Jorgensen at The Bungalow Inn on Tuesday from 5-7 p.m., for a taste of light rock, blues, pop, and soul and a self-described “southern kissed” classic rock sound. The Minnesota Music Awards has presented him with singer, entertainer, songwriter, album (as he’s done at least eight) and song of the year.

Let’s face it. Self-deprecating humor aside, Radio Face looks like a hit:
– They may not bill themselves this way, or give themselves enough credit, but they are not unattractive people. Playing the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt for perhaps the first time, at least with this lineup and/or name, on Saturday night, Nov. 18, is the group Radio Face.
– New to the game locally is the band Uncle Mike and the Mason Jars (no relation to the Uncle Mike at the Uncle Mike’s Em Pour E Yum in the town of Hudson). The aforementioned group will be featured on Saturday at a fundraiser to aid homeless people, for Grace Place and Serenity House, that also features tastings of wine, beer and spirits from some of the best, mostly local vendors — seven in all — and a silent auction. It will be held at Ready Randy’s banquet and catering center just south of New Richmond. This is a 21 and over event and runs from 6-9:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the sponsoring venue, or the two places that are benefactors, for $35 in advance or $40 at the door.
– On tap at Pudge’s Saloon and Eatery is BBA ale, blended by the Brewster Bros. Brewing Co. The handle shows a regular guy who just has to be named Bubba indulging on it. Given the name of the company, shouldn’t that be called BBB ale. Or better yet, BBBBB, as in Brewster Bros. Brewing beer for Bubba?
– As a name that befits their genre, the Barn Cats will play at the barn dance at the River Falls Academy gym on Saturday, starting at 7 p.m. This is the second such dance this season; the first and third are featuring the Rush River Ramblers. As far as the Barn Cats, they will be back to play another such gig in mid-April.

– And this in advance of the traditional big days of deer hunting over the Thanksgiving weekend, rather a celebration taking place on Saturday at the Village Inn in North Hudson. While your hubbies who are enamored with bringing home that big buck might take off for Colorado, or just go up north, you can get some of the spirit from that state without ever leaving town. Yes, ladies during the deer hunting widows observance at The Village can drink all the Coors Light they wish — is there a pipeline coming from Golden, Colorado? — for a mere $20. That’s more than some guys spend on that smell-like-deer-stuff that they swear will get them at least an eight-pointer. And yes, there will be rock music, too, pulling one out of the vault. The old war-horse band Gel, not seen so much around these parts since the old Dibbo’s closed, will be on from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

Get a taste of wine, and also Sarah and Chaunte:
– Sarah Van Valkenburg — who is country through and through — plays the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland on the 14th of both months, both November and December for early evening shows — defined as between 5-7 p.m. — and the second time around it’s in conjunction with a wine tasting event, which is a regular feature at The Bungalow. This consists of six wines to sample, usually three reds and three whites, and a buffet of appetizers and the music, to boot, all for a real deal at $15. The wines that are selected for tasting are changed every time around, which is usually monthly, which means that even if you have partaken in this multi-flavorful offering in the past, you can still get a completely different sampling experience each time you come. Reservations are needed, so especially since this is the holiday season, get your name on the list soon.
Performing as a married couple, which includes husband Eric, the Van Valkenburgs have enjoyed success playing wine bars, pubs, restaurants, fairs and festivals around their community, which gets all the way westward into St. Paul and even includes Austin, Texas, as old (and also some new) country music is what they do, along with Americana (red dirt Texas style), light rock and original songs written by Sarah. You also might hear some Rolling Stones, Elvis or Ray Wylie Hubbard at their shows.
Her voice can only be described as exceedingly sweet, and the last time at The Bungalow — also for a solo, early evening Tuesday show — she was sporting a big brimmed hat and shawl that reminded me of the garb donned by another veritable singer, Stevie Nicks.
– In a venue HudsonWiNightlife hasn’t referenced in a while, Maverick’s Corner Saloon in River Falls will be the site of a gig by Chaunté Shayne on Friday evening, Nov. 10. It will be in their big second room, which is as roomy as the main one. RF is the country singer’s hometown.
She is in an expansion mode, and has put out a call for so many diverse musicians to join her band that they certainly have not filled all those positions yet. And with their heavy and well-traveled schedule, with 100 gigs already done in a year of performing at just age 22, playing two or three times a week and practicing just as often to get it down just right, they will need them. So check them out at the next show and introduce yourself, if you are a female back-up vocalist/pianist, keyboardist, violinist, guitarist (vocals are a plus), traveling bassist, steel guitarist, fiddle-ist and maybe even Sunday night tambourine-ist. (OK, we made up those last two terms).
In what is also rapidly becoming a part of her base, and showing her viability, she has scheduled back-to-back holiday shows, on Dec. 22 and 23, in down-home Iowa, at the American Tap in Webster City and Sneakers Eatery and Pub in Fort Dodge.
– We hadn’t realized until now that there is so much good about Good for Gary, which plays the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night. They are a cover band that now lays it out there that they specialize in current and past dance hits, but in a twist that’s different than most, focus on the newest Top 40 songs. With a seven-piece line-up, (also unusual), there’s no hip-hop, pop or dance song they can’t cover, they say, adding that you will hear some Lady Gaga, Eminem, Usher and Rihanna at every show.