Robbin Still Rocks...

Suffice to say, the thirty years since the release of the seriously successful Two B's Please album have been kind to the guys responsible for it and their hometown reunion show at the National last Saturday was joyful confirmation that the Robbin Thompson Band was back.  Robbin, Rico, Eric, Audie and Velpo put on a potent demonstration of what three decades of honing musical skills and weeks of recent practice can do.  The boys simply kicked ass.  They were tight, full of energy and played the near sell-out crowd like a harp, reeling off every tune from the aforementioned best-seller and more current tunes as well.  Their evolution as musicians was evident in the meaty solos rendered by Robertson and Heiberg.  There was even an impromptu Wootenesque bass break by Audie Stanley that left us all shaking our heads, the rest of the band included.  Full disclosure:  Robbin's a fellow JAMinc board member who missed our meeting last week for a doctor's visit to deal with an aching back.  You'd never know it.  He prowled the stage like a youngster although he confessed to needing a few hours in the steam room the morning after to recover.  The generous two-set show was preserved by an eight-camera video crew for a future DVD.  But if they do any more of these live shows, and it's likely they will, you'll want to be there.  Whether you remember the glory days or not. Rock and Roll!  And thanks to Skip Rowland for the photos...there are lots more on his Website.

TT

Second Tuesdays...

  We discovered Tuesday night that we'd missed way too many of these choice gatherings at the Capital Ale House's music hall downtown on East Main.  The Richmond Jazz Society's Guest Educators' Series is a monthly dinner show in one of the city's top music venues enhanced by a fine sound system, a great bar menu, and as you probably know, a serious cornucopia of draft and bottled beers.  This special night featured Courthouse Records recording artists the Butterbean Jazz Quartet.  RJS president Robert Payne set the proper tone, deftly turning the sometimes rowdy space into a respectful listening room as he introduced gifted vocalist Terri Simpson and her supporting cast:  bassist Rusty  Farmer, pianist Lee Covington and drummer Keith Willingham.  Augmenting the mix were Terri's hubby and super saxman Kevin Simpson along with great young guitarist John Conley.  Terri proceeded to demonstrate why she's a 2008 Theresa Pollack Award winner with a long and winding set starting with Rodgers & Hart's "Thou Swell," and moving artfully through a fresh and fascinating arrangement of "Autumn Leaves," a sweet take on Joni Mitchell's "My Old Man" and an elegant encore selection in folk favorite "The Water Is Wide."  So much talent in this town...if you weren't part of the full house at Capital Ale, catch the Butterbeans some Sunday at their long-running weekly Sunday gig at Bottoms Up Pizza.  And the 2nd Tuesday in February will bring Charlottesville's Stephanie Nakasian to town with her music mate Hod O'Brien and others in tow.  Hats off to the venerable Richmond Jazz Society for its continued enrichment of the local scene.

In the house was RJS board member and keyboard king Bob Hallahan who put a copy of his new CD in our hands, ...the street where you live.  It's a solid collaboration with area guitar legend Adam Larrabee and its artistry grows with every listen...we've already been through it twice. We'll let you know when it's out.  Another package worth picking up is another duo effort with Winfield, KS champion six-stringers Todd Hallawell and Robin Kessinger.  Their new project is entitled Ear Candy and it is a high-calorie confection packed with some of the cleanest and most tasteful guitar teamwork you're likely to hear.  You might have caught them at the Folk Festival over the past few years and we're working on a local stop sometime in May.  Meantime, check out the CD here.

JAMinc is excited about opening our 2010 season of In Your Ear Studio Concerts with the versatile DC-area Celtic band IONA on January 22nd.  Reservations are going fast at our Website.  Coming up, former Starland Vocal Band member and multi-Wammie winner Jon Carroll in February and in early March,  the sensational string quartet, the Bee Eaters, about whom Darol Anger says, "The Bee Eaters are the instrumental cream of the brand new string nation. ...somehow these kids have absorbed everything we had to offer and alchemized it into a whole new musical world." 

