FresnoBeehive.com

Well, you can’t call Hanford band Poor Man’s Poison poor tonight. The Americana/folk/country group won first place and $100,000 at Texaco Country Showdown in Nashville.

The contest started with 50,000 contestants nationwide, with five regional winners duking out tonight in Nashville. Jewel hosted the competition, which eventually will be televised nationally. The country showdown has helped launch the careers of stars such as Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride and Miranda Lambert.

A simple “They won” was the update on the band’s Facebook page, followed by this picture about 10 minutes later:

In a Q & A that published in today’s Fresno Bee, I asked bass player Dustin Medeiros what he thought winning would do for Poor Man’s Poison. His answer: “I’m not totally sure that winning or not will change our future.” Something tells me Poor Man’s Poison’s future just got a lot brighter.

[photo: Poor Man's Poison's Facebook]

Local folk/Americana band Poor Man’s Poison won the California portion of the Texaco Country Showdown on Saturday night and advances to a regional final in November with a chance of winning national final worth $100,000.

It’s the latest achievement in what’s proven to be a big year for the Hanford-based band, which sold out the Hanford Fox Theatre in February (becoming the first local band to do so), then got chosen to play for U.S. troops stationed at Guantanamo Bay.

Poor Man’s Poison now moves on to a Nov. 10 competition in Oregon, one of five regional competitions in the country showdown, which will ultimately crown “the best new act in country music.” The winner gets $100,000 and joins names such as Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley and Martina McBride as past winners.

Poor Man’s Poison isn’t the first band from the area to fare well in the competition. Kerman-based Whisky Row made it to the national finals in 2009, back when the event was called the Colgate Country Showdown.

[photo: Poor Man's Poison]