Tag Archives: downtown San Diego

Fuzzy Rankins Band Raised the Bar in Memphis

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I’m out in Memphis, getting to hear some of the best blues bands from all over the world down on Beale Street, in the heart of the blues.  Our own Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band, representing the Blues Lovers United of San Diego, raised the bar early in the International Blues Competition.

People were commenting on how good they were, and that is saying something. There were some incredibly good bands competing to win the title.  While Fuzzy’s band didn’t win, which is a disappointment, they stood out among the hundreds of bands who came to perform.

Here they are playing at the Rum Boogie Café on Beale Street.  Bruce Hutcherson was explosive on drums, Tom Mylett was keeping the bottom nice and strong on bass, Hindy Bare was rounding it out on the organ, and Fuzzy was ripping it up and doing his thing.

Blues Calendar: Jan 20 – 26

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Blues Calendar - Jan 20

In addition to what is on the calendar here, there is always the BLUSD jam at House of Blues on Wednesdays from 7-11pm.

I will be away this week in Memphis (cold weather here I come) at the International Blues Challenge, cheering for our San Diego blues society’s (BLUSD) IBC champion, Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band.  We all leave tomorrow, so you can catch Fuzzy tonight at the SpeakEasy before he goes.  I will keep you posted on how they are doing during the week!

 

Bill Magee Blues Band at Patrick’s

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Bill Magee is a blues man through and through, and he brings his southern blues sound to Patrick’s about once a month.  He was there last night doing his thing, which always gets me and a lot of others out on the dance floor.

Len Rainey & Midnight Players

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Len Rainey has Chicago roots, and you can hear it in the way he plays the blues.  You can find him regularly at Patrick’s Pub and Humphreys.

Last night I finally got some video of his band playing at Patrick’s, which includes Walter Gentry on sax, Johnny Vernazza on guitar, Matt on drums, and Len singing and playing bass.  Here he is performing a favorite cover song Black Cat Bone.

 

Jammin Out on Wednesday Night’s

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Every Wednesday night on the free stage at House of Blues is a good blues jam, hosted by JammingOut.net and BLUSD.  Last night ended with members of the house band back up on stage doing the cover song Woke Up This Morning (Kevin Cooper on bass guitar, Lafayette Falkquay on lead guitar and Packy B on rhythm guitar) along with John Rokas on drums, who was visiting from Cleveland, OH.

Tuesday Nights with Lafayette

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Every Tuesday night you can catch Lafayette Falkquay and his blues band playing at the Gaslamp SpeakEasy.  Lafayette is one of those southern bluesman you don’t get to hear often enough, so its always a treat for me to listen to him perform.  Here is a video from last night with Lafayette singing Going to Louisiana, supported by Chris Terrell on drums and Ronnie Baumslater on bass.

Guitar Jam at SpeakEasy

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There were a number of guitar players who showed up at the SpeakEasy blues jam Monday, and in this video they all jammed and did solos.  From left to right, Jon Fai, Patrick Jarrell, Brandon Cerquedo and Fuzzy Rankins.  Bob Prater was on bass and Bruce Hutcherson on drums.

Monday Night Blues Jam

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Here is some video from Monday night’s blues jam at the Speakeasy.  Fuzzy Rankins on lead guitar, Irakli Aladash on bass guitar and Patrick Jarrell on rhythm guitar, along with an out-of-town visitor, John Rokas, on drums.

Thanks to Irakli for sending me this clip.

Blues Calendar: Jan 13 – 19

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Blues Calendar - Jan 13We have another full week of blues around town.  In addition to what’s on the calendar, Whitney Shay will be playing at the new Central Library (Park Blvd & J Street) this Wednesday 5:30-7:30.

And starting at 7pm that night is the Wednesday night BLUSD JammingOut on the free Voodoo Stage at House of Blues. As you can see from video I took last Wednesday, this jam brings in some great musicians.

There is also a youth jam on Saturday afternoon for kids under 22 years old at the Gaslamp SpeakEasy, which is always good.  We are hoping to see more talented kids at this blues jam, so don’t miss it if you are downtown.

Good Blues on Wednesdays at HOB

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What a great night at House of Blues on the Voodoo Stage!  A number of musicians who happened to be in San Diego showed up to play, and the organizers for JammingOut Wednesdays  (Rosalea Schiavone, Doyle Thomas and Kevin Cooper) did a great job getting them all up to play.

In this video, LaMonte DeMille who has been playing the past year in Europe and just got back into town was on lead guitar and vocals, supported by Irakli Aladash on bass, Tony Garrick on drums and Brad Hanson on harmonica, who was visiting from Washington state.  We are going to see a lot more of LaMonte around town when he settles back into the area this Spring – check out his UTube videos at demac520.

At the end of the evening, a newcomer to the jam, Greg Dones got up to play bass and sang the cover song The Blues is Alright.  With him was Brad Hanson on harp, Packy B on guitar, and I didn’t catch who was on drums.  It was a fabulous ending to the jam.