There’s a hurricane comin’ on, my son’s visiting from California, and they cancelled tonight’s Social Distortion show at The Chance, so we’re gonna go straight to this week’s live music picks.

     Halloween, Wednesday, October 31 – It seems like everyone did their Halloween partying over this past weekend, so the day, itself, may be a bit of a letdown. Then again, maybe not! THE CONNOR KENNEDY BAND will be at The Bearsville Theater performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band, and, in the city, JACKIE GREENE is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Americana Roots Rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, is at The Bowery Ballroom, and the big show tonight is SMASHING PUMPKINS at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn.

     Thursday, November 1 – The choices are slim tonight. Upstate, we’ve got DOCTOR JOHN and THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and downstate, TOM TOM CLUB at The Brooklyn Bowl.

     Friday, November 2 – Again, upstate, JACKIE GREENE returns to The Bearsville Theater, and downstate, CHRIS ISAAK is at The Beacon Theater.

     Saturday, November 3 – All shows tonight are in the city. Former Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard whiz, BERNIE WORRELL and his orchestra are at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, Former J. Geils Band frontman, PETER WOLF starts a two day run at City Winery, and #1 Itunes Reggae chart topper, J. BOOG, is at BB King’s. My son produced and engineered J. Boog’s chart topper, so if any of my friends are reading this, meet me down there.

     Sunday, November 4 – PETER WOLF concludes his engagement at City Winery, and upstate, The BANJO SUMMIT is at The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, featuring arguably the top three banjo players in the world, BELA FLECK, TONY TRISHKA, and BILL KEITH. This really has to be a Pick of the Week!

     Monday, November 5 – New Orleans R n B and Funk royalty, IVAN NEVILLE brings his DUMPSTAPHUNK to The Highline Ballroom, along with highly regarded Big Easy guitarist, ANDERS OSBORNE.

     Wednesday, November 7 – The second Pick of the Week is former Thirteenth Floor Elevators frontman, and noted mental patient, ROKY ERICKSON, who will be at The Bell House in Brooklyn, and PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS begin their invasion of the East Coast with three nights at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, concluding on November 9.

     Have a great week, and please don’t forget to tune in to The Little Delaware Jamboree on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and on the web at www.wioxradio.org, every other Monday evening at 8:30 for my radio version of this column. The next show will be November 12.

     It was just a little over a year ago that I wrote the obituary for my friend, Eugene Geary, the most rockin’ guitarist I ever played with, who I wrote a couple of albums worth of songs with, and who passed away last October 11th. We were friends since we were kids, and there is no replacement for him as a guitar player, friend, and musical partner.

     Shortly after “Huge” passed on, a friend gave me a CD of the last songs we wrote and recorded together, one of which won a certificate of achievement in the Billboard Song Contest. The CD never left my car player, and, in fact, it’s still there, because my car burned up last April. I managed to save the CD player with discs intact, but I hadn’t gotten around to taking it apart yet to remove the discs, so, when another friend gave me a new copy, I was very happy to relive it again. As I drove around listening over and over, I realized that the anniversary of his death was upon us, and started thinking about the way we wrote and recorded those songs. Most of the songs we wrote together started with lyrics that I wrote, which Huge then wrote music for. For these last few, we changed the way we worked.

     The initial spark came from my friend for these songs. He had the germ of the idea, and then we adopted the method Mick Jagger and Keith Richard used when they wrote together. Huge played the riff over and over, while grunting and making primordial noises in the back of his throat. I stood with pen and paper and translated these sounds into English, just like Mick used to do with Keith. For every record I ever made, my operating slogan was always, “If it’s good enough for The Stones, it’s good enough for us”, which is why every track we ever recorded was done live in the studio, with everyone playing in the same room at the same time.

     The Stones’ method worked for us. We came up with the best material and recordings we had ever done! The new disc has now been in my new car player for a few weeks. I’ve listened to it about a hundred times or more, and certain realizations and memories have surfaced that have come to mean a lot to me.

     The first thing I found interesting, is how the words, most of which I wrote, now seem to be Eugene’s words that are speaking to me from beyond this world. It’s amazing to me that lyrics I wrote fifteen years ago, are now what I believe Huge would be saying to me today, if he could speak, and maybe he is! They are just perfectly applicable to the changes that have occurred in my life in the past 7 years, as advice from The Huge! It’s funny how that stuff works. Things turn around and become something other than what they started out as.

