TRAVEL BACK IN TIME to the ’70s and ’80s
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JOHN FORD COLEY
Voice of Player “Baby Come Back” “This Time I’m In It For Love”
PETER BECKETT
“I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” “Nights Are Forever Without You”
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PETER BECKETT
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UPCOMING
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January 2020
Issue #91 PUBLISHERS Jay Skolnick Jay@SFLMusic.com Gary Skolnick Gary@SFLMusic.com
4. HEAVY PETS 4. ROOSEVELT COLLIER 6. TRISHA YEARWOOD 11. TSO 12. GARY PUCKETT 14. TONY BENNETT 15. TAS CRU
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16. CONCERT DATES 18. SMOKEY ROBINSON
EDITOR IN CHIEF Sean McCloskey Sean@SFLMusic.com SENIOR EDITOR Todd McFliker Todd@SFLMusic.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Gary Skolnick Gary@SFLMusic.com
21. LEANN RIMES 23. ANA POPOVIC 26. TIM REYNOLDS 28. TAB BENOIT 30. JACK MACK 32. AARON LEWIS 33. BARRY GOLDBERG
OPERATIONS MAGAGER Jessica Delgadillo Jessica@SFLMusic.com
34. VANESSA COLLIER
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CONTRIBUTORS Brad Stevens Ray Anton • Lori Smerilson Carson Tom Craig • Megan Garzone Aaron Gilbert Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro Alex Liscio • Janine Mangini Angel Melendez • Nathan Rose Romy Santos • David Shaw Darla Skolnick COVER PHOTO Courtesy Photo SFL Music Magazine is a community newspaper that is published monthly in Boca Raton, Florida. All contents are copyright 2020 by the AWG Group, LLC, and may not be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.
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34. ISLEY BROTHERS 36. JINGLE BALL 38. PRAY FOR SLEEP 44. BOB MARGOLIN 46. JOEL DASILVA 47. XXSKA PARTY 48. BRET MICHAELS 48. DISCO BISCUITS
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50. RIPTIDE 52. SAMANTHA RUSSELL BAND 54. ZEPPARELLA 56. AMOR A LA MUSICA 58. SONS OF APOLLO 61. BLUES SCHOOL 62. ON THE SCENE 63. CLASSIFIEDS
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Tas visits the Sunshine State fresh off appearances on Memphis’ historic Beale Street. He and his Band of Tortured Souls take up residence there at the world famous Rum Boogie Cafe as they do every January during the International Blues Challenge For eleven years running, he hosts the premiere jam at the Boogie during the IBC. Memphis is just one of the fifteen cities on his Drive On Tour that brings Tas and his new album, Drive On to Florida for the first two weeks of February. Tas returns again in March to play dates including Blues at the Ranch and the Bonita Springs Blues Festival.
newcomers Anthony Geraci, (keyboards), Anthony Terry (tenor sax) and Gabe Stillman (slide guitar) along for the ride to the studio. Mixing this fresh blood with Tas’ tried and true studio companions proves the right turn to take at a crossroads that is Drive On.
Drive On is the latest soundtrack of a man who, living the life he chooses just keeps drivin’ on. Drive On is Tas Cru’s second release on Subcat Records (Syracuse, NY). This new album takes Tas’ music down a different road with
Tas Cru is currently is based out of upstate New York. He is a Delaney Guitars (Austin TX) endorsed artist and is signed to Subcat Records. He is managed by Vinny Marini of Barrelhouse Talent.
GO SEE IT LIVE! January 1 / Wednesday HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Spider Chery – Crazy Uncle Mikes
January 2 / Thursday Donna the Buffalo – Broward CenterWestminster Trio – Double Roads Tavern January 3 / Friday Albert Castiglia – 2 night Recording w/ Guests – Funky Biscuit Kelli O’Hara & Seth Rudetsky – Parker Playhouse In The End – Revolution Live Leafy Greens & 56 Ace – Double Roads Cash Unchained – Kelsey Theater Crazyfingers – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 4 / Saturday Oprah – BB&T Albert Castiglia – 2 night Recording w/ Guests – Funky Biscuit McCartney Mania – Lyric Theater Bee Gees Now – Adventura Center Less than Jake – Culture Room Across the Universe – Double Roads Acoustic Soul Live – Brewhouse Row Jomah Talking Heads Tribute – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 5 / Sunday Gavin Creel – Aventura Center January 6 / Monday Biscuit Jam – FB All Stars w/Don McCabe January 7 / Tuesday David Julia Band – Funky Biscuit Gareth Johnson – Broward Center Jay Stollman – Double Roads Tavern January 8 / Wednesday Veronica Swift & Shelley Berg Jazz TrioBroward Center Spider Cherry – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 9 / Thursday Carpenters Remembered – Parker Playhouse Leo Kotke – Broward Center Marc Broussard – Funky Biscuit January 10 / Friday Billy Joel – Hard Rock Live Hollywood Marc Broussard – Funky Biscuit Vertigo & Original Sin – Revolution Live Girlfriend Material – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 11 / Saturday Air Supply – Poco - Magic City Casino Grace Potter – Revolution Live Mark Farner American Band – The Casino at Dania Beach JP Soars & the Red Hots – Funky Biscuit Leo Kotke – Lyric Theater -Stuart 16 | www.SFLMusic.com
The Floyd Experience-Gulfstream Bobby Nathan Band – Double Roads Subliminal Doubt – Kelsey Theater Forest Sun – Brewhouse Theries Brothers – Crazy Uncle Mikes
January 12 / Sunday R&R Playhouse- Grateful Dead for Kids – Funky Biscuit Meat Loaf presents BAT – Amaturo Theater Righteous Brothers – Coral Springs Center for the Arts January 13 / Monday Biscuit Jam – Sista Marybeth January 14 / Tuesday Mark Telesca Band – Funky Biscuit January 15 / Wednesday Spider Cherry – Crazy Uncle Mikes Sounds of Soul Tribute – Lyric Theater January 16 / Thursday Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Funky Biscuit Nattybos – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 17 / Friday Celine Dion – AAArena Brian Wilson / The Cowsills –Magic City Casino Berry Oakley w/John Ginty – Funky Biscuit Ana Popovic – Lyric Theater – Stuart Lil Keed & Lil Gotit –Revolution Live Queensryche _ Culture Room Jazz is Phish & Guavatron – Kelsey Theater Gunzn’ Roses Tribute – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 18 / Saturday Celine Dion – American Airlines Arena Trevor Noah – Hard Rock Live David Bromberg Quintet – Funky Biscuit Tito Puente, Jr. – Lyric Theater Ana Popovic – Broward Center Haven Star – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 19 / Sunday Glenn Miller Orchestra – Parker Playhouse Eric Hutchinson – Culture Room January 20 / Monday Biscuit Jam – Denny Artache Hawthorn Heights – Culture Room January 21 / Tuesday Iko-Iko – Funky Biscuit Buddy Holly Experience – Lyric Theater January 22 / Wednesday Carbon Leaf w/ Special Guest – Funky Biscuit Branford Marsalis – Lyric Theater January 23 / Thursday
Todd Snider – Funky Biscuit Engelbert Humperdinck – Parker Playhouse Branford Marsalis – Lyric Theater The Dead South Served Cold – Revolution Live Gaelic Storm – Culture Room The Flyers – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 24 / Friday Marshall Tucker Band – Charles F Dodge City Center Robert Cray Band – Parker Playhouse Shaw Davis & the Black Ties – Funky Biscuit Spafford – Culture Room Spred the Dub – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 25 / Saturday Steve Martin / Martin Short – Hard Rock Crystal Visions of Fleetwood Mac – Funky Biscuit Petty Hearts – Revolution Live Unlimited Devotion – Crazy Uncle Mikes January 26 / Sunday Michael Lington – Funky Biscuit Selwyn Birchwood – Arts Garage (hed)P.E. – Culture Room January 27 / Monday Taj Mahal – Broward Center Biscuit Jam – Frank Bang & Funky Biscuit All Stars Neil Diamond Tribute – Lyric Theater Machine Head – Revolution Live January 28 / Tuesday Jason Isbell – Charles Dodge City Center Jim Lauderdale – Funky Biscuit Taj Mahal – Lyric Theater January 29 / Wednesday Lyle Lovett – Parker Playhouse Nick Schnebelen – Funky Biscuit Brothers Again:The Music of the Allman Brothers–Crest/Old School Square Blue Rey Coastal Blues – Double Roads Tavern January 30 / Thursday Rafael Saadiq – Parker Playhouse DJ Khaled – American Airlines Arena Eliot Lewis & Brian Dunne (Hall & Oates) Funky Biscuit Motionless in White/Beartooth – Revolution January 31 / Friday Marcia Ball – Funky Biscuit Guns N Roses – American Airlines Arena The Resolvers – Crazy Uncle Mikes Feb 1st/Saturday Lady Gaga – Meridian Isle Maroon 5 - American Airlines Arena Zac Brown Band – BB&T Center
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ANA Many artists tour America and Europe, but Ana Popovic is taking her extraordinary world renown talent to not just play the U.S. and Europe, but hop back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, all within one year. Her 2020 tour begins in Florida on January 15th at the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, continuing January 16th in Tampa at The Attic at Rock Brothers, then Stuart on January 17th at the Lyric Theatre and wrapping up just prior to the Rhythm and Blues Cruise in Ft. Lauderdale at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday January 18th. With over two decades of experience, Popovic has achieved many successes and accolades including having been nominated six times for the Blues Music Award, as well as four of her albums (Unconditional, Can You Stand The Heat, Trilogy and Like It On Top) have placed in the top five Billboard Chart for US Best Selling Blues Albums. Now, this well accomplished blues singer/guitarist has released nine studio albums and has been recently working on more new projects. Catching up with her in the midst of her busy schedule, she revealed details of her tour, her music and the secret to her success. SFL Music: Tell me about the new tour.
