The Ultimate Juke Joint: Musings about Jay's Lounge and Cockpit , Cankton, Louisiana 1973

For my 19th Birthday in  October of 1973, my friends took me to Jay's Lounge and Cockpit to see Clifton Chenier. For a solid week before that night, my friends  had talked on and on about what we were going to see. I did not understand why they were so excited about going to a club smack dab in the middle of nowhere. I had been to many shows by that time, and scoffed at any idea that this could possibly be any cut above any I had already had seen. This was my first introduction a real Cajun Dance Hall. I walked in to find two men dancing on the dance floor with roosters in their arms.

I had seen fighting Cocks before in Biloxi, Mississippi. My father had taken me to a cockfighting pit on Christmas day in 1963. I remember that day like it was yesterday. The building was a round wooden building with backless theater seats encircling the pit. Everything was painted stark white.The whiteness of the arena seemed to accentuate the splattering of the blood. I don't recall being grossed out by it. I was interested in which cock would win, hoping Daddy would win his bets. He won big and stopped on the way back to  Jack Rodriguez's  house to buy whiskey, snacks, and cold drinks for my brother and I. We were Jack's guests for Christmas that year.  Even though I was a girl, my Daddy never sheltered me from much. He was a beatnick of sorts, and a piano player as well, who played gigs in New Orleans.

Just the same, I was amazed to see the two men dancing with these two roosters, with RAZORS hanging off their spurs!  I was astonished but excited.

I walked back to see the pit. It was wild in there, and very hot. I stayed about 5 minutes.The scene at Jay's was not as civilized as the pit in Biloxi was. It was loud and crowded in there.

I had a cane with me that night. It belonged to my boyfriend Reinaldo. It was a carved ebony cane. Over the next few months I went to Jay's quite often with that cane and danced to Clifton Chenier's band. Reinaldo's hand was broken and he was unable to use the cane at the time, so he gave it to me to use "as protection." I never quite understood why he wanted me to carry it, but it seemed to be a cool thing to do. The cane was a fascinating object, designed to be adored and fawned over. I loved carrying it. It was festooned with a carved man's head. Reinaldo had affectionately named the little man "Voo."


Clifton's band was the best dance band that I HAVE EVER SEEN. There is no way that one could be there and not get up and dance all night long. Clifton played a piano accordion, while Cleveland played a custom  frattoire  made by Willie Landry. The wives of the band members sat  at a table up to the right of the stage. I was aware at that time that that was the first time I had ever been in an establishment where both whites AND blacks were in attendance.

I was uninterested in who else was in the band at the time because I was too busy chasing boys and dancing. There were many people who played with Clifton over the years and I am sure I saw them all. Three others I know about are Wayne Blue Burns, Paul Lil' Buck Senegal, and Sonny Landreth. (I can't recall any names of anyone else, and since I am writing from personal experience here, I don't wish to research any of it.) 

Years went by. I would catch Clifton's Red Hot Louisiana Band at various locations: Cahoots in BR, Rock N Bowl: NOLA, Tipitina's in NOLA and at festivals. It always was the best Zydeco Blues, hands down.The band would play three songs. Then Clifton would get up and  play for 3 and a half hours. He would then leave the stage and the band  would play three more. It was always four hours of solid dance music.

At Festival Acadiene in 1987, I was standing in the middle of the grass about 50 yards back from the stage next to the water faucet. Clifton and Cleveland Chenier walked over to where I was and Cleveland said to me, "We have not seen you in a while. Where's your "stick?"

I was astonished that he would remember the carved ebony cane and me. Of course, I had to tell Cleveland that the "stick" was not mine and I had given it back to the man who owned it.  It had been loaned to me by Reinaldo Barnes, its' superstitious owner who had a personal belief that the cane would protect me from evil.  The cane had mysterious origins. Reinaldo had acquired the cane when he was in the Navy by winning a game of bourre.' After having the cane with me for 8 months, Reinaldo's hand healed and he asked me to return it. I was honored to have had it in my presence for those 8 months, and returned "Voo" to him.

They both shook my hand, expressing how good it was that I was there to see their show. They then walked onto the stage, where they proceeded  to  put on a killer show. That was the last time I got to see Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band.