     The other thing that I began remembering, as I listened, was our method for recording drums and guitars, which was, I was in charge of his guitar sound, and he was in charge of my drum sound! We would never tell each other what to play, but more like suggest a tone, a style, or a feel, for the other to latch onto. I might tell him to make it sound like Keith, or he might tell me to play on my floor tom instead of the ride cymbal, and then we would both do it! And then in the mixdown, he would do my drums, and I would do his guitar, of course, with help from the other, but essentially, we were in charge of each other’s sound!

     Remembering this was very touching to me, because it reminded me of how much we trusted each other musically, enough to control the other’s sound, and never have to worry about it. It’s just a cool way to work, that we didn’t plan. It just evolved and turned out that way naturally, and now the lyrics have done the same thing, in a sense.

     I never get tired of listening to these songs, and hearing to them now is a great way to honor and remember my friend, which I will probably keep doing all month and beyond, as a way to commemorate his life!

     I’d like to end my remembrance of Eugene with a little story. When The Stones, (both of our favorite band for many years), were on The Voodoo Lounge Tour, I had kind of gone off The Stones, who weren’t really making the most vital music of their careers at that point. I was going to skip the whole tour, but the day before the last show at Giants Stadium, somebody gave me two tenth row tickets, so, of course, I went.

     It was threatening to rain that night, so, since it was an outdoor show, I brought a small umbrella with me, and it did rain, torrentially! However, I was able to keep dry with my bumbershoot. I didn’t know, at the time, whether the music was really hot that night, or it was just so much fun watching The Stones get totally drenched, while I stayed dry as a bone, but they sounded awesome!

     Now Huge had already seen the show, and he told me it sucked, and we argued about this for months, until I read an interview with Keith Richards, where he talked about the tour, saying that the entire tour was horrible, except, for one night in New York, when it rained!!! Stop! You’re both right!

     RIP Huge. I’ll see you on the other side.

     Now for this week’s live music picks.

     Wednesday, October 24 – BUDDY GUY, now an elder statesman of The Blues, and at the peak of his career, stops by BB King’s in Manhattan. This is gonna be great, and I wish I could be there, but I probably won’t be able to make it, and as I write this, I am remembering that it was Huge who turned me back onto Buddy Guy at the same time we recorded the previously mentioned songs, just as Buddy was coming out with some of the best material he had ever done!

Also tonight, Americana darlings, THE OLD 97’S are at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with Old 97s’ front man, RHETT MILLER, as the opening act. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, open for myself!

     Thursday, October 25 – The only games in town tonight are, if you’re in the city, new Hudson Valley resident, JESSY CAROLINA AND THE HOT MESS at The Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Brooklyn. And if you’re up around Woodstock, you gotta go see MOONALICE at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. As I mentioned last week, these guys stream every show live and create a poster in the San Francisco style for every show they do. They also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was Jerry Garcia’s main guy for 27 years, and should have some cool stories to tell. And the musicians, Pete Sears, Barry Sless, and John Molo, are the cream of the crop of San Francisco musicians, veterans of Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby and The Range, Hot Tuna, David Nelson Band, John Fogerty, and many others. I guess we’re going to have to make this the Pick of the Week! There may be others.

     Friday, October 26 – Tonight we’ve got TREY ANASTASIO at The Beacon Theater, former Grateful Dead vocalist, DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX, at The Iridium, THE JACK GRACE BAND at The Rodeo Bar, and the former Jerry Garcia Band, now known as JGB, starting a two day run at The Brooklyn Bowl, but the main event tonight is SOCIAL DISTORTION, one of my top two bands working today, at Roseland Ballroom, which is my second Pick of the Week. All of tonight’s shows are in the city.

     Saturday, October 27 – JGB finishes their turn at The Brooklyn Bowl, the inimitable and always creative GRACE JONES is at Roseland, THE GENIUS OF JOHN COLTRANE at Jazz at Lincoln Center, all in the city, and up in the Hudson Valley, former (and hopefully future) Phil and Friends guitarist, JACKIE GREENE is at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and THE WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL LUTHIER’S SHOWCASE kicks off a two day weekend at The Bearsville Theater.

