Greetings, and welcome to this week’s Reservoir Music Notes. The great Johnny Otis (“Willie and the Hand Jive”) and the great Etta James passed away this week. Ironically, Etta was said to have been discovered by Johnny. Two more immortal legacies go into the history books!

     This week I’m profiling one of the most exciting young guitarists around, Jon Klenck, AKA Jonny Monster, and it’s not hard to see where his name came from - He is a monster guitarist! I’ve already written about how the Jonny Monster Band blew my mind on New Year’s Eve at Backstage Productions in Kingston. In that article, I said that if you drew a line from Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn to Jonny Monster, you’d be overstating the case, but not by much! To those two illustrious axeslingers, let me also add Johnny Winter, because that influence is also there in Jonny Monster’s playing. But that’s the league this kid is playing in! He’s really that good!

     And Jonny’s no Jonny Come Lately to the Blues music he plays so skillfully. He’s done his homework, as evidenced by his occasional solo acoustic shows where he goes back to the roots of the Blues, performing material by the likes of Robert Johnson and Leadbelly.

     Based in New Paltz, the band consists of Jonny on guitar and vocals, Pete Newman on bass, and Roger LaRochelle on drums and vocals. They play all over the Hudson Valley and New York City, and last year opened for Johnny Winter at The Bearsville Theater. I wasn’t there, but I’m sure Jonny held his own in the showdown with Johnny, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the student bested the master! And now The Jonny Monster Band triumphantly returns to The Bearsville Theater this Friday night, January 27, for a free show in the Artist in Residence series. This show is on “Don’t Miss” status!

     The band released their self titled CD last year which showcases Jonny’s high energy, aggressive guitar style. These guys are way beyond the average boring blues band. This is really exciting, rockin’ music! More info at www.jonnymonsterband.com and on Reverb Nation, My Space, and You Tube.

     Other recommended shows this week are:

Thursday, January 26 – TODD RUNDGREN stops by the City Winery in Manhattan. Not a huge Todd fan, but he is good, always interesting, and this might make a good ending to the week in the city before heading to Woodstock for the weekend.

Friday, January 27 – Well, I’m gonna make THE JONNY MONSTER BAND one of my Picks of the Week, because he’s great, he’s young, he’s exciting, it’s close by, and it’s free, but there are three other shows tonight alone that could easily qualify for Pick of the Week status. Over at The Orient in Poughkeepsie, we have up and comers, THE RYAN MONTBLEAU BAND. Excellent band! Up at Club Helsinki in Hudson, THURSTON MOORE from Sonic Youth is in the house, and you know what? Game day decision! If you feel like driving, or live near Hudson, this has got to be a great show, so, Pick of the Week #2! And finally, BLUE CHICKEN is back at The Town Crier in Pauling. This band consists of Jim Weider and other members of Levon Helm’s Band, so you know what level of musicianship you’re getting with these guys – top notch! The Towne Crier is closing soon (hopefully reopening in another location) so this may be one of your last chances to hear some great music in the historical building.

Saturday, January 28 – Pick of the Week #3! LENNY KRAVITZ at Radio City Music Hall! Now I know many people are iffy about Lenny, for various reasons. Whatever! The first time I saw Lenny Kravitz, I only went because I was in the neighborhood with nothing to do, and I could get in free. I wasn’t a huge fan going in, but I was a huge fan coming out. Lenny is like a harder rockin’ Grateful Dead, in spirit. His music is all about recapturing the love from the 60’s, rock and roll, and more. He, too, has done his homework, he knows where the music came from, and he respects the old masters of all forms of music, from Rock to Jazz and beyond! Plus, the Hudson Valley's own Gail Ann Dorsey is playing bass for Lenny this tour!

If you are in the city tonight, and wanna rock harder than Lenny, there’s always Lemmy! As in MOTORHEAD and MEGADEATH at Madison Square Garden! Motorhead never fails to please! THE RYAN MONTBLEAU BAND continues their visit to New York with a show at Brooklyn Bowl. SLOAN WAINWRIGHT is at The Towne Crier. Not that familiar with Sloan’s music, but in my book, if your name’s Wainwright, you deserve a listen! Closer to home, THE WIYOS  pull into Club Helsinki and UNCLE ROCK returns to Utopia Studios for another Kidtopia. This is a great event for the entire family.