Patty Fuller McGehee

Eric Lindell at Ruby's Roadhouse - Jan 21, 2011

Last Year I bought Eric Lindell's limited edition silk screened covered  LP  titled "Between Motion and Rest"  after his gig at The Rock N Bowl. It was an impulse buy. I am glad I bought it. A CD was tucked inside the custom cover. I had just seen his show and really enjoyed the  live performance. I played it for a while quite a bit and then decided that I really loved to hear him sing live rather than on CD. He has a certain voice quality and voice inflection that I don't feel gets across on recordings. I feel this way about Willie Nelson, too. I don't care much for  Willie's recordings, but I love to hear him sing live. My husband Dan says I am too picky about voices. He rarely learns lyrics, never figures out what a song is about, and goes by what he calls, "how a song feels."  I take in the little things, the nuance of the voice and instrumentation, the lyrics and meaning, and of course, then I take in the overall "feel."


Eric's voice is sugar laden and filled with emotion and passion. It has that quality that melts a woman's heart, yet has that "bite" of authentic quality Blues. The lyrics are sweet, love stories, phrased with whit. They reflect a lot of feeling and well thought out ideas about love situations, a recurring theme in his lyrics.

I have a very casual acquaintance with Saxophonist Derek Huston. I send him photos and he sends me one or two sentence  responses. I have noticed over the years that he shows up on stage in so many surprising places. Derek fascinates me because he is one of the rare people to play a Baritone saxophone. I have seen him perform with so may people, in so many genres, that it is mind boggling. When he showed  up with Lil' band of Gold last year, I realized what others thought of him. It was a nice affirmation to see him on stage with LBG. It meant that my take on his prowess as a performer was right on target. Derek is a very successful free lancer.


Derek asked me to come see the show at Ruby's roadhouse in Mandeville, Louisiana, and made it possible for me to do so. I was both honored and excited. Ruby's is one of my favorite Juke Joints. It is built out of  Cypress wood  and it has incredible acoustics. Owner Fred Holland makes sure his sound system is in tip top shape and has a qualified sound man. There is a well worn  wooden dance floor.  There is a patio out back for smokers, but most people keep smoking inside for some asinine reason.

We got there just as Derek came in and we visited for a bit.  Derek went about setting up while I had Eric Lindell autograph the  "Between Motion and Rest" LP. Dan and I kicked back on the pool table to watch the set up. Derek came over to show off his newest Saxophone to me. It was a new for him circa 1961 MK VI  Selmer Baritone saxophone. He showed me that it had a special extra low note that other saxophone do not have. I marveled over its' intricate etched designs.  He told us a charming story about how he had acquired it. I wanted to know all about the weight of it and how  he felt physically after the shows. It weighed about 25 pounds! He talked about  the ins and out of gigging with a 25 pound instrument. He mentioned  shoulder pain and  some of the problems he encounters trying to keep his breath in smoke filled venues.

Derek Huston By Patty McGehee

Derek went off to finish setting up and we waited making small talk with people nearby. The show started and I left Dan at the pool table seat to go take the show in from right in front of Derek. Eric was facing that way also, so it was easier to catch a photo from the right of the stage.

Eric plays a sold groove on his guitar using mostly  rhythm style licks interspersed with a few leads to emphasize his groove. I found it hard to discern if he was playing rhythm, lead, or a combination. I decided on the latter. His rhythm is all his own, phrased in a way to compliment his sexy vocals. The groove is infectious, solid, and addicting. Derek's saxophone subs in to fill any void that any overt lead guitar would fill.

I found myself trying to figure out what genre he belonged in. It is definitely Rhythm and blues, with a hell bent hard core Blues edge to it. As the show went on, it seemed that Eric went out on a limb and started adding more and more  lead guitar in there as if he started out afraid to show that he CAN play some solid licks of lead guitar. His voice mesmerizes me. I love the  emotional inflections of his voice. He pulled out a harmonica and wowed me with that. Backing him up was a sold drummer, Will McMains, upright double bass player Myles Weeks, and of course the wonderful saxophone playing of Derek Huston.
The crowd was all wound up dancing and hooting and hollering. They enjoyed the band very much.

Eric Lindell by Patty McGehee

As the night went on, Dan and I were dancing a bit.
Eric moved from one song to the next without a lull for the introduction of the songs, not leaving time for the crowd to show their appreciation.I found this a bit awkward. At one point Eric was having trouble with his amp but he did not let it un-nerve him. The band kept up the groove until it was fixed, minus his wah wah pedal.

Eric Lindell By Patty McGehee

 Eric Lindell taken by Patty McGehee

Eric Lindell picks up band members at whim, so he may show up for a show with completely different musicians on board than the last show you may have seen him with, but he has a knack of selecting professional seasoned musicians that know the New Orleans groove very well. I have seen him with completely different bands every time I have seen him. It was a fine night and we enjoyed talking to Fred Holland, owner of Ruby's Roadhouse after the show as well as Derek.