     Sunday, October 28 – MOONALICE brings their show to The Brooklyn Bowl, BLUE OYSTER CULT to Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and SOCIAL DISTORTION venture upstate to The Chance, and we’ll make this one a Pick of the Week too.

     Not much going on Monday and Tuesday. I guess everybody will be working on their costumes for Halloween.

     And on Halloween, which falls on a Wednesday this year, your choices are JACKIE GREENE at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Alt-Country rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, at the Bowery Ballroom, and CONNOR KENNEDY BAND at The Bearsville Theater, performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band. Should be a good party!

     Wrapping up the week are DOCTOR JOHN with THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and former Talking Heads’ members, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth, with their band, TOM TOM CLUB, at The Brooklyn Bowl. These guys are good, so let’s end the week by making this the third Pick of the Week!

     I hope you’re enjoying these lovely Autumn days we’ve been experiencing. Have a great week!

     Howdy y’all! Last week I was remiss in my duties. A very important show flew under my radar. Even though I knew about it and had been looking forward to it for weeks, I forgot to recommend it in this column. The show in question was Python Soup at The Bearsville Theater. A supergroup of sorts, Python Soup is nonetheless a showcase for the percussive talents of drummer Simon Phillips. That said, I would be doubly remiss if I didn’t say that the great Don Byron was mind blowing on clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophone, and Scott Petito anchored the entire shebang beautifully on stand up and electric bass. David Spinozza threw in some tasty licks on guitar, and Pete Levin layered the music with lovely keyboard work. But, for me, as a drummer, and even for the non-drummers in attendance, it was mostly about the unbelievable stick work of Phillips! The man is simply and definitely one of the greatest drummers in the world today!

     Simon Phillips first came to my attention as the drummer on the great “801 Live” album, recorded with Brian Eno and Phil Manzanara. The album opens with a cover of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which they abbreviated to “TNK”. It is an almost entirely different song, although still very recognizable. The beat that Phillips laid down for this song is truly remarkable, and I never get tired of listening to it! That opening track opened my eyes to the talents of Simon Phillips and put him on the map as one of the premier top level drummers in the world! Take a listen to it. It’s amazing, and stands with The Beatles version as an equal!

     I didn’t know at the time, but this was Phillips first credited appearance on record. I was probably familiar with his name as a session musician, so didn’t realize that this was actually his debut! And what a debut it was! After that, Phillips went on to play with a who’s who of A list musicians, including all of Pete Townsend’s solo work, Jeff Beck, The Who, David Gilmour, and many others. When Toto drummer, Jeff Porcaro, died suddenly as the band was preparing to go on tour, Phillips was the only drummer they considered to replace Porcaro, and went so far as to say that if Simon couldn’t do it, they would not tour!

     So, I stood right behind the drums and hung on every note! Phillips’ playing is so inventive, creative, complex, and powerful, that my attention was riveted for the entire evening! I loved to watch as Phillips easily switched between leading with his right hand and his left, not an easy feat for a drummer, and one that very few drummers can do successfully! And what a sweet man! This was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time, and certainly the most musical. The only thing that compared, recently, was The Grandmothers of Invention, who I also heartily recommend!

     Simon Phillips, drummer extraordinaire! Don Byron, master of eclectic horns! Scott Petito, rock solid anchor! David Spinozza, (who by the way, has recorded with John Lennon AND Paul McCartney, AND Paul Simon, AND Dr. John, and, and, and… just about everyone), tasty fretmaster! And Pete Levin, fillin’ in the space on keys! Like I said, a supergroup! Catch ‘em if you can! Python Soup!

     Then Friday rolled around, and it was time for my own band, The Cheating Hearts, to play some alt-erd Country and Rock & Roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston. They came, we played, we rocked, and a splendid time was had by all! Any venues desiring this style of music, we’re available! Contact me at Reservoir Music.

     I just surfed over to The Rolling Stones website to give a listen to their new single, “Doom and Gloom”, and I have to say, it’s probably the best thing they’ve done in a dog’s age! The song is a rockin’ riff machine that references images from their best work in the 60’s and 70’s! While there, I also found out that a new documentary is about to be released. Titled “Crossfire Hurricane”, it chronicles the first 50 years of the band’s career. The trailer is on the website, and it looked really cool! Look for it soon at your neighborhood theaters. And in more Stones’ news, The Museum of Modern Art is planning a 50 year Stones’ retrospective that will run from November 15th through December 2nd, featuring all of the well known Stones’ cinematic endeavors, but also some lesser known and rarely seen films like 1965’s “Charlie is my Darling” and 1969’s “The Stones in the Park”, featuring footage from their live Hyde park concert that year! The website is a great resource and all of the details about this and everything else Rolling Stones are to be found there. Stop by for a visit and check out the new single. www.rollingstones.com.

