Greetings! Last week there was a show that flew under my radar and didn’t get recommended. The show was Connor Kennedy’s 18th Birthday Bash at The Bearsville Theater. Connor assembled a top shelf band of musician’s and the set list was the entire “Layla” album by Derek and The Dominos! From the first note, the band channeled the spirit of the Clapton band! Connor and guitarist Scott Sharrard did a more than passable reincarnation of Clapton and Duane Allman, Jeremy Baum and Kyle Esposito did an admirable job anchoring the keys and bass, respectively, Manuel Quintana was wonderful on percussion and drums, backing vocalists Vicki Bell and Lindsey Webster were fabulous, but drummer and vocalist Lee Falco shone above all! Lee brought to mind a comment John Lennon once made about Ringo. John said, “You couldn’t yank Ringo out of the pocket with a crane”. Lee was right there all the way, laying down a perfect backbeat with tasty accents and singing the second vocal parts! And he’s a great singer too! In one fell swoop, Lee Falco has vaulted into my top 5 Hudson Valley drummers!

              And speaking of great singers, Connor Kennedy NAILED Eric Clapton! It was phenomenal to watch. His vocals had every inflection and emotion that Clapton had back then, when he wasn’t much older than Connor is now! Connor is definitely growing as a guitarist as well, and being mentored by Scott Sharrard, Gregg Allman’s “secret weapon”, has got to be helping!

              After performing the entire double album, the band left the stage, but the audience wouldn’t let them go! They were called back for an encore, and as Connor stepped up to the microphone, the entire audience was wondering what they would do. They’d already done the entire album. Where could they go next? Well, when Connor opened his mouth and sang out, “I’ll bet you didn’t think I knew how to Rock and Roll”, it was a Perfect Rock n Roll Moment! “Blues Power” was the ONLY song that would have been acceptable as an encore, and it was a perfect end to a truly enjoyable night! Happy Birthday Connor!

              This week’s live music calendar is the easiest ever, and here it is! If you live in the Hudson Valley, on Friday night you go see DAVID JOHANSEN, lead singer of The New York Dolls, the former Buster Poindexter, and Blues belter extraordinaire, perform with a duo at The Falcon in Marlborough, and on Saturday night, you’re at The Bearsville Theater for Master of the Telecaster, BILL KIRCHEN, who was the guitarist in the original Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, one of the greatest, most underrated bands of all time! These two shows are my two Picks of the Week!

              Now if you’re in the city, then Wednesday night, you’re at Town Hall in Manhattan for acoustic guitar master, TOMMY EMMANUEL. Thursday night, you’re at the Bowery Ballroom for SOUL ASYLUM, Friday night, BB King’s for a true master of Rock and Roll performance art, DELBERT MCCLINTON, and Saturday evening, Rumsey Playfield in Central Park for up and coming Blues guitarist, Gary Clarke, Jr.

               Then everybody meets up at The Beacon Theater on Wednesday, August 1, for DONALD FAGEN, MICHAEL MCDONALD, and BOZ SCAGGS!

                See how easy it is when you let me plan your weekend for you? Have a great week!

     Greetings! We’re gonna keep it simple this week and just go straight to the live music listings. It’s too damn hot to write!

     Wednesday, July 18, down in the city, the great slide guitar virtuoso, CAROLYN WONDERLAND, swings over to Joe’s Pub from her home in Austin. Carolyn’s a Ramble veteran and wails on her guitar! You won’t mind too much if you go to this!

     Thursday, July 19 – As I mentioned last week, the quirky and eccentric guitarist, RICHARD THOMPSON makes a rare appearance at The Bearsville Theater tonight, and MARIA MALDAUR AND THE BLUESIANA BAND is at The Falcon in Marlborough, with opening act, ELECTRIC RUBYFISH. Again, ya gotta love a band called Electric Rubyfish!

In the city, mandolin virtuoso, DAVID GRISMAN, is at City Winery, and the great and influential country-rock band, DESERT ROSE will be performing an acoustic set at The Iridium. Desert Rose was Chris Hillman’s band (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas).

Tonight also kicks off the festivities at two of the biggest festivals in the country, THE GREY FOX BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, in Greene County, and GATHERING OF THE VIBES in Connecticut. Both will run through Sunday. Check their websites for schedules and information.

     It looks like nobody was willing to take on both of these behemoths on the same weekend, because there is NOTHING going on over the weekend, except of course, THE ROSENDALE STREET FESTIVAL! Always a great event, this year promises to be better than ever! It’s a local musician lovefest, with 74 bands booked for the course of the weekend! See their website for complete schedule.

     Monday, July 23 – PATTERSON HOOD, he of The Drive By Truckers, rumbles into The Bell House in Brooklyn with his side project THE DOWNTOWN RUMBLERS.

     Tuesday, July 24 – If you missed AEROSMITH and CHEAP TRICK in Albany or Long Island last week, here’s another chance to catch this great double bill at The IZOD Center at The Meadowlands in New Jersey.

THE WALLFLOWERS reunite for a gig at The Bowery Ballroom, and the great  blues guitarist, ANAPOPOVIC makes a very rare appearance at The Iridium. She’s a huge star in Europe.

     The last three events are my Picks of the week!

     Wednesday, July 25 – The legendary acoustic finger picker, TOMMY EMMANUEL makes a rare NYC appearance at Town Hall. If you like this kind of stuff, this is a must see! And wrapping up the week is WILCO at terminal 5. These Alt-Country demi-gods never did much for me, but I know they’re pretty good, and I’d be interested to check them out live.

     Have a great week!

