This
just in from the Department of Repetitious Redundancies:
Beer! Live music!
Consume
both tonight (Oct. 29) with Big Wes Turner’s Trio at the Essen Haus. (Isthmus
always we start says 9, but we always start at 8:30, thus accommodating the
early-to-bed crowd.)
Big
Wes T’s drummer Rick Becker continues to recuperate from a carpentry accident.
Go-to preeminent percussionist Rich Larson fills in. Becker will be back on stage on Nov. 5, but guitarist Gary Hendrickson will be on the road.
Fear not! Grammy-winner Billy Flynn steps in. Don’t miss it!
Up next:
Nov. 5, Big Wes Turner’s Trio at the Essen Haus, Madison, WI. (8:30)
Nov. 14, The Jim Liban/Joel Paterson Band
at the Grand Opening of the WMRC studio (Williamson Magnetic RecordingCompany), Williamson St., Madison, WI.
Beer
+ live music! Doesn’t that sound good? (Yes. It does.)
Indulge in both this
Thursday (Oct. 15) at the Essen Haus, and still get home in time to tuck
yourself in like the sensible adult you are (the Isthmus listing always says we start at 9, but we
have always started at 8:30). Or show up late and stay late (we play 'til 12:30).
Breaking news! Big Wes Turner’s Rick Becker suffered a carpentry accident that
requires recuperation. Go-to drummer-about-town Rich Larson fills in this
Thursday. Becker to be back for our Essen Haus pre-Halloween
extravaganza on Oct. 29.
Up next:
Oct. 24, Birddog Blues Band at The
Club Tavern, Middleton, WI.
Oct. 29, Big Wes Turner’s Trio at the
Essen Haus, Madison, WI. (8:30)
Nov. 5, Big Wes Turner’s Trio at the Essen Haus, Madison, WI. (8:30)
Nov. 14, The Jim Liban/Joel Paterson Band
at the Grand Opening of the WMRC studio (Williamson Magnetic Recording Company), Williamson St., Madison, WI.
Will anyone out there notice that a new name has been added to the list?
The Maintainers have already played one gig, and it could have been a flash in the pan, had it not been so darned much fun. Another gig has been booked (same venue as last, more on that later), and that darned near makes it official. Official enough to add to the list.
Madison's Blues Tradition Resurgents! Is that last a word? I don't care. I like the sound. Of the word and the band. Stay tuned.
Things got a bit raucous at Ye Olde Essen Haus last night. Thanks to the annual Dairy Expo, a host of
out-of-towners were gnoshing schnitzel and wurst and imbibing brews
whilst Big Wes Turner’s Trio mashed
the Americana.
“Greg,” a cool dude of substantial presence, was out with his comrades
to pass boots in preparation for his upcoming Saturday nuptials. Hale fellows
all, and well met. Big Wes’s best wishes go out to the happy couple.
Sarah and Jim, longstanding friends of the Midwesterners Trio and new friends
of Big Wes Turner’s Trio, were there to keep dust from gathering on the dance
floor, and when Sarah wants to hear Wagon
Wheel, we happily comply.*
Other requests required some deep digging in the memory vaults—King of The Road, Jambalaya, Yellow Submarine,
Amarillo By Morning—it got a little
crazy.
*Regarding Wagon
Wheel. The landscape of American popular song is marked with successes that
go on to suffer for it (when was the last time you really listened to
Wilson Pickett’s Mustang Sally?).
They reach a tipping point, they become too universally recognized, they lose
all exclusivity, they get covered to death, and then they feel a backlash. To
paraphrase the pattering of estimable singer/songwriter Blake Thomas at a recent
Isthmus Sessions show, “Hey, it’s not a bad song! It’s not hurting anyone!”
Hear, hear! The infectious Dylan-inspired chorus has caught on for a reason. It’s
catchy. In the best sense. Come on people! Save your hate for more worthy
targets.