Nationality...

We're still floating after a delectable double-header at The National down on Broad Street...Saturday night with the Del McCoury Band, and Tuesday night just past with American original Willie Nelson. Del and the boys did their usual fine job of crowd pleasing even though a goodly percentage of the six hundred plus on hand were in party patter mode and raised the conversational din to a distracting level. If there's a solution to this two-part audience dilemma...those who paid to listen to the music and those who could care less but paid their money just the same...I don't know what it is. It's obviously a bigger issue for those in the first camp and it will be a major point of contention going forward at stand-up venues like The National and Toad's Place. In a way, it's a lot like non-smokers having to suck in smokers' smoke...less dangerous maybe but an infringement nonetheless. Guess we listeners will cherish rooms like Ashland Coffee & Tea all the more.

That said, the atmosphere for the red-haired stranger was perfect. Full house in full party mode with Willie and his veteran band cranking out hit after hit with more animation and twinkle than we've seen from the grizzled icon in some time. He may have had a little boost from the camera crew there filming for an upcoming concert feature called Willie & Me. This was a big-league Hollywood-style production...three cameras shooting 35mm film... so it's cool that Richmond and our newest music hall will be so prominently featured. Willie spent what seemed like 20 minutes near the end of the 2-hour show at the front of the stage signing anything thrust his way, shaking hands and blowing kisses. It's still a thrill to be in the presence of such a mythic character who's had such a remarkable and durable career and see that he's actually real and not some figment of our imagination.

Hope to see lots of you at the Virginia Historical Society tomorrow (Thursday) night for our evening with the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band. Four guys who represent the full fifty-year span of this influential group will bring back the memories and premiere their new CD Adcock, Gaudreau, Waller & Gray. Again, it's an early start, 6pm and tickets will be available at the door. VHS' beautiful new auditorium is at 428 North Boulevard.

Friday night will be a tough call as AC&T plays host to Billy Ray Hatley and the Showdogs to debut their brand new project "Cryin' Shame" and Brad Spivey and his Honky Tonk Experience play a home game at Shenanigans. Don't make me make that call for you, but you really should catch one or the other. We had a terrific rehearsal at HTE guitarist Mike Lucas' place tonight to run-through some of the tunes they're doing for the Patsy Cline concert at VHS on April 4th. I'm really getting excited about it now and we're hoping concert-only tickets will be available the week of the show...it promises to be a memorable night.

Is it just me or did it always used to be this windy all the time? Especially outside of actual storms? Makes me nervous...TT

The Real Del...

The five-and-only Del McCoury Band returns to town to play The National on Saturday night and as a warm-up, I dug out an interview I did with Del before their Groovin' In The Garden show at Lewis Ginter back in the fall of 2004. Just click here, then download the mp3 and hear the former Blue Grass Boy reflect on what he learned from Bill Monroe, how he met Jerry Garcia when Jerry was David Grisman's banjo player, and what it's like on the road with sons Rob and Ronnie. And of course we hope to see you at the show...my first emcee gig at the beautiful new venue. TT (photo from Del's Website)

One on one...

Expectations were sky-high this past Wednesday when we made the easy run down I-85 to Chapel Hill to see old Friend Daniel Clarke with his new boss k.d. lang. We weren't prepared for one of our all-time top-five musical experiences ever, thanks to the singularly stunning expressive power of ms. lang's voice, the spot-on support of her band and the up-front seats we lucked into. Clad in basic black and barefooted, k.d. worked the entire stage and often came up to the very edge and made eye contact that was almost unsettling it was so personal. She accompanied herself on acoustic guitar for her lilting "Upstream" opener, did her obvious thrillers like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and her own Grammy-winning "Constant Craving" and some amazing new tunes like "Jealous Dog" on which she accompanied herself on banjo to great effect. She even joked about taking up the five-string as kind of a "chick magnet." She joked about a lot of things and she was very good at it. Daniel on keyboards, Yamaha grand and accordion, was the epitome of taste and style, never overplaying...the same goes for his former fellow Mandy Moore bandmate Josh Grange on guitars and a weeping pedal steel, Brazilian lead guitarist Grecco Buratto, bassist Ian Walker and drummer Danny Frankel. A perfect sound system and elegant but subtle stage lighting portrayed these sensitive players perfectly and the 1400-plus crowd offered up a couple of standing o's even before the last tunes. It was especially sweet to have Daniel's mom, grandma and other family members in the audience, who were all lovingly greeted by k.d. and the band in a generously lengthy after-show meet & greet. So that sealed the deal. We were all blown away that one of the best singers on the planet, period, was also such a gracious, down-to-earth human being. The next closest gig is in Wilmington, Delaware on March 11th. It would be worth the trip. Period. We didn't hear about the unimaginably tragic and senseless shooting of UNC student body president Eve Carson until we got up the next morning...the most uplifting and the most devastating of events...same day, same place.


