Blues Up Front @ Madison Bar, Dublin.16/06/2007

Have you ever walked by posters in your city for years with the intention of hooking up with a bands performance and between one thing and another, time passes by, anti social work shifts prevail and then when you do get to finally see the band years later its like, wow what have I been missing here.

Promoter Pat Cannon had sent me a text alerts earlier that he had a night of no nonsense rhythm & blues in store in Rathmines and so it was when I walked into the Madison Bar and felt the insinuating groove of Blues Up Front reverberating around the venue. With Pat’s typical customer care and professional approach we had a table and chairs set up within seconds of arriving that gave us a premium view of the musicians on stage.On Stage Joe O Keeffe on vocals, Pat Kilty with a vintage red Stratocastor guitar through a Session amp, Peter Cleary on Bass, Dave Gorman on Drum and all around us in the Madison a joyous and upbeat crowd with a 40th birthday party dynamic off to one side contributing to the ambiance.

Pat Kilty has incorporated his influences well into a hot, fluid and inventive style and tone of his own with the great King Trilogy, Albert, BB and Freddie mapped down to perfection seamlessly within, the kind of player who knows how to put a smile on your face.Blues Up Front play electric Chicago urban blues with a tinge of Southern fried soul and they deliver a blow out bar room rhythm & blues performance that had the shapely punters singing, dancing and indulging in aerobatic air guitar histrionics on the dance floor in front of the stage from the get go.

Blues Up Front have the timeless essential blueprint for rocking rhythm & blues, pumping bass lines, thumping drum rhythms and guitar riffs and bottleneck phrases flying off Pat Kilty’s fretboard like sparks while Joe O Keeffe’s explosively dirty canned heat vocal soars on top with authority while he prances around the stage like a Hell’s Angel doing gatekeeper in a boozy barroom roadhouse off Highway 61.These are Muddy Waters musical grandchildren and they nail down the old favourites with respect and enthusiasm with tunes like, Hot Spot, High Cost Of Love, Hoochie Coochie Man, Southern Man, Blues Before Sunrise, Shake Your Money Maker, Goin Down, Love Me With A Feeling all demonstrating a passion for the roots of the blues tradition and determined to leave the audience satisfied.

Joe O Keeffe has a warm and winning vocal presence on stage with a blue heart and a rock solid soul, and can lift the roof when the occasion demands with a towering raging vocal and a full throttle delivery on one of my classic rock favourites Wishing Well and a commanding collaboration with the audience on Looking Back.

“I was looking back to see
If she was looking back
To see if I was looking back at her”

Blues Up Front have only recently reassembled for a few gigs and after a holiday break in July will review their future live performance schedules. Blues Up Front also featured another notable musician, Thin Lizzy’s Brian Downey on Drums for many years and Pat informed me afterwards that Brian is touring with Gary Moore at the moment. I wasn’t long after a delightful Indian meal of lamb and coconut spices next door in the Monsoon so I was thirsty when I arrived and when the barman misheard my request for an orange juice and supplied me with a cool pint of Coors it complemented the hot rhythms coming from within and the powerhouse rhythms without.

Blues Up Front have got a rhythm section in Peter Cleary and Dave Gorman, that takes possession of the ball confidently allowing Pat Kilty to run with it and deliver big time with his well informed scorching technique on the fret board that’s well paced, full of muscle, sounding as vintage as BB King’s Live At The Regal and as fresh as tomorrow morning.

Boo Boo Davis @ Irish Blues Club, JJ Smyths. 29/05/2007

It was standing room only in JJ Smyth’s for the weekly gathering of the Irish Blues Club to witness and welcome Boo Boo Davis from the heart of the Mississippi Delta for a performance on his Irish tour.

Boo Boo Davis started off touring the Delta taverns and juke joints with his musician father and brothers before joining up with one of the hottest bands in St Louis in the sixties providing back up to Little Walter Sonny Boy Williamson Elmore James and Little Milton.This was a class set from a class act with Boo Boo Davis in bowler hat and sartorially sharp suit blowing up a storm on his harps with a solid professional band of musicians providing support.

Boo Boo Davis combines the traditional elements with modern grooves very effectively with the whole band on stage skilfully mixing their talents in a cohesive electrifying spectacle with the guitar, bass and drums being played very nicely instead of just plodding along in the background allowing Boo Boo Davis receive recognition for his talents and well paid dues.

The consummate Dutch blues band consisting of drums, bass guitar and an excellent guitarist shone through clearly behind Boo Boo who certainly pleased the crowd with a clutch of new blues songs and new approaches that are indicative of a welcome potential rejuvenation of genre when in the right hands.Boo Boo Davis‘s unpretentious skill and ability, coupled with the overall quality of the musicianship on stage invigorated the audience creating an exciting and electric atmosphere in JJ’s.The most startling aspect for me was Boo Boo Davis’s vocals because you could close your eyes and you’d think it was Howling Wolf in the room as he enthralled the audience and bounced about the stage.

Humorous sexual innuendo together with Boo Boo’s unique blend of traditional blues and hip hop phrasing keeps this mans blues strident, engaging, alive and kicking and appealing to all the young listeners around me in the audience and scores with a futuristic vision in the mix akin to Chris Thomas King and RL Burnside.

The harp and guitar breaks were sharp and concise but Boo Boo’s, Howling Wolf flavoured approach with subtle inventive arrangements and intelligent rhythm work was first rate and a winning formula for the Irish Blues Club audience.This experienced entertainer lets the songs breathe and demonstrates he is aware that space is a crucial element in the dynamic and as important as the notes.

This was a classy performance from Boo Boo resplendent in his bright suit and bowler hat effortless cranking up the tempo and towelling away the sweat pouring profusely from his efforts.He is a true ambassador of the blues and the fun and enjoyment on the stage was evidently transmitted to the crowd with shapely gyrations being attempted in the most constrained spaces.

