Tag: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee – Alex Schultz w/ The Jacknives, The James Harman Band, and Kid Ramos & The 44’s

Alex Schultz (The Prince Of West Coast Blues Guitar) with Egidio ‘Juke’ Ingala‘s band The Jacknives.

“A song is like a women’s dress, it’s got to be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep you interested.” –  James Harman (1946-2021)

Any list of west coast blues roots rockers include Kid Ramos & The 44’s. Ramos has played with almost every regional blues band worth a mention (and more). As for The 44’s, they can hold their own with no help.

Well, well, well. Another weekend is here, and since the world hasn’t fallen apart yet, I’ll be on the porch thinking I should be doing something important. See you tomorrow for a superficial in-depth discussion of whatever.

Saturday Matinee – Seratones, Sean Pittman w/ Aaron Griffin & Willie J. Campbell, and The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

They’re part rock, part psychadelia, 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.”

Backed by drummer Aaron Griffin and (the late) Willie J. Campbell on bass, Texas bluesman Shawn Pittman took a shot at Magic Sam’s Boogie at the Blues City Deli in St. Louis, (2018). Comment from the Utoobage: “Dude in front caught the vibe. Was later seen walking across the Mississippi to the Illinois side. Was epic.”

Heavy duty electric blues: The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band features the vocals of Noah Hunt, Chris Layton on drums, Kevin McCormick / bass and Joe Krown / keyboards.

Have a great weekend, and remember the meaning of Easter.

Saturday Matinee – The Hoodoo Men, Spiderbait & The Pointer Sisters

The Hoodoo Men: Gerry Höller / guitar, Peter Samek / harp & vocals, and Wolfgang Leinweber / washboard. Great 1950s Chicago blues from Vienna.

In 2004, Australia’s Spiderbait did a bangup job covering Ram Jam’s cover of Leadbelly’s Black Betty.

The Pointer Sisters‘ classic soul/funk/gospel cover of Allen Toussaint‘s Yes We Can Can features the great Gaylord Birch on drums.

Passed a milestone of sorts this week, and I’m happy. See you on the porch tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it for the 100th time.

Saturday Matinee – The Pogues, The Rumjacks & Rory Gallagher

The Pogues‘ (late) frontman Shane McGowan took Waxies’ Dargle, an Irish traditional, and made it incomprehensible. The lyrics are not obscene.

The Rumjacks are a Celtic punk band, formed in Sydney Australia in 2008, relocated to Europe in 2016.  An Irish Pub Song (2010) was in the top 5 of the “Most Popular St Patricks Day” songs on YouTube for the years 2016 through 2019 according to Billboard Magazine.

Rory Gallagher, live at the Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland, 1987. Another master guitar slinger who died way before his time.

Saint Patrick’s Day weekend has begun, and I imagine a lot of you green ale guzzlers will give Monday morning a pass. Meanwhile, we’ll be on porch watch. See you then.

Saturday Matinee – Alien / Super 8 Daze, Shannon McNally, Tom Jones & George Thorogood

Hamptons in Space
“This one stars grown-ups, but it was still directed/edited/animated by a ’70s Kid with a Super 8 camera in Hyannis, MA in 1979. Sound added decades later after he reluctantly grew up. Check out the award-winning documentary on the making of all his films at super8daze.com.”

Shannon McNally,  Audley Freed, Eric Deaton and Cedric Burnside make for a tight combo.

Tom Jones does mighty fine work with the blues. From the Utoobage comments: “He walked on stage, didn’t say a word, and laid this down. Absolutely killed the audience with the first song.”

George Thorogood covered a lot of blues classics in his own style, including this one by  Howlin’ Wolf.

Kinda glad this week is over and done with because I have a porch to take care of tomorrow. See you there.

 

Saturday Matinee – Don Bryant & The Bo-Keys, Caffeinated Rock&Roll, and The Guy Forsyth Blues Band

Don Bryant & The Bo-Keys. In 1998, bassist Scott Bomar wanted to preserve the Memphis Sound and formed the Bo-Keys. The group’s name is a hat-tip to the session groups The Bar-Kays and The Mar-Keys.

