March 2020

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Goo Goo Dolls | Hard Rock Live Photo: Jay Skolnick

Grace Potter | Revolution Live Taj Mahal | Parker Playhouse Photo: Jay Skolnick

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Beartooth | Revolution Live Photo: Jay Skolnick

Bobby Juke Wilson | The| Funky The Funky Biscuit Biscuit Photo: Jay Skolnick

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March 2020

4. GOO GOO DOLLS 4. TAJ MAHAL

Issue #93

6. BEARTOOTH

PUBLISHERS Jay Skolnick Jay@SFLMusic.com

10. ROBERT CRAY

Gary Skolnick Gary@SFLMusic.com EDITOR IN CHIEF Sean McCloskey Sean@SFLMusic.com SENIOR EDITOR Todd McFliker Todd@SFLMusic.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Gary Skolnick Gary@SFLMusic.com

6. JUKE

10. RAPHAEL SAADIQ 12. BROTHERS AGAIN 13. BILLY PRICE 14. DIANA REIN 16. CONCERT DATES 18. UNIFIED MINDS 21. SAMANTHA RUSSELL 22. KILLER QUEEN

32. BEATLES ON THE BEACH

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36. TOMMY EMMANUEL

COVER PHOTO Courtesy 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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30. PHIL VASSER

OPERATIONS MAGAGER Jessica Delgadillo Jessica@SFLMusic.com

CONTRIBUTORS Brad Stevens Ray Anton • Lori Smerilson Carson Tom Craig • Megan Garzone Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro Alex Liscio • Janine Mangini Angel Melendez • Nathan Rose Romy Santos • David Shaw Darla Skolnick

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35. MICKY DOLENZ

38. LONDON, REIN OVER ME 40. JOHNNY DEE

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45. SAMANTHA FISH 46. JASON NEWSTED 48. THE MUSIC OF CREAM 52. ERIC JOHNSON 54. PETER ASHER 58. TAS CRU 59. ONE LOVE BAHAMAS 60. PALM BEACH POP 62. ON THE SCENE 63. CLASSIFIEDS

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Robert Cray | Parker Playhouse Photo: Tom Craig

Raphael Saadiq | Parker Playhouse Photo: Tom Craig

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CHRIS BOTTI

Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum and Grammy Awards. Most recently, his latest album Impressions won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

Performing worldwide and selling more than four million albums, he has found a form of creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any single genre.

Generously underwritten by Marie Morris Michelle Howland–The Howland Group

SUNDAY, MARCH 29 7:00 PM | Au-Rene Theater

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2020 BMA Nominee Billy Price On Florida Tour Renowned soul-blues singer Billy Price, whose new album, Dog Eat Dog, was released on Gulf Coast Records in 2019 to critical acclaim, is on a tour of Florida this month, with shows at Little Bar in Goodland (Wednesday, March 4), Skippers Smokehouse in Tampa (Friday, March 6); and the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton (Saturday, March 7). Also on March 7, Price will also be singing the National Anthem at the Major League Baseball pre-season game between the Pittsburgh Pirates (where Price lived for many years before relocating to Baltimore) and the New York Yankees, at Lecom Park in Bradenton.

Price is nominated for the 2020 BMA (Blues Music Awards) in two categories: Best Soul Blues Album and Soul Blues

Male Artist, both on the strength and success of Dog Eat Dog. The awards take place May 7 at Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in Memphis, TN. “Billy Price’s newest release, Dog Eat Dog, is instantly likeable, effortlessly blending elements of the blues, R&B, soul, reggae, and touches of jazz into a compelling whole,” writes Living Blues. “Dog Eat Dog grabs you by the throat from the first bars of the lead cut, Working On Your Chain Gang, all the way to the closing number, You Gotta Leave.

One of the best releases of the year.” For the latest up-todate tour info on Price visit www.billyprice.com.

Guitarist Diana Rein 2020 Queen Of My Castle Florida Tour This March Rising Gulf Coast Records recording artist Diana Rein brings her 2020 “Queen Of My Castle” Tour (named for her most recent album) to Florida in March for a series of shows, starting at Seville Quarter in Pensacola on March 2, followed by The Cultural Center in Port Charlotte (March 6), Art’s Garage in Delray Beach (March 7), Fogartyville in Sarasota (March 19), Blues Bash at The Ranch in Brooksville (March 20), and The Little Bar in Goodland (March 21). The QOMC Tour also finds Rein performing in Denver, Las Vegas, Washington, DC, and Richmond, as well as headlining the Woodystock Blues-Rock Festival in Arizona this May. This marks the Southern California-based musician’s first 14 | www.SFLMusic.com

U.S. tour. Rein was the first female signee to Mike Zito and Guy Hale’s Gulf Coast Records label, who released her album “Queen Of My Castle” in June of 2019.

“Diana Rein gifts us her third full length effort in Queen of My Castle. She has already proved herself an accomplished singer songwriter steeped in the sounds and licks of Chicago blues,“ writes Blues Rock Review. “If you were to confuse “Yes I Sing the Blues” with Buddy Guy’s “Damn Right I Got the Blues,” you wouldn’t be faulted. She’s channeling blues legends in the best of ways.”

More at www.dianarein.com.

GO SEE IT LIVE! March 1 /Sunday Dan Rodriguez – Abdo New River Room John Waite – Funky Biscuit John Leonard – Brewhouse Gallery JP Soars Gypsy Jazz Band – Double Roads Tavern Elaine Dame – Arts Garage March 2 / Monday Biscuit Jam – Joey Gilmore Dustin Lynch – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre March 3 / Tuesday Laudicina/Farinas/Ward – Funky Biscuit March 4 / Wednesday Nick Cannon – BB&T Music of Paul McCartney – Crest Theatre Delray March 5 / Thursday Kenny G. – Parker Playhouse South Florida Symphony – Broward Center NattyBos- Crazy Uncle Mikes The Outlaws – Lyric Theater Okeechobee Music Festival March 6 / Friday Rock Supergroup, The Hit Men – Broward Center Four80 East – Funky Biscuit Brandi Carlisle – Hard Rock Live Music of Ray Charles – Parker Playhouse REO Speedwagon – Seminole Casino Coco Creek Unlimited Devotion w/Roosevelt Collier– Crazy Uncle Mikes Leafy Greens Band – Double Roads Tavern Gipsy Kings / Santana Tribute – Gulfstream Park Okeechobee Music Festival March 7 / Saturday Billy Price/ Shari Puerto Band – Funky Biscuit Diana Rein – Arts Garage The Fab Faux – Parker Playhouse Gary Gulman – Amaturo Center Saved By The 90s – Revolution Live Jakob Takos– Crazy Uncle Mikes The Brew Hoppers / ROXY & Bob – Brewhouse Gallery Purple Madness – Kelsey Theatre Across the Universe – Double Roads Tavern Tom Rush w/Matt Nakoa – Lyric Theater Okeechobee Music Festival Rib Round Up Music Fest – iTHINK Financial Amp Gasparilla Music Fest – Downtown Tampa

Jake Walden / Popa Chubby – Double Roads Tavern An Elo Tribute – Crest Theatre Delray Mike Delguidice – Seminole Casino Coconut Creek March 12 / Thursday Diana Ross – The Fillmore Art Garfunkel – Coral Springs Center of the Arts Papa Chubby – Funky Biscuit Rolling Stones Tribute – Mizner Park The Jersey Tenors– Lyric Theatre March 13 / Friday Walter Trout – Funky Biscuit Diana Ross – The Fillmore The Manhattan Transfer – Parker Playhouse Eric Johnson Classics – Broward Center Michael Londra & The Celtic Fire – Aventura Center Adam Sandler – Hard Rock Live The Flyers– Crazy Uncle Mikes Diane Cumberland & Tim Carpenter – Brewhouse Gallery 56 Ace – Double Roads Tavern Bonita Blues Fest – Riverside Park, Bonita Springs John Mayall – Lyric Theater Kristina Koller – Arts Garage March 14 / Saturday Josh Groban – Kravis Center Diva3 – Aventura Center Shaw Davis / Chris O’Leary – Funky Biscuit Tasty Vibrations & Remyz – Revolution Live Uproot Hootenanny– Crazy Uncle Mikes Hip Abduction – Kelsey Theater The Little Things Debut – Brewhouse Gallery Get the Led Out – Culture Room Bobby Nathan – Double Roads Tavern Bonita Blues Fest – Riverside Park, Bonita Springs Jazz in the Gardens – Hard Rock Stadium Pop, Rock, & Doo Wopp – FAU Boca

March 15 / Sunday Southside Johnny – Seminole Casino Coconut Creek Rocky & the Rollers– Lyric Theatre Tas Cru – Arts Garage The Duprees – Crest Theatre - Delray March 16 / Monday Paul Anka – Broward Center Biscuit Jam – Robbin Kapsalis March 17 / Tuesday The Nighthawks – Funky Biscuit The Art is Murder – Kelsey Theater

March 8 / Sunday Music of Michel Legrand – Broward Center The New Florida Follies– Parker Playhouse School of Rock – Funky Biscuit Soulfly Toxic Holocaust – Culture room A Sunday Kinda Blues – Brewhouse Gallery Vera Brezhneva – Gulfstream Park Okeechobee Music Festival Gasparilla Music Fest – Downtown Tampa

March 18 / Wednesday Harry Connick Jr.– Broward Center Geoff Tate – Parker Playhouse JoyWave – Culture Room Brian Fallon & The Howling Weather– Revolution Chris O’Leary – Double Roads Tavern 50 years of R&R – Lyric Theatre Victoria Vox – Arts Garage

March 9 / Monday Diana Ross – Kravis Center Billie Eilish - AAA Biscuit Jam – Rockin Jake

March 19 / Thursday Greensky Bluegrass – Revolution Live McCartney Project - Kelsey Theater Hotel California Tribute to the Eagle – Arts Garage

March 10 / Tuesday Ben Rice – Funky Biscuit Kenny G – Kravis Center Symphony of America’s – Broward Center

March 20 / Friday Blues Beatles – Funky Biscuit Queens Tribute – Mizner Park The Resolvers – Crazy Uncle Mikes We Came As Romans – Culture Room Dread Mar I – Revolution Live Brett Staska – Brewhouse Gallery Selwyn Birchwood – Double Roads Tavern Simon & Garfunkel Tribute– Lyric Theatre Hotel California Tribute to the Eagle – Arts Garage Pink Floyd Classic Album – Old School Square

March 11 / Wednesday Terrell Stafford Quintet – Broward Center The Weight Band– Funky Biscuit Scott Guberman Phillesh & Friends –Crazy Uncle Mikes Dan Luke & the Raid – Revolution Live

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March 21 / Saturday Havasi – Hard Rock Live Graham Nash - Coral Springs Center Vincent Ingala – Funky Biscuit Kat Riggins – Crazy Uncle Mikes Groundation – Culture Room Mood Swing Debut – Brewhouse Gallery Big City – Double Roads Tavern The Duprees – Lyric Theater Manny Echazabal Quintet – Arts Garage

March 22 / Sunday Gino Vanelli – Parker Playhouse Korn Again Tribute– Crazy Uncle Mikes The Expendables – Culture Room Sunday Kinda Blues – Brewhouse Gallery Bruce Hornsby – Lyric Theater March 23 / Monday Biscuit Jam – Brandon Miller Bruce Hornsby – Parker Playhouse Sierra Hull – Lyric Theatre March 24 / Tuesday Cher – American Airlines Arena America – Broward Center Steve Hackett – Parker Playhouse Gabe Stillman – Funky Biscuit Against Me – Culture Room Ally Brooke – Revolution Live Buddy, Roy, & Fats Tribute – Lyric Theater March 25 / Wednesday Brand X John Goodsall Percy Jones Chris Clark– Funky Biscuit AEG Yes / Alan Parsons - Broward Center Music of Cream – Parker Playhouse Lords of Acid - Culture Room Slam Allen – Double Roads Tavern Space Oddity / David Bowie – Crest Theater March 26 / Thursday Little River Band– Parker Playhouse Simon Phillips Protocol – Funky Biscuit The Flyers- Crazy Uncle Mikes Circa Survive – Revolution Live Pablo Cruise – Gulfstream Park March 27 / Friday Beatles on the Beach – Delray Beach Victor Wainwright – Funky Biscuit Buddy Guy/Kenny Wayne Shepard – Broward Center Queenz – Kelsey Theater Penn Johnson Debut – Brewhouse Gallery Brooklyn Rider – Lyric Theater Yoko Miwa Trio – Arts Garage March 28 / Saturday Beatles on the Beach – Delray Beach ABBA Tribute – Mizner Park Estefy Lennon 12p – 2pm – Arts Garage Lauren Mitchell –8pm - Arts Garage The Boss Project – Funky Biscuit King Kaleeb – Kelsey Theater Americana Jones – Brewhouse Gallery Big Vince & the Phat Cats – Double Roads Tavern March 29 / Sunday Ricardo Montaner – American Airlines Arena Doctor Navito de Guatemaya – Arts Garage March 30 / Monday Biscuit Jam – Joel DaSilva March 31 / Tuesday JP Soars – Funky Biscuit

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this new creation was received, Giddens had this to say: “Unified Mind started as an open invitation to local musicians I wanted to work with or get more of a collective of the community on a record. Founders Mario DeMoura and I started off the collaboration recording at my home studio, where I recorded all the instruments myself, along with a few instruments done by Joe Cole and Ryan Jackola. We gained the attention of our peers and welcomed Rocky Rucker and Travis Schmeider (from local bands) into the mix for our first show at Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton, back in October 2019.”

