I’ve said it before, but you really never know who will show up at a jam and amaze you. An unknown, but local blues singer from Atlanta, showed up at the JammingOut at HOB last night, and he gave us a great performance of a song I think is called Break It Down.
Check out this delightful song with Willie Simmons singing, David Lewis is on harmonica, Nicholas Butterfield and Doyle Thomas are on guitars – and Lafayette Falkquay too in back, Harry on bass, and Rio Rhythm on drums.
San Diego Blues
As readers of this blog know by now, I’m a regular at the JammingOut at HOB (House of Blues Voodoo Stage in the Gaslamp) on Wednesday nights.
Last night Carrie Shannon, who I’ve never heard before, got up and sang a sassy ZZ Top cover song, Tush. On stage with her was Nicholas Butterfield and Junya Isogawa on guitars, Kevin Cooper on bass, David Lewis on harmonica and Edward Cleveland on drums.
Later Will Lovalot performed that great Freddie King song Big Legged Woman, along with David Damaso (and then Lafayette Falkquay) on guitars, Harmonica John (Frazer), Dino on trumpet, Kevin Cooper on bass and Michael Minor on drums.
San Diego Blues
This week is a lot like last week – no San Diego blues at Kona Kai and not much blues at Patrick’s Gaslamp Pub. But it’s a good week at Humphrey’s Backstage and SpeakEasy (as usual). And the blues jams… well you never know, because you never know who might show up or who happens to be in town, and it can blow you away when it all lines up.
I’m learning that Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge doesn’t tend to start on time and can be an hour off, so for now I’m going to list the times one hour later than they post on their website. Just a heads up.
This week is a bit different than a typical San Diego blues week around downtown.
There is very little blues playing at Patrick’s Pub, the SpeakEasy has a private Comic Con event on Friday night, and there are no blues out at Kona Kai. The Youth Blues Jam, which was scheduled for the last Sat of the month at SpeakEasy, is also canceled because of Comic Con.
On the other hand, Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge has a bit more blues, including the Billy Thompson Band (originally based in San Diego) on Tuesday night and Michele Lundeen (blues/soul/R&B) is there tonight. She’s also at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park on Wednesday evening 6:15-7:15.
Many of the regular musicians were at the JammingOut at HOB last night, including Nick Butterfield and Rich Giglio – on guitars together (once again) and performing “English Invasion” songs. As Rich explained to me, from British bands in the 60s and 70s who brought their blues rock to America, which they both enjoy.
Here they are playing a Cream cover song Crossroads, with Nick singing. The vocal mic didn’t pick up as well as it usually does – not sure why. They are on stage with David Falkquay on bass, Duke Ventra on drums and Dave Lewis on harmonica.
There is bit more blues this week than we’ve had downtown for a while, and one reason is the reopening of the Kona Kai lounge after their Spring renovations. Missy Andersen will be back there on Wednesday and Gino & Jade are also back!!
I’ve also added the Coronado Ferry Landing to the calendar, since they play blues there periodically on Sunday afternoons. This week is Blue Frog Blues.
And of course we have the usual San Diego blues jams on Mondays (SpeakEasy), Tuesdays (Patrick’s) and Wednesdays at the House of Blues free stage. I’m also pleased that Patrick’s has mostly blues again this week, so it’s another great week of blues every single night.
Patrick’s Pub almost always has blues on a Sunday night, and I went to hear some favorite locals: Len Rainey on bass and Johnny Vernazza on guitar, accompanied by Danny Martinez on drums. These guys are all regulars at Patrick’s, and I always enjoy hearing them play.
Here’s Len singing cover song Kiddio. Patrick’s is always dark, so it’s hard to get good crisp video. I lightened it up, and it’s still grainy. But you can see and hear them fairly well.
And here they are performing cover song Born Under a Bad Sign.
San Diego Blues
If you have been following this blog for a while, you know I often go to the JammingOut at HOB. I can’t always get to the other jams around town, so I try to make it to this one as often as I can. It’s always good and often there are newcomers to the jam who rock the night. There were quite a few musicians there who I hadn’t seen before.
One of them was Maria Woodard, a jazz and Latin singer in San Diego, who got up and did a number of tunes. Here she is singing the Fats Domino song Kansas City. With her on stage was Rich Giglio and Doyle Thomas on guitars, Tom Safreed on harmonica, Dale Davis on bass and Steve Douglas on drums.
Nick Butterfield was back again, and he gave us an awesome performance of that great Creedence Clearwater Revival cover tune Born on the Bayou. He’s joined by Rich on guitar, Dale on bass, Dave Good on saxophone, Richie Strell playing the accordion, Reggie Ford on drums, and I’m not sure who was playing the harmonica. Enjoy!
Later, Harmonica John Frazer played and sang Steve Miller band cover song Your Cash Ain’t Nothing But Trash with Will Lovalot on guitar, Steve Welles on bass, and I believe it was Max on drums.
San Diego Blues
This is a pretty typical week for San Diego blues around town, although it is light at Humphrey’s Backstage on Shelter Island. But in another week, Kona Kai Lounge should be open again and hosting regular blues bands. Patrick’s has mostly blues this week, which means there is live blues music every day of the week. Enjoy!
I’m happy to say that Patrick’s Pub in the Gaslamp has a full week of San Diego blues, and most of it straight up blues. Unfortunately I’m not in town to enjoy it, although I did go to a great bl…ues gig last night in Newburyport, Massachusetts hosted by Parker Wheeler with his friends (this week it was SuperChief Trio).
There are a few highlights this week to check out… Whitney Shay and Robin Henkel will be at 98 Bottles doing a tribute to Little Richard, and Tyler Ray Davidson (a super talented young guitarist who often plays at the Youth Blues Jam) will have his own blues band performing at Hennessey’s on Saturday afternoon. I’m sorry to miss both of these, so I hope you get to catch one of them.