Myles Weeks by Patty McGehee

Derek Huston and Patty McGehee

Patty McGehee and Eric Lindell

Will McMains on drums & Derek Huston by Patty McGehee

Patty hugs Fred Holland, Owner of Ruby's Roadhouse

From the archives- April 27th, 2009

The Following blog is about Eric Lindell and Zachary Richard. Since I am headed out tonight to see him at Ruby's Roadhouse, I thought it would be good to see this again: 
Starting on Monday the 27th of April, 2009l: I exited work in LaPlace at 2:10 headed towards NOLA. I waited for 40 minutes at Home Depot for Dan to meet me and he did not show up. We had crossed communication wires and I left without him knowing we would argue about it later. At 2:55 I drove off toward NOLA (I winced at the thought but made a decision to go anyway because I LOVE ZACARY RICHARD'S MUSIC!) I drove into the Quarter and parked at One Canal Place headed over to Louisiana Music Factory. I walked up to the place about 3:30 to catch the in store shows. On that day they had Eric Lindell playing followed by Zachary Richard.
Eric Lindell's band was up and the crowd was thick. At first I was disappointed that the Jazz fest out of towners were there crowding the place out, but they were very nice and they turned out to be very gracious co-lovers of music and I forgave their presence when I saw how allowing they were of other people's wants to get in or get out of the place. The only negative I saw was that some had brought beer into the place and had spilled it on the floor-hopefully not on the merchandise. I probably was one of the only locals there except for one annoying "lady of the evening" that shows up frequently at live music shows trying to "date" men she seems to think are high rollers.  Well she is obnoxious and rubs me the wrong way, dancing up to men and flipping her hair around and such. She got right in front of me and flipped her hair into my face twice. She kept bumping and grinding  trying to catch the attention of a man next to me with lots of gold jewelry on. I reached my hand out and grabbed her hair gently, got up to her ear, and said, "Don't  do that to me again."  She was very much intimidated and went away from where I was, thankfully.
I was then able to get into the show. Eric Lindell's band was tight and knocked me out with that song "Lay Back Down." It's the kind of love song that hit home and made me cry over past love lost (probably 37 years ago now) when I walked out of a relationship that was going just like that one in the lyrics of that song!  It is a killer Rhythm and Blues love song of a very intimate sort, like you are right there in bed with the couple as they argue.  I was standing in a crowd of about 150 people and some lady handed me a tissue.
When they exited the stage I spent the minutes waiting for Zachary Richard to get on stage composing myself. I was thinking, "Thank God there are all tourists and they probably won't see me ever again." Then the man next to me with the gold jewelry said," I wouldn't cry over that whore if I were you." I started laughing hysterically trying to explain to him that it was the song "Lay Back Down" that made me cry.
He started laughing too and we exchanged names and hometowns and in a few minutes I was telling everyone around me where to get a good meal, which clubs and shows that night were best bets, and all about free things to do in the Quarter.


I was really enjoying myself and Zachary Richard got on stage and of course by then I had wiggled right front and center as I always manage to do at music shows. He was with David Torkinosky on piano. He started with "Dance" and sang the first five cuts on his new album Last Kiss. It was a special set and it was stunningly beautiful poetry type music. I especially love his song about the Purple Martin couple living in a tree on the banks of Du Lac de Bijou (Lake Jewel.) It is sung in French and it is a simple song about watching two birds raise their young in a tree over many years. Most of crowd had come to NOLA to see a different type of music and were stunned and excited  after the show. I heard someone  say, "Wow. At first I thought, oh no, a stupid folkie...Man he IS good!"


I slipped out to get fresh air and a swoosh of cool breeze. It was hot in there. I drove home playing Last Kiss on the CD player. It was a special hour and a half. I went home to face the music about the missed communication about what time to meet with Dan. We had a brief argument, (YOU said 3:15-No I said 2:15 type of argument that went back and forth for a short while ) I apologized profusely for leaving without him, cooked dinner and Dan relaxed once he ate. If I had waited until 3:15 when he came to LaPlace, I would have missed the show all except maybe 15 minutes of Zack. I felt badly that that I had felt the need to leave without him, but I really enjoyed the experience I had seeing the music. Dan is really a sweet guy. He quickly forgave me and within a few minutes we were laughing and planning our next musical adventure after I assured him that we would try harder to plan out our timing.

