Hi everybody. I just returned from new York City, where I went for the weekend to see some shows and spend some time with my family, and I hereby warn anyone who travels to Manhattan to see one of the shows that I recommend, WATCH OUT! For the army of meter maids and men that Mayor Mike Bloomberg has unleashed on the helpless population. There’s 3 or 4 on every block, they’re giving out tickets even when you’re parked legally, and they now park cars in the middle of the street in Manhattan, so if you’re a normal person who has always been taught that cars belong on the side of the road, you’re getting a ticket for blocking the bike lane. There’s a turning lane on every street, and parking spaces have been reduced to 3 per block, and I’m not kidding. They’re parking the cars right in the middle of the street. Because of this insanity that the billionaire mayor who has no idea what it’s like to live on a budget has created, I will be very hesitant to recommend any music events in Manhattan from now on. That’s not to say that I never will. Just that I will think twice before I do, and all who decide to go there, be forewarned!

Having said all that, there is one show in Manhattan this week that should be worth seeing, and that’s THE STROKES at Madison Square Garden on April 1st. These guys are one of the few bands that have carried the torch for rock n roll for the last decade, and if they haven’t all become drug addicts and/or alcoholics, this should be a good one.

For those of you wishing to stay closer to home, the Hudson Valley offers some awesome music this week too. Tonight, March 31, ASSEMBLY OF DUST bring their jam flavored show to The Bearsville Theater. I’ve never seen these guys, but I’ve heard a few live tracks that really blew my mind, and I’ve heard great things about their live shows. Opening act is local favorites, THE TRAPPS.

On April 2nd, TERRY ADAMS and the new NRBQ stop in to The Bearsville Theater. Apparently, NRBQ founder and keyboard player Terry has gotten the rights to the name of his former band, as they are now billed as the new NRBQ. This should be a great night of rootsy rock n roll, and would normally be my pick of the week if it wasn’t for BOZ SCAGGS playing at the Tarrytown Music Hall on April 3rd. Boz is playing better than ever, and his collection of vintage instruments and amplifiers should have you recalling the glory days of the 60’s, which is why he’s this week’s PICK OF THE WEEK.

With Spring returning this week and warmer weather right around the corner, there’s sure to be an uptick in musical events worth seeing. Stay tuned and you’ll read it here first.

It was very difficult to write this week’s column, in light of the tragedy in Japan. This event will have repercussions around the world in so many areas of life that are unrelated to the initial event. The magnitude of the disaster is almost inconceivable, and I’m sure the music community in our area will rise to the occasion, as they always have in the past, to organize benefit concerts and other events to help relieve the suffering of the Japanese people. If I hear of anything, I’ll be sure to let you know here.

The annual Rock and Roll Hall Fame Induction ceremonies were held this week. I told you who this year’s inductees were in a previous column, so I’m not going to revisit that again, but on WDST’s website this week, several on-air personalities and writers made up their lists of the top ten artists who deserve to be inducted, but have not yet been. I couldn’t resist adding my two cents worth to that idea. Here’s my list:

1. Love – The 60’s art-rock band were way ahead of there time, and had a revival in the beginning years of this century, just before their leader, Arthur Lee, passed away. Check out their masterpiece, “Forever Changes” or the equally good “Da Capo”.
2. Guns n Roses – Short lived but monumentally influential 80’s rock band, who burst out of the gate with the greatest debut album of all time, the aptly named “Appetite for Destruction” and one of the all-time greatest albums period. Unfortunately, they self destructed immediately afterwards, but they certainly left their mark.
3. Gram Parsons – The single most important figure in what became known as Americana music, but back in his day, was called country-rock, which as my friend’s The Snakehandlers say, is neither. Often overlooked in the Gram Parsons equation is his partner in the Flying Burrito Brothers, ex-Byrd bandmate Chris Hillman, who should receive equal credit. Pick up “The Guilded Palace of Sin” or Gram’s solo masterpiece, “Grievous Angel”.
4. J. Geils Band – Before they went pop and had multi-platinum hits, The J. Geils Band released two of the most hard rockin’ blues albums ever made, “The J. Geils Band” and “The Morning After”.
5. Little Feat – Fronted by former Frank Zappa guitarist, Lowell George, the story goes that Zappa kicked George out of The Mothers of Invention because Frank recognized that he was a bandleader, not a sideman. Pick up any of their albums with Lowell George. They’re all great.
6. Faces/ Small Faces – I put these two together because Faces was born from the remnants of Small Faces when Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and was replaced by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Small Faces had about a dozen number one hits in a row in England, but sadly only broke through once in America, with the psychedelic anthem, “Itchycoo Park”.
7. Donovan – Starting as a Bob Dylan inspired folkie (and a pretty good one at that), Donovan went on to record a string of great psychedelic songs with producer Mickie Most, featuring members of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and The Jeff Beck Group as his backing musician’s. “Sunshine Superman” and “Epistle to Dippy” are my favorites, but “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is pretty great as well.
8. Joe Cocker – One of the best white RnB singers of all time, Joe deserves induction for his performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival alone. His first album is still his best, but after almost passing into obscurity, he staged a comeback with an amazing version of “Cry me a River” and is still as good as ever now.
9. T Rex – Ringo Starr knew how good these guys were. That’s why he made a movie about Marc Bolan, the band’s frontman and resident genius. “Electric Warrior” is their most popular album, but my favorite track is only available as a bonus track on the re-issue of “Tanx”. I won’t say what it is, but if I run into you somewhere and you ask me, I’ll probably tell you.
10. Johnny Winter – Muddy Waters’ called him his adopted son and he’s still one of the legendary guitarslingers. My favorite album of his is still “The Progressive Blues Experiment”, but if you can’t find it, pick up “Johnny Winter” or “Second Winter”, on which he does a scorching version of Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”. Some of his recent albums are amazing too, like “Guitarslinger” or “Third Degree”.