Monday, January 30 – STEVE EARLE continues his residency at City Winery in Manhattan. Next week is the last week of Steve and Allison’s residency, so don’t wait until the last one and find something’s come up and you can’t make it! And slide guitarist par excellence, CHRIS DUARTE will be amazing patrons at BB King’s in Manhattan.

     Got enough to do this week? Have a great one!

     Greetings and welcome to this week’s edition of Reservoir Music Notes. Could it be? Is Winter finally here? Most people I know were trying to trick themselves into believing Spring was already here, but Mother Nature said, “Not so fast!”. I braved the cold last Friday night to go to The Bearsville Theater for the fifth installment of The Bearsville Sessions series, and I was very happy I did! Bearsville Sessions V focused on the British Invasion of the early 60’s, the musical movement that brought us The Beatles, The Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, The Kinks, The Animals, et al. Even though I was an Elvis fan at 5 and was exposed early on to the original great masters of Rock n Roll, this was the music I cut my teeth on as a teenager, and it still holds up! The Bearsville Sessions Band is a collection of great local musicians, and they always have some cool special guests on tap. This week was no exception, as one of the highlights of the night was luthier extraordinaire, Joe Veillette’s version of the Unit 4+2 classic, “Concrete and Clay”. Keyboardist and guitarist Ross Rice also outdid The Zombies on “Tell Her No”! In fact, quite a few of the performances this evening outdid the originals, and that’s sayin’ something! Most of it was due to the band’s versions rockin’ a bit more than some of the originals. A lot of this music was overproduced on record, (IMHO), due to many of the original groups being assigned staff producers who didn’t really understand Rock n Roll, or were learning on the job. So now, with the passage of half a century, a good little rockin’ band can actually match or exceed some of those great records we grew up with, just by rockin’ it harder! Drummer Eric Parker was on fire, as was guitar player, Adam Widoff. Oh hell, the whole band was on fire, including the background singers! My thanks to Jodie Sleed at The Bearsville Theater for making it all possible. A splendid time was had by all!

     In Grateful Dead news, a feature length documentary of Jerry Garcia is in the works. Filmmakers Malcolm Leo and John Hartmann have secured the rights to Garcia’s music for the movie, so this could be the definitive doc of Garcia. No release date yet, but the film will have a huge audience, that’s for sure!

     In other Grateful Dead news, bassist Phil Lesh has announced plans to open Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, in the same neighborhood where The Dead had their rehearsal studio for years. TC will be a combination performance space/ restaurant with a strong commitment to community. There will be a house band and special guests and the whole thing is modeled on Woodstock’s own Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles, where Lesh has been a guest several times. The venue will open in March with Phil and Friends, before closing for extensive remodeling, and then a grand reopening in March 2013. This comes hot on the heels of Grateful Dead guitarist, Bob Weir, reopening the legendary Mill Valley venue, The Sweetwater, so it looks like The Dead are starting their own Branson in Marin County!

     In other news, singer and poet Patti Smith has recorded a tribute to Amy Winehouse for her next record. Patti is the perfect person for this job! She wrote the lyrics as a poem for Amy when she died, and then put it together with some music her bass player, Tony Shanahan, had. The music and poem matched perfectly, and the results can be heard on Smith’s next record. No release date yet. In other Patti Smith news, the singer is reported to be working on a film adaption of her National Book Award winning “Just Kids”, which focused on her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. The book was great, and hopefully the movie will be too.

     Here’s the live music picks for this week.

Friday, January 20 – Busy, busy weekend. Most of the music this week seems to be focused on the weekend. Tonight, we’ve got an acoustic show with guitarist STEVE KATZ, formerly of The Blues Project, Blood Sweat and Tears, and The Even Dozen Jug Band (which also featured David Grisman, Maria Muldaur, and a pre-Lovin’ Spoonful John Sebastian). Sharing top billing with Katz will be fingerpicking wizard, STEFAN GROSSMAN, and it all happens in our backyard, at The Rosendale Café. Then they do it all over again Saturday at an early show at The Turning Point in Piermont, at 6:00 PM.