Boo Boo Davis proved himself a big favourite with a big turnout of local blues musicians and fans like Pat Mc Sweeney from the Chillhouse Blues Band, Peter Moore and Karl O Byrne from The International Blues Band, Tommy Grimes and Tony Poland from Parchman Farm, DJ Charlie Hussy from Dublin City Anna Livia FM 103.2’s weekly Sunday night Bluestrain program and veteran live blues supporters like Southside Eddie and Sean Williamson.

The repertoire was drawn from his new CD, Drew Mississippi and previous releases like Can Man , East St Louis and The Snake with powerful and well conceived covers like Little Red Rooster all displayed with superb musicianship in a tightly integrated format.Boo Boo Davis is a genuine blast from the past giving a high energy performance and the general consensus was “what a brilliant performer” as we grooved along to two encores well past bedtime and headed for home with out our hands stinging from the suitably appreciative and well deserved applause.

Boo Boo Davis is in Ireland for a few weeks with a good spread of gigs over the Bank Holiday Weekend and into June before he returns to the American Festival circuit so if you get a chance to groove to the blues, go for it you won’t be disappointed with Boo Boo Davis, this man’s got style and a highly recommended set.

“Dogs begin to bark now
And the hounds begin to howl
Watch out little stray cat
The little red roosters on the prowl”

  • May 23 – Cooperative de Mai – Clermont Ferrand – France
  • May 24 – The Cherry Tree – Walkinstown Dublin – Ireland
  • May 25 – Droichead Arts Centre – Drogheda – Ireland
  • May 26 – Blues on the Bay – Warrenpoint – N-Ireland
  • May 27 – The John Hewitt – Belfast – N-Ireland
  • May 29 – JJ’s – Dublin – Ireland
  • May 30 – McKenna’s – Monaghan – Ireland
  • May 31 – Ardhowen Theatre – Enniskillen – N-Ireland
  • June 1 – Sandinos – Londonderry – N-Ireland
  • June 2 – Island Arts Centre – Lisburn – N-Ireland
  • June 3 – Rory Gallagher Festival – Ballyshannon – Ireland
  • June 6 – Colfers – Carrig on Bannow – Ireland
  • June 7 – St John Arts Centre – Listowel – Ireland
  • June 8 – The Barger Rooms – Ennis – Ireland
  • June 9 – Jazz & Blues Festival – Limavady – N-Ireland
  • June 10 – Seamus Ennis Center – Naul – Ireland

Ray Wrights Portrait Of The Blues Exhibition @ Blue Note, Dublin. April 2007

Portrait Of The Blues Exhibition @ Bleu Note, Capel Street Dublin 18th April until 29th  April 2007

Every picture tells a story and Ray Wright’s collection on display in the Blue  Note is the story of theDublin Blues Scene.

Ray Wright a big fan and supporter of the music assembled thirty musicians who have been stalwarts of live music in Dublin over the years to sit for portraits in a city centre studio.

The fruits of that project were unveiled last night with an opening reception in the Blue Note Blues Soul & Jazz venue on the corner of Capel & Parnell Street.

Among the 30 images on display are all my favourite local guitarists all of them present and chilling out and appreciative of this gesture of recognition such as Pat Farrell, The Business, Pete  Mc Gowan, Parchman Farm, Junior Hynes,  Hollywood Slim & The Fat Cats, Gerry Hendricks, Don Baker Band, Peter Moore & Johnny Reynolds, International Blues Band, Ben Prevo, Dermot Byrne and Brian Meakin.

The portraits on display all around the walls of the Blue Note are wonderful and capture not only the personality, spirit, emotion and energy of each individual performer but also reflects a portraiture of the passionate endeavour each brings to their music on the stage.

What you see is a labour of love for the musicians and the music and is a glimpse into this distinct and powerful mode of music and a rich soup of talented musicians who give
expression to the deeply emotional content of the blues on the stages around Dublin and abroad over the years.

Derived and distilled from traditions of Gospel, European and African music and rhythm the Blues is appreciated the world over for its hard truths, collective soul, humour and
depth of spirit often referred to as the premier musical format of the disenfranchised and downhearted but also a joybringer for audience and musician alike within the small, tight knit and supportive community very similar to our own Irish traditional music community.

Its extremely difficult to solve the commercial nature of playing blues music and as such it becomes obvious to fans and observers that these musicians are driven by a passionate
motivation, an earthiness, honesty and desire to play sing and participate with other musicians and the audience with the likelihood that they won’t get their reward in this life.

From a fans point of view it’s a much more accessible environment with none of the ego and pretence that unfortunately surrounds the more commercial mainstream formats.

At a blues gig you can join together with the band, meet and greet the musicians and support the musicians directly by buying CD’s from the band itself.

Ray Wright has done an excellent job of using the subjects in his large portraits to tell his thoughts by bringing together the diverse talents of these local heroes and masters of
the craft.

On the walls of the Bleu Noteand as well as the guys I mentioned earlier for the next two weeks you can see Mary Stokes, Bree Harris, Nigel Mooney, Jimmy Faulkner, Kevin Morrow, Deko Kennedy, Pat Kilty, Tommy Carney, Steven Mc Loughlin and Tommy Grimes, Drummers Brian Downey and Shane Atlas, Bass Players Brendan Priestley, Bill Bergin and Neil Partridge, horn player Karl O Byrne, harmonica players such as Tony Poland and Brian Palm who also has some of his own creative talents on the walls of the Blue  Note.

Music for the occasion was provided by Pat Farrell on Guitar, Tommy Moore on Bass and Fran Breen on Drums. Pat  Farrell playing a hollow bodied Gibson 335 through a Fender
amp revealing his versatility offering up excellent biting guitar solos and chord phrasing to the assembled roomful of his peers.

Tommy Moore is an impressive musician who performs with colour and variety on Bass & Vocals supported by Fran Breen’s propulsive percussive style but its Pat Farrell’s scintillating fretwork that bursts into pants on fire boogie and is marked by an experienced inventiveness.

Happy Birthday Blues, Barefooting, Red House, Further On Up The Road and Need Your Love So Bad were sure fire winners, loaded with solid blues feeling and golden age  tradition.