For weeknd Jan 21-22nd : My picks of the best possible shows

Friday Jan 21 -  Ruby's Roadhouse- Mandeville La -Eric Lindel cover $8.00
                        Chelsea's - Baton Rouge - Anders Osborne
                        The Blue Moon Saloon  - Lafayette  -  Pine Leaf Boys Grammy send off
                        Topela - Hammond La - Patrick Catania - free show for a drink 7:00
Sat   Jan 22       Rivershack - NOLA - Big Al and the Heavyweights
                        The Blue Moon - Lafayette - Chubby Carrier  Grammy send off party
                        Ruby's Roadhouse - Mandeville La- Beausoleil
                        The Kerry - NOLA - Wilson and Moore-early show Invisible Cowboy
                                                           later show   free show for a drink 
                        The Shed- Hattiesburg Ms - Buddy Flett - show for food purchase
                                                           barely adequate quality barbecue
                                                           great sound system

The Birth of Juke Joint Junkie

Dear fellow music fanatics: I felt that my reviews needed a home of their own.What follows behind this are reviews out of order from the past which were transferred in from where they were originally posted.I am sorry they appear out of order, but trying to arrange them in order was a nightmare, so I copied  them in a way that I felt was not too confusing.  After this,  they will post in the order that I write them and will be in the archive by month. 
If a review about you is missing here and would like it moved from My Space, I will do it for you. Just shoot me an e mail request at pfmcgehee@charter.net and I will take the time to move it.
Your friend in music,
Patty

 Patty McGehee's Review of 2 CD's 
 By Ernest James Zydeco

by Patty McGehee on Monday, January 10, 2011

Normally I go to live shows, take photos, meet the performers, hang out with them and then write. This situation is different. I was searching for videos to use in my classes that I teach and ran across a promo for Ernest James Zydeco on Valcour records web site. What caught my eye was, this is NOT a Valcour release, and Ernest James is from Oakland California, now living in, get this, Kansas City, Missouri!

So, I click on a demo and I was pleasantly surprised. I read a bit and find the connection: Ernest James' father is from Pineville Louisiana. So, after listening to two cuts, I decided he would be an interesting person to connect with, and maybe he would like my reviews, so I zip him a friend invite on FB, thinking, what the hey, maybe he will dig the up close look at Louisiana juke joints that my writings and photos portray.

So a couple of days later, Ernest befriends me and sends me a question: Would I listen to  his CD's and write a review of them? This was interesting, to say the least. I warned him that I would have to be honest about what I thought. However, I have always focused on the ethereal nature of the live show, the quest for the perfect show, the search for that rare musical moment, that...that ...Bix Beiderbecke moment....

Now, for those of you that don't know who Bix was, let me give you a very short music history lesson. Bix was a cornet  player that was cursed with the idea that if he could just practice more and more and more, eventually he would finally find that elusive moment where he would play the perfect cornet  solo that out shined more any other cornet solos. Bix  burned himself out with his obsession with perfection. In his frustration, he  became an alcoholic trying to drown out the reality that the ethereal nature of what he was trying to do did not exist.

He was  famous for  playing with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra in the 1920's and in several other famous Orchestras. He was thrown out of several because he had a tendency to "showboat" unexpectedly without following  the orchestra leader's  arrangements. The audience LOVED  him. In 1929 He died of alcoholic seizure and  edema on the brain.

Well, here I was, trying to decide, should I write a review on a CD, a non live performance? How would I go about writing about a CD, a form of music that is NOT ethereal in nature, but fixed and unchanging?

Ernest said he would mail me the CD's and before I realized what was happening, three days later, two CD's arrived on my doorstep. I opened the seals with trepidation. A Zydeco performer  from Oakland California? Mmmmm. Could I review them unbiased? I had been to see the real thing many times. All those shows out at Jay's Lounge in 1973 to see Clifton Chenier rang in my memory. Boozoo Chevais, Beau Joucque, Chubby Carrier, Corey Ledet, Lil' Nathan, Buckwheat (Stanley Durel), Keith Frank, Terrance Simien,  Ken Hebert, Roddy Romero, Dwayne Dopsie, Rockin' Dopsie,  and Joe Brown...could Ernest hold a candle to them? Not to mention, my own Father, Clarence C.F. Whitey Fuller who was known to pick up and play the accordion back in the 1950's on our porch, playing for hours and attracting the attention of all the neighbors up to a block away.

I took the CD's into the car, I listened to them non stop for four days. I found the two discs very pleasing. Then I just HAD TO  call Ernest James upon the phone. We had a delightful 45 minute conversation about it all: his gigs, his life, his influences,his growing up experience in Oakland California which involved hanging out with some street musicians playing in drum circles, and all about the Kansas City music scene, which seems to be very fulfilling to him. There were many parallels in our lives when it came to some of our experiences wandering around in the city as teenagers. He was in Oakland, and I was in New Orleans 20 years before him, running around the French Quarter and in the Uptown clubs with a fake ID listening to live music. I asked him if he had ever come down to Louisiana and get to know some of the Zydeco performers and he mentioned one trip he had made and wound up in a Jam session with Amede Ardoin's band members. How wonderful, I thought! Yes, he had met the real deal, up front and in person!

