Blues Calendar: Jan 13 – 19

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Alice

We 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

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Alice

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.

Fuzzy Rankins Band at Patrick’s

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Alice

Its been a while since Fuzzy and his band has played at Patrick’s Pub, and he was back last night to a good crowd. He will be back there again later this month on the 30th!

I wasn’t able to get the whole song (cover song You Talk Too Much) in this clip, which is a shame. I realized half way into it that my video wasn’t actually recording, but the rest is pretty good of TC Tye on keys, Bruce Hutcherson on drums, Cecil McBee on bass, Fuzzy, and an out-of-town harmonica player, Danny Thornburry from Louisville, KY.

Jimmy Loves – change in schedule

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Alice

I just heard that Jimmy Love’s will be closing for renovations this week. I don’t know for how long. As a result, Annette DaBomb won’t be playing there this Wednesday, although I understand Fuzzy Rankins will still be there for the dinner hour (6-8:45) on Friday – although that could change too.

Jammin Monday at SpeakEasy

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Alice

I was away most of last week and missed catching the blues around town, so I hope to catch more of the bands and jams this week. Last night I stopped in at the Gaslamp SpeakEasy Monday night jam for the second set, and I got to hear these musicians jammin together with Fuzzy Rankins. It was a great set and this video is of their last song before the break.

On guitars with Fuzzy were Patrick Jerrell and Jon Fai (furthest to his right), Karl Bradley on drums (who did a solo in this video), Bob Prater on bass guitar, and behind Jon (where its hard to see him) was Justin Fools on harmonica.

Blues Calendar: Jan 6 – 12

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Alice

There are a lot of blues bands and jams this week across the downtown area.

Jams are happening Monday at the SpeakEasy, Tuesday at Patrick’s, Wednesday at the House of Blues (7-11pm – but not on the schedule since they don’t offer drink discount), and Thursday at Spaguetteria. All the jams are very different and draw their own unique mix of musicians. So check out more than one of the jams if you can. You never know who might show up from out of town or one of our local bands!

Also not on the schedule is Lafayette Blues band at the House of Blues Voodoo Lounge from 7-11pm on Friday.

For the drink discount, print out and show this calendar to the bartender. Enjoy!!

John January Joins Monday Jam Night

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Alice

Last night John January showed up at the SpeakEasy blues jam, and played the lead guitar and sang, along with Patrick Jerrell on rhythm guitar, Irakli Aladash on bass, Christine Gilardi on vocals and Karl Bradley on drums.

Not sure how to get the red-eye out of this iphone video. Couldn’t do it with my editing software. Anyone have a way to do this or to avoid it in the first place?

Later in the 3rd set, Fuzzy Rankins, who hosts the jam, finished up the night playing his cover song Down Home Blues, along with his drummer Bruce Hutcherson, and Bob Prater on bass, Patrick Jarrell on rhythm guitar, Justin Fools on harmonica, and a keyboardist I didn’t know.

The place was packed most of the night, so word is getting out how good this jam is! See you there next Monday.

San Diego BLUES Downtown

Monthly Archives: January 2014