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Ana Popovic: We are playing, performing songs off of latest record and some of the previous records because it’s coming close to my 20 years since I formed the band under my name, and I’m pretty much doing this all my life. So, we’re playing songs off of Like It on Top (released in 2018) and Trilogy (released in 2016), Unconditional (released in 2012). So, it’s a nice little mix of different things. We just recorded a fabulous DVD in France and we got a lot of plans coming for 2020 because that’s going to be kind of an important year for us. Our new record, ‘Best Of’ and a new DVD.
A POPOVIC BROWARD CENTER | JANUARY 18TH
Yeah, we’re going to definitely bring that to Florida. That’s our starting point of our anniversary year. SFL Music: So, January is when you started 20 years ago? Popovic: Yes exactly. That’s the year when I formed my band. I did perform before that with a band called Hush, but then I moved to Holland and I started studying and then you know 2020, twenty years since I formed, and I went on under my name. SFL Music: You studied Jazz in the Netherlands. Is that part of your musical influence? Popovic: Well you know, I like different types of music for sure and I think for the guitar player is important to at some point, do some studying and be able to develop something that’s unique and different, I guess. I think definitely studying jazz and world music and pop. I did a few different studies in about three years’ time. It helped me to get that diversity in my playing obviously, and my playing was very much based in blues at that time. and growing up in Serbia, I was into a lot of blues. So, when I moved to Holland and got in touch with different guitar players and different students and different obviously, teachers, guitar, it definitely got in my view on point, and on sound, and on phrasing. It all definitely helps in making my own sound and style. SFL Music: What influenced you to be a guitar player, to sing? Popovic: I started very early listening to the American blues and funk, soul. When I was a kid, dad had all of his records and we listened to everything from B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins, (Jimi) Hendrix, Elmer James,
Bukka White, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells. Just different shades of blues you know, from Texas blues, to jazzy blues, Chicago blues, Delta blues. Yeah, so those are my early influences. Stevie Ray Vaughan, obviously, and then later on you know everything, John Scofield. I mean, I just listened to different musicians. Not necessarily just guitar players, but it’s about the phrasing. My music is very much based on blues, but throughout my career of about ten records, I’ve touched all different styles of music. Reggae, funk, soul, jazz, pop, rock. Yeah, all kinds of different genres of music. SFL Music: B.B. King was an influence and you played with him onstage didn’t you? Popovic: Well, I played a few festivals and we shared a stage which was wonderful back in the day, but you know, B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ronnie Earl. So many different artists. Jimmy Reed and Buddy Guy, Junior Wells. I have a wide range of artists who influenced me back in the day. SFL Music: At one point you moved to Memphis to work with some Southern Musicians? What inspired you to do that? Popovic: Well I made different records in the past, and I would move to a different place and spend some time you know, learning the music and getting the feel of a place and a city and musicians. So, Memphis was one of those. I spent some time in New Orleans. I spent some time in Memphis, actually pretty long, about three years. Now I’m in Los Angeles, but yeah, so, just one of those places where you can really spend time playing with local musicians and Memphis, I was there from 2012 to 15, and I really get to know that southern style. Obviously, the first time I was nominated for the American Award that was already back in
2001, I first landed in Memphis. So, Memphis, that was a place that I really liked from way back, and then 2012 we decided to stay and record a few records, and while I was living in Memphis, I actually was kind of recording all over the place. Memphis, New Orleans, Nashville. Those are the cities that are fairly close. Especially on the record called Trilogy. I really explored this three different cities and I would go record a track in Memphis, and I would record the vocals in Nashville, and I would record horns in New Orleans, and mix it all up like that. Trilogy was a record that was fun. It had three different CD’s so Volume 1 was funk (MORNING), and Volume 2 (MID-DAY) was rock and blues, and Volume 3 (MIDNIGHT) was jazz. So, I gave myself total freedom to pick musicians and pick different sounds out of these three cities. Southern cities. Yeah, it features I think 23 songs. All different styles of music and about 30 plus musicians on it. SFL Music: Tell me about your band (She previously had done a part-time project with a 9-piece band). Popovic: We have a six-piece band that I’m touring with horns, piano player, bass, drums. We travel 160 shows on both sides of the ocean. This year was very, very busy and we had some fantastic shows. I was a part of the Experience Hendrix tour as well that definitely added up to the number of concerts this year, and I usually do 120 shows, however this year is super busy, but really filled with some really great concerts on both sides of the ocean. SFL Music: How did you get involved with the Experience Hendrix? Popovic: I got involved with them five, six years ago and was always my dream gig. It was always my to do list. They’ve been getting together for maybe fifteen years. They don’t
particular time and that take my attention and stuff where important in the world and obviously what it means to campaign and all the rest of the things that were going on as far as female empowerment in the world. Different continents. It was just the right time to I guess, write a record like that and it just kind of happened naturally. It’s not something that I’m planning, but lots of songs were going in that direction, and then one day you just realize this is the new theme for your record, but with all my previous records, I also felt strong about the message for the time and I just made them a theme for the record. You know, I had political records and I had records about time. Songs about time and friendship and love and important things in life like the record that happened around when my son was born.
have a lot of women on their roster so for me it was important to be on that tour, and then not just one time. I’ve been successfully part of that for about five or six years and it’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been amazing to see all of these incredible musicians playing music of Jimi Hendrix and keep his legacy alive, and I’m representing women for the fifth or sixth year in a row. This year I think we had two tours. One in the spring and one in the fall. We all get together. We all play a few songs of Jimi Hendrix the way we experience it and you know, everybody from Zakk Wylde to Buddy Guy to Eric Johnson, Dweezil Zappa, Joe Satriani, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang. Just a really incredible variety of fantastic musicians on one stage. It’s really a guitar event of the year.
stuff, and Elmer James and Robert Johnson, and really being just kids you know, five, six years old, we would already be singing those songs and obviously, we didn’t speak any English at that time.
SFL Music: It sounds like it. What influenced you to play guitar:
SFL Music: That’s nice. You’re also a big advocate for women’s empowerment which is the premise of your last album Like it on Top.
Popovic: Well I guess it was in my home when I was a kid and my dad played guitar and he still plays. So, I grew up around guitar magazines and guitar amps and guitars. It was my big wish to play at some point. I started pretty late, when I was about thirteen, but I grew up around it, and I was always encouraged by him to sing, and we would gather, my sister and I, around guitar. He would play and we would sing everything from Howlin’ Wolf and Buddy Guy songs and Jimmy Reed. Just some delta 24 | www.SFLMusic.com
SFL Music: That’s very cool. Is your father still involved in music? Popovic: Well, he still plays just for hobby. He was always playing for hobby and nowadays, we do that with my son. We kind of sit around and jam at home. My grandfather was a guitar player too, so I’m a third-generation guitar player in the house. My grandfather used to play sort of you know, gypsy jazz kind of style back in the day around I guess, second world war. So, it goes way back, guitar in our family.