Bree Harris a top class entertainer joined the band on stage for Stormy Monday and Talk To Me Baby for a swinging energetic top flight performance assisted by Dermot Byrne and Tony Poland on harps demonstrating a musical portrait from these Irish Ambassadors of the Blues.

It was a night of celebration and collaboration and the Blue Note laid on food and a  supportive party atmosphere that makes it all worthwhile for the fans and especially for the musicians and as long as we have artists like Ray Wright and our local Blues
Musicians helping each other project their mutual talents we will keep the music alive.

Ray also has some great pictures on his site www.raymondwright.org  particularly of Thin Lizzy and Philomena Lynott was in the Blue Note to support the launch.

I walked down the street with my body still vibrating to the wonderful version of Willie Cobbs You Don’t Love Me, a song I have worn out playing on many albums over the years from the Allman Brothers to Ike & Tina Turner and such is the catchy indelible nature of these tunes I never grow tired listening to alternative interpretations.

“You don’t love me pretty baby

You don’t love me yes I know

You don’t love me pretty baby

You don’t love me yes I know

Well if you leave me pretty baby

Don’t you know your gonna hurt me so”

 

John Primer @ Bleu Note, Dublin 20/04/2007

Legendary Chicago Blues Guitarist John Primer was in top form in the Bleu Note on Capel Street for the first of two shows in Dublin.

John Primer earned his stripes riding shotgun with Willie Dixons All Stars, Muddy Waters Band filling the lead guitar spot until Muddy passed away in 1983, and moving on to a huge favourite of mine Magic Slim & The Teardrops before enjoying well-deserved front man status himself in the 90s, releasing hit albums like The Stuff You Got To Watch and The Real Deal among ten of his solo albums.

John who I’d seen for the first time play in the Madison Bar in Rathmines last year last year came originally from Mississippi moved to Chicago in 1963 cutting his teeth in the West Side Clubs of Chicago by the side of Junior Wells, Sammy Lawhorn and Buddy Guy and has evolved as a superb electric Blues troubadour with his own clean, uncluttered and ever reliable traditional blues solo phrasing and fast bottleneck signature sound.

The atmosphere was warmed up for us by local Rhythm ‘N’ Blues Band The Blue Notes fronted by the hard working Stephen Mc Loughlin with Bass, Drums, Guitar and Saxophone weaving a tight warm sound around Van The Man’s Moonlight and Domino, Bone’s Shuffle and an indispensable repertoire of classic Chicago Mustang and Texas ZZ Blues.

John Primers backing band for his Irish tour was The Lee Hedley Band who took to the stage and warmed up the main phase of the show for about 20 minutes with some of their regular crowd favourites like The Fabulous Thunderbirds Tuff Enuff.

The thermometer exploded when John Primer joined Lee, Lou Campbell guitar, Aaron Loughran Bass and Bobby Dyer Drums on stage with his trusted hollow bodied Epiphone Riviera.John Primer has a legendary charisma on stage, tall, confident and immaculately dressed for the occasion just like a seasoned entertainer who is known as the genuine article, the real deal.

On songs like The Stuff You Got To Watch one of John’s own compositions to The Things That I Use To Do, my own favourite all time song from Guitar Slim, the tone, energy and original spirit is old school and sublime on John’s fretboard.

John Primers seasoned guitar genius prevails from the start in a warn confident and unpretentious style show, that brings the band, the crowd and each song rumbling along like a latent volcano that climaxes with his trademark emotive, stinging axe work.

His voice is confident and soulful and his bottleneck technique is pure traditional fifties Chicago blues producing pointedly wicked guitar solo after solo that serves tradition well but unfortunately he had to abandon his Epiphone and strap on Lou Campbell’s Fender Telecaster deluxe when one of the strings broke.

John’s set was a mix of original songs and traditional classics that dip deeply into his roots like I’m A Man, Hoochie Coochie Man and Got My Mojo Working all performed with no flash just plain craftsmanship from this legendary musician turning the Bleu Note audience into another generation of blues fans.

He is a very likable guy and humoured us all for a chat and to have pictures taken before and after the show his face broadened and beaming with a smile throughout.John covers a lot of territory on his tours heading off to Greece next and then back to the States but the most important journey this man makes is showing us all the breath, depth, confidence and charisma of a blues man who plays top notch blues.John Primer is a man with secrets worth sharing and this was a gig that revealed a journeyman with a venerable career making top shelf blues music and entertainment memories.

There is a quote from John Primer on his album Stuff You Got To Watch that puts it all into focus;

“ The feelin of the music, its got to come from your heart . It’s got to. You’ve got to play it with a feelin’, from your heart. And make every word mean something…”

It’s a real treat for Chicago electric and bottleneck blues fans in Ireland to have the opportunity to witness a master of the craft like John Primer and great credit must go to the management of the Bleu Note for taking the commercial risks and promoting gigs of this high calibre.

Big Danny Memorial Show @ Annesley House, Dublin. 23/03/2007

Big Danny Gallagher was a towering giant of a man who came from New Jersey and obviously with a name like that had connections that brought him to Ireland to retrace his ancestral footprints. He hooked up with a network of creative artists over the years in Galway, Arranmore and Dublin who gathered together in the Annesley House on Friday night to pay tribute to this large in life and large in death personality that left a big intense impression on those he befriended until his sudden death recently. The music was in full swing when I arrived, Business Bassman John Quearney, one of Big Danny’s closest friend’s and supporters was doing a slinky version of Willie Dixon’s Built For Comfort with his son Colm and Dave Murphy on Guitars and legendary Irish drummer Nollaig Bridgeman solid as a rock at the rear.

Immediately I was stunned by the extraordinary inventive interplay between Colm Quearney on his Telecaster and Dave Murphy on his big Gibson Lucille with the emphasis on well thought out solos that built up to breathtaking intensity repeatedly throughout the set. Maybe it was because I was sitting next to Emma at the sound desk but the sound was brilliant overall but in particular the beautiful gutsy deep toned solos on the classic Freddie King/Clapton/Green instrumental workouts. The Stumble and Hideaway were spinechilling with the rhythm section matchfit and in full stride throughout. Live music does not come much better than this, and the full house in attendance were on a roll and swaying along to the enjoyable punchy performance of these multi talented musicians who are central figures in the Dublin music scene motivating and inspiring past and future generations of musicians.