“Our sound is pretty unique, mixing genres with others genres to make something new almost like alchemy.

I’ve always been a rapper even before doing reggae and I was also a metal head as well, so having love for those genres and aspects around them, I started to write heavier riffs accompanied by a smooth live rap-style drums, with cool reggae break downs…which you can hear in all of Unified Mind’s music and especially the Bad Habits EP.”

Unified Mind Bad Habits EP Debut Release South Florida’s own powerhouse collaborative project, Unified Mind, recently released their brand-spankin’ new reggae rock/rap/nu metal/punk rock EP, Bad Habits. The EP, released at midnight on New Year’s Eve, is not only a mixture of several genres local South Florida bands are notorious for, but also a fusion of several upand-coming local reggae rock bands. The trailblazer behind this project, Tyler “G” Giddens, front-man for Vibes Farm (and formerly LFTD LVLS), not only co-wrote and produced this amazing EP from his home studio, but also laid down almost every instrumental track on each of the five songs on the entire album, and created the album artwork! Giddens was joined by some of his closest friends and musical cohorts to produce these tracks, with Mario DeMoura on vocals that ranged from harmonies, to solo rap verses, and choral hooks, and fellow Vibes Farm bassist, Ryan Jackola and former drummer, Joe Cole.

Their current live line-up includes Giddens on lead guitar and lead vocals, DeMoura (vocalist of duo Home Grown Rebellion) on lead rap vocals, Giz Forte (current Vibes Farm and Reefers drummer) on bass, and Travis Schmeider (Fireside Prophets and Home Grown Rebellion drummer) on drums. Their live debut featured a medley of musicians joining the ranks for the open jam invite. On how this collaborative project started, where their unique amalgam of sound stems from, and how the response to 18 | www.SFLMusic.com

The first song on Bad Habits EP is the title track and opens with one of those heavier riffs Giddens mentioned, along with drums to match. DeMoura follows the hard rock intro, spitting swift rap verses before being joined harmoniously for a slowed down bridge with Giddens and then DeMoura’s fast-paced chorus. Giddens contributes a verse of his own and his signature hard, but immensely smooth guitar solos to complete the song as the bridge and DeMoura’s chorus repeats. This song in particular resonates with the distinctive South Florida heavy rock sound that fits in perfectly with reggae rock, and will get fans of the genre bangin’ their heads and moving to the beat when they hear this song live. This jam is very reminiscent of late 90’s nu metal/rap bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park and surely sets the tone for this short EP to be more than just your typical island and pop-style reggae rock album.

The transition to the next song “Edibles,” is a flowing hip-hop instrumental repetition that sounds like horns but is more than likely looped on the keys, along with the boys tracking a conversation about splitting an edible. Giddens raps the first verse with DeMoura’s deep produced vocals providing harmonies on stressed lyrics.

They both go back and forth on a very catchy chorus and DeMoura follows with a slowed down and psychedelic verse before picking the pace back up again on the final verse. After the memorable chorus repeats, the song fades into a tripped-out continued conversation about how the edibles are affecting them, with that hip-hop beat continuing on through the fadeout.

Halfway through the album, they slow the pace down with a rhythmic and psychedelic guitar intro into “Cantina,” a more laid-back reggae tune that incorporates catchy vocal harmonies between both singers on the chorus. “Cantina” is a lyrically-relaxed tune that is typical

to South Florida lifestyle of hanging out at the beach bars drinking margaritas and eating tacos and was inspired

by Calaveras Cantina in Jupiter where Schmeider works.

Each singer presents their own verse with DeMoura spitting another finely-tuned and ascending chill rap flow.

Suddenly the gears shift into another heavy, nu metalstyle intro with Giddens beginning the first verse, pontificating over dealing with constant fights with a lover by heading to the “Dawghouse,” where he gets some relief while being in the literal doghouse. The “Dawghouse” is a reference to South Florida resident, David House, who helps promote reggae music in the region through Dawghouse Promotions and where many bands travelling through the state come to stay and have a good time by enjoying Dawghouse Moonshine, amongst other things.

This tune has a very Kottonmouth Kings vibe about partying and forgetting about petty romantic squabbles through inebriation.

The final track continues that hard-hitting pattern of heavy guitar intros and drums. “Fall In Line,” continues on with steady guitar strumming and hi-hat rhythm with Giddens and DeMoura talking about being profiled and getting pulled over by the police. Afterwards, DeMoura raps passionately and the chorus repeats with both singers harmonizing about telling society “no sir, no sir” to falling in line. Judge DeMoura then sentences Giddens, using a Southern accent, in a trial setting for “thinking for your-self and challenging facts.” Giddens responds by telling the judge that he will not fall in line and continues on to protest the authoritative political regime of corruption that can be prevalent in our society, and calling out for us to stand and fight for our freedom.

The overall vibe of Bad Habits epitomizes not only young South Florida culture, but youth culture nationwide as well. From breaking bad habits in vices, relationships, and mental health, while maturing into adult lifestyles and societal standards, and trying to balance fun at the same time; to being profiled by authorities and society for looking and acting different than the conformed norms that American culture deems standard. As DeMoura puts it, “Everyone’s got a fix or a place they go to unwind. We were hoping to share a few of ours with the world and show what unites us all as a group. A good time vibe with a pension for not backing down to societal conformity.”

Unified Mind will continue to break out in the South Florida music scene with their show at Respectable Street in Downtown West Palm Beach, for the popular Highly Rated Reggae Wednesday night show on April 1st! Check out the Bad Habits EP and Unified Mind’s other earlier single releases like, “Tension,” Symbols of Power,” and “Palm Trees & a Lighter,” plus other projects from this collaborative group: Vibes Farm, Home Grown Rebellion, Reefers, and Fireside Prophets on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music and other streaming platforms, to support talented local music and to enjoy “good time” music! – David Shaw

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KILLER QUEEN

By: Lori Smerilson Carson

Everyone wants to re-live something in their past. If you’re a Queen fan, you’re in luck. Killer Queen, the Premier Tribute to Queen, awarded Worldwide Best Tribute Band in 1995 will bring their phenomenal show to Florida starting in Key West on March 17th at the West Truman Waterfront Amphitheater, then in Delray Beach on March 19th at the Old School Pavilion, on March 20th in Clearwater at the Capital Theatre, and on the 21st in Vero Beach at Saint John’s Island Club.

Catching up with Lead Vocalist Patrick Myers, he revealed details of how he and fellow bandmates Bassist/Vocalist Brad Waissman, Guitarist/Vocalist Simon Small and Drummer/Vocalist Jonathan Howells take their approach to Killer Queen and what their goals are to emulate and tribute to this iconic band that the world knows as Queen.

SFL Music: Killer Queen is the oldest tribute band, one of the longest running beginning in 1993?

Patrick Myers: We started a while back now. Basically, there weren’t tribute bands when we began which is why we began.

We were students at college when we got the news Freddie had suddenly passed, so we were the first bunch of kids who suddenly realized that we weren’t going to see Queen and there was no way of seeing Queen anymore. There was no tribute band to speak of. So, we thought well, let’s do a show just for everyone our age so we can all feel like we’ve been at any concert with the Queen music. Because, as far as we’re concerned, that was very much a right to passage concert to go to. So, we put this one show on and it took us a couple of years to put it all together after Freddie had died. So, our first show was back in 1993, which is, you’re right, a long time ago, (he laughed).

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SFL Music: Time flies when you’re having fun, right?

Myers: Yeah, that’s right.

SFL Music: Were you a music student in College?

Myers: No. I’d been a music student growing up and as much as I learned guitar and I learned piano and I started writing songs and I’ve been sneaking into bars since I was about 15, pretending I’m a lot older and playing gigs, and so those gigs had gotten a little bit big and we had done some festivals and things, I couldn’t see a way of becoming a musician. It was just something I loved doing. I had no idea anyway whatsoever. In the back of my head it would be great to be a musician, I just didn’t know how you’d did it, you know? I also loved acting and I had done a lot of work acting too at the same time.

So those two things in my life happened kind of side by side, but they never really combined. They were always very separate, and then suddenly I found myself in a situation where you had to pretend to be somebody else and you had to be onstage singing songs at the same time. Which was a bit crazy really because there weren’t tribute bands and the idea of doing that was slightly left field. We were thinking, oh, this might not go down very well because there wasn’t really a president for it, but as it happened, it went down great. It was brilliant fun and we continued ever since.

SFL Music: So, you were always a Queen fan?

Myers: Yeah. Well I grew up hearing all of these songs, but not knowing that they were all by Queen when I was a little boy. It

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was just a different world then. You’d see these bands disappear and appear on the TV and then you’d hear them on the radio without incident or anything like that. It was always slightly illusive, trying to find out or track down pop songs. I’d hear all these songs and every time I saw Queen, they always used to look really different you know, like they’d have great big long hair, then they’d have really short hair, and then they had mustaches, no mustaches. So, I always thought, oh that’s all the same band. So, I discovered it’s all the same band when I was about 13.

My parents had been into The Beatles and I got into The Beatles and I couldn’t believe what they had written was an amazing body of work. How it changed so much. Such diverse songwriting, I thought well, who’s the next band to do this? I want another band, not The Beatles. If you like that you might enjoy Queen.

They put these headphones on my head on a school bus and I was just blown away, straight away. I thought, oh wow, this is amazing. I’ve loved them ever since. Not long after that actually, I saw Live Aid and thought, oh they’re just amazing. Freddie and the whole band just sounded fantastic. So yeah, we’d all grown up, all our generation grew up thinking that they were the best thing ever because Queen was still very much reigning supreme in the charts all over Europe and south America right away through the eighties into the nineties.

They never really had a particular period that was limited in any way. I think they died down a little bit in America in the mid-eighties or so, but not in Europe and the rest of the world. Everyone was just crazy for Queen. For us, they represented the perfect concert. A concert you really wanted to go to. So, we were searching to try and experience something like that ourselves.

That’s how it kind of came together.

SFL Music: Is that your goal when you are doing these shows? Do you emulate the exact type of Queen show or do you put some of your own stuff into it? What can fans look forward to?

Myers: I think the mission statement of our show is that if you want to feel like you’re a time travel concert, so you’ve gone back in time and you’ve seen the show, or you couldn’t see it because you were too young or whatever, or you want to see it again, that sort of thing. We very much keep ourselves out of the picture. There isn’t a place where we go, now here’s a little creation of our own. It’s very much like trying to look right and sound right so that people can invest in that moment. We’re very much about letting people feel like they are at a Queen concert.

Obviously, we’re aware that there’s no replacing Queen, we’re not supreme, you know.

We’re aware that Freddie was unique, that Queen had a very special, fantastic thing going. So obviously, we trained hard, we worked hard and we bring whatever talent we have to the table to try and make that happen. When we get emails back from the audience saying wow, I haven’t seen a Queen show, since I’ve seen Queen back in the 80’s whatever, we really feel like we’re there. That’s what we look for in terms of recognition and that’s what we look for in terms of guidance about whether we’re getting it right. It’s good fun that way. It’s very liberating music to play because it’s so well written and it’s so diverse in terms of songwriting styles and in terms of the emotion that comes through a lot of the tracks. Songs like “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “The Show Must Go On,” “(These Are the) Days of Our Lives,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” they’re all amazing songs and they’ve got a deep emotional sweep. Plus, they just appeal to so many different generations and people. It means a lot to people.

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It’s been key moments of their life no matter what generation, it’s been framed by this music. So, being able to tour all around the world is kind of a nice sort of privileged position to be in really.

SFL Music: Did you ever have the opportunity to meet Freddie or and of the band members?

Myers: I was way, way too young to catch their last tour, so no.

Not when I was a kid. The early years of the band I was getting my visuals worked on and hanging around a design company and it was the same design company that Queen were using to promote and get their stuff together for We Will Rock You which is their musical. So, they did come into the office at the same time that I was there and the client that I did the account also knew what I did and what I was there for, and knew what they were there for, and they tried to sort of engineer it so that I would turn up.

They wanted me to turn up as Freddie dressed because we dressed up like Queen and we did get quite a good likeness, and I just refused. I said, there’s no way on earth I’m going to do that.

I’d rather hide than embarrass them and embarrass myself like that. So, I had an opportunity to meet them. I had an opportunity to serve them tea and scones or something dressed as Freddie Mercury, but I flat turned it down. I just said that was such a bad idea because it was still relatively quite soon after Freddie had passed. To suddenly have some bloke turning up dressed as him just seemed insane to me. Not a very well thought through proposition. I was there when they were in the building and I’m not so much shy, but I just tend to not jump at things if there’s no reason to.