Popovic: Yeah. SFL Music: How did that come about? What inspired you to make that the theme for the album? Popovic: Well, obviously every record that I make has some type of theme, and I try to really write about things that interest me at that
When my first child was born you know, this sort of things that put your life in perspective and then you think what is really important, what you really want to speak out. You have only ten songs on the record to say that to your fans and basically when I write, I kind of think of what is the next thing that my fans that been with me for ten, fifteen years want to hear from me musically, but also lyrically because if you put out ten records in your career and every record has ten songs, you really have to think about every theme you put out. Every lyric you put out. It needs to be strong. It needs to mean something. So, at this particular time, I was just writing and all the songs were going into that direction. Obviously, the female empowerment. Obviously, I’m doing a job that used to be considered a male job back in the day and you know, there was not a whole lot of female guitar players out there and also not a whole lot of just strong band leaders and nowadays, it’s become really common and women get much more support from their male colleagues, from their band members, from their producers and stuff. I think it was not as easy back in the day especially the time before me as you can see because there’s not a whole lot of women that were doing that twenty to thirty years ago. So, I think it’s much easier, and it’s a wonderful thing, and there’s a lot of girls that become guitarist nowadays. You know, I have concerts where a music school comes over to see me and out of fifteen guitar players, twelve are girls. So, that’s a fantastic thing to see that’s it’s gonna go in that direction, but it’s not only about music. I mean that record really talks about different subjects about female empowerment and about a stage where women find themselves in families and surrounding in careers and how that all is going about and obviously, I lead a band where there’s certain employees. There’s people that play in the band. There’s people that are producers. There’s people that
are agents, they book the shows. They’re managers. So, I create a lot of jobs as a woman and I’m proud of that, and then I’m looking at all the other women that are doing this on a much larger scale then I do. Some of them are CEO’s of huge corporations and they have to juggle family and business. Yeah, so it really opens up a lot of themes and a message to think about and write about. So that all is of this record Like it on Top. SFL Music: What would you say is the secret to your success over the years? Popovic: Well, I think it is definitely my family and my support from my husband and my children and I think the thing that I was successfully doing is combining my work with my healthy family lifestyle. I think is my biggest strength and you know, that’s probably my big success. In the past it was very difficult for women to do both and one was always suffering, but I think we found a right way to combine and still be here for the family and be here for the kids and live a normal life, and then also combine that with something that really inspires me and fulfills me as a musician. You know, get to choose my own career and my own path. Get to choose the musicians that I really enjoy playing with and they inspire me onstage, and get to play music the way I want it and write
about what I want to write, but it’s a big success to do both I think and to do it for such a long time, and not to mention that only 25 years ago I was still in Serbia which was in the middle of nowhere, writing about blues, and when I was there, I was thinking how on earth am I gonna get to a place where I can really do what I really love, and at some moments it did look totally desperate obviously, when you’re not born in the right spot; but yeah, I think it’s very unusual and it still is unusual because you can count on your one hand, fingers you know, people that are from Europe that really have successful careers here. It’s a very big step to come over and build a career like that. SFL Music: That is something that most Americans probably don’t realize. What would you recommend to up and coming musicians in your home country or even in the US? Popovic: Well I mean, they are two different things. I think for musicians that are coming from like my home country or eastern Europe or Europe in general, and you want to do this sort of music. I think you really need to insist on something that’s unique and that’s different and that it’s you no matter what is the category, but I think if you try to copy American musicians you have no chance because simply they’re born here and this is what they do and obviously you have to make yourself available
to American audience if you want to do blues. No use of sitting in some Germany or some Belgium and releasing records over there that nobody’s going to hear. So, I think you need to make yourself available here for touring, for the booking agencies. That’s one thing, and about just any new musicians that are coming from the states, what I would suggest is just like use all the modern medias that are here. A lot of people in blues and the old school music tend to look down to all the new possibilities that you have with modern social medias and stuff, which I think is totally wrong, but I think you can combine those things although it’s old fashion music genre, you need to let it evolve and let it be modern and use all the modern tools that pop artists have and then combine. The record companies are, some are dying out the way we know them. They’re dying out and we need to be creative with new possibilities, and there’s a lot of positive things in owning your own music. Owning your rights. You know and leading your career the way you want to lead using social medias. Yeah, just word of mouth, I guess. It’s just a different way of doing stuff, but it’s not necessarily a bad way. SFL Music: Is there anything new that you have coming out? You mentioned a “Best Of” album for 2020? Popovic: Yeah, I’m already busy with that and
Tim Reynolds | Funky Biscuit Photo: Jay Skolnick
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all the demos’ and preproduction. We just recorded a DVD that’s going to be out and there’s gonna to be a ’Best Of’ that’s going to come out. So, we’re planning these three new releases. I’m excited that I’m building a signature guitar with Fender. My own model with John Cruz who’s a master builder at Fender, so that’s also going to be kind of a support for my twentieth anniversary. It’s just a lot of really exciting things in the making for the 2020, so I’m excited. SFL Music: You’re also known for playing Stratocasters. Do you have a favorite? Popovic: I have my own favorite guitar which is my 64 Strat and that is the old original 64. I got it about twelve years ago. However, this is going to be something that’s a little more in the future and it’s going to be the way I want to build the guitar together with John Cruz who is a master builder at Custom Shops. It’s going to be exciting and modern and different and obviously a take on the Strat ‘cause that’s my main guitar. Stratocaster. SFL Music: Are you going to be playing some of the new songs on the tour? Popovic: I might. Yeah, it’s been still a long time, so I usually don’t do a whole lot of that before the record is out, but there is a chance because we already are working on demos and preproduction for the songs are pretty far, and by the time January comes, there’s a big chance we’re going to be performing some of them. SFL Music: Is there anything else you want SFL readers to know: Popovic: We are looking forward to coming back to Florida. My starting route as far as the stage touring goes, I mean, that’s one of the first shows I was playing was Florida so it always goes back to. It’s great to come back.
Guitarist Tab Benoit Continues ‘Whiskey Bayou Revue’ Tour
Renowned Louisiana guitarist Tab Benoit continues his ‘Whiskey Bayou Revue’ Tour (named for Benoit’s Louisiana-based record label), with upcoming Florida performances at Skippers Smokehouse in Tampa on January 17 and 18; and the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise that departs from Ft. Lauderdale, January 19-26.
Benoit co-authored a just-released book, Blues Therapy, about the blues and mental illness, which seeks to dispel myths about mental illness and mental health treatment, discusses the therapeutic effects of music (particularly the blues and the blues community), as well as the aspects of a musician’s lifestyle that can exacerbate mental health problems. All proceeds from the sale of Blues Therapy benefit the HART Fund, which pays for medical and mental health as well as substance abuse treatment for blues musicians in financial need. Reviewing a recent live Tab Benoit show, Blues Rock Review writes, “Song number two was “Little Girl Blues” a hard rocking bayou blues song from 2005’s Fever From the Bayou giving Tab the opportunity to demonstrate his prowess on the six string by attacking it like a man possessed. “Nothing Takes the Place of You” by Toussaint McCall was a beautiful soaring blues tune that Benoit sang with a passion reminiscent of the late great Otis Redding. 28 | www.SFLMusic.com
The final song of Benoit’s 75-minute set was “Medicine” the title barn burning song from the 2011 album. The band was so tight by this time that it was seamless in the way that the trio interplayed with each other. The night ended as a satisfied audience expressed their appreciation for a great show.” Benoit, who’s always been known for his environmental activism, performed two nights recently in his hometown of Houma, Louisiana at the 16th Annual Voice of the Wetlands Festival. He also appears prominently in the IMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to protect and restore the Wetlands, and produced a CD to help restore that state’s Coastal Wetlands. Benoit was recently inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center Hall of Master Folk Artists. Benoit recently launched his own imprint, Whiskey Bayou Records, with partner and manager, Rueben Williams. The label has thus far released albums by such established artists as Eric McFadden, Damon Fowler, Eric Johanson, Jeff McCarty, and Dash Rip Rock. This past year Tab hit the road for a major U.S. Tour, the Whiskey Bayou Revue, which featured Benoit and several of his label’s artists.
enthusiastic audience sounding like they had just witnessed a show peaking performance. Maintaining that momentum, the band goes into an original six-and-a-half minute dance number titled “Breaking Down The Walls” - which probably broke down everyone’s inhibitions as well. Ya just can’t hear stuff this funky and and not want to boogie. With outstanding backup support, TC’s soulful vocals lead the way through a five minute plus rendition of the Staple Singers classic, “I’ll Take You There” (A. Bell). Musically, the track is highlighted by Tim and Alvino laying down the cool rhythm groove and TC calls them out individually by name - John, Andrew and Tim step out with some fine solos on the piano, guitar and bass. Then right on the, “Horns, c’mon” cue from TC, Bill, and Lester bring it all to a closing crescendo.
Jack Mack & The Heart Attack Live From Centennial Park, Atlanta - 1996
Free Roll Records & Superstar Factory Productions, LLC Prelude It’s July 1966, and Jack Mack & The Heart Attack are performing at the XXVI Olympiad in Centennial Park, Atlanta. As the band closed their set with one of their original songs - “I Walk Alone” a pipe bomb that killed one and injured one hundred and eleven exploded in close proximity to the stage, abruptly ending the show. This is a live recording of that show and the blast would be the first time an act of domestic terrorism ever closed a live recording. Right around the time most of you will be reading this, Clint Eastwood’s latest film - “Richard Jewel” - will have just been released. Those of you who recognize that name may remember that Richard was the security guard who was wrongfully accused of setting off that bomb. The movie will feature that closing song along with the bands cover of The Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There”. Review Jack Mack & The Heart Attack, known around the world as the “Hardest working band in soul business”, include: Andrew Kastner on guitar and vocals; Bill Bergman on tenor sax and vocals; John Paruolo on Hammond B3 organ and vocals; Lester Lovitt on trumpet and vocals;; Tim Scott on bass and lead vocals; TC Moses on lead vocals; and Alvino Bennett on drums. Additional vocalists used include Mark Campbell and Carlos Murguia. The disc’s five original songs and six covers of some soul classics were just the type of high energy tracks that could keep close to forty thousand party goers on their feet for most of the show. With the crowd already in a frenzy just from the emcee’s introduction, the band made sure they kept them there with a powerful opening track titled “More Soul” (A. Christian). Although it was under a two-minute warm up number, the guys had the 30 | www.SFLMusic.com
Leading the potent rhythm, Alvino and Tim - on the drums and bass - could very well be at disc’s best on this eight-and-a-half-minute production of “Respect Yourself” (L. T. Ingram & M. Rice). Having said that, the highlights of the track come three minutes in when Bill and Andrew get into back to back ninety second solos on the sax and guitar. On another of their originals, everyone in the band is “Livin’ It Up” on this performance. From the vibe I’m getting just listening on my computer I can tell the live vibe at the show had to be off the charts. Jack Mack & The Heart Attack may be the hardest working band in soul business, but right here they’re having way too much fun for it to be called work. So being the holder of the title, it’s only right to pay tribute to another of the hardest working soul bands and that’s exactly what the guys did during a twelve minute medley of “Simple Song”, “Stand”, “I Want To Thank You” and “I Want to Take You Higher” - all of Sly And The Family Stone fame. For the record, this one was was called “Sly Medley”, and also for the record, it was funky as all get out. Since all the tracks before this only totaled approximately fiftyfive minutes I’m thinking that “I Walked Alone” - another original featuring TC singing his heart out - was certainly not intended to be the last track.....until the pipe bomb explosion sadly changed all that. Other tracks on “Live From Centennial Park, Atlanta - 1996” include two originals titled: “Woman Thing” and “Something About Ya”; “Sex Machine” (J. Brown, B. Byrd & R. Lenhoff); and”Take Me To The River” (A. Green & M. Hodges). As the various 2020 awards ballots start coming around not too long from now, I’m expecting, “Live From Centennial Park, Atlanta - 1996” to get plenty of “Historical” attention. To find out more about the Jack Mack & The Heart Attack just go to www.jackmack.com. Also, should you have not yet received your copy for airplay, please contact Betsie Brown atwww.blindraccoon.com. Remember, wherever you go and whoever you contact, please let them know the Blewzzman sent you. - Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro Blues Editor @ www.Mary4Music.com
FEBRUARY 22
On Thursday, December 12th, The Fillmore Miami Beach hosted Aaron Lewis’ State I’m In Tour. The theater was buzzing with hints of outlaw country that would even make Waylon Jennings proud. It was as if I was stepping back in time to when the greats were playing the Grand Ole Opry. Coming from a small Southern town, it was a little taste of home, like fresh lemonade, sweet tea and homemade biscuits. For others attending, it was a breath of something different, a sneak peek into a world that moves at a slower pace. This was my first visit to the Fillmore, and it did not disappoint. The acoustics of the theatre were crisp. The sound was mixed at a level where the instruments and vocals were clearly distinctive, yet not so strong as to drown out the crowd.