Colm Quearney does divine Bob Dylan covers turning Lay Lady Lay, Tangled Up In Blue and Like A Rolling Stone into something distinctively polished and propelled by guitar playing of the highest quality, taking his influences and melding them into a style uniquely his own. There was pictures of Big Danny on the wall’s and two large framed pictures raffled by Smiley Bolger another legendary character on the Dublin music scene over the decades. One of large framed black & white pictures immortalising a jam session with Big Danny in the company of Business men John Quearney and Pat Farrell was won by Biddi T who will no doubt have it adorning the Faith Avenue household with pride of place. Big Danny was a man of many opinions inspired by the American Beat Generation and many contributors on the night recalled stories and events that would have made Kerouac and Ginsberg put pen to paper.

On Big Danny & the Lost Leader Band CD Sign of Faith there is a message from Big Danny: “Children everywhere, being fed bad, little or no information, Be true to yourselves and treat others The way you like been treated it’s that simple.” Danny Rogers read some poetry from Lawrence Ferlinghetti who espoused a liberal spirituality with kindness and was famous to the 70’s rock generation for his recitation of the prayer in The Band’s Last Waltz concert film by Martin Scorsese. “The dog trots freely in the street and sees reality and the thing’s he sees are bigger than himself and the thing’s he sees are his reality, drunks in the doorways, moon’s in the trees. The dog trots freely through the street and the things he sees are smaller than himself, fish on newsprint, ants in holes chicken in Chinatown windows, their heads a block away The dog trots freely in the street and the things he smells smell something like himself. The dog trots freely in the street past puddles and babies, cats and cigars, poolrooms and policemen. He doesn’t hate cops he merely has no use for them. And he goes past them and past the dead cows hung up whole in front of the San Francisco Meat Market He would rather eat a tender cow than a tough policeman though either might do. And he goes past the Romeo Ravioli Factory and past Coit’s Tower and past Congressman Doyle of the Un-American Committee He’s afraid of Coit’s Tower but he’s not afraid of Congressman Doyle although what he hears is very discouraging, very depressing, and very absurd to a sad young dog like himself, to a serious dog like himself. But he has his own free world to live in, his own fleas to eat. He will not be muzzled; Congressman Doyle is just another fire hydrant to him. The dog trots freely in the street and has his own dogs life to live and to think about and to reflect upon touching and tasting and testing everything investigating everything without benefit of perjury, a real realist with a real tale to tell and a real tail to tell it with” A quality succession of contributors joined the band on stage on vocals and blues harp adding to a very pleasing and varied set from Hoochie Coochie Man, Mystery Train and a first class a cappella version of Danny Boy bringing the tribute home.

Big Danny Gallagher’s memory associated with such a splendid, sincere, competent and finely crafted night of music and performance rock solid in all departments is the finest monument his friends could have erected to evoke the memory of their friend gone to that great gig in the sky “when you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight, death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal”.

Chris Smither @ The Village, Dublin 13/02/2007

Every year now for the past decade I receive a most welcome postcard from singer songwriter Chris Smither detailing his touring schedule for the month’s ahead. To repay the complement I have attended a performance on every tour because I think it’s a nice traditional touch, good revenue for the postal system which pays the bills in my house, but most of all because Chris Smither has been trekking around this planet for to thirds of every year now for decades with his gentlemanly manner, well crafted songs, intimate performances and spine chilling folk blues guitar style and is one of my favourite live performance experiences.

Chris Smither is one of the most respected and likable performers with a well rounded signature guitar style that smoulders and grooves in the finest traditions of acoustic folk & country blues and a song writing style that strikes the perfect balance between serving tradition well and redefining the craft to catch the attention of the contemporary listening buds.

Over the past few years I travelled down to veteran promoter Larry Roddy’s promotions in the beautiful setting of the Ballymore Inn to catch Chris’s annual visit and over the years I’ve been to Whelan’s several times, Mother Redcaps and tonight it was all happening in The Village formerly known as the Mean Fiddler and before that again The Wexford Inn.Chris arrived on stage and kicks off spellbinding us with his musicality and effortless virtuosity on a 12 fret cutaway Collings acoustic, a majestically sounding guitar, thumb pick and fingerpicks pinching the bass notes and cascading across the chords on the title track of his 2003 CD Train Home.

His unique heel and toe was tapping out the percussive rhythm as he warmed up the crowd with uplifting energy saying he was keeping the mood light for awhile:
“I don’t want to get to heavy to soon”

Chris grew up in New Orleans but really got into the folk scene in Cambridge Massachusetts in the late sixties and has been playing festivals, clubs all around the world and making the most penetrating and delightful albums ever since.From his new CD Leave the Light On, Chris introduced one of his trademark humorous lyrical overviews of mankind called Origin Of The Species, going back to the beginning of time and tracing the biblical versus Darwin journey from the garden up to the present. Nine out of ten people have a bible of some sort in the house, what’s wrong with the other guy?

“The whole thing works like clockwork over time
I’ll just sit back in the shade while everyone gets laid
That’s what I call intelligent design” ©

Dave Carters Crocodile Man breezed along with driving rhythm and smooth bluesy finger style followed by the tale of Lola the kind of woman your mother warns you to keep away from and the kind of advice you don’t take until it’s to late.

Chris talked about his new state of the art GPS device which helps him find venue’s in difficult locations and especially the persuasive comfort of the systems sexy female voice to a man as she helps him find his way along the highways.

“Freeway exit 1.5 kilometres away”

I suspect that her charm would probably be lost on our own M50 you wouldn’t get to hear her often enough to develop a relationship.Chris played a song called Diplomacy about the sense of disillusionment that has existed under George Bush and his administrations foreign policy decisions and many people including myself have found the real ambassadors of perspective and reassurance for that wonderful talented and influential continent in recent years has been its artists like Chris Smither, Bruce Springsteen and The Dixie Chicks whose good fortunes have been recently restored with multiple awards at this years Grammy’s.

