The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Celebrate 2021 with the Beehive Queen
This week’s column covers an array of activities in the blues world. Blues Beat is looking forward to the day when this column will be filled with blues entertainment from around the state.
Friday, mark your calendar and rock into 2021 Beehive fashion. Join Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez (Cliff Goodwin, Lorne Entress, Michael Colbath) as they perform live and online from the Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, Mass., on YouTube. The show goes live at 8 p.m. at https://rb.gy/e6atrt More information at: https://rb.gy/yg58ji
Ohlman lights up the big, big Narrows Stage to ring in 2021 live to your living room, your den, or even your bedroom. As with many performances during the pandemic, the show is free, but donations at PayPal and Venmo are always welcome. The Beehive Queen loves the Narrows, where art meets music in a beautifully renovated mill complex that’s one of New England’s premier listening rooms.
Saturday at 6 p.m., the Station House Wine Bar & Grill in Stratford has the relentless rock blues duo, Cassandra And The Knighthawks. Wednesday, the Station House Wine
Bar & Grill has Murray the Wheel acoustic.
The next Knick Live show Friday at 8 p.m. has Copley, Lataille and Piccolo, featuring Al Copley, Rich Lataille, and Greg Piccolo, original members of “Roomful of Blues” and now key members of the “Founders.” See it on knickmusic.com or unitedtheatre.org/.
Dr. G and the Believers sends this note: “Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well! Live music will return and we can’t wait, but until we get there, here is a little ditty recorded at Daddy
Jacks in New London, about a year ago. Go to: https://rb.gy/t6zltu. Keep safe and we’ll get there.”
News from Boston’s Metronome Magazine: Some area musicians are included in its Top 20 of 2020 list. Paul Gabriel and Tom Guerra are included along with frequent Cnnecticut visitor Diane Blue.
Here is what Metronome had to say about each:
“Paul Gabriel has been a long time fixture on the Connecticut blues scene garnering his fair share of accolades and awards along the way. He released a riveting new album called “Man of Many Blues” that could very well be the best work of his career. We featured him on the cover of our January 2020 issue.
“Tom Guerra is a talented player, journalist, and all around good guy that makes great music. His latest record, “Sudden Signs of Grace” was no different. We talked to him for an August cover.
“Boston-based blues singer Diane Blue is one of the finest vocalist on the scene today. Whether she’s heading up her own band All Star Band, leading the Ladies of Blues & Soul Revue, or singing with Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Diane always delivers a powerhouse performance. She turned heads with her outstanding new album, “Look For The Light,” so we are happy to feature her on our March cover.”
Metronome Magazine is New England’s premier music publication. It was founded in 1985. It is is a monthly music publication that reaches readers throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire as well as record labels and publicity houses from New York to California. They bring all the local, national and international music news as it happens. You can contact them at 978957-0925.
Music Maker Relief Foundation has a new way to learn about them. Founders Tim and Denise Duffy, in comic book form, tell the full story of how Music Maker got started 26 years ago. Follow the Duffys through their earliest encounters with figures like James “Guitar Slim” Stephen and Guitar Gabriel in the drink houses of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Read about the miraculous appearance of critical donors who first made it possible for them to support their partner artists.
California’s KJAZZ built its Martin Luther King Day Tribute from the Music Maker Archive. Music Maker was connected to the California radio station and Famed DJ Gary “The Wagman” Wagner. His two-hour segment honoring Dr. King from Music Maker can be found by scrolling down to “Nothin’ but the Blues with Gary Wagner,” then click on the show from Jan. 17.
Lastly never miss a minute of Music Maker. Connect to its Twitter feed, @musicmakerblues, which brings you videos of its artists, documentaries, news from our artists and friends, and blog posts almost every day
From the international scene comes Black River Delta, a blues-rock band originating from Bollnäs,
Sweden. The foursome has released two studio albums and are poised to drop their latest heavy-hitting full-length effort Shakin’ this spring via Sofaburn Records. The band’s gritty blues-rock sound draws from classic blues legends and modern artists. Their ability to combine age-old blues with modern rock has taking them on several tours across Europe and North America, and has caught the attention of many artists.
Roger Stolle of Cat Head tells Blues Beat that Clarksdale, Mississippi’s was a winter wonderland last week. Clarksdale gets some snow or ice every year or two, but rarely like this, 3 inches. He said it was pretty, but forced him to walk to work, an entire block. Cat Head’s store pug, Ayler, was less than amused. Some pictures are posted at https://rb.gy/ rcfxph. Read more at https://rb.gy/plqx9q
Lights, camera... masks... action! Clarksdale is also getting ready for its first-ever “pandemic edition” of the annual Clarksdale Film & Music Festival. The festival is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Jan. 29-31, indoors, outdoors and online.