This is shaping up to be a great summer for music! Touring this Spring and Summer are Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Black Crowes, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Further, and The Eagles. I’m sure we’ll hear more announcements, but I’d say that’s pretty impressive, so far!

     Also impressive, is the talent of a young guitarslinger whom I recently mentioned here, one Michael Johnson, of Grahamsville, NY! Michael is 17 now, and has been playing guitar since he was 9! Michael’s father has been taking him to open mics since he was 12, where he’s impressed the likes of Slam Allen, John and Chris Reddan, and just about everyone who’s heard him play! Slam Allen said Michael plays better than most adult guitarists!

     Michael loves the Blues, and his strongest influences are Jimi, Stevie Ray, Vernon Reid, and similar like-minded players. He can play anything he puts his mind to, and this week performed an acoustic version of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” with his school orchestra, at the orchestra leader’s request! The electric Blues is where Michael shines though, and where he gets to really wail and put his heart and soul into his playing. It’s where he gets to really cut loose and play from the heart!

     Michael has won Battles of the Bands with throw together rhythm sections and no rehearsing! That’s how good he is! His classmates at Tri-Valley High School voted him “Most Musical” and he’s performed with the school jazz band and orchestra many times.

     Now, I have been playing with Michael myself a bit lately, and I’ve stretched his limits by making him play Rockabilly, Country, and roots Rock n Roll, and he’s stepped up and played those styles beautifully, even though his heart longs for the Blues!

     Michael is currently working on developing his vocal style so he’ll be in a position to lead his own band soon!

     Keep an eye out for this youngster. He just might be the next young guitar star to bend his way into your consciousness, and you will sit up and take notice!

     Michael graduates from Tri-Valley this year, and after graduation, will have the time to fully devote himself to his music career. I expect you’ll be hearing from him soon.

     Now for this week’s live music picks.

     Wednesday, March 27 – We start the week with a couple of Americana biggies. First, at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, an all star bill with EMMYLOU HARRIS, RODNEY CROWELL, and RICHARD THOMPSON! These three together bring quite a bit of star power to the Beacon. I wonder if they’ll play together. My guess is yes! At Joe’s Pub downtown, we find one of the Masters of the Telecaster, former Commander Cody guitarist, BILL KIRCHEN, holding court.

     Thursday, March 28 – The critically acclaimed NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS will bring their huge cult following with them to The Beacon Theater tonight, and again on Friday and Saturday. Their music has been described by New Musical Express as “gothic psycho-sexual apocalypse” music, so if that sounds good to you, go check them out!

     Friday, March 29 – Former Pixie, Kim Deal, has re-united her spin off band, THE BREEDERS, for a 20th anniversary tour commemorating their album, “Last Splash”. Called LSXX, for obvious reasons, the original line up has come together and will be performing that album in it’s entirety on this tour, which arrives at The Bell House in Brooklyn, tonight!

     Saturday, March 30 – Two very important shows tonight, one upstate, one downstate. At BB King’s in Manhattan, the reunited MOVING SIDEWALKS, Billy Gibbons’ band before ZZ Top, will be playing one show, and upstate, at Club Helsinki in Hudson, one of our finest singer/songwriters, TODD SNIDER, pulls into town. Both these shows are highly recommended!

     Sunday, March 31 – Former Texas gubernatorial candidate, and leader of The Texas Jewboys,  KINKY FRIEDMAN, will bring his cigar smokin’, foot stompin’, sarcastic but hilarious music into City Winery in Manhattan tonight.

     Monday, April 1 – THE ROLLING STONES will be playing a double bill with the re-united BEATLES at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock tonight. PSYCH! April Fool! We can dream, can we not? Don’t forget to tune in to John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree tonight at 8:30 for my regular radio segment on WIOX, 91.3 FM, or online at www.wioxradio.org.

     Tuesday, April 2 – Pick of the Week! THE BLACK CROWES return from hiatus with two shows at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, tonight and Wednesday. These guys have become one of America’s best rock bands, and the only band to utilize open tunings as well as The Stones’ Keith Richards. Well, maybe not as well, but close, very, very close!

If you can’t make it to The Crowes, console yourself with Old 97’s frontman, RHETT MILLER, at City Winery in Manhattan!

     Wednesday, April 3 – More CROWES at The Cap, and a very unusual show at The Cutting Room in Manhattan. Original Sex Pistols’ bassist, GLEN MATLOCK, has teamed up with original Ramones’ drummer, Tommy Erdelyi/ Ramone (who has been playing Bluegrass music in recent years) for who knows what kind of music! Any way you look at it, this should be an interesting night. Recommended. Also recommended, extremely influential Arizona band, THE MEAT PUPPETS, who counted Kurt Cobain, Soundgarden, Pavement, and Dinosaur Jr. as fans, start a two day run at The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan. Tonight’s show is an early one, starting at 6:30. Tomorrow at 9:30.

     Thursday, April 4 – In Woodstock, THE LINDSEY WEBSTER BAND begins a month long Thursday night residency at The Bearsville Theater. Their shows here in the past have become a fun night with friends and good music, and April’s shows should continue this tradition.

     Have a great week!

     

     Alvin Lee first exploded into my consciousness on one of the most memorable weekends of my life! It was August 2nd and 3rd, a Friday and Saturday night. The year was 1968.