“It’s the land of the free, blind and leading the lame”©

Chris’s dad Robert was a professor at the University of Tulane but his uncle Howard was also a learned man and gave the young embryonic musician some indelible advice:

“If you know two chords you can play a lot of the song’s you hear on the radio and if you know three chords you could pretty much rule the world”©

Chris has an ode to his father on his new CD, a song he approached with reticence “ scary enterprise” , because of the profound closeness and sensitivity of the subject matter but as he said his father is now in his 90’s with no sign of quitting yet and Chris he is in his early 60’s it was time to deal with it.

“It takes so long to say more than goodnight”©

Chris Smither creates the atmosphere of a living room for his worldly wise lyrics and nice melodies. His thumb & finger style blend of rhythm and lead has the knack of making an audience cosy and comfortable pacing his performance with ease, economy and grace and it is mature melodic easy to follow musicianship at its best and absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

The songs are the magic, each tune deceptively refined and clinging tenaciously to the memory from a craftsman with talent to burn and Chris doesn’t believe in burning it but using it wisely and living proof that restraint doesn’t equate with wimp out.

“I don’t pick no cotton
I never pick my nose
I couldn’t pick a pocket
In a pile of dirty clothes”©

Chris draws admiration from the singer songwriter audience and the traditional folk blues audience because his music redefines its ancestral identity in a manner that is satisfactorily challenging and reassuring.

Specifically interesting is the seamless integration of guitar and voice
Chris Smithers approach represents a modern vision of the blues that moves the listener forward through the time zones from finger picking Delta and all stops in between to places it has never been before called Evolution Street.

Songs like Link of Chain fire the latent blues imagination of the listener and have enough modern charisma to make them mainstream radio friendly.His reputation as a songwriter has been enhanced over the years as various music luminaries like Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Diana Krall have recognised his talent and recorded versions of his versatile compositions.

Chris done an online search recently and found 15 versions of his classic Love Me Like a Man and all the artists were women so he reckons that is a pointer that he is doing something right.

Songs like Leave The Light On and Open Up from the new CD and my own favourite Happier Blue show an unerring eye for those narrative details that once heard, can indelibly invite a song into your brain forever.

There are precious few songwriters of this calibre around and he is my favourite interpreter of the works of one Mr Bob Dylan from his Dylan meets Canned Heat vibe on his early 70’s Down In The Flood, What Was It You Wanted on Up On The Lowdown in ‘95 to Desolation Row on Train Home in 2003 and now Visions Of Johanna on the CD Leave The Light On.

The guitar playing is clear musical and easy to follow and demonstrates astounding acoustic finesse bringing the full house in The Village down to pin dropping attention during, Killing the Blues.It reminded me of a quote I picked up recently from local musicologist Sean Finn attributed to Joni Mitchell:

“Relax your body. Keep your eyes closed. Feel the beat. Express how much you enjoy that beat with your body and forget what you look like.”

For fans who wants to get some of Chris’s incredible licks under their fingertips he has a new instructional DVD available from his web site WWW.Smither.Com which promises a pot pourri of lick, riffs, tips and working methods.

A life dedicated to touring and playing his music around the globe has earned him a loyal following who responded with rapturous applause at the end of the show bringing Chris back for an encore on Blind Willie Mc Tell’s Statsboro Blues.

Veteran roots promoter Larry Roddy was clearly delighted with the excellent turn out which had been a cause for celebration at the previous performances in Cork and Galway as were many supporters, Charlie Hussy from D.C.A.L.’s Bluestrain on 103.2fm and online every Sunday night, Frank Mulligan, Benny Conaty and Kevin Morrow aka Hollywood Slim contemplating putting his own acoustic roots outfit together which is good news from a local who brings flair and originality to our blues and jazz scene.

I recall another gig in Mother Redcaps back in the early 90’s when the hail rain and snow was belting down on a miserable winters night in Dublin and despite only a handful of dedicated supporters in attendance Chris got up an played out of his skin, told stories and sang as if there was three hundred in the audience and sent us on our way home with satisfaction and added value.

“These men you’ve been seeing
They got their balls up on the shelves
You know they could never love you baby
They can’t even love themselves”©

T-Bone Kelly Band @ Bleu Note, Dublin. 3/02/2007

T-Bone Kelly is a talented American in town who has got the work life balance just right, during the day he creates an atmosphere of inspiration for his students in his lectures as professor of psychology at the University and at night as leader of the classy, emotionally driven, powerful T-Bone Kelly Band. The songs are a good mix of new material and classic covers from the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top and Rory Gallagher.

T- Bone Kelly has accumulated a wealth of musical experiences in his travels and this Irish project of his is clearly a labour of love with some very talented local
musicians, John Nugent (Drums), Martin O Keeffe (Bass) and Phil Baker (Co-Lead
Guitarist) making a welcome return to the live scene on guitar in absolutely fine
form after a ten year absence.

They launched into the high energy set with some modern Texas blues in ZZ Tops Tush the appropriate mating call of the young man on the town on a Saturday night with T-Bone and Phil trading sizzling guitar runs between them.

“I been bad, I been good
Dublin,Texas,Hollywood
I ain’t asking for much
I said Lord, take me downtown
I’m just looking for some tush.”

The wonderful blend of raunchy humour and sexual  innuendo had the upbeat Bleu Note audience captured immediately followed by another key influence in the tough, melodic T- Bone Kelly sound Honky Tonk Woman by The Rolling Stones showcasing T-Bone on blues harp.

Part of the appeal for me in the relaxing ambiance of the Bleu Note is their collection of imported beers on offer and there is nothing tastier to complement a bottle of Tyskie Polish 5.7% beer with its 17th century light relatively strong recipe,  than a bouncy and invigorating version of Screaming Jay Hawkins’s I Put A Spell On You, indelibly  inoculated into my consciousness the first time I put the needle down on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version in the jukebox in Fat Freddie’s Chipper back in ‘69.