I’m not one to rush over somebody if they’re famous just because I happen to like them unless there’s a reason. There are a few

times I have done that, to have these conversations that don’t really mean anything is really strange, (he laughed). Hello, hello. I really like your work. Ok thank you. I’d rather just leave. The way I feel most comfortable is if someone is in my head and they’ve done amazing work and they’re creative, I like leaving it there. I like leaving those songs, my own impression of them, just where they are. I don’t feel much of a compulsion to rush up and meet people. Of course, when you do meet people by accident and these things happen, it can be quite lovely and exciting, but it’s not something I’d seek out.

done all over Europe. I mean, we play everywhere. We play concert halls as well. We don’t limit ourselves to just huge places, but we’ve done it and we’ve done a lot of other work on that kind of scale, which has just been amazing for us really because we were the kids that thought we’d never be at a Queen concert because of how things had worked out, and then we ended up playing the band and playing the same places that Queen themselves actually played which seems so surreal for us.

SFL Music: You stuck to your beliefs.

Myer: How I ended up being Freddie was because I was just always singing. Every time there was an empty corridor with stairs going up and down it, and there’s a great reverb and a natural echo in the corridor, I’d always sing when I was young.

Much to the annoyance of the people I was sharing the flat with.

So, in order to shut me up, they decided to put me on a stage.

I always enjoyed singing and I always enjoy being other people because I like acting. I like jumping into different characters. So, without thinking about it, when you’re a kid, every time you’ve got a favorite popstar, you automatically do an impression of them.

You don’t think anything of it. Whether you’re a kid from the fifties holding your hair brush and singing Elvis Presley or whether you’re pretending to be Bruce Springsteen or Brendon Urie or whoever is the current person from your generation. People start by doing impressions.

Myers: I don’t wake up regretting it that’s for sure.

SFL Music: Is the band all the same members as when started?

Myers: No. We were taken by surprise, even with the media after the first shows, they offered us this huge tour. We were students at the time. We were working toward getting our degrees together and working out how to boil a kettle and make our own dinner. We’d only just left home. So, it was a little bit of a shock suddenly having done this show, to have a whole national tour that quickly. People stuck with it as long as they could and then eventually it boiled down to the lineup that we’ve got now which has been fairly solid for the world tour for 20 or so years. So, it’s not the very, very original people. We’re still friends.

We still see each other now and again, but the lineup sort of settled down fairly shortly after that when we realized this was something that we had to make time for, make a commitment to do it right because it was so extraordinary what happened to us. Not only did we get our first show offer to tour straight away, but the tour led to the West End which is like Broadway. Within a year we were the first ever tribute to anything. The West End, we had our residency there that led two years down the road. We won some awards. We went to Europe. Then European arena venues that Queen had done their biggest work in got in touch with us and said, look, we want your show to be here. We’re not just producers. Would you be interested in that? We went, yes, (he laughed)! Of course, we would.

It became where we were actually playing in the same venues as Queen, on the same scale and selling them out, which we’d

SFL Music: How did you end up being Freddie?

So, I was always doing impressions of everyone I loved. I’d do impressions of Freddie, I’d do impressions of Elvis Costello, I’d do impressions of David Bowie. I’d do impressions of Lou Reed. I’d do impressions of Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys. I could do everybody I like. So, it wasn’t crazy to me when we started to sing Queen songs because Freddie had died. I just automatically try and reach for Freddie’s styling of his voice because that’s how I’ve learned to sing. I’ve learned to sing by copying and of course I have my own style as well and my own voice as well, but it didn’t bother me, strike me as a strange thing, when you sang someone else’s songs trying to sound a bit like them because as I said, we were quite young so, I wasn’t too far away from that whole thing. So, that was how we did it and in terms of visually, we just, kind of tried it out. We bought costumes. We got accessories and stuff because I was studying drama. We had the whole costumes department there.

We work really hard at making the look as close to Freddie and Brian and Roger as possible and that’s how we put it together. No one else wanted to sing, that’s for sure (He chuckled). No one else was crazy enough to want to try to do Freddie and because I was so young and naïve, I just thought wow, you could go and see what happens, (he laughed). We did the first show. We realized if we were going to do this as a tour, we were going to have to get some serious vocal workouts going. So, I’ve worked hard on the voice and I carried on training and studying acting as well so, that kind of helped. It all fell together quite naturally, but yeah, we do work quite hard on the visuals. We try to look as much like them onstage. when we walk off stage, no one else knows who we are. We look so different, incredibly different.

SFL Music: So, I have to ask you, do you have cats?

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Myers: Do I have cats? Oh, yes. I do have cats. There’s a song he wrote for the cat which is a great song called “Delilah,” which I think the rest of Queen hated, but I’ve always like that song too.

I think it’s really sweet. It’s just a classic. It’s really, really good.

I’ve got a couple of cats I have to say.

They’re a father and son combination. The father is still very protective of his son. He keeps looking out for him and offering him his food and making sure he’s eaten first and all that sort of stuff and it’s very, very, very sweet to see because cats can be sometimes a little bit indifferent to one another. These two have just been such close companions. It’s wonderful to watch. Yes, cats are a big part of our life too, but I think they’d be anyway. That’s not part of our act (He laughed). We don’t bring the cats onstage to be more akin to Freddie.

SFL Music: What would you advise new musicians who want to form a tribute band?

Myers: I don’t know because we fell into this before there was a whole tribute scene. I didn’t plan to do this for any period of time at all. This was just something that I wanted to do so I could feel like I’d been to a concert and that we enjoyed so much, we kept on doing it. If it wasn’t Queen music, I don’t think I’d be able to be in another tribute band. I love Queen music with a passion and I enjoy the variety and the affect it has on the crowd and how much it means to them. So, I’d be really struggling to offer another band any kind of meaningful advice. If I were a band with the way things are at the moment, I can see why people do tributes because the record industry is so kind of stifled and not really producing the same amount of talent coming through that used to. It’s a different kind of world out there so, I could see why people would reach to do tributes.

The only thing I’d say is follow your heart. If your gonna play songs and you’re going to do them night after night, it’s got to be stuff you love, you know? It’s got to be stuff you really enjoy.

Just keep thinking well, can we make it a bit rare? Can we make it a bit better? Just keep doing that again and again and again. It gets more and more fun to do. I don’t really have any really big super cool advice to give. This all fell together in the weirdest of ways for me and if you’d have told me the day before I left home for college that I would be spending the next 26 years of my life touring the world, playing arenas and singing Queen songs, I just would’ve looked at you with such a puzzled, quizzical look saying why? What? How would that happen? I’m sorry, I don’t understand. It wasn’t something I had planned. It’s something that we decided to do and then decided to continue.

It just came from the heart really, and the fact that it’s now a massive tribute in history and it fills up arenas like we do, you could basically spend your life singing about songs if you so choose.

It’s just so surprising to me. Good luck to anybody who wants to do that. Good luck to anybody who wants to carve their own new path as well. It still baffles me, the whole music industry and how it works. In terms of my own personal experience, it’s been a fantastic ride. I’m just very grateful that I’ve been able to do these things.

SFL Music readers tune up your singing voices and go back in time for a night of fun and lasting memories!

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Phil Vasser | The Funky Biscuit Photo: Tom Craig

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With Special Guests: Till Death Do Us Part and Mark Daly

MARCH 18 TICKETS at ParkerPlayhouse.com • Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222 Group Sales | 954.660.6307 The Parker Playhouse 2019-2020 season is presented by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation.

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You Say You playing classic Monkees hits, and all your favorite Beatles Songs! Plus, a tidal wave of bands covering not just The Beatles but other Brit-Rock Classics as well! (Music Starts at 5pm, Old School Square) Don’t miss Beatle Buffet at Cabana El Rey from 12-1:30pm with live Beatles Music!

The most exciting musical event to hit South Florida, The International Beatles On The Beach Festival, takes place for 4 magical days taking over Delray Beach, Florida! March 26-29, 2020.

Live entertainment in an ocean of venues, including historical Old School Square plus a boatload of bands, artists and performers in this beautiful “Village by the Sea”!

• March 26- Here Comes The Sun: To kick off of The International Beatles On The Beach Festival we have several FAB activities happening in town! Money Can’t Buy Me Love Singles Mingle at The Hyatt Hotel, Beatles Wine Walk at The Wine House Social, Beatles Jam at The Aloft Hotel from, Beatles Trivia at Mellow Mushroom. Festival goers are urged to dress up Beatle-ish to kick off this AWESOME weekend!

• March 27 – All Together Now: Amazing bands such as our headliner, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, will storm the stage

• March 28th – Roll Over Beethoven: In addition to a tsunami of bands and artists, a multi-media extravaganza concert featuring Beatles Tribute Band, McCartney Mania, accompanied by The Academy Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Thomas Servinsky will Come Together at Old School Square! Special guest, Patti Russo singer of Queen and Meatloaf, will join this extravaganza! (Music Starts at 5pm, Old School Square) • March 29th- Let It Be: Beatles Breakfasts, Brunches and Lunches to be held at participating restaurants as well as other fun activities such as Beatles Boot Camp & Yoga! Beatle Brunch at The Tin Roof, Crazy Beatle Brunch Finale at Crazy Uncle Mike’s & Cheerio To Me Chums Beatles Band Bash at The Fish Depot Bar & Grille.

• Everyday- Busking Beatles musicians will be performing all over our beautiful “Village by the Sea”! Don’t be surprised to see bongo, kazoo, ukulele, and banjo performers jamming, Yellow Submarine on the street corners!

Hey Jude! It’s Not Just A Music Fest, We Have Cool Activities Lined-up Too! • BeatleCon: This is a major event, where we urge you to dress in costume as

Full List of Bands + Artists + Venues 32 | www.SFLMusic.com

www.B

u Want A Revolution… your favorite Beatle, Rockstar, Superhero, Harry Potter character, Blue Meanie, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Furry Animal or favorite 60’s & 70’s hippie! Dress up and have a Blast!! Everything and Everyone welcome! Imagine All The People! (All Weekend) • Meet Tony Bramwell: Renowned CEO of Apple Records and director/producer known for Lady Madonna (1968), and The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever.

Famously quoted by Paul McCartney as “being better to ask for information on The Beatles” than McCartney himself, Tony Bramwell grew up in Liverpool with George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon.

(Brews with Bramwell, The Bramwell Experience & Beatles Symposium) (Check website for locations and times)

Sunday) • Magical Mystery Mini Golf: At Putt’n Around (Thursday – Sunday) • Ron Campbell Art Exhibit: Beatles Art Exhibition with Ron Campbell at The Cornell Art Museum Sponsored by The Coastal Star. He was an animator on the Beatles feature film, Yellow Submarine, director for The Beatles cartoon, and animation artist for The Flintstones, The Jetsons & Scooby Doo! (Thursday-Sunday) • Cheerio To Me Chums: Beatles Band Bash at Fish Depot Bar & Grille (Sunday 2-9pm). Crazy Beatle Brunch Finale at Crazy Uncle Mike’s (Sunday 1-5pm)

Go to the website for full activities, schedule, and all band & performer times. http://beatle• Bark With The Beatles: Dress your sonthebeach.com pup up FAB! Benefitting Tri-County Animal Rescue (10am Saturday Old School Square Vintage Market)

• Abbey Road Vintage Car Show: At Vintage Craft Market Old School Square (Saturday & Sunday) • Special Tribute To John Lennon: Experience Estefy Lennon up close & personal! The only female John Lennon Tribute in the world. Seats are limited, first come first serve. (Arts Garage Saturday 122pm) • All You Need Is Love: Beatles Yoga, Billy’s Beatles Boot Camp (Saturday &

And In The End, The Love You Take, Is Equal To The Love You Make

Across The Universe: Don’t forget to visit all the great clubs, restaurants and venues to see the coolest bands and take advantage of all the FREE stuff you get with your Beatles On The Beach ticket!

BeatlesOnTheBeach.com

Sun, Fun, Love and Music: International Beatles on the Beach For its second year, the International Beatles On The Beach Festival will be celebrating the music, love and art of the Fab Four all around Delray Beach. The event is the brainchild of producer and promoter Daniel Hartwell, who assures South Floridians that this year’s gala will be bigger and better than last year’s celebration of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

2019 was completely sold out. Besides more bands from around the globe planning to perform, Micky Dolenz from the Monkees will be headlining on Friday night. “When I saw Micky on tour last year doing the White Album, I invited him to come play at the International Beatles On The Beach Festival,” said Hartwell.

“He agreed and now he’s pretty excited to come into town to play all of your favorite Monkees songs and Beatles songs.”

While the musical talent may be the main draw, Beatles On The Beach Festival is more than just concerts. The jamboree includes everything from the Penny Lane Scavenger Hunt and Beatles Bar Crawl to the Art Show Extravaganza featuring Ron Campbell. The renowned cartoonist behind the Beatles television show, as well as the Yellow Submarine film will be at the Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square. The gallery will also share original artwork from both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Folks will dig the celebrity symposium featuring Tony 34 | www.SFLMusic.com

Bramwell, the former CEO of Apple Records, sharing Fab stories onstage with Micky.

The whole point of the festival is to drive people to not only the concert, but to the merchants throughout Delray Beach as well.

That way, they get the flavor of Delray Beach. With every Beatles On The Beach ticket, you get to collect free stuff, as well as discounted meals. There will be VIP parties all over town, such as Beatles Breakfasts and Beatles Brunches, along with various Beatles-centric menus that numerous restaurants put together for the big event. For example, a concertgoer can enjoy cocktails like a Magical Mystery Margarita and a Strawberry Fields Forever Daiquiri. Tin Roof is offering Beatles Bourbon. Additionally, participants will enjoy a Wine Walk, a Singles Mingle and Beatles Yoga with live music at the Colony Hotel.