At The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, the great MAVIS STAPLES will put the area’s finest sound system through its paces. If you didn’t already know, Mavis is a member of the first family of Rock, Soul, and Gospel, The Staple Singers, who I saw at The Fillmore East many times. Now solo, her last CD was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. I’ve heard some of the tracks, and it’s killer! Mavis is a member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award sitting on her mantelpiece, so you’re in for a treat if you go!

Up at the beautiful Club Helsinki in Hudson, TEDDY THOMPSON (son of Richard Thompson) brings his unique musical stylings to our neck of the woods. Teddy’s good. You won’t be disappointed.

At The Towne Crier in Pauling, we have the great blue eyed soul singer and Springsteen cohort, SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY, who has a new band called The Poor Fools. No more Asbury Jukes, but Southside knows what he’s doing, so I don’t expect any major changes. Which is to say that they’ll still kick ass!

Closer to home, we’ve got PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CHROMATICS at The Bearsville Theater. These guys never disappoint, and just keep getting better and better!

For those of you downstate, there are two good shows in Manhattan tonight. Americana great, ROBERT EARL KEEN, pulls into Irving Plaza, and roots rocker, ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, is at the City Winery.

Saturday, January 21 – Steve Katz and Stefan Grossman reprise their show from Friday night, but this time at The Turning Point in Piermont. Take notice, this show starts at 6PM!  THE SMITHEREENS are at BB King’s in Manhattan tonight. Their last CD was all Beatle songs, so expect to hear some of that. It’s BLUEGRASS NIGHT at Banjo Jim’s on 3rd Street, and KIDTOPIA returns to Utopia Studios in Bearsville, with RATBOY JR.

Sunday, January 22 – One of the best Grateful Dead tribute and jam bands, THE ZEN TRICKSTERS, rolls into The Brooklyn Bowl, the converted bowling alley that’s been rockin’ more than bowling pins lately!

Tuesday, January 24 – The always amazing JOHNNY WINTER rocks BB King’s in Manhattan. He’s old now and sits in a chair to perform, but still rips out those notes at blinding speed! There’s a new upscale supper club in Manhattan called Feinstein’s at The Regency, and that’s right, it’s in The Regency Hotel. It’s a throwback to the days of glamorous ballrooms in hotels and PETULA CLARK starts a two week run tonight. It’s actually Tuesday through Saturday, this week and next. No Sundays or Mondays. Expect to dress up and spend some money, and it’s not gonna be rockin’, but she will have to do everything from her string of hits back in the 60’s, and those are mostly great records, so this should be a fun trip down memory lane.

Wednesday, January 25 – If it’s Wednesday, it must be ROSS RICE AND THE VERY SEXY TRIO at The Catamount in Mount Tremper.

That’s it for this week, but a quick heads up. Next Friday, January 27, The Jonny Monster Band returns to The Bearsville Theater for the Artist in Residence series. This will likely be my Pick of the Week next week. I already wrote about Jonny Monster blowing my mind on New Year’s Eve, but in honor of this show, I will be doing a full profile of The Jonny Monster Band next week. This is one you won’t want to miss, unless you hate lightning fast, inventive blues licks played on the electric guitar with a solid backing band. If so, stay home and watch tv, but if you love the blues, specifically electric blues, and great guitar playing, you’re gonna wanna be there for this.

     Have a great week and stay warm!

     Greetings readers! Once again, we lost two pretty important people this week. Fred Milano of the original Dion and The Belmonts passed away January 3rd at 72, and we also lost Tommy Ardolino, the drummer for NRBQ. Two great groups that lost original members this week. I guess everybody’s getting to that age.

     I have nothing profound to propound about this week, so I’m just going to get straight to my live music picks.

     Wednesday, Jan. 11 – The great ROBERT GORDON returns to BB King’s in Manhattan. He’s older, grayer, and paunchier, but he stills rocks out with the best of them! If you go, request “The Way I Walk”. KENNY VANCE AND THE PLANOTONES carry the doo wop torch into the City Winery in Manhattan. Kenny was an original member of Jay and The Americans and is still singing great! ROSS RICE AND THE VERY SEXY TRIO are at The Catamount in Mount Tremper for their regular biweekly Wednesday night gig. There’s also an unusual gig this evening in that it’s a spoken word reading, but it’s music related. Inquiring Minds Book Store in Saugerties hosts RAUNCH AND ROLL, readings by authors Howard Massey, Robert Burke Warren, and Jeremy Wilber from their original writings. Massey will read from his recently published book “Roadie”, inspired by the life of the immortal Ian Stewart AKA the sixth Rolling Stone; Wilber from his book, “Miles From Woodstock” about the heady days in Woodstock back in the day; and Warren from his original writings. Should be quite interesting!

