Bluesfest: Royal Southern Brotherhood

Back to Bluesfest, where there was a family get-together on the Black Sheep Stage. The two families in question are he Allmans and the Nevilles, and the band is the appropriately named Royal Southern Brotherhood. However, we're starting things off outside the family, with the considerable talents of the three members who don't have a slew of famous musical brethren.

Mike Zito handles the guitar, Charlie Wooten plays bass and drummer extraordinaire Yonrico Scott.



Charlie sings!



Mike frets!



Devon Allman has one heavy duty guitar strap.



Cyril Neville of The Meters kicks in some percussion.



Southern action!



And that's that; you can check out my Flickr account for many more Zito photos, and if you're in Florida or thereabouts you can check out his own band since he's on a bit of a mini-tour in the region.

Night of Domnation

I could have gone to several places last night, but since Loviatar were releasing their new EP last night, I headed of to the Dominion to catch them and a couple of other heavies.

First on stage were Barrow Wight, of whom I know nothing. They sounded like something of a black metal-thrash combination, and it seems they were formed as a Venom cover outfit. Unleash the spikey armbands!


Barrow Wight at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

For some reason there was some mid-set poetry about drinking at the Dom. It went over well enough ...


 Barrow Wight at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

Alaskan were their usually superheavy self, playing their first set at the legendary Dom.


Alaskan at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

The shouty bit!


Alaskan at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

And finally Loviatar rocked things out.


Loviatar at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

They wrapped things up with a cover of Queens Of The Stone Age's Regular John.


Loviatar at The Dominion Tavern, December 8, 2012

Apparently there are even more recording plans in the near future.

Bluesfest: Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

Some of my happiest music memories from Bluesfest are watching the many outstanding musical acts from Africa: Tinariwen, Amadou et Mariam, Daby Toure and sundry others. Although the stages always seemed packed to my eyes, apparently they weren't quite the draw I perceived, because this year the festival cut back on that kind of stuff. Fortunately there was still a bit of cash in the budget for Sierre Leone's Refugee Allstars.

Reuben Koroma sings!



Ashade Pearce rocks the dreads.



Time to show off some moves!



Guitar action!



Bass-lifting action from (I think) Dennis Sannoh!



And so on!



Quite entertaining!

It's a family affair

Folks are noticing that I've spending a fair bit of time documenting shows at Pressed of late. Well, there's good reason to drop in at the hipster sandwich joint, besides the excellent eats. They've provided a very welcome home for music of all strips, and it's a very nice place to see a show. Just witness last night's packed performance/record release by the Runciman siblings and their respective bands Grime Kings and Boyhood, along with Crosss.

First up, Grme Kings. When I saw them at Ottawa Explosion I thought they were mashing together a bunch of influences but hadn't quite got the formula right. They've obviously sharpened things up quite a bit (or my ears are working better), because their edge-of-chaos sonics are sounding quite a bit tastier. Their new Bruised Tongue Release is called First View Of The New. They were a quartet on this occasion.


Grime Kings at Pressed, December 6, 2012

Chandler shows some tongue.


Grime Kings at Pressed, December 6, 2012

Just like previous shows, Crosss sounded like a hypnotic combination of early Pink Floyd and The Velvet Underground. On the other hand, since mainman Andy March is making a bit more of a name for himself with his cassette label Craft Singles, at least I can put a name to him. He also seems to have settled on drummer Nathan Doucet of Yellow Jacket Avenger.
 

Crosss at Pressed, December 6, 2012

Extra points to bassist Ryan Allen for playing strapless, among other technical difficulties.


Crosss at Pressed, December 6, 2012 

Finally Boyhood finished things off with a rocking set. They added Grime King guitarist Alex for some extra firepower and sounded a bit fractured, but quite effective nonetheless.


Boyhood at Pressed, December 6, 2012

Alex frets!


Boyhood at Pressed, December 6, 2012 

A great night and a slew of fine tapes to pick up as well.

Bluesfest: James Vincent McMorrow

I got not one but two pleasant surprises on my first Bluesfest Sunday, the second being folk-singer James Vincent McMorrow. He's not particularly well known on this side of the ocean, but he's done fairly well in the U.K., his native Ireland and Europe thanks to his lovely debut album, Early In The Morning. It was composed in an isolated cottage, not unlike Bon Iver's debut, to which it's been compared.

He was performing solo, but fortunately whoever was on the River stage - Keek, I think - wasn't making such a racket to cause soundbleed problems.



There was also some piano action!



James sings! His well-known cover of Higher Love was among the tunes.



He's now recording album No. 2.

Bluesfest: Lukas Nelson

A few weeks before Bluesfest kicked off, I told myself I would have to check out Lukas Nelson, son of famous country troubadour Willie. My mind wandered in the interceding weeks, but fortunately coincidence put me in front of the stage he was playing on. He's a fiery classic rocker who gets a bit of a Latin boost from twin percussionists.

Guitar action!



Drumming action from Anthony LoGerfo!



Lukas sings! He definitely sounds a bit like his dad, too.



Basist Corey McCormick rocks the shades.



Hand-drumming atcion with Tato Melgar!



Fretful action!



Gripping action!



Faceoff action!



Back-to-back action!



Dual jumping action!



A really fine show and one of the festival's best.

Bluesfest: Jeff Rogers

Next up on the main stage, Jeff Rogers & The All Day Daddies. I knew he played around town regularly but had quite forgotten he's also performed with Silver Creek. His own combo takes a more soulful turn.

First, some Daddies: Drummer Ross Murray and bassist Vitus Paukstaitis.



Guitarist Kris Craig.



He had a few extra backup vocalists on hand as well.



The man himself!



Saxophonist Brian Asselin and trumpeter Kelly Craig bring the brass.



More guitar!



Extra Jeff!



Vitus rocks the purple.



Extra brass!



Profile action!



Since this show he's released his debut album, Let It Show.

Going country

There was a lot of good stuff to go and see on Friday night, but one can't be everywhere at once, so I traipsed through the biting cold to Mavericks to see Daniel Romano. I've enjoyed his work with Attack In Black, but have really been knocked out be his recent country albums; his Working For The Music Man was one of my favourites of 2010.

Opening was Brandon Allan, (aka Brandon Walsh) last seen on the blog playing guitar with Amalgamation.


Brandon Allan at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

He had three other folks with him, including a banjo player.


Brandon Allan at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

It's been a while since I've seen Rey Sabatin Jr. on stage Once upon a time I saw The John Henrys on a regular basis. Then Rey split for T.O. and I didn't see them again until a CD release show at Mavericks in April 2010. Now here he is again, trying his hand at the solo thing, and sounding pretty good.


Rey Sabatin Jr. at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

He was accompanied by musician-about-town Matt Ouimet on guitar and lap steel, but not drums (apparently he forgot his snare, if you trust the stage banter).


Rey Sabatin Jr. at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

Finally, Daniel Romano played a knockout set, accompanied by a trio named The Trilliums, including his brother Ian on drums. He's dressing fancy these days and sporting a bigger hat.


Daniel Romano at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

There was some fine steel accompaniment courtesy of Aaron Goldstein, who's also in Lee Harvey Osmond.


Daniel Romano at Mavericks, November 30, 2012

Good stuff from all hands.