SOUL TRIBUTE A TRUE LABOUR OF LOVE
Mitch Melnick puts on his Billy Bob hat for his most extensive production yet
As hobbies go, TSN radio host Mitch Melnick couldn’t have picked a more expensive or time-consuming one: producing quirky musical spectacles with an impressive array ol homegrown talent and import acts who wouldn’t otherwise get their proper due here.
But Melnick, sporting his Billy Bob Productions beret, has really outdone himself with his latest venture, A Southern Soul and :ock ’N :Roll :Revue, Friday at Club Soda. That is saying something in light ol past productions like The Tast Waltz 40th Anniversary Celebration — the killer homage to the Band at the Corona Theatre 16 months back — as well as the recent Tom Petty tribute, Bob Dylan birthday bashes and concerts showcasing artists like Tom Wilson, Dan Bern and Andrea :Romolo.
But this coming soul and rock revue will be the biggest and most costly Billy Bob undertaking yet. Melnick and his partners have assembled more than 15 acts from Montreal and beyond to pay tribute to the wide-ranging tunes ol The Allman Brothers, Sam Cooke, Otis :edding, Wilson Pickett, :ay Charles, Aretha Franklin, Freddie King, Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Solomon Burke and Buddy Holly. Have we missed anybody? Probably.
Among the performers will be Memphis’s up-and-coming Ghost Town Blues Band, the Paul Deslauriers Band, Shane Murphy, Romolo, Dawn Tyler Watson, Howard Bilerman’s hotel2tango All-Stars, John Jacob Magistery and Jonas Tomalty and Corey Diabo (of Jonas & The Massive Attraction lame).
“Once again, no one can ever accuse us of lining our pockets with these shows. We have more modest dreams — like one day just breaking even,” cracks Melnick, in reference to the Billy Bob Productions team, which also includes Tloyd Fischler, Shane Murphy and Jary Silverman.
Melnick’s concert choices olten relate to tributes to his musical heroes. But the genesis lor this one was a little dimerent.
“Gregg Allman died,” says Melnick in reference to Allman’s passing last May. “I was a huge lan and had tickets to the show he never gave here at Théâtre Maisonneuve about six years ago. It was to support his solo album.”
That came at a time when Allman first got sick and had to postpone a bunch ol dates.
“We didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning ol the end lor him. It was only announced alter he died that he had cancer. He had his share ol health issues lor years, but regardless, you couldn’t keep him om the road. Whenever he was able to regain a little strength, he would show up on stage.”
Melnick and frequent collaborator Bilerman had talked about staging a Sam Cooke tribute lor last Valentine’s Day, but the singer they had in mind lor the show was unavailable.
“We decided to re-visit that, but the more we started thinking about the music ol the South, I thought about incorporating the two into something really, throwing in some Texas blues and having a whole celebration ol Southern music, which is rarely heard here.
“The idea is to dig deeper into the roots ol Southern music, which a lot ol people don’t understand.”
The decision to include the Ghost Town Blues Band came about alter Melnick caught the group by chance at last summer’s jazz lest.
“I was on my way to an indoor ticketed show when I passed by the outdoor blues stage where these guys I had never heard ol were just ripping it up and started going into all sorts ol wild stum, their own material and covers ol an array ol others, including the Allman Brothers. It was a fantastic performance. I couldn’t leave, and I missed my indoor show. But I made a mental note that il I were ever to do a Southern rock show, I’d get them.”
With a new hit disc under its belt, the Ghost Town Blues Band will do a 40-minute set lor the revue.
The Deslauriers band, Murphy and Watson are well known lor their blues picking and crooning, but others like Jonas Tomalty and Corey Diabo less so.
“I remember Jonas when he started in a blues band with his lather,” Melnick says. “I know how good a blues singer he is, and with virtuoso guitarist Corey, they will be covering a couple ol Allman songs and a Freddie King classic.”
Melnick also promises something special from Bilerman and his hotel2tango All-Stars.
“Whenever Mitch comes up with the concepts lor these shows, I try to ond the story within the story,” says Bilerman, producer, arranger and the original Arcade Fire drummer. “When he did Dylan’s 75th birthday tribute, I noticed that Blonde on Blonde had turned 50 that same week. So we did a set of songs from that album.
“And when he reached out to me about this show, as a recording-studio owner, I was instantly drawn to celebrate the music recorded at Muscle Shoals and FAME recording studios. It’s undeniable the talent that passed through those rooms — Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis :edding and even northerners like Dylan and Paul Simon.”
Alter choosing the music lor his set, Bilerman next put together his all-star band — featuring, among others, local stalwarts Chris Velan, Mike O’Brien, Josh Toal, Angela Desveaux and Katie Moore.
“I essentially surround mysell with the most talented folks I know, and then I just hope that I won’t mess up,” Bilerman adds. “We’re going to be 10 people on stage. The hope is that it all comes om like one ol those travelling soul revues that Stax :ecords and Motown did.”
Adds Melnick: “It’s a real kick lor me to see a lot ol the musicians I’ve listened to over the years in pubs and clubs around town and to see them have the kind of audience that we’re going to have here.”
Next on the Billy Bob agenda could be a tribute concert for folksinger Jimmy Talave, who died last year. The event may also double as a fundraiser for another of Melnick’s laves, eclectic folkie Dan Bern.
“Dan had a couple of fingertips chopped om in a snowplow accident a lew weeks ago,” Melnick notes. “Dan does OK, but like a lot ol U.S. musicians, he doesn’t have health insurance. It will be a Texas troubadour kind ol night in honour of Jimmy and to help out Dan at the same time.”
Another Billy Bob show from the heart — and definitely not one to line the pockets ol the promoters.