     By the time this column appears, I will have done my third appearance on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show, broadcast over 91.3, WIOX FM, and also online at www.wioxradio.org. This is really turning into a fun gig for me, and I hope you’ll tune in, log on, or stream it to your phone, Ipod, or whatever you’ve got. It’s every other Monday at around 8:30 PM. Next show will be October 29.

     Well, I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. Let’s get to the live music picks.

     Wednesday, October 17 – We start the week, not exactly with a bang, but not quite a wimper either, although you may feel like wimpering if ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON get their hands on you during their show at Hammerstein Ballroom! It’s a well worn cliché, but I’ll bet ol’ Oscar is spinning six feet under, with these two playing in his house! On a blusier note, guitarslingers JOHNNY WINTER and DEBBIE DAVIES are at BB King’s. Both  shows in Manhattan.

     Thursday, October 18 – WYCLEF JEAN at City Winery, and NEW ORDER at Roseland Ballroom, Manhattan.

     Friday, October 19 – She’s mysterious. She’s talented. She’s beautiful. She’s FIONA APPLE, and her new album, “The Idler Wheel…” has received excellent reviews. I’ve been looking forward to this for months. At The Palace Theater, Albany, and my Pick of the Week!

Also upstate, JOHNNY WINTER at The Towne Crier in Pauling, and the original Brooklyn Cowboy, RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOTT, rides into The Rosendale Café, where my second Pick of the Week will reside! Ramblin’ Jack’s getting’ old and he’s a legend. Catch him while you can!

In Manhattan, CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH conclude their four day run at The Beacon Theater, Saturday actually. Tonight’s show is the third of four. And the always amazing PRIMUS are at Hammerstein Ballroom!

     Saturday, October 20 – I don’t love THE SMITHEREENS, but I do like them, and I like a lot of their songs a lot! They’re kind of a great band, and for Woodstock, this is a great show, and my third Pick of the Week! With the great surf band, Purple Knif opening. Get there on time! And if you couldn’t make it to RAMBLIN’ JACK at The Rosendale Café because you were up in Albany at Fiona Apple, well, you’ve got another chance tonight at The Ritz Theater lobby in Newburgh.

     Sunday, October 21 – Pre-pubescent guitarist, JONNY LANG, has grown up, and he’s now a real live bluesman! At BB King’s with old school fabulous soul singer, RYAN SHAW, who’s more interesting to me than Lang, although both will be great, so don’t be late! 

There was an ego driven band ten or fifteen years ago called THE DARKNESS, that people liked to make fun of at the time. However, as a contrarian, I thought they were pretty good, if you didn’t take them too seriously. At Terminal 5. Both tonight’s shows are in Manhattan.

     Monday, October 22 – ALANIS MORISSETTE has also grown up, and I always thought her hit song, “You Oughta Know” was great! She HAS sold over 60 million records, so she must be doing something right! She could be playing The Garden or The Beacon, but she’s playing the relatively intimate Terminal 5 in Manhattan, as a gift to her fans.

     Tuesday, October 23 – I haven’t heard any of CAT POWER’s music, but I find her very intriguing! She’s recorded with Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Marianne Faithfull, and members of Sonic Youth. She also did an album of soul music in Memphis, which gets my immediate respect! And most interesting of all, she wrote all of the songs for her 1998 release, “Moon Pix”, in one night after having a nightmare while alone in an isolated South Carolina farmhouse! The thought gives me chills! Southern Gothic indeed!

BUDDY GUY is riding high and should be in top form for his show at BB King’s in Manhattan! And Alt-Country band OLD 97’s are at Webster Hall in Manhattan with lead singer and frontman, RHETT MILLER, who I believe is a local resident, opening solo for his band!

     Wednesday, October 24 – OLD 97’s and RHETT MILLER reprise their show from Webster Hall at The Music Hall of Williamsburgh in Brooklyn.

