Category: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee – Emmaline, The Teskey Brothers & Toby Lee

 “Quite Like Me” is a diss track that I wrote to my friend’s EX-boyfriend. Now, I don’t write diss tracks often, but this guy was the absolute worst, folks — and that’s putting it in the nicest way possible!”
Vocalist, violinist and songwriter Emmaline has won much recognition for her jazz / torch song recordings and performances both on stage and on screen. I think this is one of the prettiest f-u songs I’ve ever heard. [h/t Octo.]

Josh Teskey (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Sam Teskey (lead guitar) formed The Tesky Brothers in 2008.  Based in Melbourne, Australia, they faithfully resurrect the sounds of 1960s/70s soul.

Born in Oxfordshire England in 2005, Toby Lee played Zack Mooneyham in the New London Theatre production of School of Rock the Musical in 2016 and was named UK Young Blues Artist of the Year in 2018. Since then he’s shared the stage with the likes of Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Slash, Joe Bonamassa, and Jools Holland, and has a number one record to boot.

We didn’t have any junebugs this year, but the julybugs made a good show. I found some barfed up catfood next to the trash bin, and the neighbor got a new roof and a Solatube. I was informed that the word picnic is racist for some made-up reason, and tomorrow is porch time. See you around  half past whenever.

Saturday Matinee – Shinyribs, 19-Twenty & Wee Willie Walker

Based in Austin, Texas, and fronted by Kevin “Shinyribs” Russel,
Shinyribs “defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas Blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horn- driven Memphis Soul, country twang, border music, big band swing, and roots-rock.”

19-Twenty is a high energy roots rock/blues band who have played numerous prominent festivals and many small venues across Australia. Their recordings include collaborations with other Aussie greats like Aloe Blacc, Lachy Doley, Roshani & Hussy Hicks.

Wee Willie Walker (1941-2019) was a gospel, R&B and soul singer born in Hernando, Mississippi, raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His first release, in 1967, was a cover of the Beatles’ Ticket to Ride.

Holy crap what a week of weather – record heat, record rains, record floods. Prayers to those who suffered losses of property and especially to those who lost loved ones.

Saturday Matinee – Blues Against The Machine, The Future Shape Of Sound & Otis Rush

Blues Against The Machine is a six-man blues/jump/boogie/rock supergroup with members from Portugal, Spain, Norway, Poland and Italy. Winners of several prestigious blues awards, BATM are headliners at many blues festivals around Europe.

The Future Shape Of Sound, aka The Church of Rock & Roll, advertise themselves as a “9-piece Rock’n’Roll Gospel Spectacle”. Three of the members have a side hustle as the award-winning Soca Divettes.

From his first hit in 1956 (I Can’t Quit You Baby) Otis Rush was the sound of West Side Chicago electric blues. His vocals and playing style influenced many who followed, including Buddy Guy, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn (who named his band after Rush’s 1959 hit Double Trouble).

I intended to post something insightful and brilliant about the recent state of affairs but decided to save it for another time and another place.
Like tomorrow. On the porch. Be there or BL7.

Saturday Matinee – Robert Jr. Lockwood, Champion Jack Dupree w/ King Curtis, Earl Hooker & The Parlor Mob

Born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, Robert Jr. Lockwood was the only known blues guitarist to have been taught by the most influential bluesman ever, Robert Johnson. Lockwood became one of the top session musicians for Chess Records before launching his solo career in 1970. Although he passed away in 2006, there are still annual birthday bashes held in his name.

Champion Jack Dupree with King Curtis, backed by Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums. Filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, June 1971, two months before King Curtis’ tragic death.

Earl Zebedee Hooker, cousin of John Lee Hooker, schoolmate of Elias McDaniels (Bo Diddley), tutored by Robert Nighthawk, recorded with Pinetop Perkins for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records, Charles Brown, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Jimmy Witherspoon, and B.B. King ranked him in the top ten of his favorite guitarists.

The Parlor Mob, an alt rock trio from Asbury Park, New Jersey, takes classic rock and blends it with more recent styles, aiming for a timeless sound.

The day after Splody Day always seems so peaceful until the local yahoos wake up and find the part of the stash they’d overlooked last night. Porch time begins after I sweeps the half inch of fallout away. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – The Big Wait, Jesse Dayton, and The Hoax

A couple readies a remote Australian town for visitors who might never arrive. The pair are the sole occupants of Forrest, a former railway town that’s home to an emergency airport, which serves as an essential stop for planes needing to fill up mid-journey. More about them here.

The song featured in the short documentary is Heaven and Paradise by Don Julian and The Meadowlarks (1955).

Jesse Dayton has been around for a while, playing a mixture of Texas blues, outlaw country, and punk, while collaborating with the likes of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Rob Zombie, John Doe, and more recently, Samantha Fish.

From Devizes, Wiltshire, England, The Hoax is/was a blues band who got a lot of attention in the 1990s. Their debut album Sound Like This was named Best British Blues Album of the Year at the British Blues Connection Awards in 1994 and they’ve recorded several more since. [Their website appears to be defunct, but they have a FB page.]