Aaron Lewis Fillmore Miami Beach December 12, 2019
The opening act, Ben Danaher, is from Nashville. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because it was only the artist with his guitar. But he was impressive. I liked every one of his songs: the wording, original and sincere, the guitar perfectly strummed to match the emotions of the stories within the songs. Danaher’s playlist tells the stories of my life. I felt like we had a lot in common because I identified so closely with all the stories. If I had to choose my three favorite songs, they would be “Hell or High Water,” “All or Nothing” and “Jesus Can See You.” “Hell or High Water” is not to be confused with a love ballad, as it is more of a revenge story. “All or Nothing” tells a story about wrestling with internal demons, while battling the bottle. The song is cleverly crafted to the tune of an upbeat Irish drinking song, which emphasizes the battle. “Jesus Can See You” is about having your heart ripped to the core by someone you love who professes to be a believer. As he sang the words, “Jesus can see you breaking my heart,” I thought not only about the heartbreak of love, but the heartbreak of family as well. Moving on to Aaron Lewis, he was the reason we were all there. I’m a little late to the game, only learning about him by accident while surfing YouTube a few years ago. I stumbled onto a clip of him singing “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts and I was hooked. His voice pulls emotions from my core and it’s really the only instrument he needs. Lewis is consistently, unapologetically a patriot. He began this show, the way he begins all of his shows, with the backdrop of an American flag. We all said the Pledge of Allegiance. He carried the theme of patriotism throughout the entire performance. My favorites of Aaron’s were “Country Boy,” “Granddaddy’s Gun” and “If I Were the Devil.” “Country Boy” is autobiographical, telling the story of what it’s like to be Aaron Lewis. The harmonica added depth and transported me back in time. I’m pretty sure that George Jones would be proud. “Granddaddy’s Gun” is a strong story of legacy and tradition. His granddaddy gave him his gun when he was 13. He still keeps a picture of granddaddy in the case with the gun. One day, he will pass the weapon onto his grandson, along with the stories and tradition. “If I Were the Devil” is a fun number referencing the current state of affairs. All in all, it was a great show. The Fillmore was the perfect setting. Ben Danaher is someone to watch, while Aaron Lewis is a great addition to the long list of outlaw country greats. I left the show feeling happy and proud to be an American. – Valerie Pierce | Photos Brad Stevens
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a keyboard player, and no one knew if Dylan’s keyboard player was going to show. So guitarist Mike Bloomfield, who recorded “Like a Rolling Stone” with Dylan just a few months earlier, introduced me to him. That’s how I ended up playing the Newport Folk Festival.
Barry Goldberg
It is very controversial because it was mostly a folk crowd. They were hardcore folkies and they felt very betrayed. The audience was very turned off at how loud it was. Al Kooper showed up, so there were actually two keyboard players. What we did at that show was actually the beginning of folk rock. Some people really dug it, but a lot of people were very turned off. There were some cheers, but there were even more boos. I felt bad.
Barry Goldberg has been around the block. Playing alongside harmonica master Rob Stone and backed by guitarist Michael Weisman, as well as locals Charles Gasper on bass and drummer Ephraim Lowell, Goldberg showcased his Chicago blues at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton on Saturday December 28. For decades, the man has been known in the industry as a top-notch blues and rock keyboardist, as well as a songwriter and record producer.
At the time, I didn’t know much about the folk scene. I was a rock and roll blues guy. I went from Chicago to Newport, and pretty soon all the white college kids were turned onto the blues. That night, we expanded Dylan’s audience to Muddy, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King.
As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin’ Wolf. He also formed The Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield in 1967. Goldberg even played keys for Bob Dylan at the historic Newport Folk Festival in 1965, when he first went electric. Coincidentally, I went to Barry’s home in the mountains of Los Angeles in early July, the same weekend that I experienced Zepparella on Sunset Blvd. It was also the day after a sizeable earthquake rocked Southern California. SFL Music: Barry, where were you when the earthquake hit yesterday?
Barry: Oh, yeah. I felt like we were on a mission. I knew it was important right then and there. Of course, I had no idea just how important it would be. But I was very lucky just to be onstage playing that night. I went from playing with nobody and having to hitchhike home to being onstage with Bob Dylan. That was a highpoint of my career. There were some people in the audience that night that were really digging it. They got it. Others, like Joan Baez, felt betrayed by Bob.
Keyboardist Barry Goldberg: I was on the road driving and I thought there was something wrong with my transmission. I will never get used to earthquakes, even if they are a force a nature.
Barry: Yes, and I can still remember it like it was yesterday. It was a magical time in my life. –Todd McFliker, Photos Jay Skolnick Discover more about Barry Goldberg’s live performances and recordings at www.barrygoldbergmusic.com
SFL Music: In South Florida, we deal with hurricanes. Barry: There was a hurricane warning the last time I was in Florida, a little over 3 years ago. We were playing at The Cheeca Lodge (and Spa) in Islamorada. It was like paradise. My love for South Florida is undeniable. I played there with The Rides, my band with Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. That must’ve been 2 years ago. The best of me comes out when I am there. SFL Music: Tell me about playing Bob Dylan’s first electric concert in Newport on July 25, 1965. Barry: I went to the Newport Folk Festival to play with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. But their producer decided he didn’t want
SFL Music: What about you? Did you appreciate the folk rock sound?
SFL Music: Regardless, it ended up working out in the long run. That concert is historic and you’ll always be a part of it.
Vanessa Collier | Funky Biscuit Photo: Jay Skolnick
By: Lori Smerilson Carson
Isley Brothers | Kravis Center Photo: Tom Craig
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Jingle Ball 2019 | BB&T Center Photos: Larry Marano
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Incubus | Kravis Center Photo: Brad Stevens
By Lori Smerilson Carson Photos John Ferreira Bands form for many reasons, but Pray For Sleep came together for a cause that effects millions of Americans across the U.S, nearly 450 million. Hailing from the Columbus, OH area, Vocalist Grant DeCrane, Guitarist Ethan Carlson, Guitarist Hayden Kissler and Drummer Reno Houston focus their music on mental and behavioral health issues and helping people that are going through struggles in their lives. Behind Our Eyes, the band’s debut album, really showcases this theme as well as their amazing musical abilities. They truly reach out to their community with their own program that they also take to local schools, DeCrane, Kissler and Houston explained. They also revealed how they started out, what their goals are and where they are headed. SFL Music: How did you guys all come together to form this band? Houston: So, I live in Westerville Ohio. It’s near Columbus, and around my neighborhood we have a 4th of July parade 38 | www.SFLMusic.com
that goes on every year. I actually was playing drums in it and I uploaded a video of it to Instagram, and Hayden messaged me because we had a mutual friend that connected us. He messaged me and said, hey, I know you don’t know who I am, but I want to meet you sometime and maybe play some music and you know, I play guitar and we have similar music taste and all this stuff. So, I had him over and that went really well. Grant, I’ve known since I was around 10 years old. So, he joined the band a couple of months after that, and then from there. we’ve just been writing music and doing different things as a band, but that’s how we started, which is kind of funny because we didn’t all know each other at the time, but it’s really cool. SFL Music: Did you all know that you wanted to be musicians professionally? Was this what you always wanted to do? Houston: For me, I’ve always wanted to be a musician for sure and I think I kind of speak for the three of us, we’ve all been involved with music our whole lives. Whether it was playing in church or playing in marching band, or playing in other smaller bands when we were in middle school and high school and things like that, but yeah, I think we all agree we have wanted to be musicians our whole lives. So, it kind of worked itself out, which is really cool. SFL Music: Who would you say were your influences musically? DeCrane: We’ve had slightly different musical upbringings. I know Hayden grew up on Jack White and jazz guitar. That kind of thing. Reno grew up on the like 80’s hair metal and a lot of that has kind of snuck its way into our music a little bit,
influence wise, but for the most part, lots of metal core stuff. Beartooth was a really big influence on us early on and continues to be, but we’ve been trying to branch out more and more. Definitely grown as musicians. So, we’ve got different influences coming from different places, but I think the first one that always comes to mind is Beartooth. SFL Music: Why is that? DeCrane: It was something that we all listened to around the formation of the band. They’re also from Columbus, Ohio too, which is pretty cool. They’re from the same city and they’ve done very well for themselves, but we listened to a lot of their music early on in the life of the band all together, and they were kind of a bonding point for us to know that we all enjoyed the same thing. SFL Music: Now there is a specific point to your band, you do this for a particular cause. Can you please explain that to our readers? DeCrane: Yeah, absolutely. When we started the band, we wanted to have a message. We didn’t want to be just a band that goes and plays music, just to play music. Music has impacted all of our lives in a very big way. Specifically, around the area of mental, behavioral health awareness. I know we all kind of during high school and middle school, used music as a coping mechanism for different stresses and things like that. So, we focused a lot on advocation and raising awareness for mental, behavioral health and we’ve been focusing on that since the beginning. It’s a big topic for a lot of our songs. We focus a lot of our lyrics around different topics in the mental health subjects. SFL Music: Do you all raise money for this or just awareness. DeCrane: The main goal is to raise awareness through all of what we’ve done. We take time out at shows to share statistics and to be part of what we talk about when we’re performing, but we have done donations. We took all of the proceeds from our first headlining show that we had the chance to perform. Donated those to Nationwide Children’s Hospital when they launched their On Our Sleeves campaign last October and I’ve had the chance to work with that program a little bit here in Columbus and they’ve actually, the On Our Sleeves program, partnered with our Scream Back program that we just put together and have been working on as our official education partner. SFL Music: Wow, that’s great. So, they donate educational materials to help anyone who may be going through a mental health issue? DeCrane: Yeah. We originally started working with them because we want to make a difference and we want to have a good impact, but we are also just recently graduated kids that got out of high school. We’re not like mental health professionals or anything So, we started reaching out to them for resources and they’ve given us a lot of really good statistics and information and resources to send people to if they’re looking for help, and a lot of good stuff like that, and they’ve been super helpful to us in that way. SFL Music: Did this come about because of a personal experience? A friend or just seeing this issue around you. I know a lot of young people are so stressed today with so much on them. Is