They can also contribute to an “I Saw the Beatles” discussion and take part in a scavenger hunt. Couples can venture to Silverball Museum for a free pizza and drink while playing pinball and arcade classics. There are Beatles-themed bikes to get you around town that play Fab tunes. Meanwhile, attendants are urged to dress up as their favorite rock stars, superheroes and Blue Meanies all weekend long.

There will be a Beatles Look-A-Like Contest with costumes ranging from mop tops to Sgt. Pepper’s outfits. People will even be entering their four-legged family members into a pet costume contest, Bark with the Beatles. Last year, there were more than fifty dogs in Yellow Submarines and similar attire. Beatles On

The Beach Festival will be a perfect family outing for sun, fun, love and music.

As Hartwell states, “This is not just a concert. It’s a Magical Mystery experience.”

Organizing the International Beatles On The Beach Festival is nothing new to Daniel. In fact, the man has been producing large rock festivals for more than 30 years. He has booked and promoted artists ranging from Alice Cooper and Alice in Chains to U2, Black Sabbath, Henry Rollins and Diana Ross.

Hartwell spent years in New England producing the long running Locobazooka in Worcester, Massachusetts. Roughly 10 years ago, Daniel sold the company and headed down to the beach in sunny South Florida.

Besides organizing giant festivals, Hartwell is also a published author who wrote 2017’s spiritual novel, Saint John Lennon. “One day I fell asleep on the beach and I had an extremely strange, but realistic dream,” he said. “John Lennon walked up to me and pointed at my iPhone. He started asking me questions about it and we got into a discussion about today’s technology. I woke up and an entire novel began pouring out of my brain.

The big question was What If John Lennon was here in the now? He goes back on his mission of peace, love and music.

Riding in a driverless limousine, John is able to time travel and stop some terrorist attacks. Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll tell you that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube all crash with the number of messages all being sent out at once; ‘John Lennon is back.’ Also, Google, Apple and Amazon merge to form Gooplezon and they ask John to help out in the political world by running for President.”

At last year’s Beatles On The Beach Festival, Daniel was backstage with long-time member of Ringo Star’s All-Star Band, Edgar Winter, when the Fab drummer showed up. “I was fortunate enough to not only meet a Beatle, but to present him with my novel about a Beatle,” Daniel said. “It was a bucket-list moment for me.” Hartwell heard through the grape vine that Ringo truly loved reading of Saint John Lennon. And as we all know, love is all you need.

Tickets are on sale now. Hurry, this event will sell out again. Get tickets and discover more about Beatles on the Beach Festival at BeatlesOnTheBeach.com. Check out Hartwell’s memorable book at saintjohnlennon.com. - Todd McFliker

Micky Dolenz has some fond memories that he will share at Beatles on the Beach, like when the Beatles threw the Monkees a party in London, as well as the time they spent together in the studio. “I was in some amazing Beatles sessions and I will discuss some of my personal experiences at the show,” Micky explained. “An example would be when I first met Paul in the Sixties. I was on a press junket in London for a Monkees tour. He invited me to dinner and we hung out. Later John invited me to some sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s at Abbey Road Studios. I was there for a couple of songs, like “Good Morning Good Morning” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Of course, I got to meet all of the Beatles. It was all very social. We were just hanging out, rather than working together.”

Beatles on the Beach is far from the first time Micky has performed for South Floridians. The man even played a bit of polo at The Polo Club in Boca Raton back in the Eighties. Funny, that’s when I remember watching the Monkees on MTV, while my buddy used to watch the show in the Sixties. Now my nephews see it on their tablets. That’s pretty cool. “That makes me very proud,” said Micky. “I can see it in the audience. It’s quite common for us to have three generations. It’s pretty rewarding.”

Dolenz is more than the famous drummer and vocalist of the Monkees. He is also an actor, radio personality, writer and director of both TV and theater. When I asked Micky which art form he prefers, he said “It depends entirely on the content. I would rather be acting in a high quality TV show than singing in a lousy concert. I’d rather be singing in a great show than recording a lousy song. If something brilliant comes along, then I’ll do it.” Todd McFliker

the ‘bugs’ had been worked out. Everyone then returned to their seats. After some light hearted banter about the fire alarm, Ida Mae resumed playing. Their set lasted 40 minutes, which included the five minute or so interruption.

At five minutes past 9pm, Michael introduced Tommy Emmanuel as he casually strolled on stage with his Australian made ‘Maton’ acoustic guitar and proceeded into his first song ‘Half Way Home’, no backing band to share the stage with, just he and his trusty guitar. Over the next 90 minutes he entertained us by playing his own songs and his renditions of classic songs from the blues, the Beatles and pop culture. He had the sold out crowd of almost 1200 people mesmerized with his intricate right hand finger picking style.

He frequently slaps the guitar with his right hand to give a percussive effect to his songs. At one point just past midway thru his set, he used both hands and a percussion brush to make the guitar his own personal ‘beat box’, essentially performing a drum solo using only his guitar, the brush and the microphone!

Tommy Emmanuel Parker Playhouse February 24, 2020

Guitar extraordinaire Tommy Emmanuel has been dazzling audiences for decades with his amazing finger style acoustic playing. Tommy started playing the guitar at the tender young age of six. His musical parents recognized the talent he had, and brought the family on the road as a musical act where he, his older brother and parents played shows throughout Australia. He continued honing his guitar talent and styled his playing after listening to the great Chet Atkins. In the 70s and 80s He played around in a few bands and did a lot of session work for bands in Australia.

In the late 80s, he embarked on his truly inspirational solo career.

Tommy‘s latest tour included a stop on Monday, February 24 at Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse. I walked in a few minutes before 8pm to see a sold out audience awaiting the the start of the show. A few minutes after 8 PM, local radio host Michael Stock came out and had a few words with the audience about the WLRN ‘Folk and Acoustic Music’ show on Sunday afternoons. Michael Stock then introduced the opening act, British duo ‘Ida Mae’. Fifteen minutes into the couples’ bluesy set, the fire alarm went off! As patrons slowly filed out of the venue, Michael Stock came out and announced that it was a false alarm. He said that the theater was undergoing renovations and that not all 36 | www.SFLMusic.com

While Tommy’s set was mostly acoustic instrumentals, he sang over several compositions. After someone in the audience rudely yelled out ‘AD/DC’, Tommy told of of how back in the 70s, Angus Young of ‘AC/DC’ would often take his legendary Gibson SG into the music shop that Tommy worked at. The guitar was always green with filth and neglect. Tommy would spend awhile cleaning it up and Angus would be so thrilled to get his guitar back in like-new shape!

After a few more songs, Tommy thanked the audience and his crew. He was about to walk off and then offered us one more song, ‘Since We Met’. He then walked off stage to a standing ovation. How one man and an acoustic guitar can keep an audience completely entertained for an hour and a half is truly amazing! Tommy Emmanuel is definitely a ‘must see’ for any musician! – Ray Anton & Jay Skolnick

Released last month, London, Reign Over Me: How England’s Capital Built Classic Rock makes it a point to focus on the music, rather than the trappings of fame. Music historian, professor and former Fort Lauderdale resident Stephen Tow shares insights, as well as original interviews with more than ninety artists to expose the birth of classic rock in the Sixties. Readers hear from Peter Frampton, Paul Rodgers and Ian Anderson, along with members of The Who, The Kinks and Fleetwood Mac. There’s even an intriguing foreword by Bill Bruford, founding drummer of Yes, discussing the “particularly fruitful time.”

Following WWII, American blues’ effects on the London scene sparked one of the most important cultural transformations of the 20th Century. The English took that and meshed it with their own European personalities to create something special. There are no tales of excess, like sex, drugs or throwing TV sets out of windows. London, Reign Over Me is all about the music. “The late Sixties and early Seventies were like a hot pizza being delivered to your door,” said Tow. “It’s fresh and wonderful. The next day, there are a couple slices left over. You’ll eat them, but it’s just not the same. You can say that about so many bands, like The Who, Rolling Stones, Zeppelin and Floyd.” –Todd McFliker

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situation. I mean, we play all kinds of festivals and if the weather’s great, it can be a really good time. Some people don’t mind camping out. Some people don’t mind the weather. If it rains, a lot of people are pretty hard core and don’t care, but I mean, to be on a boat where you have your own cabin. You have a bed. You have a shower. You have a bathroom. You have a deck where you can chill out. You have food around the clock, and then just throw all the great bands in on top of that mix.

You’re not standing in the rain for eight hours or going to the bathroom in a porta potty and stuff like that. So, to me, it’s an awesome time and the bands make it totally worthwhile. Some people love whatever types of cruises. I mean, there’s everything you can imagine now. Every theme and all that, but this feels like home because it’s all bands that we grew up with or are fans of, and a lot of peers. So, catching up with other musicians is a blast, and having an island or some awesome locations to chill out on in between stuff. It’s really kind of a cool working holiday.

This is going to be our fifth or so. Fourth Monsters of Rock. I did one with Britny Fox. One year, they did a West Coast version. I did that with Britny and like three with Doro already. Three or four. I’m losing count, but it’s always a blast. I’m really looking forward to it, and it happens in the time of year when if you’re living in a place that’s really cold, you get to get away for a bit. So, all the angles are covered.

SFL Music: It’s a whole week you’re onboard?

By: Lori Smerilson Carson

JOHNNY DEE

The world first heard the name Johnny Dee when Britny Fox hit the airwaves in 1988 with their debut album (which quickly went Gold) and made hit videos with such creativity that they stuck with fans for decades. After Britny’s third studio LP, the group disbanded and Dee joined Doro in 1993 and has been a member of this globally loved metal band ever since.

Catching up with this extraordinarily talented drummer just prior to he and his Doro bandmates (Vocalist/Songwriter Doro Pesch, Guitarist Bas Maas, Guitarist Luca Princiotta and bassist Nick Douglas) set sail on the Monsters of Rock Cruise X 2020, he revealed details of his career, Doro’s latest show and what fans can look forward to.

SFL Music: Let’s talk about the cruise. What is it that you’re looking forward to with the Doro show? With catching up with people?

Johnny Dee: Well, I had never been on a cruise in my life. Didn’t really seem to appeal to me in any way, but then the first one we did, well, actually, went on the Monsters of Rock Cruise first as a guest. I got in touch with Larry Morand. He runs the whole show and basically, he said, just come on. Check it out. We’d love to have Doro on, and if you want to just come as a guest, come onboard and have fun, and then tell your band about it, and I think the next year we were on there. It was just such a blast to me.

What I try to explain to people, it’s like kind of the ultimate festival 40 | www.SFLMusic.com

Dee: Yeah, it’s like five days. Each band will play twice for the most part. Once on the way out, and once on the way back. The destinations sort of change every time, and then there’s all kinds of cool other events going on. Not only all-star jams and things like that, but they have like a cooking competition and they have theme nights where a lot of people will dress up and just party and walk around the ship in whatever themed clothes they happened to pick. When we did the Britny show, about, I don’t know 35, 40 girls all dressed up in school girl outfits.

SFL Music: That’s great!

Dee: Yeah, I mean not only to see that, but they came like single file parading across the stage as we were playing the song. So, it was a blast man, and yeah there’s always cool stuff happening like that. Little acoustic jams. People are doing Q and A sessions.

They’re doing like a VIP experience where people come through in line and get their picture taken with the bands and it’s just really, really great. It’s super fun, and it’s just done so well. They really have it down you know, and there’s more than one cruise like that happening. There’s quite a few. I know Kiss has their own cruise.

So, really you can find your little niche or whatever you’re into, and experience it on a ship with a lot of other fans of the same thing.

SFL: That’s cool. Sounds like a lot of fun. Something to definitely check out.

Dee: Yeah, you should look into it. You think about forty or so bands all together in the same place, and to me it’s a worthwhile ticket because you get so much more than just a festival show.

You get whatever else you want out of it. Some sort of vacation and a little bit of beach time. I mean, I sat in a jacuzzi and watched some bands on the last boat. Just chilling out on a pool deck and really having a good time. So, you should definitely check it out.

SFL Music: Tell me about the Doro show. What can fans look forward to?

Dee: Well, Doro likes to change things up quite a bit. I mean, there’s always going be the same energy and attitude, and her favorite thing is the crowd. She’s always very involved with getting the people into it. So, you’re gonna get that, and also, like one year we did a Triumph and Agony theme where we played the whole album in its entirety. That was on the thirtieth anniversary of that record, so the cruisers got a special treat with that.

This year, we are going to play some songs from the new record Forever Warriors Forever United (Doro’s 20th album which reached No. 1 on Germany’s official Vinyl Charts), and always mixed in with some of the classics. Some Warlock songs from back in the day. We also have special guest Tommy Bolan who was the guitarist on Triumph and Agony, and he’s been sitting in with us from time to time just to add a little bit more flare to those songs. He’s the guy that played all the parts. All the solos and stuff like that so, it’s cool to bring him on to do what he did then. It’s kind of a little bit of a nostalgic, kind of nod to that. Like I said, we play twice and it won’t be a full 2 ½ hour show like you might get in Europe, but it’s gonna be sort of the best of the best.

