Friday morning Bonnie Raitt...

I love Bonnie!  Here is a clip from 1972 with her band (including bassist Freebo) and guests Lowell George & John Hammond doing Stevie Winwood's Can't Find My Way Home:

Make plans...

Hang in there, Nola...

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landreau told residents Tuesday night, "We are officially in the fight and the city of New Orleans is on the front line."

While traffic was nearly invisible Tuesday night, a few French Quarter bars remained open and filled with locals in New Orleans. At Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop -- the 150 year old dive at the end of Bourbon Street -- Chris LaRue recommended the four staples of hurricane preparedness, "Water, canned food, candles and booze."

"We're going to have some water to clean up," said LaRue. "But this kind of wind is nothing."

Neil Sedaka & Carole King were not around to greet us...

Back from a weekend in NYC.  Music for the weekend:

• Bargemusic at Fulton Landing on Saturday afternoon (great!)
• Klezmer brunch at City Winery on Sunday morning (great venue and food, not so great music)
• Musical Memphis! on Sunday afternoon (show had stopped its run, but we missed the notification; great dinner at Tony's, though)

While strolling where the neon lights are always bright on Broadway Saturday night after experiencing the excruciating off-Broadway play, The Perfect Crime (Chris quipping that the crime was taking our money), we happened past the famous Brill Building, where many of the early 60's pop songs were crafted.

(All Music Guide) "The influence of mainstream American popular songwriting, embodied by the conglomerate of professional composers and publishers dubbed Tin Pan Alley, on rock's early development is sometimes overlooked. While rock & roll was to a significant degree a reaction against the overly professional, sentimental, and sterile conventions of pre-rock American pop, the best of Tin Pan Alley's melodic and lyrical hallmarks were incorporated into rock & roll to raise the music to new levels of sophistication..."

Get out and vote!...

Happy anniversary, Baby, got you on my maa-hind....

HAPPY 44th, Johnny K & The Reet!

Enjoy some Patty Griffin:

Tribute concert to Levon Helm in Jersey..

(From nj.com)  Levon Helm was so deeply beloved by his fellow musicians that when he died in April, few fans wondered if he'd get a star-studded celebration of his life. The only real questions: Where would it be? When would it be? And who would turn up to pay respects to the man who practically invented roots-rock drumming?
We've got answers, and they're bound to make Helm's many Garden State fans happy. "Love for Levon," an all-star concert, will be held at the Izod Center in East Rutherford on Oct. 3. The list of performers testifies to Helm's wide influence: there are pop singers, jam band veterans, bluesmen, and country stars already committed to the concert, and the show organizers are promising "legendary surprise guests," too.

Hitmaker John Mayer, pop-jazz pianist Bruce Hornsby, Nashville bad boys Dierks Bentley and Eric Church, gospel-soul singer Mavis Staples, classic rock guitarists Joe Walsh and Jorma Kaukonen, and psych-rockers My Morning Jacket will all sing and strum for Helm. John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, Lucinda Williams, Orange bluesman Robert Randolph, "Walking in Memphis" hitmaker Marc Cohen, and gravel-voiced Ray Lamontagne will appear, too. No members of the Band have been promised yet, but it's not outrageous to hope that his surviving mates might make the trip to the Meadowlands to say goodbye.

This is a benefit concert. The Helm estate is attempting to retain control of his Upstate New York home and barn, and to keep the Midnight Ramble going. The Ramble, a heralded series of concerts held in Helm's studio, has drawn respected names to Woodstock: Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Rickie Lee Jones, and many others. Tickets for "Love for Levon" go on sale Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 11 a.m. Tickets will sell from $46.50 - $221. A presale for CitiCard holders begins on Friday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m.

Monday morning eye candy...

Diana wants you to focus on her music:

Thank you very much...

Elvis Presley tribute playlist...from Wolfgangsvault
(just discovered that this site has changed from free to a membership site.  Oh well, sorry.)

1. 1 The Charlie Daniels Band / (Let Me Be) Your Teddy Bear 2:35
2. 2 The Joe Perry Project / Heartbreak Hotel 2:28
3. 3 Marshall Crenshaw / Little Sister 3:07
4. 4 Link Wray and Robert Gordon / Baby, Let's Play House 2:38
5. 5 Black Sabbath / Blue Suede Shoes 2:04
6. 6 Rockpile / Jailhouse Rock 2:43
7. 7 Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders / That's All Right Mama 12:30
8. 8 The Chambers Brothers / Reconsider Baby 5:27
9. 9 Suzi Quatro / All Shook Up 4:33
10. 10 Sha Na Na / Blue Moon 2:35
11. 11 Eric Clapton / You'll Never Walk Alone 4:02
12. 12 Chris Hillman / Mystery Train 3:32
13. 13 John Conlee And The Carolina Fever Band / Band Chatter 0:35
14. 14 John Conlee And The Carolina Fever Band / American T… 5:48
15. 15 Kim Carnes / Don't Be Cruel 4:34
16. 16 Ronnie Milsap / Any Day Now 3:47
17. 17 Grateful Dead / Long Black Limousine 5:10
18. 18 Big Mama Mae Thornton / Hound Dog 3:12
19. 19 Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys / Blue Moon Of Ke… 2:43
20. 20 Carl Perkins / Blue Suede Shoes 4:53

Ruthie Foster at Ballard Park...