Now for the review: The first CD, released in 2009, titled "Jubilee" is my favorite of the two. There was an undercurrent of the Zydeco Blues, which, of course knocks me out. But, while very much schooled in the standard Zydeco styled accordion riffs, Ernest writes lyrics that reflect his world. On "Thought about Venus,"  he writes a love song about camping and star gazing with a woman named Jessie James, ( who I guessed is probably his wife,)  who pushes him to do things he normally he would not do, like swim in the river, which I believe, is just a metaphor for opening himself up to new things that she leads him to. It is a wonderful love song revealing that he had to learn to trust her lead.

"My Little Josephine" is a funky little song that taps back into the Beatnik Jazz/Blues  groove of the 1950's. It is very clever and is a fresh new take on that era. I love it immensely. I found myself hitting replay on that song several times every time it played. The previous song on the disc, "My little 'Hosephine, the same song done in a different style was not as pleasing to me. Ernest sings using Creole Patois on part and then lapses into regular Californian dialect in other parts, which spoils it for me. One way or the other, Ernest, I thought. Creole Patois, or Californian. Make up your mind.
My guess is that Ernest was so emotionally attached to both versions he could not chose just one of the two for the disc, so put them both on, kind of  like having twins and knowing you love them both. It is impossible to choose one over the other.

Then there are the hardcore Zydeco songs most of which are found on the CD released in 2010 named " Roots Rocket Radio." Zydeco Festival, and Mama's in the Kitchen,  are two of my favorite cuts here. The lyrics on Honey Zydeco, "Licking honey off a razor's edge"  really get to me! It epitomizes  loving a person that you KNOW is bad for you. You know, that kind of moth to the flame kind of love? It is all wonderful, music in synch and lyrics that knock me out. Beautiful.

Throughout the two CD's runs a tiny musical thread that can be picked up now and then that reflects Ernest's Oakland California influence. He weaves it in unexpectedly. He claims not to see that influence at all. But, I catch it in the guitar licks that slip in from time to time. In some places a cool slide guitar seeps in.

There are some repeats of songs that appear on the same disc, which Ernest calls "Dub" versions. They are the same songs altered with sound effects that distort the songs. For those of you who like that type of musical experimentation, they will be a treat. For my interests, I prefer natural musical notes without distortion. However,  I revel in the IDEA that Ernest has the nerve to experiment this way and push the envelope. The undercurrent of Blues is pleasing.

On the second disc, "Roots Rocket Radio," Ernest fools around with a joke theme in between songs about an alien space ship that lands and abducts the band in the end. On first listen, it seemed silly. In retrospect, it lies within Zydeco guidelines, for every Zydeco performer I have seen has their joking moments during their show where they lighten things up. Case in point: During Chubby Carrier's show, they  circle the club with a bottle of Hot Sauce and get people to take drops of it on their tongue.

What I found was two solid CD's of well written songs, pushing the Zydeco envelope, opening up my reality: Zydeco is really an art form that can be woven into and OUT OF  Louisiana.

May 21,2010 
Part One:Aftermath of April shows, A Sampler of Louisiana Music

by Patty McGehee

I may not have stated it outright in my blogs, but I just don't go to the NOLA Jazz Fest anymore. It is not that I think it is not worthy, but I have strong feelings about artists not having enough stage time to do full sets. (Also, I like indoor bathrooms, air condition, cold drinks, and do not fare well in extreme heat.)

On April 21st, I was over at The Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette gearing up for the shows I had planed on seeing and I was discussing said Jazz fest with Roddie Romero and Eric Adcock. They asked me what my Jazz Fest plans were. It was around 5:00 and they were hanging around during set up of Lil' Band Of Gold's show that night with the Bobby Charles tribute lineup. I expressed my opinion to Eric that artists at Jazz Fest did not have enough time to "get in the pocket, you know, like that song you recorded with Chubby says..." and Eric jumped on that. "We are ALWAYS in the pocket after a minute at OUR shows, " said Eric, and Roddie said the same thing. I have to agree, at the start of their shows THEY are in the pocket right away, but alas, many other bands have to warm up to the crowd, get into a groove, and then they gell...Some times that does not happen in the heat at Jazz Fest, in the rain, in the crowds, in the confusion...And before the magic gets to groove, many sets are over....And the band was just getting started.