What a week. First that, then the other thing, and now we have to deal with this. We definitely need some serious porch time tomorrow, and I’ll be there when you are.

Saturday Matinee – Lil’ Jimmy Reed, Bag of Nails & Blackburn Brothers

Leon Atkins, better known as Lil’ Jimmy Reed, is one of the last original Louisiana bluesmen. Born in the late 1930s in a small sawmill town on the Mississippi, he was playing a cigar box guitar at six years old; by the time he was a teen he was playing guitar and harmonica in local clubs around Baton Rouge. Atkins earned his nickname the night he filled in for local bluesman Jimmy Reed.

Formed in Athens, Greece, in 2015, Bag of Nails describe themselves as a psychedelic blues/soul/rock trio inspired by classic music of the 1960s and ‘70s.

Blackburn Brothers were described by Living Blues magazine as a “generational family band [that] plays traditional blues and R&B with a contemporary take.” The heart of the group are the sons of Toronto R&B great Bobby Dean Blackburn.

Getting serious news overload these days, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up. So many topics will be up for discussion when the porch opens tomorrow at, um, you know, porch time. See you there.

Saturday Matinee – Leroy Thomas & The Zydeco Roadrunners, Lisa Mann, and Joe Hodgson

Skadeco! Leroy Thomas & The Zydeco Roadrunners‘ song has little connection to Dale Hawkin’s 1957 hit Suzie Q aside from the title. I like it.

Award-winning bassist, singer/songwriter Lisa Mann grew up in West Virginia, moved to Portland, Oregon.  She says the song is based on a true story, so it’s either about a boyfriend’s addictions, his a-ho buddies, or both.

From his bio: “Guitarist Joe Hodgson hails from the village of Ballymagorry in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His music, shaped by his upbringing during The Troubles, mirrors the fierce rain and winds of the Emerald Isle. It is both sweeping and intense, boldly blending rock, blues, jazz, and Irish traditions into finely crafted instrumentals.”

On 14 June 1775, 250 years ago, the United States Army was founded.
Happy anniversary to the greatest protector of freedom and liberty in the world:“This We’ll Defend!” 

Lotta stuff to cover at porch time tomorrow. See you then and there.

Saturday Matinee – The Danielle Nicole Band, Funky Mojo Daddy & Laurie Wright

“Nicole brings it, bakes it, and serves it up blazing on a silver soul-rocking platter.” –Blues Music Magazine
From Kansas City, Missouri, southpaw bass player Danielle Nicole has some pipes. She was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame and has been the recipient of Eight Blues Music Awards.

Blues, funk/soul and roots rock group from Gary, Indiana, Funky Mojo Daddy‘s cover of Robert Johnson is a good ‘un.

Laurie Wright went from an alcoholic crackhead street bum to a sober rocker. If Johnny Rotten could shred guitar and had a tight backup band, this is him.  (The Beeb covered Wright’s recovery in April 2020 during the covid lockdowns.)
[h/t Chuck S.]

Let’s see… what’s on the itinerary for tomorrow… oh yeah. Porch Time. We can sit and discuss the latest Xwitter soap opera, or we can just sit. See you at sometime o’clock.

Saturday Matinee – The Seatsniffers, Seratones, Eliza Stark & The Dappers, and Sue Foley

The Seatsniffers are a Belgian roots rock band with a large following throughout Europe.  Unfortunately they don’t seem to have a website. [h/t Chuck S.]

They’re part rock, part psychedelia, part R&B and part soul, but mostly Seratones is lead singer and guitar player A.J. Haynes. When asked what inspires her, she responded, “Afrofuturism.”

Eliza Stark & The Dappers:
“The only rockabilly band based in Montenegro. A classic trio of guitar, drums and hot chick slapping double bass and regular guests of national TV and festivals, they also well-known for their true and original music far beyond the borders of Montenegro.” – ES & The D Facebook Page

Sue Foley covers Clarence Gatemouth Brown’s classic Okie Dokie Stomp with style (and her trademark pink paisley Stratocaster). She’s been performing and recording since she was 21, has won many awards since [bio here].

Saturday Matinee – R.L. Burnside, Ray Beadle, and Robert Jon & The Wreck

R.L. Burnside was born in Lafayette County, Mississippi, learned from Mississippi Fred McDowell who lived in the next county over. Burnside and his family, tired of the life of sharecroppers, moved to Chicago in the early 50s. Subsequently his father, two uncles and two brothers were murdered there. In 1959 he returned to Mississippi, was convicted of murder himself, and served time at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, aka Parchman Farm.

Australian guitarist, singer-songwriter Ray Beadle, with Jonathan Zwartz on double bass and Andrew Dickeson on snare play Diamonds At Your Feet, a 1956 Muddy Waters tune. A former member of The Foreday Riders, Beadle plays original compositions and covers of blues and jazz standards in his own style.

Formed in 2011 in southern California, Robert Jon & The Wreck has earned a following playing southern rock with a 1970s flavor. They decided to visit Pioneertown for this recording session.

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. Somewhere in between road trips, BBQ (and Porch Time), pause to remember the meaning of the holiday and give thanks to the fallen soldiers who gave up everything for the people of this Great Nation.