that how this came about? DeCrane: Yeah, I mean that was definitely a big point in the very beginning for us. For me specifically music was my sort of coping mechanism. I dealt with a lot depression and anxiety through middle and high school, and music was sort of the catalyst that got me towards recovery and pursuing better mental health. So, I think, kind of our idea behind that the whole time was if someone else was that for us, how cool would it be if we could be that for somebody else? So yeah, I think personal experience is a big influence as well as just seeing it in the people around us. We have close friends that have dealt with a whole plethora of issues from abuse to trauma, to different things like that so, It’s something that we’ve seen a lot of just as we were growing up through middle and high school, and it’s something that we recognized needs to be addressed more than it currently is. So, that was kind of where we landed on that. SFL Music: What inspires the music you write? Where do the ideas come from? DeCrane: It just kind of comes from of all over the place. We all listen to a lot of different music. There’s definitely influence from other artists that we listen to. I know speaking for the lyrics, a lot of it, it’s focused on either personal experience or the testimony and story of close friends that I’ve had a chance to talk with. It’s all based on like advocation and awareness and that. Like “Ask Us” specifically, the lyrics are really kind of a call to action to the general public I guess, but it’s from the perspective of someone struggling, just the conversation of like, I want to talk about the problems that I’m struggling with. It’s really hard to start that conversation from this end of things, but if someone were to reach out to me
and ask me and start a conversation with me, that sort of eases that difficulty. SFL Music: Is that what you want your fans to take away from the show that they can connect with others and they’re not alone? DeCrane: Absolutely. Yeah. Our kind of a mantra of ours we thought, ‘we are not alone’ is something, it’s on our website, it’s on our merch. We have it all over the place. That’s really our main goal with it because we’re not professionals. We can’t really speak to the problem necessarily per say, but we want to do everything we can to help people realize that they’re not alone in their struggles and that there are ways to get better and to get help. SFL Music: What can people look forward to at your shows besides the music and the messages? High energy? Houston: Yeah especially with our live shows we try to have a lot of energy there. We try to make it really fun for everybody. Especially with the way we write our songs. Another goal of ours was to not just stay in one specific sound or genre. We want to go kind of both ways so more people will, you know maybe be able to find songs of ours that they like better and others maybe, we can reach more people that way, but we try to you know like you said, high energy shows. Have a lot of fun. All of our songs are about different mental health struggles. So, we’re kind of getting the message across while we’re having fun, and having the high energy shows, and doing all the cool stuff like we, you know, we try to be as engaging as possible. We’ve got like a light show. We try to go really crazy onstage, everything like that, just like every other high energy band you’ll see, but one of the other things we do that we kind of touched on a little bit is, we do shows at schools as well, the Scream Back program that we started. So, what those shows did kind of looks a little different. We still want it to be high energy fun and engaging for the kids that we’re playing for, but those shows have a way bigger focus on the message. So, we’ll go up and after paying a couple of songs, we’ll talk about our personal stories and what we’ve been through personally and how we got through it. We talk to what we did to cope with it. Different things like that and then we use our connection with Nationwide Children’s On Our Sleeves campaign and give the kids resources so that they can get help, and we’re trying to like, start a conversation in school. So, we’re trying to honestly do what every other band does. We want to tour. We want to play shows and release music and all the stuff like everybody else, but we want to kind of go the extra mile when we can and have a more mental health focus side as well. SFL Music: To clarify for our readers, the Scream Back Program is in partner with the hospital, Nationwide Children’s? DeCrane: The On Our Sleeves Campaign is a program that they’re running. We’re partnered with them as an education partner. It’s not directly with the hospital. SFL Music: What exactly do you do with the Scream Back Program? Houston: The Scream Back Program, the goal behind it is to raise awareness. We saw early on and through all the statistics that we received from the On Our Sleeves program that the main demograph40 | www.SFLMusic.com
ic for mental health issues and conditions is people ages 14-25, and so trying to think of a way that we can get to the most people in that age group, and kind of get the message out, and we landed with this program that takes a live performance of a few of our songs to a school, and then also uses peer to peer messaging to kind of encourage kids to talk about mental health and any struggles that they’re having, and kind of just open that door and start that conversation for them in a way that’s a little bit different from the usual, and is a little bit more engaging. SFL Music: So, they use your program in the schools to help the school kids? DeCrane: Yeah, that’s the goal. We take our program to different schools. We’re working right now on setting up a show, but we go in and plan with their student leadership how we want to run the show and what exactly we’re going to do for the schools, and then we work with them through the program. Work with the student leaders and their administrative staff to put the program together and tailor it for their school so they get the most out of it that they possibly can. SFL Music: Well I haven’t heard much from Hayden, so what would you like to add in about how you all work together musically and write songs? Kissler: Usually when we get together to write we have a bunch of different ideas to turn into something together, but when we wrote the songs that we’re releasing right now, we got together in my basement. We had an idea of ten songs that we wanted to make and each song had a different mental health issue that one of us had dealt with, or one of our close friends, or just stories that we’ve heard, and we’ll bring that to the studio and we put it to some of the riffs that I will write, and then we usually end up with like a rough kind of track, and then when we start tracking it and stuff you know, we’ll do the drums last. That’s pretty much the writing process. It takes a long time. Yeah, it’s a really fun experience to be able to put something that’s an idea in your mind and put it on iTunes.
THE
ROBERT CRAY BAND ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN PERFORMED BY
GARY MULLEN & THE WORKS THE ROBERT CRAY BAND
ERIC JOHNSON
ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN
JANUARY 24 | Parker Playhouse
MARCH 13 | Broward Center
MAY 3 | Broward Center
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SFL Music: Is there any new music being released? Kissler: Well actually we’re gonna be releasing some more music soon here. We’re releasing a song called “Outpatient” and we’ve got a bunch of new music coming out the 27th of December. SFL Music: So, is there also going to be a video or anything else that fans can look forward to? DeCrane: Yeah, we’ve released a couple of music videos at this point. They’re on our utube channel Pray For Sleep. Not working on any other videos at the moment, but new things are definitely coming from us. We’re working on some more new music and other stuff like that. Our social media is a great way to find content from us if people are interested in learning more. We try our best to be pretty active on Instagram and twitter and Facebook and all that good stuff. Then our website has the most information that you’re going to find about us. It’s just prayforsleep.com. It’s got a little bit of background about the band. Information about some of the songs, and then you can get more information about the Scream Back program, Screamback.org if your curious about that or have any questions. Lots of information there, and also links to resources to get help or to reach out or if you’re interested in any of that. SFL Music: Oh, that’s good for readers to know. My Editor was really impressed when he saw your show and the fact that you do this mental health program is so important. Was there anything else you wanted to add for people to know? Houston: I would just say definitely would like to get down in Florida so we can do a fun tour and yeah, we’re really excited with all the cool stuff we’ve got going on and then like Grant said, all of our information’s on prayforsleep.com or screamback.org and as well we’re always here to talk to people if they’re going through anything. We love to connect people with resources to get help with any mental health issues or anything like that.
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DeCrane: All of our shows are posted on our website. We’ve just got some that are coming up next month and then we’re going to schedule festivals and things like that for the spring and the coming year, but we haven’t gotten anything in the books just yet. SFL Music readers keep your eyes open for new Pray For Sleep music and upcoming shows. These extremely talented musicians with their focus on mental health, is vitally important for so many people, young and old. Nobody should feel that they are alone or helpless. These musicians honestly work toward achieving that goal which is apparent with their energetic, relatable music.
On a personal note, this issue has hit home as while writing this article, one of my closest friends informed me that her oldest son recently committed suicide. I am therefore dedicating this article in loving memory of Benjamin David Patchen. I knew this young man since he was a baby. He was smart, athletic and had a wonderful personality. His bright smile will forever be etched in our memories to brighten our days going forward. May he rest in peace.
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Bob Margolin speaks with Jesse Finkelstein about The Last Waltz anniversary concerts.
magical collaborative chemistry created Ultimate Americana before the term was hatched.
SFL Music: As one of the few people onstage who actually played at The Last Waltz in 1976, what was it like to perform in the Last Waltz 40 concerts in 2016 and again this year?
Margolin: It’s powerful, evocative and creates a world of its own and many of us enjoy that soulful Time Travel. Real characters in a world before modern culture, transcending both 1976 and 2019.