SFL Magazine: Tell me about the spring tour shows. Will they be like the European shows.

Dee: Yeah, I think it’ll be. As long as there’s no curfews or anything like that, she’ll go until the fans want to stop or we run out of songs. I mean, most bands play 90 minutes. Our average is 120 and then probably with like another 20 minutes encore. In Europe and Germany, we play sometime 2 ½ to 2 and ¾ hours.

I mean, it’s ridiculous, but it’s super fun. We don’t even realize it.

The only time I realize is when we play, ok you guys, we got a 60-minute set tonight, and then it’s like, what the hell was that?

Like I barely broke a sweat, and it felt like it was twenty minutes long. It becomes so accustomed to that and programmed to the longer shows. So yeah, in America if we get the chance to extend it and play as much as possible, it could go over an hour and a half or two hours easily.

SFL Music: Did you have to adjust to that over the years?

Dee: I think it was a little bit of an adjustment. I mean, when I first joined the band, I had to learn something like 35 songs and I thought, this is ridiculous. We can only play like twenty at the most you know, but it wasn’t that way. Then I started to learn how passionate she is about her audiences and especially in Germany where I did the first gigs with her, I was like, this is unbelievable!

They’re calling for encores after we already played close to two hours. So, it’s something that has sort of grown over the years, and yeah for me, it was a little bit of an adjustment because not only are you playing a set twice as long as normal, but you’re also, you know, (softly) oh Johnny, can you play a drum solo? I’m like, yeah of course, but I never really did much soloing before I got in this band. So, then I had to kind of add that angle. So, really, it’s like everybody sort of gets a break except me. I tend to take the ballads as a little bit of a break time. It’s not full speed ahead the whole time.

I really enjoy playing some of her more mellow songs because it sort of breaks the monotony a bit and you think of a metal show, and it’s constantly just like a barrage most of the time for the entire show, but with the Doro gig, she has her sensitive side and she’s really into that, and a lot of the fans really dig it as well. I also had to get used to that. She has a song called “Für Immer” (“Forever” from Warlock’s Triumph and Agony album), which is totally in German and it’s about love and friendship. I saw people crying in the audience and I’ve never experienced that in any other band that

I’ve played with. You still see people get choked up by that song.

It’s such a lasting, sort of emotional feeling for people. So, there’s a lot of aspects of the gig with Doro that are a little bit different than just your typical rock band, and I really dig that ‘cause it allows me to branch out a little bit more too musically, and that’s a good thing.

SFL Music: Looking at your music career history starting with Britny (Waysted just prior), and then in the 90’s, you were basically having like six careers. How did all that transition come about and how do you feel that contributed to your career today?

Dee: I would say for me, over the course of the time that I’ve been doing this, I think that it was a gradual thing and I got used to the sort of feast or famine, or kind of ups and downs of the business, and I’m ok with that. I kind of learned to live like, ride the wave sort of. When it’s a good one, you just try to take it for what it is and not really lose it and wipe out. There’s a lot of times where there’s time off and you have to kind of branch out and do other things.

So, over the years I’ve taken other session gigs or I’ve played in cover bands for months, years. I mean for five years I played with Mike LeCompt in Philadelphia. He’s like one of the biggest, local artists in Philly. Especially northeast Philly. The guys been doing it like over 35 years or something and it’s cool because you can just basically play some good originals and a lot of classic rock type songs.

So, whatever was available to me, I would kind of take it and use it to my advantage where I could. Then of course, keeping my chops together for the next time that a big tour would come up with Doro for example. I would still be in pretty good playing shape. You know, when you play drums, sometimes you have to kind of warm up to a new tour and it can be pretty tough physically. Especially on the hands if you’re not playing a lot, to start a tour full speed can just rip up your hands. I’ve learned how to really, I guess, function within the frame work that I have as a gig. if I know that I have a few months off, I’ll try to pick up something else or if there’s no gigs, I’ll try to at least stay in good physical shape. Run or biking or just trying to keep things together in that way. So, over the course of how long I’ve been doing this, I went from Waysted in the early

days to, well really some local bands in the clubs and stuff, and then each thing to me was sort of like, ok, next level.

Alright, this is how this goes. I can try to learn and take that to the next step, and oh, now I’m going down a bit. I mean, the 90’s were pretty rough for the glam bands or whatever you want to call it.

Some of the 80’s rockers had a difficult time or completely broke up. I was lucky enough to land this Doro gig in 93’ when most of that grunge stuff was happening in the states. In Germany, they didn’t really jump on that bandwagon as quickly. So, there were still a lot of bands that could just come to Europe and continue doing what they did, and luckily for her, she’s a German artist, so it was really business as usual. So, I was very fortunate and happy to have something that even got bigger in a way. I was playing these big festivals with her and things, so it was kind of an eye opener. Like wow, Europe really has, it’s a whole new audience.

It’s a whole new place to play and different kinds of things to learn about and do, and it was pretty awesome.

SFL Music: Would you say these experiences contribute to your success?

Dee: Longevity wise, yeah. Success is always a fickle thing. Some of the gigs I landed just through friendly recommendations and stuff, and the fact that you can play obviously helps your case, but sometimes it might not be like an open audition call or something like that. To me, being flexible and being open to whatever, and especially being kind or being a good person, or at least being somebody that can be worked with easily. That was something with Doro that was like from day one. She was not only looking for a good player, but somebody that kind of fits into her feelings and emotional kind of outlook on the way that she does her thing.

So really, I mean, if you look at the band now, Nick Douglas, the bass player has been in the band for 29 years and I’ve been in there for 26 and ½ or something like that. So, not only did we come in and land a gig, but we also joined a family kind of thing, and now, it would be really strange to not be together. It would almost be like losing an arm or something. We just work well together. We all get along. Everybody’s just cool with each other.

So, I think all those things work in concert with each other and I think depending on what kind of gig you want to have and what you want to be. A lot of guys are totally fine with being a hired gun that jumps from gig to gig. Ok. I’m not getting anywhere with this gig, I’ve got to move on to the next one, or one tour ends, they jump into an audition and just go out on another thing. I mean, that’s awesome, but for me, I’ve always been more of a band guy and I kind of like that.

So, this has worked out perfectly because it’s lasted so long, and working for her is pretty easy because you can’t help but be inspired to be nice to people, because she’s constantly as nice as possible to her fans or anybody. Any media that she speaks to or talks to. She’s very humble and down to earth, and I think that kind of rubs off on anybody that’s around her or working with her.

SFL Music: That’s really nice. She is truly deserving of being the recipient of the Metal Goddess – Legends Award in 2016.

What inspired you originally to become a musician, to play drums for your career?

Dee: I don’t know. I can’t say it was like an instinct because my father was born in Italy and he was a professional soccer player so, all things pointed to me like I probably should have been in sports.

I sucked and hated it. So, it was like, what am I gonna do? Then I got into my sister’s album collection and just started like freaking 42 | www.SFLMusic.com

out on all these rock things in the 70’s that were going on. It was such a fertile time for music. It was like, oh my God! Then one thing led to the next. I went from The Monkees and The Beatles to Elton John and then Deep Purple and Foghat and everything in between. Then I discovered Kiss, and that was like getting shot out a cannon as far as just the whole theatrical angle of it, and the mystique and seeing them on TV, and going like (whisper) Oh my God! They talk too! It was crazy. So, that combined with the love of drumming, was just really what made me want to be part of that, but I don’t even know where the love of drums came from.

It was just something that could have been a visual thing. I saw some drummers playing on TV or live, or my sister used to have like these parties in our basement.

SFL Music: Your sister Patty?

Dee: Yeah, she’s the best. When she was in high school, her friends would come down and jam and I was like whoa man, this is a trip! Down there playing Santana and jamming out. I’m like, this is so cool! I want to do that. So, I started to ask for a drum kit and next thing you know, I’m teaching myself how to play. It was never like a thing where I was ok, I’m going go to university and study classical music. It was literally like I’m either going to kill myself on motorcycles and shit that I was into as a teenager, which

I did get in an accident and screwed my leg up pretty bad, and that’s literally when I got serious about drumming because I was laid up for like six months and I couldn’t even walk. I had to basically learn how to walk again. All I would do is sit there and burn over these albums, and listen and watch and read magazines, and teach myself how to play. I went to my first concert. It was a Kiss concert and I was on crutches and yeah, after seeing that I was like, this is just unbelievable. How can I do this?

So, then you graduate to the next step of like all your friends get equipment and then you’re jamming in a garage or in a basement.

It was sort of like a progression from there. We didn’t even know what the hell we were doing. All we knew was we had this passion for playing music. Then you start to try to find the right path towards getting to the top or whatever, but man, it’s such a long road and a hard thing to figure out. I really feel fortunate because I was pretty lucky, and there’s millions of guys that are way better than me that couldn’t even land a lasting gig, or a gig to get signed by a label. I mean you have to sacrifice a lot, and sometimes you can be the best drummer on the planet and things don’t line up for some reason. It’s just a really random kind of thing. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.

SFL Music: Your fans are too! You are a very talented drummer. People brag about you all the time by the way.

Dee: Thank you. Well I do what I do. I try to do what I do as best as I can and just be myself and try to bring some personality to the music or to the live show. Just got to do your own thing. That’s another thing I learned with Doro was that like ok, she’s the focal point. I have to support her and I have to watch her for certain queues, and I have to be sensitive when she wants to be. I have to bring it down. I learned a lot about dynamics and things while playing with her, and it sort of was a learning process while doing, because I never learned these things like a lot of these kids are real lucky now to have School of Rock or whatever, or if you’re going to university for music, you’re learning so much about all the things that a lot of us had to figure out on our own.

SFL Music: What would you recommend to up and coming musicians?

Dee: I would say definitely just know what you want to get out of it before you start. Develop your own style. Try not to copy anybody. Just take things and use them. I mean, I’m probably a big stew of like about a hundred different drummers. I don’t know if somebody could look at me and pick out one. I see a lot of guys that want to be John Bonham and they play the same exact drum kit and sound exactly like that and all, but there’s only one, and it’s cool because that stuff sounds amazing, but I think you should try to stick out on your own a bit.

If I would go back, I would probably want to have studied more musically and maybe even played some other instruments. Kind of pick up a guitar and whack a few chords or whatever, but as far as composing, I don’t really have that in my tool box as you say. But, some of these schools, even the ones where they not only give lessons at a School of Rock for example, they put kids together.

They get to jam together. They get to learn what it is like to get on a stage and how the gear works and what a gig is really like.

You’re not learning all that stuff when you show up for your first gig. I mean, you’re pretty much ready to go when you’re still in the school. That’s really kind of cool. I would say, just know where you want to go and try to lay out your path to get to that point.

SFL Music: You graduated High School in Commercial Arts and you are an amazing photographer. You really have a knack for it. How did that come about?

Dee: Thanks. I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing. All I know is I have a good eye. I see things a certain way and then I can kind of try to capture that, but it started early on with commercial art. I went to a vocational technical school for three years and while I was really burning on music and art and I love to draw, I was learning all these kinds of things that are kind of dead now.

This is all pre-computer so, we were doing type setting, illustration and sort of advertising layouts and things. Man, it’s so old school, but we learned photography in that class. Just basic stuff and how to develop film. I always carry a camera around with me on tour.

Obviously, some of the best things to photograph or to just to keep. To keep the memories because there’s so much happening that you kind of just forget about a lot things so, keeping track of everything was always part of my passion, or just to travel to Europe for the first time and see things that you were like, what the hell? This castles like 600 years old, and shit like that. When I was in Waysted and I went to England for the first time I was just blown away at how old everything was and I was taking pic44 | www.SFLMusic.com

tures endlessly. So, that was kind of how it started and now with cell phones, smart phone cameras, it’s like you could basically just take pictures all day long. Not the best quality, but I think for just uploading online, you can really capture some cool moments.

Sometimes I just don’t even have time break out the real camera you know. It’s like, you want to get something quick or you’re in a van driving three hours to a gig and you see something cool and just try to like, I get into ok, how can I get that picture because I’m so far away, and make it look like something, or maybe I’ll hide the sun behind that tree there and try to do something creative with it.

It’s just an artistic kind of outlet that I really haven’t gotten tired of.

SFL Music: Those memories are priceless and the footage of the band playing. Do you ever do anything graphic like with the album covers?

Dee: I haven’t done the record covers. Doro uses a guy name Geoffrey Gillespie and he’s a fantastic painter, artist. He’s done everything from I believe the Triumph and Agony Warlock album up until the current one. I’ve done a couple of CDs’ for some smaller bands or other projects that I’ve been involved in. I like to work with Illustrate or Photoshop and do layouts and things like that, but on a small-time basis. I’ve never done any jobs for a major label or anything like that, but I like to design flyers for gigs.

When Doro tours in the states, I usually tour manage also just to get some more experience in that. So, I like to make the tour books and gather all the information and maybe do some cool graphics stuff on those, or make laminates for everybody. Whatever kind of creative thing I can do to make things look a little bit better. I look at things from that perspective.