The T-Bone Kelly Band’s frisky unpretentious approach to the arrangements has a vibrant likable energy and bounce and works well especially on uncluttered covers live No Expectations from Beggars Banquet the Brian Jones and Bill Wyman era Rolling Stones 1968 LP.

“Take me to the station
And put me on a train
I’ve got no expectations
To pass through here again”

Phil Baker found the magic in the moment with his tribute to Rory Gallagher doing an impeccable version of the Irish Tour ’74 Muddy Water’s  tune I Wonder Who playing bottleneck with a full sized beer bottle.

“I wonder who?
Goin to be your sweet man when I’m gone”

T- Bone cruised up to the end of the first half nailing the groove with Green Onion style riffing and classic Chicago  and Texas blues matching his guitar skill with some rack held blues harp and raw rollicking boogie somewhere in a vibe reminiscent of The Allman Brothers, Smoking Joe Kubeck & Bnois King or Buddy Guy.

“You got to help me, baby
I can’t do it all by myself
You got to help me, baby
I can’t do it all by myself
If you don’t help me baby
Gonna find somebody else “

After a short break there were ample portions of more classic covers like Unchain My Heart, Are You Ready,Bring It On Home To Me and originals like Indigenous Tuna showing a band with authority never letting the pace or fretwork slip below the funky hot n taste on the radar screen.

The energy and excitement on the stage pretty soon became the pulse of the party, my favourite type of cross pollination filling the front of the stage in the Bleu Note with sensuality and patterns of interactive unabashed celebration and in the moment Saturday night fever.

There is a humorist theme in the air at a T-Bone Kelly performance which makes a nice desert for the southern fried boogie cultivating bridges of empathy in the rapier like wit of tunes like  Down Drinking At The Bar by Louden Wainwright 111 where the obscene is poetically combined with the pristine.

T-Bone Kelly has put together a local band of crack musicians with a road house heart and plenty of musical muscle, capturing the essence of a song like ZZ Top’s Jesus Left Chicago demonstrating the concise punchy delivery and ZZ’s wacky sense of humour.

“Took a jump through Mississippi
Well muddy waters turned to wine
Then out to California
Through the forests and the pines
Ah take me with you Jesus”

The classic chemistry of T-Bone’s Gibson guitar and Phil Baker’s customised Squire Fender Strat copy was as near to perfection especially when they combined legs and arms to play with each others fret boards.

Just as a matter of interest for one to have the true tonal attributes of the classic Gibson and Fender combined in one instrument you would have to take the hard wood from a neglected garden on Mount Diablo not to far from  Alamo, California, cut and steep it in a vat of bikers urine for five long years in a workshop behind the best little Bordello in Paris Texas and finally polish the atomic free radical sun dried overblown massive blues tone molecules with a blarney stone in the Arizona  desert close to where they made the TV western Have Gun Will Travel.

In the meantime you can capture the essential magic of it all at a T-Bone Kelly Band gig in the Bleu Note on the corner of Parnell & Capel Street where the music is consistently alive and kicking and keeping Saturday night live and exquisitely wonderful as captured in  poetry by George William Russell one hundred years ago or so to the night.

“Ah, no the wizardry is over
The magic flame
That might have melted all in beauty fades as it came
The stars are far and faint and strange
The night draws down
Exiled from light, forlorn,
I walk inDublinTown”

Carlos Johnson @ Bleu Note, Dublin 26/01/2007

Real live Chicago Blues performances have been thin on the ground in recent years so the arrival of consummate bluesman Carlos Johnson with his own band was eagerly awaited in Dublin’s new live music venue, the Bleu Note on Capel St this weekend.

Local support band for the Friday night show The Blue Notes kicked off the first half of the night with a powerful set of classic cover versions and crowd pleasers, wishing BB King well from his current ill health with an impressive up tempo version of The Thrill Is Gone followed by another classic Just A Little Bit.

The Blue Notes with front man Steve Mc Loughlin grooving and twisting away like Chubby Checker on stage led the band through material from Sonny Boy Williamson, Van Morrison, the late soulster James Brown, Joe Cocker with guitarist Phil Bolger in fine form on ZZ Tops Fool For Your Stockings and an exciting key change on Further On Up The Road.

“Now I’m telling everybody
It seems too good to be true
Sweet things can always get sweeter
I know mine did, how about you?
Yes, its alright
I said, yes it is, that’s alright
I may not want to admit it
I’m just a fool for your stockings I believe”

The Blue Notes make a glorious joyous, raucous racket and opened up the nights proceedings with a set crammed full of classic covers with the Guitar, Bass, Drums, Saxophone, Blues Harp and Vocals giving a turbo charged facelift to the classic blues rock and boogie material.

Downstairs in the basement of this popular new music venue on Dublin’s Capel St, the Friday evening crowd was mellowing out nicely to the Liza Hingerty Quartet who was sculpting her thimbleful gentle voice to maximum effect over the sleek addictive proficient arrangements and beamed me back to an intimate Julie London vibe in a 50’s martini lounge resplendent in her radiant azure blue silk cocktail dress as clear as unclouded sky.

The Bleu Note has done a great job in recent months for live music in Dublin and the added value is a management team who genuinely care about promoting quality music attractions in comfortable and stylish surroundings and are currently working on an exciting presentation for Valentine’s Night featuring Liza and six equally talented female jazz vocalists which will surely be a winner all the way in the candle lit ambiance of the Bleu Note on a night when there is so much love in the air.

I must confess I am also very partial to the delights of the Bleu Notes imported beers in moderation of course, particularly the clean rich flavours of the eastern European brews with their mysterious soft pleasant aftertastes.

“Beauty lies in the hands of the beerholder”

Carlos Johnson’s Dublin performance of his signature brand of top blues, r&b, jazzy blues and funky soul seen him in the company of a molten hot three piece band comprising Tim Gant Piano, Joewaun Scott Bass and Melvin Carlisle aka Pookie Styx on the Drums who got the contemporary and traditional values in his music exactly right.

Carlos Johnson’s performance is full of hook you in stomping beats and funky rhythms creating first rate atmospheric soulful blues with his guitar lines gaining explosive emotional intensity as each song progresses.