Bob Margolin: Similar stage decorations aside, the original experience of the Last Waltz concert can’t be reproduced. The 2019 tour was an appreciation and original interpretation of the music, not a Tribute Band. The 2019 artists are notable in their own right — Jamey Johnson, Warren Haynes, Lucas Nelson, Don Was, John Medeski, the Levee Horns, Dave Malone, Terence Higgins. In Nashville, add guests Margo Price, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Nathaniel Rateliff, Michael McDonald, and original Waltzers Emmylou Harris and Robbie Robertson. I am blessed to participate in both very different experiences, considering they’re inspired by the same historic event.
SFL Music: Over the years, you and I have observed that every day is an opportunity to learn. What did you learn from this experience?
SFL Music: In Nashville right before Thanksgiving, you played the music of the Last Waltz with an incredible array of talent, from a variety of musical genres. As I watched you playing not only with Warren Haynes and Michael McDonald, but also with the likes of Lukas Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and Jamey Johnson— it struck me again how much The Band personified what we now call Americana, decades before we used the word. Margolin: Sure did! The Band, with their individual geniuses and 44 | www.SFLMusic.com
SFL Music: Why do you think The Last Waltz Concert, and the music played there, is so enduring?
Margolin: I appreciated The Band’s music before I was in Muddy Waters’ band. I was invited to the 2019 Last Waltz to represent and deliver Muddy’s spirit. But I certainly took the opportunity to watch all the rehearsals and see how master musical directors Don Was and Warren Haynes developed the music almost every day. What an education for me. SFL Music: In 1976, with a lot of star power and Martin Scorcese filming everything for posterity, you knew that this was an historic event that would be seen by vast audiences worldwide. What is the legacy of The Last Waltz? Margolin: The original Last Waltz is the next cultural landmark to follow the Woodstock concert and film. The 2019 Last Waltz was powerful on its own but it’s hard for me to judge from my interior perspective. Has the Last Waltz Legacy been extended? We’ll see!
Based on the success of California Dreamin’, The Mamas & The Papas took up residence in the Canyon in 1965 which started a movement of artists, both aspiring and successful. Between 1965 and 1975 it redefined American popular music inspiring the “LA sound” of the early 70’s with artists like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, America, and the Eagles. Join us as we follow these legendary artists and share stories on how they ended up in the Canyon and how this neighborhood of like-minded artists influenced the music that was created.
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tional ska sound and blows smooth horn swoons combined with Kelly’s trumpet harmonies. I discovered the rocksteady rockers at The Bark Benefit V event I wrote for in November, and I have become fascinated and infatuated with their conjoined medley of traditional reggae styles. I was completely overjoyed for falling in love with one of the best Florida ska bands at this show!
XXsKa-MAS Party and The Hard Richards Reunion Show Propaganda Lake Worth ‘Twas a couple nights before Christmas and the local enthusiasts of all-things-ska huddled into Propaganda in Lake Worth Beach, FL for an event 25 years in the making. On Friday December 20, 2019, old school punk rockers, The Hard Richards, came together once again for another reunion show after their official breakup at Summer Daze 2014 hosted at Propaganda five years earlier. Fans of all ages who followed the grungy group of depraved souls from the inception of their garage punk rock with a ska twist, melded with a younger generation of new age ska lovers who were graced by the performances of The Zoo Peculiar, Control This!, and The No Name Ska Band as the holiday party marched on. Opening up the night at the downtown bar and venue, was local sideshow hobo trio sensation, The Zoo Peculiar, and as the name suggests, a peculiar bunch indeed. This bizarre circus-like vaudeville act is probably the most unique undertaking any local South Florida music group has ever carried out. The “outer space circus act” is led by Professor Frank “Nipples” Phineas Lambshanks (lead vocals, keys, veterinary) who this time was dressed as bizarro Santa with white facial makeup and color hair extensions (and is usually dressed up in a most outlandish fashion), and he is accompanied by Furious “Ginger Bear” Rod (bass, melodica, legal) and Ryan J. or RJ “Baby Hollywood” Gatsby (drums, 2 cents). The Professor (a real-life local college professor) likes to banter by telling dirty jokes, yelling obscenities and throwing gifts into the crowd as dirty Santa for this show, which I guess is better than getting a lumps of coal thrown at us for being naughty by enjoying such a wayward and lewd, but successfully fun (and funny) opening performance. “Orlando’s hottest ska, rocksteady and reggae group,” Control This!, showered the crowd with a traditional style rarely heard in Florida’s ska scene. The five-piece is composed of Jeff Richey (vocals/saxophone), Todd Elliot (bass), Jake Jones (guitar/vocals), Lucas Scarpelli (drums), and Austin Kelly (trumpet/keys). Switching between saxophone and lead vocals, Richey sings original and cover songs with the conven-
Next up was Lake Worth punk and ska locals, The No Name Ska Band, who is co-led by Matthew Krug, an owner of Propaganda and “secondwave” Hard Richards guitar player. Usually the entire band is garbed in black ski masks, but tonight was a special occasion so each member rocked a different get up. Krug rocked on lead guitar and vocal shouts/harmonies, and was dressed as an upside-down naughty Olaf, with his carrot and eyes protruding out of Krug’s nether-regions and topped with a white ski mask and mohawk, while fellow front-man Ben Childs (vocals/saxophone/guitar) had Jack Skellington facial makeup, Andres Valencia (trombone and harmonies) had the traditional black ski mask topped with a Santa hat and was shirtless with suspenders and the twotone black and white checkered ska shorts, while bassist Andy Johnson and drummer Zach Zeigenfuss wore Santa hats. Bar manager/bouncer/ newly-formed MidnightFires vocalist, Mykal Morrison joined his fellow local companions to harmonize on a few songs like “More Fire,” a ska-heavy harmonic and fast-paced tune that was released as a music video earlier this summer. The ska fans enjoyed one of their favorite Lake Worth ska-punk rock acts and echoed back the chorus of Minnie The Moocher by Cab Calloway, with the signature “Idy-Idy-Oh” and ended their set on a literal high note! To conclude the XXsKa-Mas Party, was a rare reunion show with Florida’s favorite obscene punk/ska/reggae/rap rockers, The Hard Richards! Since 1994 front-man and lead vocalist Steve “Rabbit” Abbott has been the cornerstone and “band-dad” that has kept the energy going that defines The Hard Richards. In-between their 2014 hiatus and now Abbott has dedicated his time volunteering with Future 6, a charity South Florida local charity organization that provides free ocean-centric activities for children with special needs. The rest of the current line-up includes the members who finished out their retirement show at Summer Daze and most amusing group of friends with original guitarist Brian “Braincell” Koshefsky, Alex “Big A” Ruzyki (co-lead vocals/original member), Matt “Two Belts” Krug (guitar), Iiro “Frank” Maki (bass), Evan “Noto”, Christa Knox (saxophone), and Andres “Dre” Valencia (trombone for both No Name and THR). Their set opened with oldie favorite “Dog Beach Dub,” and included a variety of songs from their last two albums What Did You Expect? and Nu Direction, plus some Operation Ivy covers and an amazing cover of “Saw Red” sung by saxophone player Christa Knox! All in all, the final performance of the night, combined with the previous acts, brought one of the HIGHEST energylevel shows I’ve seen in all of South Florida and Propaganda Live! It is because of original bands like The Hard Richards, having been a huge influence on their predecessors , that allowed the South Florida/Lake Worth punk rock scene to evolve and fuse with other genres like reggae, ska, metal, rap and rock & roll, incorporating a diverse collection of musical groups, all with unique talents and acts. – Written by David Shaw | Photo Gleb Barabanov
Bret Michaels | Hard Rock Live Photo: Jay Skolnick
Disco Biscuits | Revolution Live Photo: Jay Skolnick
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Includes: Todd Rundgren, Jason Scheff (Chicago), Micky Dolenz (Monkees), Joey Mollard (Badfinger) & Christopher Cross
RipTide Music Festival | Fort Lauderdale Beach Photos: Jim Zielinski & Brad Stevens
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SAMANTHA RUSSELL BAND GOES NFL
The Samantha Russell Band announced recently that it has been hired by the 2020 Super Bowl Host Committee to perform as the closing act on Thursday night of Super Bowl LIVE, January 30th at Bayfront Park in Miami.
Randi Freedman, VP/Producer of Super Bowl LIVE & Events, commented to band manager Ryan Rose that after seeing The Samantha Russell Band perform at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort amphitheater and hearing their mix of up-tempo, danceable classic rock, pop and country, she was eager to have the Jupiter-based band, which celebrates their 10th anniversary in 2020, perform at this well-attended and high-profile event. From having an original pop song distributed by WEA (Warner/ Electra/Atlantic) and charting on the Billboard Adult-Contemporary Top 40… to opening for Chicago, Dierks Bentley, Travis Tritt and many others… to firmly establishing The Samantha Russell Band as a hot and sought after act on the South Florida music scene, Samantha is living her dream of entertaining crowds at restaurants, bars, fairs, festivals, casinos, clubs, and private parties with her passionate performances. Backed by professional and experienced musicians Rui Pinto (drums and vocals), Diego Fagundes (lead guitar and vocals) and Frank Scavone (bass), The Samantha Russell Band performs about 130 shows annually from Vero to, now… Miami. Super Bowl LIVE is a free, weeklong, open-to-the-public, fan fest leading up to the Big Game. More than 1 million people attended Super Bowl LIVE at both the Houston and Minneapolis Super Bowls and historic crowds are also being planned for in Miami. Organizers are expecting Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Super Bowl LIVE to be the busiest. While 2020 is the 11th time a Super Bowl has been played in Miami, this will be the first ever 52 | www.SFLMusic.com
Super Bowl LIVE in South Florida. The event also features a culinary stage, environmental village, water shows on Biscayne Bay, evening parades, fireworks and more. When asked by the Super Bowl Host Committee for her thoughts on having been selected, Russell said, “Playing Super Bowl LIVE is the SUPER BOWL of performances, so we are stoked! The boys and I are especially excited to be a part of this incredible event that leads up to the Big Game here in our beloved South Florida—we love a good party! Live music is big part of the fun that is Super Bowl LIVE, so we’re going to deliver a rocking set that’s sure to have football fans cheering as if their team just made a touchdown!” Visit the official website of Super Bowl 2020 at www.miasbliv. com for additional info on Super Bowl LIVE. Learn more about The Samantha Russell Band at www.samantharussell.com or on Facebook at @samantharussellmusic.