If I see something, somebody’s’ photo and the horizon is crooked, it just goes so far up my ass. I’m like man, straighten that picture out. It’s just grating my nerves. Stupid shit like that, that I probably learned in school. I see text that is wrong. I’m not a punctuation or a spelling Nazi, but I definitely see things in text and fonts and all that kind of stuff, and if something comes out with Doro for example, I’ll be like, who did this? You used the wrong logo? They’re, what do you mean it’s the wrong logo? Well, see that little edge on the left side? That was taken away like three years ago. So, I get pretty anal about all that stuff. In the end I just want to kind of help make things as good as they can be.

SFL Music: No pressure here! (ha,ha) I’ll check my punctuation! Especially with the new Word stuff that can change things!

Dee: Yeah, it’s really tough man. You have to like read your stuff a thousand times.

SFL Music: Yeah. Was there anything else that you wanted south Florida fans to know?

Dee: I’d just like to give a shout out to losing Neil Peart in the last weeks because he was a huge influence for me and I’m still like a total basket case over that. I was such a Rush freak and Neil was like the man for learning drums at the time when I was doing that so, I just want to make a mention of that. We love that area.

I’m hoping that more shows get added because I know every time we release dates, people are more disappointed than excited because we tend to miss certain areas which is really not that much under our control. Try to tour as much as possible in the states when we can. Hopefully we’ll come back for another run after this one in the spring.

SFL readers, keep your eyes open!

Samantha Fish | The Funky Biscuit Photo: Jay Skolnick

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jason Newsted

“Raises the Roof” with Exhibition and Concert Benefitting the Lighthouse ArtCenter School of Art Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jason Newsted is used to being in the news. Claiming seven Grammy’s, four Billboard and two AMA’s, the former Metallica bassist could’ve hung up his hat and settled into the life of a rock star. Instead, he has continued to explore his passion for the arts by making a name for himself in the gallery world for his colorful, symbolic-heavy mixed media pieces. Along with his formally trained artist wife, Nicole, he is also making another name for himself yet again: philanthropist for the arts.

Last year the Newsteds took the lead of the Lighthouse ArtCenter’s capital campaign by creating a gallery full of original pieces, creating a glow-in-the-dark mural to help save the ArtCenter’s School of Art building, and hosting a benefit concert that raised awareness of the needs of the 50+ year center, as well as the community in which it serves.

Following the success of last year’s campaign, Jason 46 | www.SFLMusic.com

and Nicole, along with Jason’s local band of musicians, returned to kick off phase 2 of the Raise the Roof campaign to expand the ArtCenter’s galleries and classrooms by adding a second story to the existing building. The result was a gallery full of new and original works in a limited-time exhibition: Peace + Love. While art appreciators were thrilled with the array of fabulous paintings and more, music fans were rewarded equally as much with an evening of original songs from Jason Newsted and The Chophouse Band.

The intimate audience of 300 was welcomed by frontman Newsted, who asked for everyone to stay quiet during the songs so they could hear the lyrics of his original pieces.

Listen they did, with the crowd raptly soaking in the incredible sounds that ranged from blues to folk rock, with a heart-warming love ballad Jason dedicated to his lovely wife seated next to the stage. Following another song, Jason told the respectful assembly, “You don’t have to be quiet the whole time. I mean, you’re allowed to applaud and cheer between the songs.” The audience laughed and took him at his word, clapping and cheering between the sets which picked up the pace with a punk homage number before ending in a full-blown roof-raising rock fest. A couple of the band’s highlights included an original composition written by Newsted and Frank Serlo, “Early Thaw,” which made its premiere performance that evening, along with The Chophouse Band’s chill-inducing rendition of

“Hillbilly Grave.”

Jason Newsted returns to the Lighthouse ArtCenter for one more performance on February 29 with An Acoustic Evening with Jason Newsted and Friends. The exhibition Peace + Love runs through March 6. For more information call the Lighthouse ArtCenter at (561) 746-3101 or visit www.LighthouseArts.org.

The Lighthouse ArtCenter, a 501c(3) not-for-profit, was founded in 1964 by eight artists and Christopher Norton.

In the last 54 years it has grown to include a gallery, school of art, gift shop and art supply store. Supported by memberships, sponsors and grants, the ArtCenter now serves over 21,000 guests, 2,100 students, 35 faculty members and visiting artists, 450 summer ArtCampers and a comprehensive outreach program to benefit underserved and disabled residents in the community.

Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery and Gift Shop, 373 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida 33469 (561) 746-3201. Monday through Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Lighthouse ArtCenter School of Art and Art Supply Store, 395 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida 33469 (561)7488737. Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. - By Elizabeth Dashiell, Photos Jay and Jenifer Skolnick

Créme de la créme is a term that definitely describes Drummer Kofi Baker and The Music of Cream with Clapton Classics. South Florida fans will be able to catch this phenomenal show starting March 24th in Ponte Vedra at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, then on March 25th at The Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale.

They will continue on March 26th in Lakeland at the PR Funding Center and then wrap up on March 27th in Bonita Springs at the Southwest Florida Events Center.

Catching up with Baker while he and bandmates (Guitarist/Vocalist Will Johns, Bassist/Vocalist Sean McNabb and Guitarist/Keyboardist/Vocalist Chris Shutters) were rehearsing in a studio, he revealed details of the concert, how he became a musician, and a few insightful memories of his father Ginger Baker.

SFL Music: You’re in the recording studio now. Are you recording any new music?

Kofi Baker: Yeah, because it’s a whole new band and we’re doing the classic stuff as well because when we play shows, people want to hear the band. They want to buy a record of the band, and we’re recording every show and putting it out on a download.

So, every show will be recorded live. We’re actually in preproduction right now. So, we’re actually rehearsing for everything, and then we go to Minneapolis. So, we head out to Minneapolis Sunday night. We’ll be recording in Minneapolis on Monday and then heading to Montana for the first show.

SFL Music: So, tell me about the show, the celebration of Disraeli Gears (Cream’s second LP) and ‘Clapton Classics’.

What can fans look forward to?

Baker: Well, it’s all new. Obviously, I don’t know the Eric Clapton stuff that well. I just learned his stuff, but after playing with Eric in 48 | www.SFLMusic.com

By: Lori Smerilson Carson

London last week, it really hit me now to play that music because Eric’s such a cool guy. So nice and everything. He has really good songs. I mean, I didn’t usually play the Cream stuff until I saw the reunion. I had always done my original music mainly fusion and jazz. I was Steve Marriott’s drummer in Humble Pie so, I was doing his stuff first, and then I got into my jazz fusion stuff. Did an album with Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane. Then I did OHM with Chris Poland of Megadeth. We were like the number one fusion band in LA. Playing The Baked Potato and stuff. I was into jazz and fusion so, I wasn’t really in the mainstream of music.

Obviously, I do a few Cream songs like “Sunshine(Of Your Love)” and “White Room” and stuff, but it wasn’t until I went to the reunion in 2005 I was like, this is really good stuff and my dad was like, I’m never doing this again! We’re done! You know, It’s over!

So, I was like, ok. Well, I could keep this going because it’s great music. Then we did this 50th Anniversary thing and I wasn’t even talking to my dad because his fourth wife was not very nice to us and tried to separate us as a family as a whole. Been going on with that right now. In the papers and stuff, causing all these problems. When my dad died. Just before he died, I went to see him and I told him what I’m doing and everything and he was so happy that I was doing the Cream stuff and I was like, that’s it! I’m going to make this a goal in my life now to keep his legacy going.

So, that’s kind of pushed me into really putting this full force now.

People say well, why don’t you do your original stuff? I’m like, Well just look me up. I’ve been doing my own stuff for the last forty years. I still do my original music, but I feel like it’s kind of my duty to keep my family legacy going at this point. So, yeah, I’m doing this now full time and obviously, the Clapton stuff is just good stuff to add because a lot of people that know Cream, know Cream from Eric. I mean, most people know Eric more than my dad it seems at the moment. So, it’s good to add Eric in there so

you can get those fans that like that stuff as well.

SFL Music: There are videos, photos and storytelling that goes along with the show?

Baker: Yeah. We try to change it up because for me it’s weird telling the same story every night. It’s like well, what am I doing here? I mean, I have so many stories it’s ridiculous. Mostly about drugs. Well my dad was a big drug addict so, a lot of my stories are my dad stoned or my dad is angry at something stupid.

SFL Music: How did the band come together? Did you know Will (Eric Clapton’s nephew, son of Andy Johns, Engineer to Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones) a long time?

Baker: I’ve only known Will for like six or seven years maybe. Not that long. I met him when I was on the road doing the Cream thing I was doing. The Kofi Baker Cream Experience when I first started doing it, and he did a stand in on a song and it was really good.

So, we were like cool. Down the line maybe we’ll end up playing with him, and now there you go. We’re playing with him.

SFL Music: How did Sean and Chris come into the band?

Baker: Well, Chris I’d known for a while because me and Chris worked together a lot on doing stuff so, Chris I’ve known for a while. He lives in Ohio and I live in Chicago. It’s pretty close to get together. So, I play in his band as well. I’ve known Chris a while so, when we decided to do the Clapton stuff, we need more guitars. You know, you need two guitars and two keyboards sometimes. So, I said, let’s bring Chris in, and Sean McNabb I met at the Rock Fantasy Camp I did late last year. I don’t know if you know about the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. It’s a camp where people pay to come in and play with professionals so, I was employed as one of the professionals that work with the band. So, I met him, and we played, and it was great. So, I thought you know, if I ever need a bass player, I’ll give you a call, and then when this tour came up it’s like, great! Let me call up Sean and see if he’s available, and he’s available so, I brought him in.

SFL Music: A lot of people are looking forward to the show.

What inspired you to play drums? Was it just growing up with your dad and being around music?

Baker: Well, I started when I was like two or three and my dad got me one of those little kiddie kits with those paper heads on them, and I smashed the head out of it within like 10 seconds. So, it was like, ok well, so he thought, I better teach him how to play. So, he taught me the rudiments and stuff when I was like three or four.

So, I started learning how to play the rudiments and he said, I’m not going to get you a drum kit until you learn all the rudiments.

So, of course I had to learn all the rudiments and everything so I could get the kit and he leant me the bass drum, a snare drum and a high hat and a couple cymbals. So, I played on that. A couple years later he came back and goes, I want those cymbals back because they were his best cymbals and the snare drum.

The snare drum he played in Cream which I’m still trying to get a hold of it. I’m trying to put that snare drum in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. Obviously, my dad’s wife’s got it and won’t release it which is pretty stupid because the best place for that kit to go is to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I mean, I can’t believe she’s going to try and sell it to someone and make money off it. It’s just terrible set up, but we won’t go into that.

I mean, there should be a law put in place to stop these people. It

happens all the time. Like, these old people that have got money or fame or something and you know, some young women comes in and goes oh, give me all your money or like, put me it the will and I’ll be beside you for your last ten years. There should be a law against that because it affects the rest of the family. You know, the people that have grown up with that person and their family, and then somebody comes in and just pulls him away, and it’s just kind of disgusting that it goes on, but there you go.

SFL Music: I did read where you performed when you were six years old with your dad on a BBC show?

Baker: Yeah, The Old Grey Whistle Test. Someone said they’ve seen it. I’ve never seen it, but apparently, it’s out there somewhere. I’d like to get a copy of it if I could. I went onstage after the sound check and I started playing my dad’s drums. The roadie said, oh yeah. Go play. I always wanted to play drums so, I just started playing the drums and people started coming in and the cameras started coming in and all these people, what’s going on?

And ran over. There’s probably a video somewhere. I haven’t seen it. I can barely remember it because I was six but, I’ve heard people say, I’ve seen it. I’m like well, I’ve never seen it and I’ve looked for it. So, I don’t know if it exists or not, but yes, that apparently happened. I didn’t actually play the show, but I got on my dad’s drums and started playing it.

SFL Music: Do you have a favorite memory of your dad performing?

Baker: Well, my first memory of my dad performing was I was really young. I was like four or five or something, maybe younger, and I remember my dad saying to me, well wave to me. Make sure you let me know you’re in the audience, and I’m like a little four or five year old kid in this packed venue in the back somewhere waving and he can’t see me (he laughed), and he said, I didn’t see you waving. I said, I was waving! So, that’s my earliest memory I can remember my dad performing. I also remember being beside him in rehearsals. I was a real young kid and he used to say hand me this. He would get mad at me. I was still

young. I was five or six. You don’t really know too much then so, I remember handing him the gong thing at the wrong time, oh wrong thing? I’m like ok.

Those are my earliest memories of being around my dad and then my other memories of him (he laughed), are just hilarious. I mean, I can tell you so many stories about ridiculous things that he did. Blowing himself up with gasoline and all kinds of stuff. He had a temper so, if things didn’t go well, he would get annoyed.

So, if he’s trying to light this stufa which in Italy, you’d have a stufa which is like you cook on it and a tube goes through the house and it’s a wood burning you know, you put wood in it, and you have to put some gasoline to start it. To light it. He was doing something with the gasoline can and it didn’t really come up or something. He was getting angry. Gasolines going everywhere.

I’m thinking this is not gonna end well. Of course, I walked out of the house and the next thing I hear is a big bang and I see the lid from the chimney hood fly off and my dad comes out with half his mustache and eyebrows gone. I mean, I didn’t see him with his hands on fire actually, light himself with his hands on fire running around the house. It’s like, I can tell you stories. Just hilarious stories of my dad. It’s ridiculous. He was just such a character.

