When you’re a music writer, you don’t often hear from bands after they’ve performed and left town.

Don Henley once emailed to respond to my review of an Eagles concert at the Idaho Center. The wife of an REO Speedwagon band member bawled me out a little after the group performed a few years ago. (Hey, I deserved it. I did call them “REO Station Wagon.”)

But the voice mail this week from former Little Texas singer Tim Rushlow was different.

Rushlow, who emceed the American Country Summer Bash on June 15 at Nampa’s Idaho Center Amphitheater, phoned to tell me that the bands were not paid by the local promoter — aside from the deposit check that came with the original contract.

The promoter was Jackson Investments Inc., according to the Idaho Center.

“They walked on the entire check,” Rushlow said.

The event, which also featured the Little River Band, Restless Heart, Bill Coffey and His Cash Money Cousins, and the Jeremiah James Gang, drew about 2,000 fans.

By all reports, it was a good time. The entire crowd was on its feet dancing, Idaho Center general manager Craig Baltzer said.

But many were given free tickets. It appears the promoter was unprepared for a significant financial loss.

Rushlow flew in three days early to tirelessly do press for the American Country Summer Bash. Maybe you saw him ride a horse at Les Bois Park. Or hype the show on local TV. Or shaking hands in Meridian.

“You name it, dude, they wore me out,” he said when I returned his call from Nashville.

Rushlow said he isn’t out for vengeance. He doesn’t “hate anybody.” But it doesn’t seem fair to him. The musicians are owed a sum in the tens of thousands, he said.

“You’ve got three artists that have collectively sold 50 million albums that play most nights in the summertime,” Rushlow said. “99.9 percent of the time, we get paid.”

Not that Rushlow won’t return in another capacity. He came away a huge fan of Idaho. He even went fly fishing the day after the show.

“It’s the world’s most expensive fly fishing trip I’ve ever taken,” he joked.

MORE PROMOTER WOES

• Sharlie Fest — named after the mythical beast in Payette Lake — is an opportunity for Boise promoter Nightology to reaffirm its brand.

All that needs to happen at the July 4 shindig in McCall is for DJ/producer Nit Grit, former Pussycat Doll Kaya Jones and the rest of the performers to ... show up.

Nightology has taken its lumps in that department recently.

Philadelphia rapper Asher Roth missed his flight for Nightology’s outdoor Sunday Funday on June 24 in Downtown Boise. Nightology co-owner Hermes Govantes received this news after the gates had opened for the combo foam/water/paint party and concert.

“I had a panic attack,” he said, probably only half joking.

Back in March, headliner Shwayze pulled a no-show at Nightology’s Music for the Cure at the Knitting Factory. Bad weather grounded his flight in San Francisco.

“Both events, I took a huge financial loss,” Govantes said. “On top of it, everyone’s bummed about it, and it really affects our brand. And we can’t do anything about it.”

Actually, Nightology does plan to do something. The right thing. Roth is expected to return July 29 for a Sunday Funday make-up date, Govantes said. Everyone who paid for the original show will get a free VIP ticket.

Govantes, who also was behind the imploded lease deal with Downtown bar The Bouquet earlier this year, is determined to build the Nightology brand.

Nightology has big plans for fall, he said: “We’re just going to have to be smarter about what we do and what we book and how we do things.”

Sharlie Fest info: sharliefest.com.

• Captain Harry’s Oasis Event Center opened last weekend near Mountain Home — and did not draw the crowd it had hoped to its Summer Solstice Blues & Crab Fest.

As a result, two of the three remaining planned festivals will not happen this summer. Only the Neon Oasis Arts & Music Festival will continue as planned July 27-29.

Michael Deeds’ column appears Fridays in Scene and Sundays in Life. He hosts “The Other Studio” at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM “The River.”