     Thursday, Jan.12 – The inimitable BOOTSY COLLINS, late of P-Funk and James Brown’s band, stops by to funkify BB King’s in Manhattan.

     Friday, Jan. 13 – My friend, TODD WOLFE, formerly Sheryl Crow’s guitarist, brings his electric blues band to the Roundout Music Lounge in Kingston, but I will have to skip Todd this time around, as I will be at The Bearsville Theater for this week’s Pick of the Week. THE BEARSVILLE SESSIONS BAND, in their fifth installment of the series, focuses on The British Invasion. Now, this is the music I cut my teeth on, the band is great, so I gotta be there! But for those of you seeking something a little less raucous, RHETT MILLER, frontman of Americana rockers, The Old 97’s, makes a rare local appearance at The Orient in Poughkeepsie (He lives in New Paltz). Also tonight is the (usually) weekly jam at the home of Stephen and Dona Crawford. All are invited. The address is 49 Webber Lane, Olivebridge.

     Saturday, Jan 14 – If you’re upstate, THE BEN ROUNDS BAND rocks The Catamount in Mount Tremper. If you’re downstate, SKOLLIE, a great band consisting of Blondie Chaplin, Anton Fig, and Keith Lentin, is at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn. Blondie has spent the past couple of decades singing and playing guitar with The Rolling Stones, and before that, toured with Rick Danko and was a member of The Beach Boys. Anton Fig has been playing drums in the David Letterman Late Show Band since forever. Keith has played with Chris Spedding and a host of others.

     Monday, January 16 – Last week, when I recommended STEVE EARLE at City Winery, I didn’t realize that his gig there was a residency that runs every Monday night from now until Feb. 6, but that’s what it is, so it’ll be here again next week and every week through Feb.6. Catch at least one of them. If you dig Jazz, there’s a great club in Manhattan on Broadway and 105th called Smoke, and they do! Some of the hottest jazz guys in New York call this club their home, and every Monday night, they have THE SMOKE BIG BAND. Ellington, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Count Basie. You get the picture? Smoke’s jam session will blow your mind!

     Tuesday, Jan. 17 – The new version of NRBQ is at The Iridium in Manhattan tonight. Piano player, Terry Adams is the only original member, but I’m sure they’ll still rock as hard as ever. For you upstaters, check out the open mic at The Catamount in Mount Tremper, hosted by Ben Rounds.

     For a more complete listing of musical events in the Hudson Valley, check out www.hvmusic.com, a great resource for musicians and music fans. They have a great calendar, musicians wanted and available, items wanted and for sale, open mics, and more, all for free. And they also host and post this column, along with The Townsman and my website, www.reservoirmusiccenter.com.

     Have a great week!

     Well, it’s a new year, and I’m experiencing a mild case of post-annum depression. Either that, or I’m struggling to recover after going out two nights in a row, but whatever it is, it was worth it!

     First though, let me wish everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year. The new year starts in January because it’s the first month following the Winter Solstice, when the days start getting longer after December 21, the shortest day of the year. So it really is a time of renewal and rebirth.

     I started my New Year’s weekend off by driving up to Tannersville to see my old pals, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center. The OPAC has been closed for 25 years and this was the first event there since they re-opened, and let me tell you, it must have inspired the band, because they were on fire! By the time they got to the third song, “Louisiana Lady”, I was convinced it was the best I’d ever seen them play. It was a shorter set then they usually have played at The Bearsville Theater in past years, but thoroughly enjoyable all the same. They ran through most of their hits, skipping only “Lonesome LA Cowboy” and “Glendale Train”, and closing with Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”. The new OPAC theater is a beautiful building and a great place to hear music and I hope they are planning to present more shows in this venue.