The last time we tried to catch Ruthie Foster in CT, the UConn Huskies hoopsters were in the midst of a championship run (back when they were allowed to compete; goddammit, do your homework!).  Tickets were purchased for her concert at FTC in Fairfield, but never used.  Her sets at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, especially the first time we saw her in the Blues Tent, were, if I may use the title of her album, Phenomenal.  She's touring in support of her latest, Let It Burn, with a stop in Ridgefield at Ballard Park as part of the CHIRP Summer concert series.  I coerced The Reet to go Thursday evening.

Sorry, lady, bad timing.

Ballard Park is a very cool venue for concerts.  Located just south of Ridgefield center, it is spacious, with meandering treed walkways,  benches, a large gazebo, plenty of parking; the temporary stage tucked at one end.  Pack a lunch, maybe a bottle of wine (it doesn't ruin the family unit, as they fear in Southington).  Perfect evening, weatherwise.  We arrive at six, an hour before showtime, eat our grinders and people-watch.

Promptly at seven, Barbara Manners, the woman responsible for the concert series bookings, takes the microphone to thank sponsors, remind us to not be rude talkers during the performance (apparently this has been an issue, for there are "SSSSHHHHHH" signs around), listing the remaining series concerts.  By way of introduction, Ms. Manners tells of  hearing Ruthie at a festival in Nashville, following her all the way to another festival in Canada, then trying for a number of years to book her for CHIRP, finally succeeding this year.  Ruthie takes the stages with her bandmates,  Tanya Richardson on drums, Samantha Banks on bass and fiddle. With influences of gospel, blues, country and soul, Ruthie plays two sets of Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin, Los Lobos, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash (a slowed down Ring Of Fire) in addition to her self-penned numbers.  All great.  Love you, Ruthie!

New music purchases arrive...

Souvenirs (John Prine)
The Singing Mailman Delivers (John Prine)
The Baseball Singles (Steve Goodman)
Tribute To Steve Goodman (Various Artists)

Steve Goodman's tribute to his beloved Cubbies:

Low Cut Connie in Philly...

Birthday boy G-Man & Yvette went to see LCC at the Mercury Lounge in NYC last weekend.  No details yet other than it was a great show.  Here is a clip from the Friday night show in Philly.  New album, Call Me Sylvia, coming out soon.  Perhaps a show in CT? 

Anyone going to see Ruthie Foster Thursday night at Ballard Park in Ridgefield?

HAPPY 30th G-Man!!!!!

Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be drunk, naked cowboys...

(ABC News)- This has been one tough year for country singer Randy Travis. The singer is currently involved in a vicious divorce with his ex-wife, he has one arrest under is belt for public intoxication and he's now adding another arrest, this time for DWI.  Travis was arrested Tuesday night outside Tioga, Texas, for driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and retaliation and obstruction, a felony.  Travis was brought to the station naked, though it's unclear whether Travis was discovered naked or somehow disrobed later, Sgt. Ricky Wheeler of the Grayson County Sheriff's Office told ABC News. (read more)

(Allegedly) the police found this playlist on his iPod:
One Bourbon, One Scotch & One Beer  (John Lee Hooker version)
Baby, You Can Drive My Car (Beatles)
Naked Ride Home (Jackson Browne)
Lady Whiskey (Wishbone Ash)
Kids Don't Follow (The Replacements)
I Got Friends In Low Places (Garth Brooks)
Why Don't We Do It in the Road (Beatles)
Face Planting Song (Johnny Gumbo Party Band)

The Aerolites...

Stumbled onto these funky guys from Vermont... love them!  (band bio)

The Litchfield Jazz Festival is back next weekend at the Goshen Fairgrounds...

After a disastrous experience at the Kent School, the organizers heard their audience and have moved the event back to the Goshen Fairgrounds.  The setting at Kent was spectacular, but the grounds were easily flooded, making an outdoors event impossible.  A decision to hold it inside a hockey area robbed it of its soul, attendance plummeted.  We had a bad experience at the Friday night Gala a few years ago and have not been back.

• FRIDAY
• “Friends of the Festival” Opening Night Gala
• The Four Freshmen
• Live Auction
• Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
• 2012 Artist-in-Residence Gary Smulyan
• SATURDAY
• Helen Sung Trio
• Sojourner Truth Project with Avery Sharpe
• Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet
• Salute to George Coleman with Gary Smulyan and Eric Alexander
• Benny Green Quartet
• Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• SUNDAY
• Grégoire Maret Quartet
• Donny McCaslin Group
• Hubert Laws Quartet
• Miguel Zenón Quartet
• Kevin Mahogany and Dave Stryker's Kansas City Swing

Sarah Borges resurfaces with club dates...

Sarah Borges, sans Broken Singles and with a new album release pending, has just announced several club dates in the area:

• Aug 9- City Winery in NYC
• Aug 11- Center for the Arts in Natick, MA
• Sep 1- Bridge Street Live in Collinsville, CT
• Oct 6- Infinity Hall in Norfolk, CT

From website:
"I've got some lovely shows booked for the spring and summertime, and the street date for the record, which now has a title. Radio Sweetheart' will be decided upon soon.  Thanks for checking in, and here's a thing I've been thinking about, it's what Rachel Maddow said in the Vanity Fair Proust questionnaire, and I absolutely agree. She characterized her idea of perfect happiness as 'Loud bar, good band, cold beer, ride home'."