Our plans were for Dan and I to start out in Chico State Park on April 18th to see The Lost Bayou Ramblers and Lil' Band of Gold. Annette would arrive Tuesday and we would go see the Bobby Charles Tribute show with Lil' Band of Gold at the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette on the 21st, see the same show at Chicke Wah Wah in NOLA on Thursday the 22nd, Anders Osborne and Eric Lindell at The Rock N Bowl in NOLA Friday the 23rd, Saturday go to The Baton Rouge Blues Festival to see Toney Joe White or Festival Internationale in Lafayette and to the Blue Moon Saloon to see Cedric Watson, Sunday go see Sonny Landreth and Tab Benoit with La LeRoux, and Jimmy Hall at The Rock and Bowl NOLA, and Monday go to the French Quarter to Louisiana Music Factory to see Little Freddie King, Zachary Richard, and Big Sam's Funky Nation.

Then when Annette went home, Dan and I would continue our quest by seeing The North Mississippi Allstars at the Varsity in Baton Rouge on the 28th, and Lil' Band of Gold's Tribute to Bobby Charles show again at the Parish in NOLA after catching them at Louisiana Music Factory earlier that evening. Plans were to catch Lil' Buck Sinegal and CC Adcock at Chickie Wah Wah's Friday the 30th, but exhaustion set in and we called it quits.

Highlights:

Sunday, 4/18/10 at Dewey Balfa's Cajun Heritage Workshop dance at Chico State Park ( In a big top tent with a wooden dance floor)
The weather was cool and a bit misty. We drove over leaving at 2:30 in the afternoon and after some trouble finding the park we settled in with just enough time to catch The Lost Bayou Ramblers. Very Old school Cajun music with lots of waltzes to dance the Two step to and all of it was sweet and sung in French. Great stuff. Lots of people were Two Steppin' and waltzing on the big wooden dance floor.
Lil' Band of Gold was minus bass player Dave Ranson and Steve Riley, but it was fantastic anyway. Warren Storm's voice was clear and strong. He knocked me out singing that song "I don't wanna know... " written by Bobby Charles. Because of not having the bass, it made CC's guitar more pronounced which was a treat for me.
It was a show worthy of making a three hour drive for. We got home at midnight.  





Tuesday: 4/20/10 I swooped up Annette from the airport in NOLA and we went back to Ponchatoula picking up two flats of fresh Strawberries for the freezer. While I stemmed and washed them, Annette packed them in bags for the freezer. We plotted our music extravaganza for the week to come chatting about it while working.

Wednesday: 4/21/10 Lil' Band of Gold 's Tribute to Bobby Charles show at The Blue Moon Saloon.
Annette, Dan, and I got into Lafayette around 5:00 and went to the Moon to get tickets and wound up hanging out at The Blue Moon with Roddie and Eric for a while. We went to get dinner and returned to get a place up front. Everyone was there that mattered. This was an old fashioned Musician's Wake for their dear friend Bobby Charles. Those that attended to mourn and play in his honor included: Sonny Landreth, Bobby McClain. Warren Storm, Eric Adcock, CC Adcock, Steve Riley, Dave Ranson, Derek Huston, Pat Breaux, Drew Landry, Dickie Landry, Dave Egan, Roddie Romero, and a steel pedal guitar player. 

Huge copy of the Bobby Charles Guidry 45 titled "See ya later, Alligator"  by Patty McGehee

Drew Landry, Eric Adcock,  and Dave Egan wrote a wonderful song during Bobby's actual wake and Drew sang it, clutching in his hand a copy of the lyrics. To me, that was a highlight of the show. He looked nervous but put on an excellent performance. I was right in front to him and I had a keen sense of his stage fright. That endeared him to me all the more. The show went on and on playing a long list of recognizable famous songs that Bobby wrote, ending with "See Ya Later Alligator..." Lil' Band of Gold stayed put to encore with several of their songs, my favorite that night was "Spoon bread." Tommy McClain is wonderful. Derek Huston's addition to the Sax triplets was astonishingly good. Sonny Landreth excellent, but for some reason, it did not seem to fit in well with the Swamp Pop Groove. He started early, played a few, and went home...I suppose he needed to get rested up for the shows he had scheduled ahead. His playing seemed to get everyone warmed up and ready to go...  