LAUGH OUT LOUD
Patton Oswalt February 15 • Au-Rene Theater
Colin Quinn February 27 • Amaturo Theater
Greg Proops February 29 • Amaturo Theater
Gary Gulman March 7 • Amaturo Theater
Brian Regan March 14 • Parker Playhouse
Paula Poundstone March 21 • Parker Playhouse
TICKETS at BrowardCenter.org • ParkerPlayhouse.com
Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222 Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office • Group Sales | 954.660.6307 The Broward Center and Parker Playhouse 2019-2020 seasons are presented by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation.
ZEPPARELLA
For their first ever Florida appearance, Zepparella will be packing them into the Venice Performing Arts Center near Sarasota on Friday, February 21st. For 15 years, the all-female tribute act has been honing their craft, and their live shows are extraordinary. It is not so easy to reinvent classic tunes or to add new flare with improvisation. Yet, Zepparella successfully recreates the familiar sounds and vibes of Led Zeppelin, without changing a word.
SFL Music: Clementine, thank you for taking the time to chat with SFL Music. Where are you right now? Clementine: Zepparella played in Seattle last night. It is an annual event we’ve been doing for years. We play two shows in one night at Tractor Tavern. It was awesome. Both shows were sold out and we had an absolute blast. SFL Music: I recently saw Zepparella perform at The Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. Isn’t Zepparella from California?
By Todd McFliker, Photo by Matt Granz
for 5 years. She left for seven, but she’s been back for a couple years, which is wonderful. Anna is an amazing vocalist and harmonica player. Holly West is the third bass player that we’ve had and she’s been with us for a couple years. Holly is from Dallas. SFL Music: Does Zepparella consider The Roxy to be home? Clementine: Oh yeah. Playing there is always a blast. There’s so much history there. And I love the small rock clubs. Not that The Roxy is particularly small, but we’ve played in theatres and giant festivals. I will always be partial to the Roxy-sized rock club. You are right up in it and you can’t beat it. SFL Music: Didn’t you play arenas when you opened for Weezer and Kiss?
Clementine: Yup. We are from the (San Francisco) Bay Area.
Clementine: Yes, but those were festivals. It is always awesome to play to big crowds, but a hot and sweaty rock club is ideal for me. (Laughs). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playing in front of huge crowds. But there’s something about having people pressed up against the stage. I will always love that.
SFL Music: Clementine, can you please give me a 2-minute history of Zepparella?
SFL Music: What does Zepparella offer Led Heads that’s unlike any other cover band?
Clementine: Sure. The band started 15 years ago. I was carrying around the idea for a couple years and was running it by some people. Nobody was interested in pursuing it. But when I mentioned it to (guitarist) Gretchen Menn, she was immediately onboard. There was a singer, Anna Kristina, who was with us
Clementine: Every band has its own take on the music. What Zepparella offers is the special connection that the four of us have onstage. Since the band first got started, I always wanted it to feel like a real band of skilled musicians, rather than a group of strangers that were just hired to play together. So
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that’s what we try to do within the structure of somebody else’s music. SFL Music: I once read you bring a Motown influence to Zeppelin. Can you give me an example? Clementine: Well that’s all about the drumming. John Bonham was influenced heavily by Gene Krupa of the Big Band (pioneers of orchestral jazz and flamboyant drums). Personally, I have always heard the Motown influence. That was actually the question I asked Robert Plant when I met him, ‘Was Bonham listening to a lot of that stuff?’ He said, ‘Of course. It was the music of the time.’ I hear that in his swings and in his grooves. When I started playing drums, the first songs that I learned were old Motown hard-hitting funk. SFL Music: I know Zepparella mixes up its set-list, so you’re not just playing “Stairway” and other Top 40 hits every night. Do you have some old-school favorites, like “How Many More Times” or “Bring It on Home?” Clementine: Actually, we just introduced some new stuff this weekend. One of them was “Sick Again” (off 1975’s Physical Graffiti). That song is all about (underage groupies in) L.A. It’s a quirky and weird song. What I love about it is that the verses are broken into two parts. The first is laid-back and sexy. Then it goes manic. It feels like a night out. You go into it feeling cool, but eventually the chaos comes out. SFL Music: What is the Zepparella Learning Channel on YouTube? Clementine: That was Gretchen’s idea. The idea is that we do two music videos and then we teach those songs. We had been playing this stuff for 15 years, and we learned plenty about performing it live. That’s why we decided it would be a very cool way to give back to all our devoted fans. Making the videos has also made us step up our games as individual musicians.
Monday - Friday from 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Live Music Drink Specials Small Bites *Happy Hour at bar only*
First of all, we get to hear how others approach the songs we’ve been playing. We get to learn a lot about their mindsets. In order to teach something, we have to get in with an exacto knife to figure out why I am playing any one section so much differently than he did. It’s really tightening all the screws. It’s been a wonderful learning experience for each of us. SFL Music: Where do you see Zepparella in another 15 years? Clementine: I want to play the songs that I haven’t been able to do yet. (Laughs). I want to play every Led Zeppelin song, which I cannot do yet. I don’t look too far ahead. Things are going awesome. We have a great fan base, and the crowds keep getting bigger and bigger over time. Also, I would love to get over to Europe, so hopefully we will make that happen. SFL Music: It may not be Madison Square Garden or the 02 Arena, but at least South Floridians will be fortunate enough to get Zepparella on the West Coast. Clementine: I only wish that we had more shows scheduled in Florida. That would be ideal. At least we will see you soon. I can’t wait to rock.
www.BlueMoonFishCo.com 4405 W. Tradewinds Ave. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL 33308
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Uforia’s Amor a La Musica AmericanAirlines Arena
Photos Chris Gordon
By Lori Smerilson Carson
sons of apollo
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is a jack of many trades, but truly a master of all of them. As the guitarist for SONS OF APOLLO, his extraordinary skills blend in perfectly with the rest of his outstanding bandmates Vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, Drummer Mike Portnoy, Bassist Billy Sheehan, and Keyboardist Derek Sherinian. They will be taking their talents on tour beginning in January in support of their second studio album MMXX (2020). Catching up with Guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, nicknamed “Bumblefoot,” he revealed how the band came together, some details about their music and the new LP and what SONS OF APOLLO fans can look forward to as well as some details about his other personal projects and accomplishments. SFL Music: Tell me about this new tour. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal: The tour yeah. It’s not as extensive across the country. Kind of is a challenge this year, but doing the best we can. We’ve got 14 shows in the US and Canada coming up in January and February. Starting on the west coast and working our way to the east coast, and then after that we’ll be hitting Europe and South America, and we’ll see what else we can do. You know, we’re always at the mercy of promoters. Every band is. Promoters have to be willing to invest in you and schedule the tour. So hopefully we’ll have more shows this year.
SFL Music: What’s new and different with this show? It’s in support of the new album MMXX (2020). Bumblefoot: Well, first of all, we only had one album of music and then we had a good two hour show to fill. So, doing more covers and things like that, but now we have two albums of music where we can fill the show and I feel like we don’t need to do anything filler wise. We have enough of our own music to 58 | www.SFLMusic.com
headline. So, that’s better. Now we’ll have two albums worth of music to do. So, that’s the biggest difference. What else? What else is different? I don’t know yet. I guess we’ll find out once we’re onstage. What kind of things fall into place, because very when often when a band goes out and plays, a show builds itself and certain things just form as you go. So, we’ll see by the end what’s gonna be different. You know, Is Jeff going to be running into the audience again or will I be running into the audience? Who knows, (he chuckled). We’ll see what happens. SFL Music: How did you guys all come together? You were all in various different bands. What was the goal of forming SONS OF APOLLO? Bumblefoot: Well it was something that Mike and Derek were talking about doing for a while and they had a band before that was instrumental. I knew Billy and Mike for a long time and we had jammed together in different ways over the past ten years. Everything from me, Mike and Billy being the house band for an event in New York, we got some Kiss and Anthrax hooked up onstage with us, to just jammed at NAMM, to me and Mike playing guitar solos for an album that Billy was producing a few years ago. So, a lot of different things. Me, Mike, Billy and Derek played together about five years ago on Progressive Nation at Sea Cruise, and I remember when we finished playing Derek flat out said, we should form a band. A few years later, early 2017 Mike sends me an email and says hey, you know how we always talked about putting a band together? Well, me and Derek have this idea and love to have you on guitar and Jeff on vocals and Billy on bass and everybody was into it, and It was that simple. It usually is. Usually, its people that know each other that just shoot each other an email or phone call and say, hey, want to do a band? Like a bunch of kids in high school. Same way. It’s not much different.