Congrats to 11-year-young Harper Price and her supporting cast who SOLD OUT Ashland Coffee & Tea last night!  Wish I could've witnessed that.  Hope you saw the nice piece about her in last Sunday's T-D.  If you didn't, click here.  And coming to AC&T on Wednesday, February 3rd are Laura Wortman and Keagy Parrish, collectively the Honey Dewdrops.  We were first enchanted by them during a late-night jam on the front porch at Graves Mountain back in '08, fresh from their 1st-place finish in A Prairie Home Companion's "People In Their Twenties Talent Show."  For a $5 cover, you can't afford to miss them.

We're off to a great start.  Come on along....TT

(Bee Eaters photo from their Website)

Brrrrrrrrrring in the new year…

As cold as everyone makes it out to be for the last week or so here in the sunny south, remember when the lakes and ponds froze thick enough to skate on for at least a couple of weeks every winter?  Skeptical as one might be about the certainty of global warming, it’s hard to deny that our winters just aren’t as frigid as they used to be.  Not that I’m complaining.  I trust your holiday season was all you wanted it to be and you didn’t get stranded in some airport or train station somewhere.  I was happy to mostly be at home with family and friends, to enjoy the lingering blanket of snow, and the prospect of all the musical offerings this clean palette called New Year’s Day will soon hold.  This journal now enters its fourth year and this is my 117th posting.  The apparent acceleration of time is of increasing concern, but your receptive support of my musings here makes the investment of that vanishing commodity worthwhile.  I truly appreciate your time and attention.

Let’s get started with something for nothing, as most of us are pretty tapped out after the well-intended but overzealous seasonal spending.  One of the year’s early musical highlights will likely be the long-awaited reunion of the Robbin Thompson Band at The National on Saturday, January 16th.  The 30th anniversary of the release of the band’s 200,000 unit-selling Two “B’s” Please containing such staples as “Candyapple Red,” “Brite Eyes" and, yes “Sweet Virginia Breeze” is being marked by their performing it live in its entirety. The illustrious and well-rehearsed brotherhood includes original RTB members and a-list players Eric Heiberg, Audie Stanley, Velpo Robertson and Bob “Rico” Antonelli.  They did a very well-received debut performance at the Norva in December and now it’s time for the home game in probably the best park possible.  Tickets on sale here but for one of you, how about a pair of comps?  We’ll put you on the guest list if you can tell us the  name of the artist who did Robbin’s last few CD covers and who also did the original art for our 1st JAMinc concert compilation coming soon. (at left)  All correct responders will be placed in a drawing to be held on January 11th.  Send answers to: mail@timtimberlake.com.  (Robbin photo from the Norva show by Zachary Reid)

Our first JAMinc/In Your Ear Studio Concert of the year is now set for Friday, January 22nd with the DC-based Celtic band, Iona.  This is our first foray into this potent and popular genre and the lively and accomplished group even travels with a dancer.  Check ‘em out online and make your reservations here…they’re already selling well and we only seat 80 folks. 

JAMinc’s founder and president Wally Thulin celebrated his 70th birthday back in November. He’s the most youthful septuagenarian any of us know and with his quiet vision and dedication steering Fieldcrest Music, Courthouse Records and 501(c)(3) JAMinc, Wally’s made an indelible impact on Richmond’s music scene and the artists who populate it.  Thanks to the grateful board members and Courthouse artists who gathered last Wednesday to express appreciation and to encourage him to keep at it, including  Doug Richards, Jim Bland, Andy Garrigue, Bill McElroy, Daniel Clarke, Terri & Kevin Simpson (with Miles), Keith Willingham, Rusty Farmer, Todd Herrington, Trey Pollard, Jesse Harper, Billy Lux, George Turman, Jackie Frost, Richard Ward, Jim Skelding, Danny Hughes, Frank Coleman, Chris Fuller and Todd Hallawell along with supportive significant others.  Yes, there was a jam.  Wally World remains open for business.

Arguably the best publication covering Americana music, No Depression magazine fell victim to the gutting of the recording industry and the general economic malaise last year.  But it lives on…online and I thought I’d share a year-end look at the top-10 bluegrass recordings of 2009.  It’s a pretty solid list but I would’ve included Sarah Jarosz’ elegant Song Up In My Head.  Let me know what you think.

And in the event that one or more of you may have come into possession of a banjo for Christmas, here’s a cautionary bit of breaking news from way out west, courtesy of Barry Lawson.

A resolution worth keeping…see and make more live music in twenty-ten…we can do this! 

TT