 Drew singing "Ain't worryin' no more" song written by Him, Dave Egan and Eric Adcock
 by Patty McGehee

 Pat Breaux and Derek Huston by Patty McGehee

CC Adcock,  Sonny Landreth, and Steve Riley by Patty McGehee

Thursday: 4/22/10 Lil' Band of Gold 's Tribute to Bobby Charles show at Chickie Wah Wah's NOLA.

This was a stellar show showcasing some of the wonderful songs Bobby Charles wrote. My favorite song was "The Last Hayride," a song written by CC Adcock and Jimmy Macdonnel which comments on Louisiana's political past.
Annette and I met some of Warren Storm's family members and we got to talk to Pat Breaux and other band members. It was kinda like being at a private party, because the attendee's were a lot of Lafayette friends and family that had driven over just for this show. Toward's the end, I ran out of physical steam and had to go sit outside on a bench to rest. I was astonished to see that the music from there was heard just perfectly. I did not miss a thing being there instead of inside. The door was wide open and I could actually see the stage from there. After the show was over, we hung around on the sidewalk visiting with Warren Storm's daughter and family. It was a great night.  

Warren Storm -Dave Egan in back by Patty McGehee

By Dan McGehee    -Annette, Dawn, and Patty

Steve Riley by Patty McGehee



Friday: 4/23/10  
Anders Osborne and Eric Lindell at the Rock N Bowl NOLA.

Anders blew us away with his set of hard driving rock. Minus a bass player, the organist filled in with a bass line on the organ. Anders played powerful guitar and Stanton Moore banged the drums in his hypnotic way. It was a stellar, unpredicted performance. I did not expect it to be so powerful and hard driven.

Eric Lindell held his own, but it was a different type of groove. The highlight was hearing him sing several love songs, which I really like about him. I think his voice quality is not carried over to disc. I only like to hear him live, for some reason, where I can hear a certain whine in his voice that does not seem to record well. I love that song "Lay back down" and he did not disappoint me. Derek Huston had his baritone Sax there and I love hearing him play.
When they left the stage, we three decided that we had "had it." We needed rest. We got back in to Ponchatoula at 2:30 a. m. If we had stayed to see Kermit Ruffins it would have been four am.  

 Derek Huston with Eric Lindel
 Photo by Patty McGehee

Anders Osborne 
Photo by Patty McGehee

Saturday: 4/24/10 Festival Internationale and Cedric Watson at The Blue Moon Saloon Lafayette.

Sat morn, I got a call from my mother. She had a fainting spell and I had to check on her. I offered to take her to the emergency room and she let it pass and wanted to go to the store instead. I took her, so we got a late start. We were going to go to The Baton Rouge Blues Festival to catch Tony Joe White, but by the time I finished with mother, we had missed who we wanted to go see, so we changed our plans.
Leaving at 3:00 we drove over to Lafayette and walked around the Festival Internationale grounds stopping to see The International Fiddle Summit. That was a sweet 30 minutes. But the rest of the Festival was a bust. We were there right in the middle of a hip hop genre. Not our style of music, I must say. We went to the crafts booths in a rock parking lot that hurt my feet badly. It was hot and windy and uncomfortable. We slipped off to get some food. We arrived at The Moon around 8:00 to see Cedric Watson. It was a long wait to see him. He brought with him Morikeba Kouyate, a gentleman from Senegal that played a homemade instrument called a Kora. It was fun, but we were exhausted and were expecting Cedric to play his show. Instead, it became a jam with the African. Cedric was excited about it. I respected that, but were were a bit disappointed. At the time, all of the songs sounded the same. (Maybe, is possible that  it  was because they were recording and probably actually played the same songs more than once get  good recordings???) This set became part of the CD Creole Moon: Live from The Blue Moon on Valcour records! We decided at 12:00 to slip out and drive back to Poncahtoula, arriving home at 1:45 am thoroughly exhausted.

Cedric Watson
 Photo by Patty McGehee

 Photo by Patty McGehee

 The Kora up close
 Photo by Patty McGehee

Morikeba Kouyate - photo by Patty McGehee

 Jimmy Hall from Wet Willie
 Photo by Patty McGehee

Photo By Patty McGehee   
Jimmy Hall and Leon Medica
 



Sunday: 4/25/10  
Sonny Landreth, Tab Benoit with Jimmy Hall and Louisiana LeRoux at 
The Rock N Bowl NOLA
 
We all slept in and rested off and on all day, recharging our batteries. We got down to the Rock N Bowl with little wiggle room. Sonny put on a great show playing new music that was wonderful. It was a little short of what he usually does, and I was disappointed he did not play "Congo Square." It was all excellent quality.

