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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2013 9:10:24 GMT -5
Tell us where you live and what's special about it.
I now live in Salem, Virginia, USA? Nestled in theBlue Ridge mountains in what is called the Roanoke Valley. Beautiful place to live with a great market area and great friendly people.
Music abounds, everything from Blues to Bluegrass.
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Post by AlanB on Dec 2, 2013 9:24:44 GMT -5
That's what I've been asking myself for years. Just where am I? smiley-laughing024
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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2013 11:05:51 GMT -5
We have a great little blues club - Blue 5
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Post by AlanB on Dec 2, 2013 11:19:40 GMT -5
On a serious note there used to be a superb blues venue in my area which played host to many UK and US blues musicians. Sadly after thirty years in 2000 the venue went the way of most things, demolished to make way for the development of "apartments". Or to use Pete Seeger's term, "little boxes made of ticky tacky. Hopefully the following will give a sense of what it was like.
LEFTY DIZZ The Onslow (Home of the Blues), Southampton 8 July, 1989
Having recently relocated to Southampton after a lifetime in London, I had resigned myself to a future of commuting to the capital to see visiting blues artists.
Someone up there must like me for, on a crawl around the city pubs, I fell into an establishment modestly proclaiming "The Onslow - Home of the Blues". "Oh yeah?", I mused cynically. You can imagine my astonishment at finding a juke box with John Lee Hooker, Larry Dale, all the Rooster 45's, a wall of vintage photos of blues bands (black and white, pun intended), album sleeves of Slim Harpo, John Hurt, Smokey Hogg (the Mike Leadbitter Ember flag waver of 1971) to name but a few. So much for my big city myopia and middle aged cynicism.
Now that I have set the scene I shall call a halt to this "what I did on my holidays" and get on with matters in hand. Following a couple of warm-up numbers by The Junkyard Angels, who had to sort out the PA which insisted on sounding like "frying eggs", Lefty Dizz took the stage. Resplendent in a white hat (and reminding me every inch of Hound Dog Taylor) he launched into a brief instrumental to get the measure of the sound system. No sooner had the Hound Dog comparison passed through my mind than Lefty threw himself into the Dog's "It's Alright" working the audience like a true professional and getting his just rewards. The invitation to "boogie some" introduced Louis Jordan's "Caldonia" and was given a barn storming Chicago treatment. The readily recognisable guitar intro to "Reconsider Baby" came next and had the crowd straining their necks to see him perform lengthy, Fulson-esque solos. Then it was time for a slice of funk in the guise of "Don't You Lie To Me" including chicken scratch playing after the fashion of Jimmy Nolen in his James Brown days. Lefty again donned the Hound Dog mantle, for a long, high energy "Talk To Your Daughter" during which he played the guitar using just the fretboard and one hand as well as taking a walk through the audience Albert Collins style. Climbing back on to the stage the opening chords of Muddy's "Mannish Boy" came forth from his guitar which had those around me going wild in recognition. Strangely, this is all we heard of the number and apparently it was his method of winding up the "Daughter" walkabout and the show.
In sum, if you want your blues to be original, thought provoking and intellect massaging, then Lefty Dizz is probably not for you. However, if yours is a good night out and have artists like J.B. Hutto or Hound Dog Taylor high on your list of favourites, then Lefty is a man to see. What he lacked in originality and finesse was compensated for in commitment and showmanship.
Finally, I do urge blues fans (and promoters) to check out The Onslow. They also produce a free news sheet called "Blues In The South" which gives a monthly rundown of what's happening in the Weymouth, Bournemouth, Southampton, Portsmouth area. It's already reached issue 31 so this is obviously no fledgling venture. Alan "Down South" Balfour (Blues & Rhythm 48 Nov 1989)
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Post by Steven B on Dec 2, 2013 11:23:27 GMT -5
Me and Allan share that characteristic.....(must be in the last name "B"?). Most of the time I don't know if I'm "washing" or "hanging out". (for the younger folks on here.....that last line has to do with getting the weekly laundry done so that all of your socks and "step ins" are clean and fresh)
For the past 30 - 35 years, I have lived in a little town known as Mt. Pleasant, NC. It is in Cabarrus County and our "claim to fame" is having the "Charlotte Motor Speedway" located up the road in Concord. We are about 35 - 40 minutes outside of Charlotte. Ain't much to say about this area. Most folks around here worked in the cotton mills or at Fieldcrest Cannon. The failing economy has most of those industries shut down now. This part of North Carolina also had some really good bluegrass pickers living in the area when I moved here. All in all.....pretty nice folks who still believe in the "old fashioned ways of life". There is still a drive-in theater located down the road in Albemarle......Randy Traywick (or Travis to you younger folks) played country music around this area before he moved to Nashville and hit it big.....the Earnhardts live up the road a piece and still have an impact on Nascar racing.....and you still have folks like the "B" family mentioned above (me and Allan) still wandering around & wondering......."where induh far am I at?"
Life is good!
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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2013 12:33:22 GMT -5
Great posts Alan and Steven.
Salem bluegrass
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