I’d love to hear your picks. Write to me at The Townsman or [email protected]. Here’s this week live music picks:

The ALLMAN BROTHERS continue their 16 show run at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan with 5 shows this week. On Friday, March 18, you’ve got your choice between driving to Tarrytown to see local legend, LEVON HELM, at the Tarrytown Music Hall, staying closer to home for former Grateful Dead vocalist, DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX at The Bearsville Theater, or coming to see me pound the skins for BEKI  BRINDLE at Harmony in Woodstock. On Sunday, March 20, comedian RON WHITE brings his act to UPAC in Kingston, and please don’t forget about Thursday night Karaoke with Miss Angie at The Bearsville Theater. Trust me, it’s a blast!

Hi folks. Well, Spring is just around the corner, and I’m a happy man. I hope you all had a great week and are now ready to go out and spend some money supporting local live music. Speaking of which, last week, I profiled The Organiks, and last night, almost at the last minute, I found out that The Bruce Katz Band was going to be playing up in Tannersville. Now Bruce is the keyboard player in The Organiks, so naturally, I drove up there to catch the show, and I was happy I did. The band rocked right out of the gate, breaking in their new guitar player, Jimmy Bennett, an old favorite of mine from The Alexis Suter Band and The Bennett Brothers, and the beautiful thing was, it was almost an Organiks gig, as my favorite drummer, Randy Ciarlante, was sitting in on drums. Well, it was a couple of hours of pure delight! I’m telling you folks, make it a point to catch these guys. They’re always great.

To those of you who went out to the Dave Mason show at The Bearsville Theater, only to find that it had been rescheduled, I’m sorry. I should have warned you that Dave is notoriously unreliable, and it might have been a good idea to check with the venue first. But, I will repeat what I’ve said before. This guy is a major league talent as a songwriter and guitar player, so it’s worth putting up with his shenanigans. When he finally does show up, everyone’s gonna be happy. The show has been rescheduled, and as soon as the new date is announced, you’ll read it here first.

As of this writing, the musical pickings are a tad slim in our local area for this week, but tonight, March 10, does kick off the first show of a sixteen show run with The Allman Brothers at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan and also is the first night of five shows by Further (basically, The Grateful Dead) at the Best Buy Theater in Manhattan, with three more nights to follow at Radio City Music Hall later in the month. Lucinda Williams also drops in to Webster Hall on West 11th Street for two shows over the weekend, so maybe this might be a good weekend to head down to the city, where winter is already completely over, and pick up on The Dead, The Allmans, and Lucinda, all in one weekend. That’s a lineup that’s pretty hard to beat! For those of you who can’t make it to the city, there is one spectacular musical event going on in our area this weekend. On Friday, March 11, Blue Chicken and Myles ‘Mojo’ Mancuso will be at The Falcon in Marlboro, a short drive, and very easy to get to. For those of you with a short memory, Blue Chicken, who were my pick of the week a few weeks ago, is a band made up of members of Levon Helm’s Band with the addition of Sid Maginnes, the guitar player from The David Letterman Show, and Randy Ciarlante on drums. Opening for Blue Chicken will be Miles ‘Mojo’ Mancuso, the 16 year old guitar wunderkind who is a fixture at Keegan Ales and many other venues in our area. This kid has a beautiful career ahead of him. He’s like catching Kenny Wayne Shepard or Jonny Lang when they were still kids, before they hit the big time. A great double bill.