Caffeinated Rock&Roll is a one-man band and  skateboarder from Buchs, Switzerland, with very little info available online aside from his Utoobage channel.

The Guy Forsyth Blues Band out of Austin, Texas, sounds a bit like early Fabulous Thunderbirds to me, and I like it. Forsyth’s earlier collaborations include The Asylum Street Spankers and The Hot Nut Riveters.

Not sure where all the days are going, and I’m about to rip up my calendar for lying. Have a great weekend, see you back here tomorrow for some uncomplicated porch time.

Saturday Matinee – Wendy Saddington & Copperwine, Dutch Tilders & The Blues Club, and The Lachy Doley Group

Wendy Saddington with Jeff St. John & Copperwine ca. 1971. From the Utoobage comments: “I dislike it when people say that she was ‘Australia’s Janis’ or ‘Australia’s Aretha’ – she was Wendy, a one of a kind and no imitation of an imported product.”

Matthew ‘Dutch’ Tilders, dubbed the Godfather of Australian Blues, was born in the Netherlands in 1941. His family moved to Oz in 1955 when he was 14, just in time for the rock and roll era and the resurgence of American blues. Self-taught on guitar, by 1960 he was playing original songs in the local coffee houses.

Lachy Doley channels Jimi Hendrix on his Hammond C3.

All Australian blues for this edition of the Saturday Matinee [h/t Archie]. It’s a mystery to me why these musicians got so little exposure in the US.

Time is getting compressed and the days are speeding past again, at least for me. Have a great weekend – we have some serious porch sitting to do tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Hans Theessink & Terry Evans, JJ Grey & Mofro, and Mad Guz & the Mojos

Hans Theessink & Terry Evans (with Arnold McCuller and Willie Greene Jr. provide backing vocals) doing some gospel-style Delta blues. Ry Cooder is lurking somewhere in the background.

JJ Grey describes his music as funkified rock and front porch Southern soul music, a style he calls Mofro, hence the band name JJ Grey and Mofro. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Grey writes, produces, sings and plays all instruments for demo tracks before bringing the band into the studio.

Mad Guz & the Mojos is a heavy rockabilly-influenced blues band from somewhere in Germany, and consists of Mad Guz (vocals, sax, guitar), Isi Mojo (double bass), Tim Mojo (drums, vocals) and Spike Mojo (lead guitar, vocals).

Yep. Another busy week is out of the way,  and after Tet, Superbowl Sunday, Lincoln’s Birthday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and a couple other holidays I don’t remember, I’m declaring tomorrow to be National Porch Day. Be there or be somewhere else.

Saturday Matinee – There I Ruined It, Matteo Mancuso, 8 Ball Aiken & The Gary Hoey Band

In Memory of Country Music: Every fake accent 2-part harmony bro country song crammed into 1-1/2 minutes of ear torture from There, I Ruined It. The comments on the Utoobage vid are fun, and if that’s not enough for you, there’s this mashup.

Django Reinhardt and Les Paul meet Weather Report: Italian guitar prodigy Matteo Mancuso plays cool jazz fusion blues and more.

8 Ball Aiken is an Australian singer and songwriter from Brisbane, plays blues, swamp-rock, alternative country, and Americana music. At one of his early gigs in a rough pub, a fight broke out over a pool table. The 8 ball landed on stage and his bandmates gave him the nickname.

Underrated guitar thrasher Gary Hoey shreds the blues. He’s been compared to Robin Trower, early Clapton, SRV and others.

So there you go, and no, I’m not going to apologize for the first one. It’s like an aural vaccine so you never have to listen to country pop again. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow, porch time is noonish.

Saturday Matinee – Vox Americana, Micke Bhorklo & Blue Strip, and Gary Clark Jr.

Vox Americana is a group of musicians from Staffordshire UK, with American singer/songwriter Helen Walford. They revisited the murder ballad The Knoxville Girl and wrote Knoxville Town from the perspective of the victim.

Finnish bluesrock band Micke Bhorklo & Blue Strip takes their turn on Robert Johnson’s They’re Red Hot (1936).

Gary Clark Jr. cranks up the blues in studio, December 2011.

I think I’m just gonna sit and watch the weather tomorrow. On the porch. See you then.