     Thursday, October 25 – Two great shows tonight to close out the week, or to start the new week, if you prefer. At The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, San Francisco band, MOONALICE, will be jamming until late, with PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CHROMATICS opening. Moonalice is on the cutting edge of modern music technology, streaming every single concert live on the web. They also often tour with poster artists and poster art shows, and tonight will be no exception! The band will bring an original San Francisco Fillmore poster art show with them to Bearsville, and they also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was a roadie for The Grateful Dead, and Jerry Garcia’s personal guy, for several decades, basically throughout The Dead’s entire career! I believe Steve will have some cool stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again after, oh, about 20 years! Seems like yesterday! Oh yeah, and the musicians have been culled from the cream of SF players, and include Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver, Hot Tuna, Jerry Garcia, Rod Stewart), Barry Sless (David Nelson Band, Phil and Friends, Kingfish, Rowan Brothers), and John Molo (Phil and Friends, John Fogerty, Bruce Hornsby)! www.moonaliceband.com. Might as well make this the last Pick of the Week!

And down in Brooklyn, new local resident, JESSY CAROLINA, and her band, THE HOT MESS, will be at the new premier beer garden, Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Williamsburgh, which I’ve heard is a great place. Jessy and her boys are all about old time music. You won’t hear no Rock & Roll tonight folks, but it will rock, and it will be great! If you’re in the city, go!

     Wow! This is shaping up to be an awesome week! Take advantage of it and go hear some live music!

     Greetings! What a week it’s been! It started last Sunday with Steve Earle at The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, then the Love For Levon concert, Wednesday, at the IZOD Center, and just managed to make it to Blackberry Smoke at Irving Plaza, before collapsing in a heap at 8 o’clock in the morning yesterday! I think I need another day to recover!

     All of these shows were just fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable! Steve Earle proved, once again, that he is a fully developed, well rounded artist, a renaissance man really! He does everything, he plays everything, and he’s done just about every style of music there is, even hip hop, at his first Bearsville Theater show a few years ago! Steve’s done rock and roll, bluegrass, and country, but at The Bardavon last week, he showcased his singer/ songwriter skills, just standing up and delivering one great song after the next, in a very simple, yet captivating style. Almost all of your favorites were there – “City of Immigrants”, “Guitar Town”, “Copperhead Road”, “Devil’s Right Hand”, “My Old Friend The Blues”, and so many more. He is the penultimate singer/songwriter, and singer/ songwriters everywhere should take note of this man to see how it’s done! My thanks to Lucy Edgcomb and Chris Silva at The Bardavon for their gracious hospitality in making this show possible.

     Two quick days to recover, then down to the IZOD Center for the highlight of the week, the Love for Levon concert. This was such a special event! I wish you all could have been there. The vibe was pure love, and Levon’s spirit was everywhere! With all the huge stars in attendance, all egos were subjugated to the vibe, which really was love for Levon. Was there ever a more loved man on this planet than Levon? I doubt it! Here are some of the highlights. And check out the backstage pics below!

     John Prine delivered an amazing “When I Paint my Masterpiece” in his own inimitable style. When he left the stage, Garth Hudson grabbed John and shook his hand, and you couldn’t help notice that Garth and Prine seem like kindred spirits and two of a kind, two weird geniuses who appreciate each others artistry!

     Then Jakob Dylan took the stage for a rockin’ “Ain’t Got a Home”, with the great Kenny Aronoff providing an unfailing backbeat on drums, later to be joined by Steve Jordan, the drummer of choice for Keith Richards! Kenny Aronoff AND Steve Jordan, playing together on one stage? Drum heaven! And it was very touching to see Jakob show up for Levon.

     Larry Campbell introduced Lucinda Williams as “the very soulful Lucinda Williams”, and, boy, was she! Then Grace Potter turned a slow and haunting “I Shall Be Released” into a tour de force, showing off her powerful voice and Hammond organ skills. Grace is one of the best artists out there, and probably destined for super stardom. She is just amazing!

     Garth reprised his “Chest Fever” intro on the Hammond, albeit a shorter version than the twenty minute intros he used to do with The Band, but that is something Garth has not done in recent memory!

     Then the audience was privileged to hear Eric Church, who has one of the great Southern voices, kind of like Levon himself!  Eric was a new discovery for me, and a most welcome one at that! I will definitely be checking him out, and you should too!

     Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph were up next for “Up on Cripple Creek”. Joe’s incredible solo showed everyone why The Eagles snatched him up when they did!

     Then it was Midnight Ramble veterans and huge Levon fans, My Morning Jacket, who’d already done a tribute to Levon at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. They opened with “Ophelia”, then right into “It Makes No Difference”, with a wailing sax solo from The Levon Helm Band’s Erik Lawrence, and finally closing their set with “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” with Roger Waters and G.E. Smith on guitar!

     The finale, as always, was “The Weight”, with everyone up on the stage to take turns singing the verses. Garth was on piano, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, and Larry Campbell on acoustic guitars, Warren Haynes, Jorma, John Mayer, Joe Walsh, G.E. Smith, and members of My Morning Jacket on electric guitars, Don Was and Byron Isaacs on stand up and electric bass, Kenny Aronoff and Justin from The Levon Helm band on drums, Steve Jordan on tambourine, solos by Garth and Robert Randolph, The Levon Helm Band’s horn section, verses of the song alternately sung by Amy Helm, Mavis Staples, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, Dierks Bentley, and Eric Church, and Lucinda Williams, Grace Potter, Teresa Williams, Ray LaMontagne, Marc Cohen, Patty Griffin, Alan Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, John Prine, David Bromberg, and Bruce Hornsby on background vocals! Wow!

     I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great job The members of The Levon Helm Band did as the house band backing up everybody, and Larry Campbell and Don Was, who served as co-musical directors. Don also played stand up bass for most of the night, and what a night it was! If you weren’t there, you missed a great night to remember and cherish forever!

     I saw cameras filming the whole night, so there may be a DVD in the works! For now, you can see a clip of the finale at www.levonhelm.com. I’m hoping to get a complete set list for the show, and if I do, I will post it with the blog, Tuesday night, on reservoirmusic.com, brooklyncowboys.com, and hvmusic.com. (Still waiting for the set list).

     With the last bit of energy I had, I drove to the city Friday night to see my favorite new band, Blackberry Smoke, and they did not disappoint. High energy Southern Rock n Roll is what these guys do, and they rocked the house! Judging by the enthusiasm and size of the audience, in New York City of all places, not to mention the playing and songwriting skills of this young band, I predict huge success for Blackberry Smoke! Check out their song, “I Can Feel a Good One Comin’ On”. Instant classic and radio hit! My thanks to David McTiernan from Shore Fire Media for arranging our credentials for this show. I felt a good one comin’ on, and I was absolutely right!

     Before we get to this week’s live music picks, I want to hip you to an unbelievable annual free festival that happens in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park every year about this time. It’s called the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and you can check out this year’s line up here – www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco venture capitalist, Warren Hellman, the festival has been held every year for the past twelve years. It is a completely free festival! There are no tickets, and the line up is about the best I’ve ever seen anywhere! There are no sponsors, no advertisements, and the entire event is subsidized by Hellman, who has endowed the event to continue without sponsorship for at least fifteen years past his death. Major corporations have repeatedly offered to underwrite this thing, but Hellman has always refused, preferring to keep it entirely free and non-commercial! This event draws more people than the entire population of San Francisco! Over a million people were expected to show up this year! This is something worth traveling to. Plan your vacations now for the first weekend in October, 2013!

     And now, for this week’s live music picks.

     Thursday, October 11 – THE GO GO’S reunite for a show at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square.

     Friday, October 12 – CHARLES BRADLEY, an old school soul singer who was just recently discovered by the folks at Daptone Records at the age of 61, will be appearing at The Bearsville Theater, along with a screening of the documentary film that was recently released about him. You should really visit www.bearsvilletheater.com for more about this fine young singer. It’s an amazing story! This is part of the WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL, which takes place all weekend at various venues around town. More info at

www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.

My own band, THE CHEATING HEARTS, will be layin’ down some alt-ered country and rock n roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston, starting around 9PM. The band features Jimmy Eppard, just James, Chuck Cornelis, and yours truly. Hope to see you there.

     Saturday, October 13 – Upstate, it’s SLAM ALLEN, James Cotton’s former guitarist and vocalist, at The Rosendale Café. In the city, it’s PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At the Hammerstein Ballroom.