I do want to say how much a bunch of us enjoyed Moondi Klein and Jimmy Gaudreau at AC&T a week ago tonight. I even got emotional hearing some of those gorgeous Chesapeake ballads like "High Sierra" and "Morning Blues" again and especially Moondi's gut-wrenching take on Eric Bogle's "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda." It's an achingly beautiful piece about a maimed Aussie soldier in World War I, and it is powerful, especially in Moondi's sensitive hands. He recorded it with the Kruger Brothers on their first Carolina Scrapbook collection...you might want to find it.

It was two nights out in a row as Saturday found us catching Brad Spivey's second set with the fabulous Honky Tonk Experience playing a home game at Shenanigans. It was kind of work- related since BS&HTE is the house band for the upcoming Patsy Cline concert I'm putting together for the Virginia Historical Society. Nobody does real country music any better than these boys and they were gracious enough to take the assignment to learn a bunch of Patsy's hits and some others. We got to hear Kelli Moss (of MoDeBree) sit in with a couple winners, especially "I Fall To Pieces." Perfect. We've lined up some very talented locals for the show and some surprises as well...only catch is, it's part of a day-long Patsy Cline symposium and you have to pay for the whole thing if you want to see the concert. There may be some day-of-concert-only sales pending availability. If you're a real fan of Winchester's former Virginia Hensley, you might want to spend April 4th with us.

JAMinc is busy this spring, with a couple of partnerships and another InYourEar Studio event.
On March 19th we're co-sponsoring with the River City Blues Society, an appearance by renowned blues harmonica players Dennis Gruenling and Steve Guyger and other special guests. It'll be out on Quioccasin Road at Bleu Bistro and will showcase their Tribute to Little Walter CD paying homage to the first harmonica player to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony is at the Waldorf in NYC on Monday night , 40 years after Little Walter's death. So it's a timely tribute and all of us at JAMinc are happy to be part of this great show.

The very next night, March 20th, has JAMinc and the Virginia Historical Society presenting the Country Gentlemen Reunion Band in their beautiful new Robins Family Forum auditorium at 428 North Boulevard. The group is comprised with original Gents Eddie Adcock and Tom Gray, along with Jimmy Gaudreau and Charlie Waller's son Randy. This show will have an educational component telling the story of the group's impact on bluegrass during the evolutionary sixties and seventies. It promises to be an entertaining and informative evening, and it starts a little earlier than you're probably used to...6pm, so make your plans and get your tickets soon. Hearing Randy sing his dad's songs so lovingly while playing Charlie's old Martin herringbone will give you chills...I promise.

Down the road...don't forget the Del McCoury Band and Willie Nelson at the National (March 15th and March 18th respectively) oh, and if you hurry, tonight at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen...the incomparable Chris Smither.

And a lovely parting gift...check out this really well done interview with Chris Thile and a couple of his Punch Brothers from NPR's All Things Considered last week. The guys will play Charlottesville's Satellite Ballroom on April 11th and The Birchmere on May 23rd. The bar is now set so remarkably high...where do we go from here?

This is the shortest weekend of the year, so make the most of it...TT