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17th ANNUAL NEW YORK STATE BLUES FESTIVAL
Syracuse, New York
Saturday July 12th and Sunday July 13th, 2008
Things don’t always go as planned, but everything always works out. That was the story for us on the weekend of the 17th Annual NY State Blues Festival in Syracuse New York. Bernie Clark, the rest of the Festival Board, and all the dedicated Volunteers who seem to return again and again for some reason pulled off another successful event. According to the local press, attendance of up to 8,000 plus on Saturday, and even with an almost washout due to heavy afternoon rains, a 5,000 plus crowd on Sunday!
We (my daughter Angela and I) had a late departure on Friday and didn’t get into town until about 10:30 PM on Friday evening. After making a decision to not go out, we got a good nights sleep, got up early on Saturday AM, and got to visit a while with my old friend and guitar slinger Mark Cloutier (Double Barrel Blues Band). We arrived down at Clinton Square and were backstage greeting some of our old friends by 1:30, and got to catch the end of the Ron Spencer Band’s set at the Dinosaur Barbeque Stage. Liverpool, NY guitarist Ron Spencer and high-octane energy singer Mark Gibson got the early afternoon crowd up with a blend of various covers and originals. With the rhythm of Jay Gould on bass and Ross Moe on drums, the band dug deep for Alvin Cash and the Crawler's 1965 goodie "Twine Time," and got my head going up and down (traditional blues groove head bob) with their original "Rollercoaster Blues."
The Toni Lynn Washington Band kicked things off at the Budweiser Main Stage.
Guitarist Rick Russell, keyboardist Bruce Bears, saxophone player Mario Cerra, bassist Bob Worthington, and 15 year old drummer Daniel Banks played two cool songs before Toni Lynn took the stage. Washington covered straight blues, funky blues, and soulful blues and looked fantastic in her white skirt suit. She definitely had me hooked covering tunes like "I Don't Need No Doctor" and “Down the Drain”. Following the set it was back over to the Dinosaur Barbeque Stage to check out Jeremy Wallace. His trio featured an upright bass player, a percussionist, and Wallace on dobro and vocals. The late Dave Van Ronk influence was obvious! A few good jokes were mixed in with songs like “Gotta Get Back" and "Nobody Hears Me When I Scream." Wallace sported a very unique style, and he was definitely able to turn some heads.
Next stop was over at the Hanover Square Stage to check out a workshop featuring local Syracuse Harp player Tom Townsley and guitarist Seth Rochford. There was a lot of semi-technical talk about scales, phrasing, and other things, so as a drummer I had to cut this a little short not really able to really pay attention! This could make another good drummer joke.
Back at the Budweiser Main Stage around 4:00 John Nemeth took it up a notch. After the opener, a West Coast swing titled “Blue Broadway”, Nemeth took the opportunity to greet the Syracuse locals. "When I was a little kid growing up in Boise, Idaho, there was not much to do. I used to watch a lot of Syracuse basketball games. The Orangemen!".
Guitarist, Bobby Welch, helped keep the mood hot, backing Nemeth's booming voice on the loads-of-fun title track from Nemeth's latest CD, "The Magic Touch." Nemeth's harmonica came through loud and beautiful on "Late Night Owls," and his message was delivered and received happily on the closing song, "Old Folks Boogie." "You ain't too old," Nemeth sang, and the blues fans of all ages believed him. We got to spend a little time some time speaking with John’s drummer Marty Dodson later in the afternoon. Marty spent nine years playing with Mark Hummel, and has recently joined John on tour. I hope our paths cross again Marty!
After John’s set it was back over to the Hanover Square Stage for a Q&A session with Kim Wilson accompanied by Texas Guitar Virtuoso Johnny Moeller. The crowd that gathered was definitely there to get feedback from Kim, and some great feedback was delivered. Although I think Johnny was wondering why he was accompanying Kim for the session, it looked like he was getting a lot of warming up in while Kim was speaking!
We jumped over to the Dino stage for a brief encounter with Syracuse’s Los Blancos. Los Blancos’ local fans weren’t shy about shouting out song requests. Guitarist Colin Aberdeen was definitely on, and Mark Nanni's honky-tonk style keys spiced things up. As always, drummer Mark Tiffault and Steven Winston were their usual “super pocket” rhythm selves!