     Friday night, I had a 2nd row ticket to see a band from San Francisco that was generating a huge buzz, specifically about their singer, a young woman named Janis Joplin. The band, of course, was Big Brother and The Holding Company!

     The opening act was a band from England that I was unfamiliar with, but within 10 seconds of their opening riff, I was eager to become much more familiar with them! That band was Ten Years After, and their guitarist was the fastest guitarslinger in the land, up to that point! Alvin Lee was mindblowingly fast, yet always remained tasty and in the groove! I had never seen anyone like him, and I don’t think anyone else had either!

     Ten Years After went on to become one of the genuine Heroes of Woodstock ’69. The band became a huge international draw, but ironically got locked into playing “Going Home”, their Woodstock highlight, at blinding speed without much regard for the “Roll” in Rock n Roll, for the rest of their career! As an intelligent, well rounded guitar picker who liked to jam and swing as much as rock, this was anathema to Alvin, who left the band in 1973!

     Lee went on to record the collaboration with Mylon Le Fevre, “On the Road to Freedom”, which featured George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Ronnie Wood, and Mick Fleetwood as guests, and produced the huge international hit, “I’d Love to Change the World”!

     Although he remained active in the music business, that was his last big hit, and Alvin Lee passed away March 6, of complications from a routine surgery at the age of 68! He left us way too soon! RIP Alvin! Goin’ Home one last time!

     In news from the barely living (LOL), The Rolling Stones are about to announce an 18 city 50th Anniversary Tour of America for this Summer, with more dates expected to be announced in the UK.

     And Further, the Grateful Dead spinoff that features Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, just announced 8 nights at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester in April, all of which are already sold out! Info at www.thecapitoltheatre.com.

     Now for this week’s live picks.

     Wednesday, March 13 – If it’s March, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND must be playing at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan! And they are finishing up this year’s run this week! Final dates are tonight, and this coming weekend, Friday through Sunday, March 15-17!

I’d recommend going this weekend, if you wanna see The Brothers, because tonight, there is a major show at The Brooklyn Bowl! Headlined by local resident, MARCO BENEVENTO, of Benevento-Russo, and DAVID HIDALGO of Los Lobos, the lineup also features LONDON SOULS, an amazing two piece guitar/drum combo, and a band I’ve never heard of, THE SHADY HORNS. I like their name, and if they’re the fourth band in this crowd, I’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt! Benevento-Russo is a great band of amazing musicians (Bandmate Joe Russo just finished touring with Phil Lesh, and is now on the road with Further), and Los Lobos have been rockin’ out of East LA for decades! This is an awesome quadruple bill, but if you go, get there early, and do not miss any of the bands, especially London Souls!

     Thursday, March 14 – Former local resident JACK GRACE will be playin’ some real Country music tonight at The Rodeo Bar in Manhattan. Jack’s funny, intelligent, and he rocks! Can’t beat that combo!

     Friday, March 15 – Tonight, up in Woodstock, BROTHER JOSCEPHUS AND THE LOVE REVOLUTION, bring their show to The Bearsville Theater. Now, I don’t know much about these guys, but they won the Independent Music Awards “Best Live Performance” award in 2011, the picture on the theater’s website looks totally amazing and high energy, and I have it from reliable personal sources that they are fantastic! So, go check ‘em out. I know I probably will! More info at http://www.bearsvilletheater.com/events-calendar/brother-joscephus-and-the-love-revolution-friday-march-15-2013.

Also tonight, we have a high powered Americana bill at The Capitol Theatre, with DRIVE BY TRUCKERS and OLD 97’S.

     Saturday, March 16 – As usual, there’s a lot going on Saturday night! DRIVE BY TRUCKERS and OLD 97’S move their show to The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Also, our own GENYA RAVAN is at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. The biggest thing downstate tonight though, is DOCTOR JOHN AND THE LOWER 911 at Town Hall in Manhattan! Up in Woodstock, PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CROWMATIX bring it at The Bearsville Theater, but where I’ll be, is at a totally non-musical event! I will be indulging my second love, comedy! DIMITRI MARTIN is a very funny comedian, who started, at least for me, as a reporter on The Daily Show, but was quickly spun off into his own show, which was quickly cancelled after one season! Never mind that he was hilarious and he made you think while you were cracking up! On basic cable, Dimitri was too smart for the room! That shouldn’t be the case at The Egg in Albany tonight, where Dimitri will hold court and tell you some very interesting things that you didn’t already know!

     Monday, March 18 – The great ARLEN ROTH wields his axe at The Iridium in Manhattan!

     Tuesday, March 19 – An artist who hasn’t toured much in recent years returns to live performing tonight at UPAC in Kingston. GEORGE THOROGOOD had a string of rockin’, blues based hits back in the 80’s and 90’s, and, in my opinion, his cache has done nothing but increase during his inactivity. Those songs still stand up, even today! This show should remind everyone that this guy is freakin’ phenomenal!

     Wednesday, March 20 – STICK MEN, featuring Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson, at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.

     Don’t forget to check me out this Monday night, March 18, at 8:30 pm on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree on WIOX, 91.3FM, and online at www.wioxradio.org.

     See ya!