Alright, it’s gonna be short and sweet this week. I got a lot o’ rockin’ to catch up on! See ya!

     Greetings all! Another week has passed and we’re another week closer to Spring. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the big snow storms, and can now start to think about getting out of the house soon, and supporting local musicians.

     In this week’s column, I’m going to start a series that will focus on some of the amazing musicians who live in the Hudson Valley, and occasionally, even play locally. My first choice of subjects is The Organiks, a terrific blues, roots, and countrified soul outfit, with an occasional nod to the jazz world, who, when they’re not on tour with some of the biggest names in the music business, make their homes right here as your neighbors.

     The Organiks don’t really have a leader or stand-out star. What they do have is four such types, who have banded together in what used to be called a “supergroup”, and I don’t use that term lightly.

     Keyboard player, Bruce Katz, is a classically trained Berklee graduate, but that doesn’t stop him from being down, dirty, and funky. He’s a master of the Hammond B-3 and piano, has been nominated three times for the prestigious Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year award, and counts Gregg Allman, John Hammond, and Pinetop himself, as fans. He’s a member of Gregg Allman’s touring band, and also tours with John Hammond and his own band, The Bruce Katz Band. Bruce is a former member of Ronnie Earl’s Broadcasters and has appeared on over 70 albums with Ronnie, John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Milton, Big Mama Thornton, David ‘Fathead’ Newman and many others. While with Ronnie Earl, their album, “Grateful Heart” won the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for Best Blues  Album. Bruce occupies a unique space where blues, jazz, rock, soul and Americana collide.

     If The Organiks do have a front man, I guess it would be Jay Collins. Jay plays all manner of saxes, mostly tenor, but also plays a bit of flute and is one of The Organiks two lead singers. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Jay now makes his home right here with us. He spent the 90’s in the East Village, immersing himself in the jazz and Latin scenes. He was invited to join Gregg Allman’s band, and in 2004, met Amy Helm, Levon’s daughter. The two were married three years later, so Levon, possessor of a sharp musical mind, invited Jay to play with him as well, which he now does. Jay has also toured with James Hunter and leads his own band, The Jay Collins Band.

     If Jay’s the front man, then drummer Randy Ciarlante is The Organiks’ secret weapon. For my money, Randy is the best drummer in the Hudson Valley, but he’s also an amazing, soulful singer. He’s a veteran of The Band, The Honky Tonk Heroes, Eric Anderson’s band, and The Woodstock All-Stars, with Cindy Cashdollar and Larry Packer. Randy and Jay alternate lead vocals in The Organiks.

     Finally, we have Chris Vitarello on guitar and vocals, an impeccable  player who’s credits include stints with Arlen Roth and jazz legend, Jimmy McGriff.

     All of these guys are, or could be, bandleaders themselves, but they’ve chosen to pool their talents into The Organiks, a band that is more than the sum of it’s parts, and it’s parts alone are pretty impressive. Now that you know who they are, you’ve got no excuse to not go see them when they play in your neck of the woods. Visit www.theorganiks.com for more info.

     This week’s picks are few in number, but powerful in style and quality.

Friday, March 3 – LORETTA LYNN  at UPAC in Kingston. The Queen of Country brings her timeless show into Kingston. Currently enjoying a revival, due to her pairing with Jack White as producer on her last album, this is a great time to catch up with Loretta, or check her out for the first time.

Saturday, March 5 – DAVE MASON at The Bearsville Theater. The co-founder of Traffic, and writer of such hits as “Feeling Alright” and “Only you Know and I Know”, Dave is also one of the greatest guitar players on the planet! I caught up with him a few years back in Las Vegas, and he was outstanding! Hopefully, he’ll be the same here.

Tueday, March 8 – DR. JOHN returns to Woodstock at The Bearsville Theater for a Fat Tuesday celebration of New Orleans music.

     All of these shows are “can’t miss”, so I won’t be picking only one. Just make a cash withdrawal from your bank and attend all three. And for those of you who will be in NYC next week, it’s the start of The Allman Brothers’ annual March shows at The Beacon Theater, Further pulls into the city for an extended run, and Lucinda Williams pays us a visit as well, so get ready!