Next up came one of the bigger highlights of the Festival for me. The Double Barrel Blues Band took to the Hanover Square Stage and Mark Cloutier (guitar) and the boys tore it up. Opening up with Albert Collin’s “Frosty”, it was only uphill from there. These guys have been hard at work on the local scene, and based on the musicianship it would appear they all have been honing their skills! Keep up the great work guys, and thanks for keeping it real!
Backstage at the Budweiser Stage we ran into Sean Carney getting ready for his set. Sean and his band were called in with short notice on a few gigs to fill the slot for the still ailing (hopefully recovering) Nappy Brown. Sean and drummer Eric Blume were just returning from a few weeks of touring in California and had a whirlwind travel experience 24-hours prior in order to get to the gig. This included a red-eye flight from California to Ohio where they picked up Bass Player Mookie Brill, and drove their van to Syracuse! Ouch! It was great to see Sean back at the Festival again for the second year in a row. The band performed originals like "Why Do You Lie?" and covers, including "Willie and the Hand Jive." At one point in the set Sean tipped his guitar in the direction of veteran bluesman Nappy Brown, and asked everybody in the crowd send their prayers and best wishes Brown's way. Later Sean invited Brown's great friend and upright bass player, Mookie Brill, to sing a couple of Brown's songs. Brill did justice to "You Were a Long Time Coming, But You Finally Made It Home." Carney also got fest director Bernie Clarke up to blow some harp on a few. Clarke went into a cool tribute to Robert Lockwood Junior. This was followed immediately by another special guest joining the jam (Syracuse guitarist Seth Rochford), who gave us some great jump blues playing "Kidney Stew."
We caught some of the Syracuse-All Stars I jam going on at the Dinosaur Barbeque Stage, as we spent a little time after Sean’s set getting a pod cast for Drummers Corner with Eric Blume. Thanks for the interview Eric! At the JAM, Seth Rochford was on guitar, joined by Gary Lavancher on bass, Dan "Cato" Eaton on sax and keyboards, and Dan Morrison on drums. Toni Lynn Washington's standout guitarist, Rick Russell, played a little as well as fest director Bernie Clarke.
So finally it was 9:30 and although a lot of great Blues had already gone on, more was to come with the Fabulous Thunderbirds taking the Budweiser Stage. This was a totally new crew for me, as Kim Wilson’s latest hand-picked back-up team included guitarist Johnny Moeller, guitarist Mike Keller, bassist Randy Bermudes, and drummer Jay Moeller. These guys are all young and talented, and were dead on with all the T-Bird ensemble of historical material. Kim gave the classic several minute Harp solo (or maybe it was eleven?), but most noted in my book was the flamboyant guitar playing of Johnny Moeller. Moeller reminded me of Ginger Baker as far as his wild stage presence goes (maybe it was the hair?), and his guitar playing attack was exceptional. Some one told me they played for an hour and forty minutes but I really wasn’t keeping track. It was all good but over before I knew it!
So that was Day One!
Well Day Two was a very, very, short story for us. Arriving downtown at Clinton Square in the middle of some pouring rain we found a crowd of about 100 or so die-hard Blues Fans out in front of the Budweiser Stage. The Organiks, featuring keyboard player Bruce Katz, looked out onto this group of drenched fans playing as if it was a crowd of thousands and played their hearts out! Sax man Jay Collins, drummer Randy Ciarlante, and guitarist Chris Vitarello cooked up a nice blend of covers and originals.
So after a super drenching experience trying to get some more photos, we made the executive decision to hit the highway and return home to dry land. The radar maps didn’t show too much of a sign that things might dry up any time soon. Unfortunately the executive decision was way off in terms of the weather forecast. Damn those weather Forecasters!
Thanks to our good friend James Owens who graciously provided us with photos we were able to provide some visuals for the remaining Budweiser Stage performers later that Sunday.
Enjoy!
Other Sunday Performers
Anson Funderburgh with James Harmon
Rebirth Brass Band
Jimmy Vaughan with Lou Ann Barton
Until Next Time Blues Fans!
Regards
Tony ļ
© 2008, Tony Dellaria
BluesSource.com
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