     Greetings! Today, July 12, is the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones first gig, at The Marquee Club in London, and to mark the occasion, the boys gathered at the site of the club for a photo op. Lemme tell ya, they still look good. It’s hard to believe Mick is, what, 65? 68? They all look great! Hope they sound great too next year! I’m looking forward to it! To see the photo, go to http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rolling-stones-gather-at-site-of-first-gig-20120711?link=mostpopular3

     Fleetwood Mac have also announced plans for a reunion next year. Hope that works out well. They’re older now, but hopefully they can still pull it off. Should at least be worth checking out.

     Kind of a quiet week this week, but there is some great stuff going on.

     Friday, July 13 – Whoooo wooo! It’s Friday the Thirteenth! I’m scared! Tonight there are three great events, two in the Hudson Valley, and one out in Brooklyn. FURTHER swings into Cyclones Stadium in Brooklyn, now known as MCU Park. This venue is well known for bringing out the best in performers, and tonight should be no exception. Further? In Brooklyn? On Friday the Thirteenth? Couldn’t they have arranged for a full Moon to go with that? There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!

Upstate, A TRIBUTE TO PAUL BUTTERFIELD, featuring Paul’s son, Gabe, Jimmy Vivino (from Levon’s band, The Fab Faux, and Conan O’Brian’s Band), and LOTS of special guests. You can’t go wrong with Butter! And down in Rosendale, Brianne Olsson from Keegan Ales and Lara Hope from Lara Hope and The Champtones are celebrating their birthdays with a big party in Willow Kiln Park behind The Rosendale Theater. Four bands are booked, including PITCHFORK MILITIA and THE ARKHAMS, both of whom are great! The other two, YARD SALE and THE CRYPTKEEPER FIVE, I am not familiar with, but I know Lara and Brianne, and they’re not gonna book anyone bad! I hear they’re serving food too!

These three events are all my Picks of the week!

     Sunday, July 15 – The Hudson Valley and The Catskill region is blessed this weekend! Most of the action is upstate this week! Tonight, FURTHER returns to Bethel Woods, and Americana god, JIMMY DALE GILMORE, also of The Flatlanders, is at The Towne Crier in Pauling, with THE TWANGTOWN PARAMOURS! You gotta love a band called The Twangtown Paramours!

     Thursday, July 19 – This is really the start of the new week, but I always include it in case you don’t pick up next week’s paper until Friday. Tonight we have the great RICHARD THOMPSON at The Bearsville Theater, MARIA MALDAUR at The Falcon in Marlborough, and THE GREY FOX BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL in Greene County near Durham kicks off their weekend festivities, as does THE GATHERING OF THE VIBES in Connecticut. And don’t forget The Rosendale Street Festival Saturday and Sunday!

Down in the city, mandolin virtuoso, DAVID GRISMAN, is at City Winery, and the vastly underrated and vastly influential DESERT ROSE BAND does a very rare acoustic gig at The Iridium.

     Have a great week!

     Well, once again, it’s hot, everybody’s celebrating The Fourth, even though it’s the first, so it’s a holiday, not much going on, not even sure if the paper comes out this week! But, my loyal internet readers must be served, so the show must go on!

     Last week, as promised, I went to see The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars at The Bearsville Theater. It was a good show, first class reggae and world music. I took photographer Erik Lamont with me, so we have some pictures for you. Thanks to Jodie at the theater for hooking us up.

     The Cheating Hearts had a great night at Keegan Ales last Friday. The band is really starting to jell as a unit. Jimmy Eppard pulled some guitar licks in from outer space, and the rest of the band just cooked along. A splendid time was had by all.

     Guitarslinger, Beki Brindle, is the Hudson Valley’s secret weapon! The girl cooks! Last Saturday at BSP in Kingston, Beki and her band, The Hotheads, rocked the house for two hours straight! She is really good! Besides her usual blues repertoire, they were pulling out Country classics like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Dead Flowers”, and rocking the Country right out of ‘em! She’s one of the best female guitar players around, and one of the best around, period! Catch her if you can!

     Stones still getting ready for their 50th anniversary tour by unveiling a new redesign of their famous tongue logo. It’s all over the internet, so Google it if you wanna see it!

     And now for this week’s live music picks.

     Thursday, July 5 – Tonight’s the first night of the 4 day CBGB FESTIVAL in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A team of investors bought the club’s assets and this is their first step towards re-opening the club in a new location. It’s billed as “300 Bands, 40 Venues”, and several of this week’s picks are part of the festival, but I couldn’t pick ‘em all, so go to www.cbgb.com for more info and a full schedule.

Home in the Hudson Valley, DWEEZIL ZAPPA bring his Zappa Plays Zappa show back to The Bearsville Theater. Always good.

     Friday, July 6 – When someone comes into my store looking for a guitar, I always have to ask them, “What’s your budget”? And likewise, tonight, if someone asked me to recommend a show to them, I would have to ask, “Where ya gonna be”? Because if you’re in the Hudson Valley, you might wanna go see BEN TAYLOR at The Bearsville Theater. BTW, Ben is the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon. But if you’re in the city, you definitely wanna go see ROGER WATERS/ THE WALL at Yankee Stadium, which encores tomorrow night as well. And if you’re up in the Capital region, well then it’s PHISH at SPAC for you, which also encores Saturday and Sunday.

     Wednesday, July 11 – A great night of music, if you don’t mind rockin’ tonight! The great roots rockers NRBQ return to The Iridium jazz club in Manhattan. Further downtown, ACE FREHLEY takes over the Best Buy Theater for the night, and over in New Jersey, DEF LEPPARD and POISON will rock the Prudential Center in Newark.

     Dog days of Summer are upon us. Meow!