To a packed crowd of local live music fans that included veteran blues travellers and enthusiasts, Northside Eddie, Black Hat Gerry, Southside Pat, North County Mick and Southside Eddie the energy level never dipped below the fully charged zone as Carlos opened up by saying:

“If you ain’t got the blues, we gonna give them to ya
If you do got the blues, we gonna get rid of them for ya”

There was an enlightening feel and groove between the musicians on the stage, the importance of the interaction was evident from the start, the nods, smiles and eye contact directing the dynamics on stage with the whole crowd tapping their toes and tying in with the amazing high hat and snare work and throbbing bass rhythm section.

When Carlos puts his foot on the accelerator ascending his chilling south paw arpeggiated chord work to a climax, he delivers screaming blues solos shaped with the most incredible searing perfectly controlled, intonated high register bends wailing on the right side of the feedback threshold.Thankfully I was there to witness this essential performance of live music at it’s finest and reminded me of the old Irish proverb:

“The most beautiful music of all is the music of what happens”

At one point Carlos took his hollow bodied Gibson for a stroll over to Liza Hingerty in the audience, who joined him on vocals for his version of Mississippi John Hurt’s Nobody’s Business But Mine, teasing the audience as to whether he should play hard or soft.

“Sometimes my baby gets boozy
Sometimes she tries to rule
Nobody’s business how my baby treats me
Nobody’s business but mine
If I come to Dublin
And I want to have a pint of Guinness
Then its nobody’s business how my baby treats me
Nobody’s business but mine”

Anyone there truly witnessed history in the making, Carlos surrounded by his own calibre of musicians intuitively complementing his true potential in a meaty definitive master class in contemporary Chicago Blues playing and reminded me of an similar indelible memory in Whelan’s back in the early 90’s witnessing another Chicago legend Jimmy Rogers, sadly not to long before he passed away , live in Dublin with his All Stars Blues Band featuring Houndog Taylor’s drummer Ted Harvey.

Then there was another much recalled legendary performance by Luther Allison at the Monaghan Blues Festival which I unfortunately missed out on, but I did make it to his Mean Fiddler performance before he sadly had to leave us also in 1999 to go up that great stage in the sky.

“True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by”

Carlos Johnson in the company of top drawer Chicago musicians, this is the environment that allows the individual musical ebullience shine through and spawns new and unexpected delights and perspectives.

In a good live music performance the audience are vital participants and their response is itself essential for the performance to take off and fly and fly it did in the Bleu Note with constant back and forth exchanges unifying the exuberant sexual energy in the air as the atmosphere got rocking and the dancers boogied their way to the stage front for this real deal blues party in Dublin’s fair city.

Whatever style of music you play, if you do it convincingly then your spirituality always comes out in the music and Carlos brings it out revealing a good heart, taking a video camera and filming the audience sending a get well greeting to Chicago Bassman Sam Green who worked on his excellent In And Out CD, who is unfortunately in bad health as a result of a motorcycle accident back home.

Carlos Johnson is a modern manifestation of the trajectory of the blues guitar style incorporating the rootsy passion of tradition with the modern technical proficiency and meld of jazz, soul and funk and has proven that given a chance, good promotion and sponsorship, this kind of gig can be embraced by a diverse multigenerational audience looking for the live experience and an opportunity to participate and be united in the joy of music united as listener and musician under the same roof.

“The women all like us cause we play in this place
The men don’t like us when we knock’m to their knees
I said hey, there’s a blues band in town
We love to play the blues
We don’t mess around
Hey a Blues Man’s in your town”

Carlos Johnson was in top form in the Bleu Note and this axe slinger of considerable repute had all the dancers in the audience at the top of the class for the final encores and although the ladies had all the best bump and grind moves on view, the air guitar call and response award of the night goes to our own blues traveller Black Hat Gerry sending us all home ecstatically satisfied at almost 3am in the morning.

Carlos Johnson is an excellent example of a working musician nurturing and re-cultivating the roots of a music styles tradition with an instrumental virtuosity that is exciting, energetic, vital and dynamic and its why the audience in the Bleu Note responded with equal enthusiasm as Carlos went for a walk through the audience, in behind the bar at the back, playing non stop and jamming with his musicians on the stage with the crowd roaring on approval in the middle of this musical sandwich.

The live music experiences has always been one of the best transcendent releases we as human beings need to release the everyday tensions of life and find a life dance to restore the balance and it was a great one.

“Well it sounds so sweet
I had to take me chance
Rose out of my seat
I just had to dance
Started moving my feet
Whoa to clapping my hands
I said the joint was a rocking
Goin’ round and round
Yeah, reeling and a rocking
What a crazy sound
And they never stopped rocking
‘Til the moon went down”

Carlos Johnson @ Bleu Note, Dublin 17/11/2006

Supported by an impressive set from our own local blues heroes The Business featuring Pat Farrell on some finely crafted blistering fretwork, John Quarney on Bass and Davey Gaynor on Drums playing some crowd favourites like Standing Out There in the Rain, Ain’t Superstitious, Poor Man’s Throne and Willie Dixon’s I’m Ready the atmosphere in the Bleu Note was on a high when one of Chicago’s finest blues guitarist’s Carlos Johnson arrived on stage.

The Bleu Note a very welcome new live music venue on Dublin’s Capel Street, put on three Chicago Blues nights featuring the electrifying Carlos Johnson supported by The Mary Stokes Band on Thursday, The Business on Friday, and The Conspirators on Saturday night.

Carlos Johnson is the real deal on stage a south paw playing with the heavy strings nearest the floor and a tone wailing on the right side of the feedback threshold, this thumb and finger style bluesman played scorching guitar breaks and high energy funky blues.Carlos Johnson knows exactly what he is doing on stage, drawing on his voraciously wide musical interests, with elements of funk, soul, jazz and classic Chicago blues, all bubbling away, is cooking away on the Bleu Note stage.

Born in Cook County back in 1948 Carlos started off being in awe of BB King but soon started adding other influences like Charlie Christian who pioneered the sound of single string guitar playing back in the late 1930’s and early 40’s moving on to make a living playing the blues behind Junior Well’s, Koko Taylor and Son Seals.