     Sunday, October 14 – CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA at The Iridium in Manhattan. Cindy is Lenny Kravitz’s drummer and is married to Carlos Santana, so she’s got the pedigree. Definitely worth checking out!

     Tuesday, October 16 – CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH start a four day run at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan. The second date this week is Wednesday, October 17, and the engagement concludes with two more shows next week. And the mysterious, beautiful, and ultra talented, FIONA APPLE starts her invasion of New York with a show at Manhattan’s Terminal 5. She’ll be at The Palace Theater in Albany next week.

     Wednesday, October 17 – For all you death metal fans out there, ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON are at The Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan tonight.

     I just want to leave you with this year’s nominees for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can find them at www.rollingstone.com, and for the first time ever, fans will be able to vote for their choices on the Rolling Stone website. Check it and see.

     Have a great week.

     Greetings! Certain events have conspired to prevent me from writing a complete column this week in time for my deadline at The Townsman. However, I may update for the web versions, which are posted every Wednesday at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, www.hvmusic.com, and www.brooklyncowboys.com. No promises, but if I have the time, and inspiration strikes, then I will.

     So, because of said events, let’s go straight to the live music picks.

     Wednesday, October 3 – The biggest show of the week, or maybe the year, decade, century, is LOVE FOR LEVON, at the IZOD Center at The Meadowlands, New Jersey! Who’s NOT on this show? Roger Waters, Bruce Hornsby, Lucinda Williams, Larry Campbell and the rest of Levon’s band, oh, just go to www.loveforlevon.com and you can get the skinny straight from the source. This show could mean the difference in the fate of The Barn’s ownership and what goes on there, i.e whether or not Midnight Rambles continue for our enjoyment, so, if you can, go! The Barn should be declared a National Historic Place and make what’s been going on there for the past 10 years permanent!

Also tonight, another huge show, in a totally different vein, JAY-Z opens the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, where his basketball team will play next season. I know you think you hate Hip Hop and Rap, but I guarantee you I could sit down and play you a couple of hours of Hip Hop and Rap that you would dig, and Jay-Z is one of the most musically sophisticated Rap artists out there. I consider him to be the Frank Sinatra of the genre, and I don’t make that comparison lightly!

Also, up in Albany, the hilarious, cutting edge, satire of MARGARET CHO will have The Egg rockin’ with laughter.

     Thursday, October 4 – Up and coming ALABAMA SHAKES, who’s lead singer, Brittany Howard, has been compared to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin, are at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.

     Friday, October 5 – This week’s Pick of the Week is my new favorite band, BLACKBERRY SMOKE, at Irving Plaza in Manhattan. Blackberry Smoke is a swirling mix of Southern Rock, Country, top notch songwriting, correct Rock & Roll imagery, and fantastic musicianship. I could listen to these guys anytime, and you should too! I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced, and lemme tell ya, I can feel a good one comin’ on! Blackberry Smoke, the best new band of the year, so far! Check ‘em out!

Also in the city tonight, THE RAVEONETTES at Webster Hall, awesome 80’s rockin’ R&B band WHITE TRASH at Bowery Electric, LEFTOVER SALMON at The Bowery Ballroom, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Great shows all, and highly recommended! Not a clunker among ‘em!

Up in the Hudson Valley, the dazzling JONNY MONSTER BAND returns to The Bearsville Theater, and today is the first day of the O+ FESTIVAL in Kingston, which continues through the weekend. More info at www.opositivefestival.org.

     Saturday, October 6 – JOHN LENNON BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE at Bearsville Theater.

www.bearsvilletheater.com. Downstate, 80’s anti-hero, ADAM ANT, at Best Buy Theater, FAB FAUX AT The Beacon, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.

     Sunday, October 7 – I almost made JOHNNY HALLYDAY at The Beacon Theater my second Pick of the Week, just because he’s a legend in France and has never toured here. This is his first American performance ever! And this guy is like Elvis in France. If I was anywhere near this show, I would go just out of curiosity, if nothing else, and who knows, he just might rock your socks off!

     Tuesday, October 9 – Again, I almost made PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a Pick of the week. I mean, this is Johnny Rotten’s band and they haven’t toured in around 20 years, so if for no other reason, this is worth checking out for the spectacle of it all. I know I wanna go!

     Gotta run to Steve Earle at The Bardavon now. See ya next week! Have a great one!