As I'm writing this roots review, HoneyBoy Dupree is driving us through Organ Pipe Cactus National Park on our way to Mexico to buy cheap cigarettes and duty free apple juice concentrate. The scenery is spiritually inspiring and beautiful - a 360 degree postcard. BTW - Dupree says hello y'all!
Well last week's American Roots Live was another fun packed week of incredible music by some incredibly talented musicians!
ARL 33 at Crossroads in Garwood, NJ featured a solid line up of serious roots-passionate players including headliner and co-host John Powers, who, joined by JR Bradfield on banjo, put in a stellar set of his infectious, crowd pleasing originals.
Many thanks go to EJ Rice, Josh Gebhardt, Robert Zee, Bones Sanford, Mimi Nowak, Len Depiano, the young and awesomely talented Steve McIntyre, Jim Angelica, Mike Maino, Jeff Miller and Rob "Rock" Bianco among others - yes, even me, now that I'm wearing my new kryptonite belt!
We all appreciate the passion, determination and good will of Win, who has attended all 33 ARL shows since we started in April. Win, a talented photographer, brings his best 11 X 8 1/2 color prints and makes gifts of them to the deserving musicians he appreciates so much - well... we appreciate Win and thank him for his generosity, support and enthusiasm.
In Easton at the Bluetone Cafe Thursday, Billy K & the Pocono Players; Ed Moore and Chip Bush turned up the heat. There were dynamite performances by the Bigsbies, hot as fire picking by Doc Z and Roman, with Vern Mobley on Drums, Bones on bass, Paul Berger, the spirit of Jaimo Flynn, and our young improvisational friend, Michael Lopresti who all made for a great night of music in Easton.
I got home that night after the Bluetone at about 3:30 AM - and given the fact that I was being picked up at 6:30AM for an early flight out of Newark to Phoenix - and still hadn't pack, I decided to pull an all-nighter.
I caught a couple of Z's in the air and landed in Phoenix 2 hours before showtime at the Dessert Ridge Market Place in Scottsdale, AZ with HoneyBoy Dupree & the Smoke House Players. What a cool place. Dessert Ridge is a beautiful open-air mall - think Times Square with palms trees and large concert stage in the middle.
We performed for thousands of appreciative music listeners. The Dessert Ridge has over 30 restaurants mostly situated around the stage area with diners and partiers sitting in individual bistro style outdoor dining areas - with plenty of seats, tables and kiosks in a common area in front of the stage.
Most satisfying was the number of children crowding the stage dancing and reaching up to touch HoneyBoy's bass as he played.
No doubt our American Roots message was delivered and one lucky fan, Dave, a bass player from Chicago, took home the grand prize package of a HoneyBoy Dupree & the Smoke House Player's CD, an autographed picture of me and Dupree performing together at our TV shoot during his Jersey visit in August and the current issue of Elmore Magazine and Elmore CD sampler.
The Phoenix metro area is a great music place and I'll tell you more about my trip when I get back and in Roots Review 34.
Many thanks to our venues, ownerships, staffs, players, fans, sponsors, supporters and volunteers.
We wish Ed Pampani a speedy recoverey and hope to have him back with us soon.
See you at Crossroads on the 29th and the Bluetone on the 30th.
Please be aware that there are some major changes coming for ARL in the very near future so please keep your eyes right here for the latest - you won't want to miss it! Thank you.
Keeping it real,
Ned