Playing his hollow bodied Gibson upside down with the knobs under his arm, Carlos goes for a stinging, biting tonal attack taking it for a stroll around the crowd when its really cooking. His band for these engagements were a Polish Blues Band called Blue Crow based in Castlebar and they were kept on their toes as Carlos play’s hard and fast, teasing the female audience members at every opportunity as to whether he should play hard or soft, clearly gifted in the art of the double entendre.

He mixed in classics like Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights Big City and I’m A Man with inventive material of his own like Leaving On The Next Train and Blues Man and by the time he finally unplugged his faithful guitar the crowd was well and truly in a party mood.Carlos is especially hot on the slow soul jazz style guitar workouts with a terse and tasteful attack on the strings and like all left handed players who play the strings, strung high on top his unique approach is spellbinding to watch with the end result individual and divine.

His resulting popularity with the audience in the Bleu Note had them all in the palm of his hand in no time with all kinds of dance moves being witnessed at the front of the stage. His voice is full of funky urban tones with a wicked sense of humour repeatedly teasing the receptive audience with plenty of feedback from the equally humorous Dubs.

Carlos has earned his stripes touring internationally as far away as Japan and serves the tradition well when he demonstrates how easily he turns the blue groove into a soul party and left no one in any doubt that there was a Real Chicago Blues Man in Capel St steaming up the windows on a freezing cold November night in Dublin.

Al Stewart @ Vicar Street, Dublin. 4/11/2006

Scottish born singer songwriter Al Stewart came to Dublin on Saturday night. Best known for his 1976 hit Year of the Cat Al Stewart started off in the mid sixties playing in all night clubs with the likes of Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and Bert Jansh with over 17 albums and 175 songs to his credit.

There was a feast of acoustic guitars on the stage all playing incredible solos and fast chordal changes to the melodic arrangements with USA Singer Songwriter Dave Nachmanoff opening the performance with a selection of his own interesting material about family ancestry in the American Revolution and a lovely tune called Grateful before being joined on stage by Al Stewart to a rousing reception from the Vicar St audience. You know you are going to get fun and easy listening songs full of great guitar music that display’s Al’s ability to traverse broad musical landscapes and even more diverse subject matter in his imaginative lyrics.

Al not only writes wonderful epic historical story laden lyrics but talks at ease with the audience creating a warm relationship and much humour in the exchanges that preface each song on the set list, starting off with Flying Sorcery and In Brooklyn. He jokingly described the song as being off his 2nd Album back in 1928 and moved on to have a chat with the audience about Antarctica from Chronicles in 1969 which featured Richard Thompson on guitar using a pseudonym and not Jimmy Page who featured on one song but tends to get the credit in the urban myths that surface around those recordings.

He also revealed with facetious amusement that the song was not directly inspired by the famous adventurer Shackleton and the doomed Endurance but rather by a cold woman who wouldn’t sleep with him back in the days of free love and flower power. This also provided a surprise introduction for Mark on the flute popping up in the middle of the audience before making his way on to the stage and becoming not only a jack but master of all trades for the remainder of the show with Sax and Percussion chores a plenty.

On the Border was up next greeted by many singing their heads off to the familiar melody and this audience was having a ball and when Al talked about bad relationships and whether many of the audience had experience of such, one female voice shouted out “I’m in one” to uproar and laughter. It was one of those unplanned priceless moments which Al enjoyed clearly, wondering if this had come as news to a possible husband or partner sitting beside her.

A special treat on this 25 date tour was in store for us next when the amazing Laurence Juber joined Al on stage for one of a limited number of dates on the tour. Laurence produced the latest album and adds his guitar wizardry to the production and soon was ripping it up on stage to songs like Dark and Rolling Sea and the Djangoesque Munich, Gina and another huge crowd favourite Time Passages featured recently in an episode of the Sopranos which added nicely Al informed us to his bank balance.

Word has it that the show was being recorded by RTE for a radio broadcast on one the forthcoming Monday nights in November.After the break there were songs about odd sex on a slippery vinyl surface, good revolutions and bad revolutions in the Palace of Versailles and some excellent solo guitar by Laurence Juber on Paint by Numbers feeding his Acoustic into an effects unit that produced a superb electric guitar solo sound.

Then Al introduced us to the first time he heard Laurence Juber play Little Wing one of the greatest pieces of guitar music ever recorded back in the pioneering sixties by Jimi Hendrix and definitely in the upper half of my own top ten desert island discs, and left the stage to Laurence to dazzle us with his uplifting and moving version with its acoustic to-die for dynamics.The showmanship of this all star guitar gathering on stage is spot on as they shift effortlessly between styles as diverse as quirky virtuoso classical, acoustic folk, Django and Russian ragtime capturing the versatility of Al Stewart’s music in this live retrospective showcase.

The great warmth and spontaneity of the evening’s entertainment came to a wonderful climax in Year of the Cat when the music duly touched the full spectrum of Al’s style on an outstanding take on his mid 70’s classic with Marc appearing on the edge of the balcony for the Sax solo. There was a great sense of continuity in the performance with the sensitive acoustic musical approach giving the audience one of the most rewarding and musical performances I’ve witnessed in Vicar St.The guitar sound was pleasing and quite hypnotic with clear harmonics and smooth guitar histrionics achieving a very beautiful effect in the mix featuring a fretwork display of delicious lickery, absolute magic fluency and dexterity with classic melodies and riffs at every turn ensnaring the hearts of everyone in the audience.

The songs featured in the performance from Al’s new album “ A Beach full of Shells”, Katherine of Oregan, Gina in the Kings Road and The Immelman Turn prove that he is entirely capable of crafting catchy(no pun intended) commercial and distinctive melodies for many more years to come thankfully. The final touch of class was giving the fans a chance to meet and greet afterwards which took some time but was the icing on the cake, fair play to Al, Laurence, Dave & Marc, their families and the Vicar St Team because it turns a good night into a wonderful memory and makes all the difference.