To legends on rocking
ven Gene Wold aka Seasick Steve. His emergence in 2006 may have been a musicmedia dream – particularly the hobo-style image and homemade instruments – but he had played widely for years prior to that. His father was a boogie-woogie pianist but it was to be bluesman, KC Douglas (author of the classic Mercury Blues), who piqued his interest in guitars rather than the piano. Douglas worked at the garage of Steve’s grandfather and, as a result, lessons were readily available.
Eight albums in just over 10 years, appearances at seemingly every major music festival and even a guest slot on Top Gear proved just how popular and productive he was.
The last record, Keeping The Horse Between Me And The Ground (issued last autumn) was his third in four years and even included a reflective version of John Hartford’s country classic, Gentle On My Mind, among the more typically raucous slide-guitar blues.
He arrives at the O2 Academy next Friday night but he will make another visit to Newcastle in August when he will play as the specially invited guest of former Beach Boy Brian Wilson in Times Square in August.
Another veteran guitarist is Denny Walley, once sideman to both Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, and he joins Liverpool’s Muffin Men at the Cluny tonight.
The Muffin Men specialise in their own versions of Zappa material and have been paying due homage to the prolific Zappa for nearly 30 years. They have had about a dozen of Zappa’s original musicians come over to join them and Walley’s slide-guitar/vocals will play a prominent part in their set, just as they did on Zappa’s Bongo Fury and Joe’s Garage.
On Sunday night, the Brooklyn singer/ songwriter, Rebecca Pronsky, plays a show in Cluny 2. Her latest album (her fifth), Known Objects, was issued last year and once again pairs her with her musical partner, guitarist Rich Bennett. Pronsky’s Only Daughter album (2013) won her much critical praise and vocal comparisons to the likes of Nanci Griffith and Stevie Nicks.
Having mentioned the return of threenoted guitarists it would be rude (and indeed remiss) not to acknowledge the return to the Cluny next Wednesday/Thursday night – for two sold-out shows – by the young guitar pair, Showhawk Duo.
Jake Wright and Mikhail Asanovic bring their ADM (acoustic dance music) to the Ouseburn venue and operate at the same level of intensity as the Mexican duo of Rodrigo Y Gabriella. The sold-out signs for two nights tells its own story !
Finally, ska/reggae fans have a chance to catch the Toasters in Cluny 2 on Wednesday for a couple of hours of their favourite sounds from a touring collective which is drawn from several long-standing exponents of the timeless genre.