SFL Music: You mentioned members having an instrumental band. On some of these songs the bands phenomenal talent is very apparent. What would you say that your influences are to come up with such powerful, really strong rhythms and guitar licks? Bumblefoot: So, influences. Well my own personal influences go way back. God, there’s so many. A lifetime of music and experiences and just living life, that becomes your influences. Musically, it’s everything from The Beatles to Soundgarden to Stevie Wonder to old classical or jazz, to Manowar. Everything, (he chuckled). Yeah, it all kind of gets in there. So, my influences definitely, if you listen to my own records, you’ll hear sort of mixes of Iron Maiden and David Bowie and Beatles and Queen and all of us, a little bit of a similar age of a lot of 60’s, 70’s classic rock. So, that’s in there. When Derek is writing, it’s often gonna have like a Rainbow and Deep Purple vibe to it. Stuff Billy came up with, he just came up with really nice chordal things, and Jeff is just, I mean he always takes our chaos and turns them into songs that people can sing along to and hum and connect with. Me, I tend to throw in a lot of grungy riffs and some of the, oh, I’m trying to think of the word, I guess progressive technical melody. I mean, we all just put ourselves in it. Each one of us, we each have our own musical personality and just don’t even think about it, (he laughed). I just put myself into it. Just whatever I feel and I guess everyone has their sound to who they are, and you just come up with ideas and show everybody, and once you do that, then they eventually turn onto songs. So, for me, I guess some of the riffier, ah fuck if I know, (he laughed). I mean, I could go song by song and say, oh yeah, this riff was mine. This riff was mine. Like “Goodbye Divinity” (from their latest LP MMXX) was pretty much Derek. “Fall To Ascend” (also from MMXX), that main Bah, bah, bahbah boo, bah bah, bahbam. That was me. So, I guess some of the sing able riffs that start the songs off with, the intros and verses like “Coming Home” (from their debut LP Psychotic Symphony), Boom boom Bahbah bah bom, bahbah bah bom, boom boom. That main riff. That’s mine. “Signs of the Time” (also from Psychotic Symphony), boom doo, doo, doo , dodooo, do, doo doo dodoo.. That was mine. So, I guess some of the digestible music motifs. That felt way too fancy. Yeah, I guess we just put ourselves in. SFL Music: On your website I saw you have your own music as well, but when you write with this band, how does that process flow? Bumblefoot: We start off where me and Derek in our own studios have come up with ideas, and then we’ll send them to each other and to Mike and this way we have some starting ideas so, when we all get together that we can build off of, because we’re not doing anything from complete by scratch. We have a few things that we can say, hey, let’s do this idea and build on that. So, we’ll take one of our ideas, we’ll pull it out of the hat and then we start spinning on it and just instinctively, other parts come together and morph and evolve, and by the end of the day we have a song demoed. For my own music, I mean, I’ve been putting out music almost thirty years. A lot of different stuff and it’s always different depending on the environment and who you are writing with, and just the overall vibe. Like for my own music, anything goes and everything goes. Where I’m producing, I’m doing all the engineering. I’m singing. I’m doing everything except playing drums. I’m the world’s worst drummer. If I’m coming for, you
know, like a horror movie sound track, the visuals definitely put music in your head. When you’re playing with Mike and Derek and Billy and Jeff its gonna give you a direction that you can imagine them playing something and you write in that direction. Yeah, it’s always different depending on who you are with. SFL Music: That’s a nice tribute. I also noticed on your website you put on a music camp? Bumblefoot: I did. Yeah, So, I’ve been teaching ever since about age 13. I started studying music when I was about six, seven years old and music has always been a very big, important part of my life. Adjunct professor at SUNY Purchase College in New York, and I’ve done so many camps. I hold fantasy camps and all kinds of things like that, and finally I just wanted to do my own where I can really just torcher people to the fullest. So, these camps will be four or five days, really morning until night, just going over everything, It’s not just guitars. It’s going over singing and recording and songwriting. We do a show together and it’s a very complete week that happens. You know, get the music business. Everything you can imagine. Just very practical and more than just guitar and plenty of guitar. One on one lessons as well and I love it. We just did the second one, and we’ve been doing them in Ireland and I’m going to keep on going and find more places around the world. I have a spot in Bali, Indonesia I’ve been considering. Have had offers from people since I started doing these camps to do them in different places. We’ll see what happens. SFL Music: Did you say you taught at a university in New York? Bumblefoot: Yes, professor Bumblefoot, since 2003 at SUNY Purchase College, state university (teaching music production). SFL Music: So, you have a degree in music? Bumblefoot: That’s the funny thing is that I don’t. I’m actually a high school dropout, but from experience and studying on my
own somehow, I was considered qualified. That was before Guns N’ Roses and before anything. So, it wasn’t due to like a popularity contest or anything like that. It just worked out that way. SFL Music: Are the other members of SONS OF APOLLO musically trained? Bumblefoot: Definitely trained. Everybody definitely knows their stuff, including Jeff, He’s also a great pianist. He’s a musician as well. Like everybody, they know music. They understand how it works. It’s just in the backs of our brains. Somewhere (he laughed) when we’re writing and playing. SFL Music: Now, you have your own hot sauce? That came about in 1981 when an older cousin dared you to eat a hot pepper? Bumblefoot: Yeah, yeah. It was my cousin bet me five dollars. He said he’ll give me five dollars if I eat a hot pepper and I ate it and I like it, and that’s the start of the journey into fiery foods. In 2013 I rolled down a line of six sauces and I was partnered up with a company called CaJohns that was a hot sauce company that’s been around a while. Then they sold the company and I went into business just this year on my own with my own food company, and getting all pieces in place, the manufacturer, the distributor, the label printer, everything, and just put out, instead of all six sauces, I’m doing just the three that people seem to like the most. So, put those back out and they are out there now and I am bringing them on tour with me. So, they will be at the merch table. SFL Music: Awesome! If someone doesn’t buy them at the show can they order them online or go to a store? Bumblefoot: Oh yeah. You can definitely get them online. I’m still getting the stuff, dealing with stores, and there’s a lot of hot sauce shops, specialty shops. I can try and get them into some of the stores, but most of the chain stores you know, they’re only going to deal with stuff that’s going to move in high volume. More mom and pops would go for mine and also, I don’t think that some of these shops would want to carry something on the shelves called BumbleFucked. The name and the fact that It’s so hot that it could kill an elephant. It’s a really dangerous hot sauce. So, that one you know, it comes with a warning and it’s probably not something that they would put on the shelves in mainstream shops, but Bumblicious. That one. Cherry Bourbon, chipotle, delicious barbeque sauce and like a barbeque hot sauce, and then just an everyday kind of sauce that goes with everything from your morning 60 | www.SFLMusic.com
eggs, to your Thai food, to your Mexican food, to your Indian food, to your Greek food, to even your Italian food with Mediterranean herbs in it. That one’s called The Sauce because it is ‘the sauce’ that goes with everything. That’s the one that you want to take the other stuff off the table and keep that one on there. SFL Music: What would you suggest to up and coming musicians or entrepreneurs on how to get themselves established and have longevity like you and your bandmates have? Bumblefoot: You have to be genuine. You have to be authentic. You have to be truly who you are and the world decides from there, but as long as you’re being the best version of you and really devoting yourself to what you’re setting out to do. Give it time and learn from your mistakes and keep trying to improve and dig deeper, and if it’s good, the world will take notice, but it’s not up to any of us. It’s up to the rest of the universe to decide. The only thing that’s in our power is to do our best and be authentic with what we do and if ten people like it. Great! If ten million people like it. Great! Either way, that’s what’s meant to be. SFL Music: Great advice. Is there anything else you want readers to know about? Any new songs or Videos coming out from SONS OF APOLLO? Bumblefoot: This album will be out in January and then we’ll tour. Then we’ll hopefully work on album number three. Just check the website. Check our social media to stay updated with what we’re doing so that they know when we’re coming to town and know when we’re releasing a new video or single, or when the album’s out. Things like that. Just keep in touch and hopefully we’ll see everybody out there. SFL readers keep your eyes open for any new tour dates and MMXX is definitely one to add to any hard rock lover’s collection. In addition, if you’re into hot sauce, well, you have new options too!
music from the Blues Guy. School visits are welcome, and the first 84 young people who attend Blues 2020 Grade School Edition will receive a special worksheet donated by the House of Blues - Orlando.
Blues School 2020 Back in Session at the Deerfield Beach Library Blues School 2020 is back by popular demand with monthly programs featuring live music and film screenings in January, February and March 2020 from 2 to 3PM at the Deerfield Beach Percy White Library, 837 E Hillsboro Blvd., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. All events are free and open to the public. “We appreciate the Blues as a piece of American culture, a musical expression that speaks to sadness but confronts it and finds a way of persevering,” says librarian Dave Montalbano. “Eventually, most of the Blues music you listen to deals with joy, redemption and hope.” Blues and music lovers of all ages are invited to attend the three-month program series, which includes the following events: •
January 4 - Kris Nicholson Presents Music from Martin Luther King’s Time: 1929-1968
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February 1 - Blues Legend Joey Gilmore in Concert: Florida son Joey Gilmore, the epitome of a modern Blues Man. Gilmore has shared the stage with such greats as James Brown, Etta James, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Johnny Taylor and numerous other legends.
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February 5 - Blues 2020 Grades School Bash with “The Blues Guy” for children ages 5-10. Learn about and hear demos of Blues
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February 15 - Feature Film: Dramatization of traveling within the southern United States in the time of segregation
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March 5 - Feature Film: Sequel to a classic Dan Aykroyd film, 18 years after the original “mission from God,” as Elwood attempts to reorganize the Blues Brothers Band.
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March 14 - Matthew Sabatella in Concert: America’s Music: From Plymouth Rock to Rock ‘n’ Roll, an entertaining history lesson with singing, guitar playing and a slideshow.
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March 28 - Blues School 2020 Graduation, culminating with a lively performance from SENIOR Moments: The Unforgettable Band, a Big Band celebration of the 50 years of Popular, Blues-inspired music from the 1920s through the 1970s.
For additional information about this music series, #bclBLUESSCHOOL2020, or the branch’s two grassroots music clubs, “Percy White’s Acoustic Club” or “Open Mic!” contact Dave Montalbano at DMontalbano@Broward.org or 954-357-7697.
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