     On New Year’s Eve, I ventured into Kingston to catch Pitchfork Militia and The Johnny Monster Band at the new BSP, formerly Back Stage Productions. Pitchfork put on their usual great show and I was struck by what a great guitarist frontman Peter Head has become. As I was watching Pitchfork, I was thinking that they are really the only local band that I really like, but guess what? I found another! Within seconds of starting their first song, The Johnny Monster Band had my jaw on the floor! I had heard good things about them, but I was totally unprepared for the sounds coming from the stage! This kid is the real thing! If I said there was a straight line between Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Johnny Monster, I might be overstating the case, but not by much! Johnny Monster is a monster guitarist! If these guys are playing anywhere near you, do not miss them! They will blow your mind! In the next few weeks, I will be profiling both of these bands in this space, so look out for that.

     A few weeks ago, a friend told me about a young singer/songwriter from Stamford, NY, who he thought was really good. He pressed a CD into my hands and asked me to have a listen. Now lots of people give me CD’s to check out, and the percentage of real quality music is usually pretty small, so my expectations were not high, but from the opening chords of the first song, I realized I was listening to someone pretty special. Pete Jacobs is in his last year at the Berklee School of Music and has assembled a band of mostly other Berklee students to play his intricate Beatle-esque songs. Everything about this record, “Thoughts upon a Window”, is top notch and professional, from the writing and playing, to the production and engineering.

     The Beatle influence is front and center, but Peter’s songs are not derivative or slavish copies of the Fab Four. They stand on their own as high quality songs in the same genre, and very impressive ones at that. There are rockers here as well, and Peter says he is influenced by modern bands like Radiohead, Coldplay, The Shins, and I’m pretty sure I heard some Foo Fighters in there too. But please understand, Peter’s music goes beyond his influences. He’s taken what he could from the music that influenced him and added his own touch to make it completely his own.

     The band, who may book themselves as The Pete Jacobs Band, or sometimes Electric Evolver, plays mostly in New York and Boston (they’ve also played at WAMC’s Linda Studios in Albany), but Pete has never lost touch with his Delaware County roots. Whenever he’s home, he makes it a point to play some smaller gigs, sometimes solo acoustic, in and around his hometown of Stamford. If you get the chance, catch him. Pete Jacobs could be amongst our next generation of great electric singer/songwriters! More info at www.petejacobsmusic.com.

     On a sadder note, after my deadline for my last column, I heard about the passing of Dan ‘Bee’ Spears, Willie Nelson’s longtime bass player, and Sean Bonniwell, driving force behind The Music Machine, the 60’s garage rock one hit wonders who recorded the great “Talk Talk”, still one of the best of it’s genre, and not an easy song to play. Rest in Peace fellas. You made a lot of people happy while you were here. The tough question is though, where’s Willie gonna find another bass player who can follow his meandering sense of time? LOL.

     Oh, and did I mention that this column begins my second year writing it, and as if to celebrate the occasion, hvmusic.com has added me to their website, www.hvmusic.com, a great resource for Hudson Valley musicians and music fans.

     My live music picks will now run from Wednesday to the following Thursday, which may engender some repetition in consecutive weeks, but will also give y’all more time to plan your outings, so I think it’s a fair trade off. Here’s this week’s picks.

     Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 – Tonight’s the last night of LITTLE FEAT’s three night stand at The City Winery in Manhattan.

     Saturday, Jan. 7 – The very accomplished guitarist, MICHAEL POWERS returns to Club Helsinki in Hudson. This guy can play, and he’s an old friend of mine, so please support him. We need more of Michael in the Catskills.

     Sunday, Jan. 8 – STEVE EARLE and ALLISON MOORER make their first appearance at Club Helsinki. This is one of my two Picks of the Week. MICKEY HART of The Grateful Dead rolls into The Highline Ballroom in Manhattan for one night.

     Monday, January 9 – STEVE EARLE and ALLISON MOORER drive South after Helsinki and show up at The City Winery in Manhattan, this time with Woodstock’s own HAPPY TRAUM in tow.

     Wednesday, Jan. 11 – The great CHRIS THILE, with his PUNCH BROTHERS bandmate, MICHAEL DAVES, make a stop at Club Helsinki. Thile is one of our best mandolin pickers, and if Daves is on the same stage as Chris, he’s gotta be pretty awesome too. My second Pick of the Week.

     Welcome 2012! May it be better than the last! Start it off by having a great week y’all!