It’s just funny. I mean, I have a little bit of it in me but I’m not quite as crazy as him I don’t think. I hope not, (he laughed).

So in the same formula. I mean, back in the old days you know, there wasn’t so many boxes. If you listen to The Beatles and you listen to how they wrote like “Sgt. Pepper’s (Lonely Hearts Club Band)” and that kind of stuff. It was all bars like “She’s So Heavy” the Beatles tune (“I want you (She’s So Heavy”), it’s a five bar phase. If you listen to “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds,” they’re so beat. I think longevity is if you’re a good musician and you know how to play. You work on your instrument. You put time into your instrument and time into learning how to play your instrument.

Not learning how to play a song. I mean, this is how they teach people to play today. They say, ok. I want to learn how to play an instrument so, they teach them songs, and that’s not how I was taught, and that’s not how my dad was taught, and that’s not how those people were taught.

Most people were taught by learning the instrument. Learning how to play the instrument. Once you learn how to play the instrument you can pick up any song. It seems funny to me how students or kids come to a teacher to learn how to play a song now.

When I was teaching, they would go, I want to play this song, and they were songs I’d never heard before, and I’d just listen to it once and go ok, you need to do this and you need to play that because I know how to play my instrument so, I can hear what

SFL Music: Who are your musical influences besides your Dad? Baker: I grew up in the fusion thing so, I was Zap. Frank Zappa was my guy I was listening to and fusion things you probably haven’t heard of, but Frank Zappa’s probably the most famous, and all these drummers that play Zappa like Billy Cobham Jr. and Terry Bozzio and all those drummers growing up, but the guy I’m blown away with now is Steve Gadd. I mean, I always knew Steve Gadd was a great drummer and everything, and I saw him play a bunch of tours and things with all my favorite drummers, and he was such a soulful player, and such a great deal, and I just played with him doing the Eric Clapton concert, and he’s such a nice guy, and he’s such a great drummer to play with.

It’s like floating on air playing with him. He has so much feel and so much amazing stuff just oozing from him that it just catches you when you play with him, and now I know why so many bands have had Steve Gadd play drums with them because you can’t help but just play great when you’re playing with that guy. He’s just one person I’m blown away with. I always knew he was a great drummer, but just playing with him doing the Eric concert was so wonderful that I have to play with him a bit more.

SFL Music: That was cool playing the tribute to your dad with Eric Clapton. What would you say is the key to your longevity and having a successful career?

Baker: Well, I suppose good music is never dated. I mean, like the pop music of today. If you listen to the pop music today, it’s so generic. That’s why you need all these like fill in visual with the music of today. Like in the old days, a good song, you could close your eyes and you could get into it with your eyes closed.

You didn’t need any visual stimulization, and that’s what I think it is. It’s like making good music and writing good songs because if you make good stuff, it’s going to stick around. I think if you write the stuff that’s out today. I think there’s some good songs, but it’s just so cookie cutter.

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the drummer’s doing or what the musicians are doing because I know the instrument so well. I think that’s what you need to do.

Musicians need to get back to learning their instrument and learning how to play their instrument and then they will come up with their own music because if you’re just learning to play songs, all you can play is those songs. So, I think longevity is being a good musician. I think it’s just being a good musician, learning to play and then liking your songs that you learned. You know? That’s my take on it anyway.

SFL Music: Was there anything else you wanted fans to know?

Baker: It doesn’t matter if you like Cream or not, we’re going to be playing some really good verses of it so, I would just say, if people like Cream music or they’ve never heard Cream or Eric Clapton stuff they just like good music. We’re going to be playing top of the line music. I think it’s going to appeal to everybody. I would say everybody come out and check it out at least because it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be stories and it’s just a fun time. We’re having fun onstage. It’s such a fun thing.

Eric Johnson

By Ray Anton

Guitar master Eric Johnson has been traveling on an amazing odyssey over the past four decades spanning many genres of music including, but not limited to, rock, blues, fusion and folk.

The journey includes ten studio album releases, countless ‘best guitarist’ awards and a Grammy award for one of the most memorable guitar instrumentals ever performed, ‘Cliffs of Dover’.

EJ: I was just trying to write songs that are emotionally connected with people, something that would have an emotional impact on the listener.

Having been a fan of his for over 30 years, I was thrilled at the opportunity to interview Eric about his forthcoming eleventh studio release, ‘EJ Vol II’ on March 6. This album is the follow up to 2016’s all acoustic ‘EJ’. Eric is currently on tour in support of his latest release with a stop at Ft Lauderdale’s Au Rene theater on Friday, March 13.

EJ: No, it’s going to be an ‘Evening with Eric Johnson’, it will just be the quartet playing two sets with an intermission.

SFL Music: Will ‘EJ Vol II’ be an all acoustic release like ‘EJ’?

Eric Johnson: It’s a combination of electric and acoustic. I started off by recording a bunch of acoustic piano and guitar songs and then I overdubbed some electric on it. It’s kind of a hybrid sort of thing.

SFL Music: On your last tour, where you played the legendary ‘Ah Via Musicom’ in it’s entirety, you reunited with Kyle Brock and Tommy Taylor. Are they involved in your latest project?

SFL Music: I am looking forward to your show here soon, will you have an opening act?

SFL Music: Let’s go way back, what got you started playing guitar, are you from a musical family?

EJ: Yeah, my sisters played piano, one of my sisters played flute as well. So we were always listening to music. My dad loved music and was always playing different songs and stuff so we were exposed to it very early. I was interested in taking up the piano when I was really young and I took piano lessons. When I was about 11 years old and started hearing all the great guitar players, and the sound of the electric guitar, the Ventures, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, I was just enthralled by it and it made me want to start playing the guitar.

EJ: Right now I’m touring with Tom Brechtlein , Roscoe Beck and Dave Scher as a quartet. Kyle and Tommy played on one song of the record, but most of the album was done with Tom Brechtlein and Roscoe Beck.

SFL Music: I’ve had a question regarding ‘Cliffs of Dover’ for decades. I have a little guitar shop in Miami, Ray’s Guitars N Gear, and the teacher I have there is the same guy who showed me a VHS of an Austin City Limits show back in the mid 80s and we were just blown away by that song. Why was it not on an album until 1990?

SFL Music: was there any particular inspiration for the recording of this album?

EJ: I had been playing that song for years, and we had considered putting it on ‘Tones’, but the people producing the record

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decided not to put it on! It stayed on the repertoire for years and finally when we had the chance, we put it on ‘Ah Via Musicom’.

SFL Music: Fender is about to release the fourth version of your signature Stratocaster. Do you actually use your signature guitars on stage?

in it before. I just stuck with that type of battery all these years because it sounded good to me, but I never really ’A-B’ batteries or tried to see which one sounded which way. I think there is a difference with a super super high energy alkaline compared to a regular battery, there is a little bit of difference in the way they make an effect pedal sound.

EJ: I do, this latest version i’m using pretty much exclusively on stage.

SFL Music: So the rumor spawned just from you needing to change a battery in a pedal?

SFL Music: The guitar geek in me wants to know what pickups and strings gauges you use.

EJ: Yeah, it was like a two minute thing, there was one of those ‘super high energy alkaline lasts forever’ batteries in the pedal and I just put a new Duracell in it and it sounded better so that was it. So I’ve used Duracell‘s ever since.

EJ: The middle and neck pick ups are standard 50s Strat maybe ever so slightly hotter, the bridge pick up is a Dimarzio HS2 wound in single coil mode and the string sizes are 10,13,18,26,38,50.

SFL Music: On stage I have seen you use Fender Tweed amps simultaneously with Marshall Amps, is that still your set up?

EJ: Yeah, I use a couple of Fenders for the clean tone, a Two Rock Classic Reverb for a dirty rhythm sound and I’ll switch over to a Marshall for lead.

SFL Music: I had heard many years ago that your ear is so precise that you can tell when there’s an alkaline or regular 9v battery in one of your pedals... Is that true?

EJ: Well, that’s actually been kind of fabricated... originally what happened is that I put a battery in one of my Tubescreamers on my pedalboard that sounded different from the battery that I had

SFL Music: All right, it’s been really nice talking with you!

Lastly, is there anything you’d like the South Florida fans to know about the upcoming show?

EJ: I think it’s going to be a good show, we’re doing a whole bunch of different music from all the records Including brand new music off the new record and some stuff that hasn’t even been recorded yet. We’re just looking forward to coming down there, getting some warm weather and playing for everybody. Just want to thank everybody for considering coming out!

SFL Music: Thank you very much for talking with me, you have been a big influence on me and I appreciate your time!

EJ: You got it man, thank you for doing the interview and we’ll see you at the show!

So, I’d done the radio show that way for that many episodes, 26 episodes, or whatever. And it was then they came to me and said, “We think that would make a good book.” And I went, “Oh well, that’s different. Maybe that would be okay.” And at first, I’ve got to say, I was thinking, hoping, it would be very easy. If we were to simply transcribe, more or less, the radio. And it would feel like a book. But of course, it turns out that doesn’t work, because what you say when you’re speaking live and extemporaneously, is not what you’d write in a book. And the fact that, on the radio, you can talk about a tune and then play it. Whereas, in the book, you’ve got to talk about it and then talk about it some more, because you have to explain it and talk about why you think it’s so good and so on.

Appearing April 7 The Vero Beach Book Center (Book Signing) April 8 Crest Theatre (Live)

PETER ASHER SFL Music: Hi, Peter. This is Tom Craig with SFL Music Magazine down in South Florida. How are you today?

Peter Asher: Good thank you. How are you?

SFL Music: Very good. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I greatly appreciate it.

It’s a pleasure. Thank you.

SFL Music: I have your book, and what I’ve read is truly interesting. How and when did the idea for it, start with you?

I’m not so sure about the actual dates, but it feels like about a year ago, I think. The idea was not mine. It came out of the radio show that I do for Sirius XM, which I’ve been doing for two years now. Two, and a bit. And that’s, was a whole other topic.

And once I was doing the radio show, I was approached by a publisher, because I’ve turned down many requests and offers to do an autobiography. For some reason, I just never fancied doing that. It seemed like everyone associated with The Beatles, however peripherally, has written a book about it.

SFL Music: Right.

So, I didn’t want to do an autobiographical kind of thing. So, but what happened was, this publisher, Henry Holt, who are a very good and well known publisher, came to me and said, “No, no, we have a completely other idea. We think those radio shows you did, based around the alphabet, in which I use the alphabet not so much in an encyclopedic or completest way, but rather the same way Sesame Street does. Just to think of a letter, and any interesting stuff that that letter brings to mind. Not just song titles, but musical instruments and places and people and so on.

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So, it turned out to be much more work than I initially bargained for. So, I did realize that I should have to buckle down and write the damn book, which I then did. And that took a while, I think almost a year. And then, that was it. There was the book.

SFL Music: Wow. Well, now, you telling me how it all came about. It was such a unique way to do it, I felt, because when you see the title you think, “Okay, here we go. It’s going to be story after story.” But to wrap it around the songs, and different things was, I thought, so different than any other book I’ve ever read about them, orWell good, because there are, generally speaking, there are enough books about The Beatles, so I was very uncertain about whether it was wise to add to that huge bibliography. But in the end, based on the radio shows, again, I went, “Well, okay, I’ll try this somewhat different approach.”

SFL Music: I’ve learned many things from the book.

Great, well, that’s good. Thank you.

SFL Music: You’re welcome. You were around The Beatles from the very beginning. Was there a favoriteWell, when we say that, let me... From the London beginning. In other words, I did not, I knew nothing about Liverpool and The Cavern, Germany, any of that.

SFL Music: Right.

I met them when they first came down to London.

SFL Music: Right, from the London beginning. But from that time on, was there a favorite period of yours, of them, I guess?

No, not so much, I don’t think. Obviously, when they first came down to London, it was particularly exciting. That was when Beatlemania was just beginning, I guess. Love Me Do was zooming up the charts and everyone, all the women of England were learning how to scream. And so, it I thought that was exciting, to watch that, to see them go through this bizarre idolatry. But no, anytime I got to be there, when they were playing or finishing something in the studio or whatever, was incredibly exciting, I think.

SFL Music: Right. So, you didn’t see them live, before they came to London, is that correct?

That is correct. And indeed, I didn’t see them straight away, when they came to London. I’m not even quite sure, when I first heard them play live. It might have been in one of their BBC sessions, rather than a live gig in front of a live audience. They did a lot of sessions, as did Gordon and I, once we had our own records

out. Everyone used to go and do live sessions at the BBC, which have now all been released on records, that are very good.

SFL Music: Right, right. And that was a controlled environment, but the first time you saw them with an audience? Because there’s been a lot of things written that they were not a great live band and I’ve never, I’ve neverOh, I think they were a great live band. But you couldn’t tell, then. That’s why the BBC sessions were interesting, because you could actually hear it. I only went to a couple of shows, to be honest. And then we, I saw a bunch more, when we were actually on the road opening for them. In Germany, and some other places as well. And then, I got to see shows every night.

But, yeah. You really couldn’t tell how well or badly they were playing. It was a miracle that they were even all playing the same song. The inability to hear ourselves, in that era of rock and roll, between the volume of the audience and the inadequacy of the technical equipment, hearing yourself was something you never even expected. And it never happened. So, you were flying on instinct. And Ringo’s talked about how he would watch their movements, from the back. And that’s how he knew, where the beat was.

SFL Music: Right. Yeah. And when you opened for them, you felt the same, for you, with Gordon, when you played at those shows? That it was tough, to?

Yes. Obviously, the Beatles’ mania was much greater than the mania for the rest of us. But, they formed the template for that whole thing, which in America was called the British Invasion.

And everyone, so they screamed, mightily. For us, or for all the other acts who were part of that British Invasion. It became something that everyone knew how to do, they knew their role.

Which was, to go crazy. So, they did. And so even though, of course, I’m not in any way comparing the reaction to us or The Searchers or The Kinks or even Freddie and the Dreamers, or whatever. But in fact, we were all met by raucous screams, which easily overcame the kind of PAs that they had, back in that era.

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SFL Music: And there were no monitors, back in that dayNope. No such thing had been invented. Or even talked about.

There was no such word.

SFL Music: What is your favorite Paul piano song?

I really try not to get, or, play favorites. It’s so many, there’s two things that I, and I get this all the time. One is, “What is your favorite Beatles’ song? What is your favorite Paul song? What is this, what is that?”

And the other one is, “What do you think would have happened if,” someone hadn’t died or with, some other series of events, had or had not taken place. And I’m not sure how to fruitful it is to pursue either of those, to be honest.

Because my favorite songs change all the time, too. I’ll think I have a favorite, and then, I’ll hear some other song. “Oh, that one’s really good. Maybe that should be it.” So, I think, I do not intend to have any permanent favorite song. I’ll have a favorite of the day, perhaps, when they hear it on the radio and suddenly realize how good it is. But how do you compare those different kind of songs, really? It’s hard.

SFL Music: Sure, sure.

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So, I avoid that.

SFL Music: Okay. Fair enough. You have worked with some great songwriters. How would you compare, either individually Paul and John, or as a team, how they went through the process of writing? Versus other people that you’ve worked with?

It’s very similar. Nobody really knows, including the songwriters.

Because if you ask a songwriter, “How do you write the songs?”

They don’t really know and half of them will say, “Oh, it’s not really me. It comes through me,” as if the inspiration was some independent life force that was... So, that’s why people get a bit spiritual sometimes, talking about songs, which of course is amplified by some of the stories like Paul waking up with the whole of Yesterday in his head. Melodically speaking.

And so, certainly writers do vary, according to what degree they sit and wait for inspiration. Some writers, like in the Brill Building era, or Carole King’s first foray into the genus of songwriting, when she wrote hit after hit after hit. They were taking it more like a job. They’d sit down, she and Gerry, and go, “We need a song for the Drifters,” whatever, and they’d just write one. And it would be huge, and it would be “Up On The Roof,” and it would be a hit.

So, some people take it more like, sit down in the factory every morning at 10:00 AM when the bell goes off, and write. And other people sit around waiting to get inspired. But the actual process is still a bit of a mystery, to all of us. And it’s usually a private process, too. I’ve never really sat and watched someone write a song. I’ve seen Paul finish one line of lyrics, one time, just because he had the idea and played it.

But generally speaking, I think it’s a bit of a mystery, including to the writers, as to exactly what that process is. You just explore and start playing stuff, and suddenly, there’s a bit of melody. And if you like it, you pursue it and find somewhere to go with it.

SFL Music: In the book, you in going through the songs, we get to M. And your mom had a bit of influence on one of The Beatles songs, Michelle. Can you talk about that?

Yes. Actually, there’s two people that contributed to the French in that song. Because I know that, there’s this story which I’m sure is true that, Paul went to a friend of his wife, the wife of a friend of his. Whose name I cannot remember, unfortunately, but I think

it’s probably in the book. And she was fluent in French, and contributed some of the lyrics.

But at the same time, I distinctly remember my mother telling me, at the end of some particular day, that Paul had asked her advice on some French vocabulary and grammar. Which must have been for Michelle, because it’s the only song that had French in it. So, I’m really not quite sure where the balance is between those two inputs, but I know my mother contributed to that. She was also one of the first people for whom he played Yesterday, when he woke up with it in his head.

I was away at that point, but my mother was no doubt making a cup of tea in the morning, in the kitchen or whatever. And he did say, “I’ve got this tune stuck in my head, what is it?” Because I’m sure you know the story, that he woke up not realizing he’d written it, he thought he was remembering a tune. And my mother, of course, was a classical musician. So, she would really only have known it, had it been a classical melody. Which of course, it easily could have been. But in fact, she said, “No, I don’t think anyone wrote that but you.” She didn’t know it.

And he played it to some people who know lots of pop songs and they said, “No, we think it’s you,” and finally he accepted that it was him, and put words to it.

SFL Music: So, she was one of the first he played it for.

Yes, that is true.

SFL Music: And you talk about the William Mann, the classical correspondent, for The Times.

Oh, that’s right. That’s the one that the guy in The Times used as an example of why he thought The Beatles were important.

That’s right.

SFL Music: Yeah, I was just interested to get, if you could expand on that a bit.

Well, I’ll be really honest. It’s all in the book, I find myself wanting to reach for the book, and read it. I summed it up as concisely as I could. I’m not sure I remember what I wrote. Because I know quoted from his original... you know, he wrote a piece for The London Times... On the Second Time, page 136. He wrote a piece for The London Times about The Beatles music, and at that time, you have to remember that classical music as a field was very snooty about popular music. Which has changed completely, both ways, by the way. Classical music doesn’t look down its nose at pop music, and pop music doesn’t look up its nose at classical, with the same kind of, “Oh, that’s go nothing to do with us,” feeling.

Now you get a lot more musicians, string players and all, who are happy playing both kinds of music. Yeah, you’re right, this was the one that The Times correspondent William Mann talked about the Aeolian cadences it contains. Adding, this was the same cadence you could find in the final movement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, and so on. John Lennon said later, “To this day, I have no idea

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what Aeolian cadences are. They sound like exotic birds.” And anyway, I talked to him a bit about what Aeolian cadences actually are. It’s when you go to a minor instead of a major, at a certain point in the chord sequence.

But, I think the point was, not so much the details of it, the point was that, it caused a bit of a sensation when, what you’d expect to be a snooty classical only music journalist for the most sort of grown up newspaper in Britain, The Times, took The Beatles seriously. And everyone went, “Oh, that’s interesting.”

SFL Music: Yeah, andWe all knew how good they were, but they didn’t and they learned it.

SFL Music: And especially that early on, I mean that had to be what, around ‘64, I would think?

I would imagine so.

SFL Music: You have produced so many people, Linda Ronstadt being one of them. And I recently watched her documentary andYeah, it’s great isn’t? Yep, it’s fantastic. I encourage everyone to see it. It’s such a good movie, and you really end up with a whole new respect for her. Not so much in my case, because I had a good bit of respect for her, already. And she’s the finest singer I’ve ever worked with, and a brilliant woman. But a lot of people don’t realize quite how extraordinary she is, and the film is well worth seeing.

SFL Music: Yeah, she really was. How did that relationship come about? Because I know you came over here to work with James Taylor, after leaving Apple. But, how did you get introduced to Linda?

I was in New York and someone said, “You have to go and see this girl singing at The Bitter End. She’s amazing. She’s got this extraordinary voice. She sings brilliantly and, she happens to sing barefoot in very short shorts and she’s gorgeous.” And it was all true. I went to see her, and it was all completely true.

And then, when I met her, and discovered that she was also one of the most well read and intellectually precocious and brilliant women I’ve ever met. It was like, “Well, there you go.” And we decided to work together.

SFL Music: Well, you were sure there during a time where, she was just cranking out the albums andYeah, I liked, the first album I worked on was Don’t Cry Now, which was half done. And she asked me if I could help her finish it. It all got a bit muddled, and unfinished and confusing. And we got that done and then when we talked about the next album, she asked me to produce the whole thing from scratch. And by that time, I was becoming her manager, as well. And so, by the time we finished that album, that came out and that was Heart Like A Wheel and, things changed.

SFL Music: On the topic of documentaries, real quick, there was one recently that Jacob Dylan did, Echoes in the CanyonYeah, I saw that.

SFL Music: and I really thought there were two glaring omissions from that, was you and Joni Mitchell.

Yes. Yeah, we weren’t in it.

SFL Music: Because you were at, in that area at that time,

and couldn’t have been more involved.

It’s true. But they also, they were concentrating a bit more on the American end of things, if you think about it. There was a lot of it was about the Mamas and the Papas, and The Byrds. So, the American era, the American Laurel Canyon era.

But yes, it was written, they took a particular approach. I thought it was very good, I enjoyed the film. But obviously, every film has to pick a direction and who’s in it, and who’s not in it. Joni Mitchell of course, should be in everything, because she’s so important, but. Maybe she didn’t want to do it. Maybe they didn’t think it fit her narrative. I don’t know.

SFL Music: Yeah. And I didn’t know if maybe it might have been the time where she was having some health issues, too.

Well she is, she had a huge aneurysm thatSFL Music: Right. ... I saw Joni a few nights ago, and she’s fine. She’s doing remarkably well. But she did take, it was a major health crisis, from which she is slowly recovering, I’m delighted to say.

There is a lot more to this interview.

Please continue at www.SFLMusic.com

terful is way to mild a word to describe the skills that were used here. Vocally and lyrically, this very well written song is the most powerful of the lot. The term “drive on” can relate to lots of things and on the song, Tas touches on many of them. This, a possible candidate for ‘song of the year’ recognition, is one that you’ve just got to hear for yourself and I’m just leaving it at that.

With Tas and Gabe going toe to toe on the lead and slide guitars; Bob - on the bass and Sonny - on the drums, pounding out the disc’s fiercest rhythm; and the two Anthony’s wailing away on the keys and the horn; calling “Kinda Mess” the disc’s smoker is indeed understated.

Tas Cru Drive On

Subcat Records When it comes to his musical career, between touring as far and often as he does, and releasing powerfully performed albums on a very regular basis, “Drive On” is much more than a CD title for Tas Cru - it›s a philosophy! This latest release - his ninth - contains ten tracks and, as what pretty much is the norm, they›re all original.

On the album, Tas - who sings lead vocals and plays acoustic, electric and resonator guitars and harmonica - is joined by: Mary Ann Casale on lead and backing vocals; Leanne MacRaye and Cary Manse-Neal on backing vocals; Blues Music Award nominee Anthony Geraci on organ, piano and Fender Rhodes; Anthony Terry on saxophone; 2019 IBC finalist and Albert King Award winner Gabe Stillman on slide guitar; Bob Purdy and Colin “Big Yellow Dog” Beatty on bass; Andy Hearn, Cathy Lamanna and Sonny Rock on drums; and Ron Keck on percussion.

The reasons for loving “That Lovin’ Thang” are many: the soulful lead and harmony vocals goin’ on ‘tween Tas and the ladies; the chest thumping rhythm Bob and Andy are pounding out on the bass and drums; the brawny sax leads being blown by Anthony Terry; and especially the rock ‘em - sock ‘em battle Tas and Anthony Geraci are going tooth and nail at on the guitar and organ. Wow! That’s the way to kick things off.

As far as the title track - “Drive On” - is concerned, the interesting and creative sound and musical arrangements that kick it off have me kicking off my comments by giving kudos to the production, mixing and mastering work from the hands of Tas and Ron Keck. Mas58 | www.SFLMusic.com

Back in the day I would have referred to a track like this as “trippin’ music”. Interestingly enough, the song is titled “In This Moment” - but if you allow it to, as I have several times already - it will easily take you out of this moment. When you hear it all happening at the same time; the soothing sounds coming from Tas’ finessed guitar style; the heartbeat Anthony Geraci first gives the song with the organ before adding tranquility on the piano; and the sensual and serene vibe Anthony Terry brings with the sax; will all transcend you to wherever you let it. The creme de la creme for sure.

Personally knowing it’s his favorite city adds to the enjoyment of hearing Tas sing about it. Although some of the lyrics like “Honey I’m married to you and I still love you too, but don’t ever ask me choose ‘tween you and “Memphis Blue” do make the song take on a gender, there’s no questioning it’s his love for the city of Memphis that no one should ever come between.

As the title might suggest, the evil’s running rampant on “Devil In Your Heart” (M. A. Casale & T. Cru). From the lyrics and the way they are deeply and darkly sung, whispered and heavily breathed by Tas and Mary Ann, to the eerie mood Tas is creating with the tone of his resonator, the melancholia surrounding this one has ‘soundtrack for a supernatural movie’ written all over it.

Other tracks on “Drive On” include: “Money Talks”, “Save Me”, “Cry No More”, and “Shookie Shake” .

Should you like to purchase a copy of “Drive On”, or possibly need one for airplay, contact Tas at tascrumusic@gmail.com. Also, to find out more about Tas himself; the rest of his music; his books; and his admirable work in blues education; just go to www.tascru. com. And as I know you will, please tell him his buddy the Blewzzman sent you. - Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro @ www.Mary4Music.com

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