Tab came on with LeRoux backing up. It became clear that this was not going to be a "Tab" show, but Tab was sitting in with Le Roux. I was a bit disappointed. This set was a bit strange in the middle of the Louisiana stuff we had been on a quest for. Le Roux plays 70's Pop, Really GOOD 70's POP. But it did not seem to fit, in a way after watching so many Swamp Pop shows back to back. Their vocals are amazing. Jimmy Hall came out and played " Invitation to the Blues," which knocked me out. I am a rabid Jimmy Hall fan and I was in live music heaven at this point.It was wonderful. Then it got ugly...Rowdy fans piled in there and two young women decided that they were going to push me around and try to make me retreat so they could take my place up front. I would not allow it. They kept trying to get in between me and Dan. I put up with it through Jimmy's performance and Le Roux playing their famous "New Orleans' Ladies" and then I threw in the towel leaving Dan to fend for himself. I retreated  to sit down. But, two of my old rail hugger friends up front  assured me that they were not going to allow them up there just to spite them. Truth is, if they had been polite and had asked me, I would have let them in front of me. The sound was very loud,  and anyway,  I was having pain in my right ear due to fluid in it. I retreated to across the room and found a seat for the remainder of the set.

Monday: 4/26/10  
Louisiana Music Factory Decatur Street, NOLA, The Kerry Irish Pub Decatur Street NOLA
Annette and I got up late and rested taking a nap or two, and left the house at 2:00 to get to LMF at to see Zachary Richard. We got there in enough time to see Little Freddie King and Zachary Richard. Zachary's show was beautiful. The highlight was the piano played by David Torkanowsky. He played underneath a picture of Professor Longhair. How befitting. It reminded me of my Daddy's honky tonk New Orleans style of piano playing. It made me miss Daddy. 

 Zack sings at
 Louisiana Music Factory
 Photo by Patty McGehee

David Torkanowsky 
Photo by Patty McGehee


 













When that was over we walked down to Jackson Square and back stopping at The Kerry to eat boiled crawfish and listen to Foot and Friends play Americana music. It was a fun time. We watched a whole set, hob knobbing with the musicians after wards. Annette had a blast. We went back to LMF to catch Big Sam's Funky Nation, a fun, spirited set. 

Chasing the burn of Cayenne from boiled crawfish is
writer Annette Davol and Patty McGehee,
At The Kerry Irish Pub (NOLA) watching
Foot and Friends,
who play Americana style music

Annette meets the band at The Kerry 
Photo by Patty McGehee

Part Two-Wed, April 28th, 2010. North Mississippi Allstars, Lil' Band of Gold Louisiana Music Factory music store  4/29/10

by Patty McGehee on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 8:31pm

Wednesday April 28th, 2010: North Mississippi Allstars (Sorry - not all music in La. is played by locals!)

On Tuesday, I drove Annette to the airport. I was sad to see her go, but I did need a rest and spent the rest of the day in bed . On Wednesday evening, we drove over to Baton Rouge to See the North Mississippi Allstars. Larry, Dan, and I went early in order to eat at The Chimes. We were hanging out and Chris Chew walked in and sat next to us. He was eating healthy stuff. A huge plate of steamed broccoli was sitting there next to him and we kept glancing over at him eating! WE made small talk and Larry HAD to tell Chris hello. Of course Larry had to ask him about 20 questions. We talked a bit to him and I asked if I could get a photo with him. He said yes and got up. Dan snapped our picture and Chris gave me a big wet kiss on the cheek and a gentle hug. That tickled me. It was my 31st Wedding Anniversary and Larry treated us to dinner as a gift.

We went next door and waited for the doors to open at The Varsity. We got a table on the middle level right in front. We chatted and talked for quite a while. The place filled up and a band from Memphis played first. They were OK, BUT, I was wanting to hear Luther Dickinson.

Luther came out The night went on and it became apparent that the show was going to be one big Jam session. I never felt that they got "in the pocket." They took a break and Cody Dickinson came out with the electric washboard and it got interesting. After the 20 minutes or so of his psychedelic rub board, I felt a bit better about the set. Chris Chew did play some solid bass, I have to say that. I was back and forth getting photos and the camera would not work well. I was getting disgusted with it.

The fact that they were jamming kept them from getting into the grooves they have played the last 6 times I have seen them. It seemed to me that Luther was just in the mood to play what he wanted at whim, not follow any set list or plan. It was so disorganized that I felt that the music was not worth the torture of cigarette smoke.

I spent the last 30 minutes out in front of The Varsity, directing from the ground, a guy putting letters up on the Marquee. He was looking at them from above and upside down. We became fast friends because he needed my help. When a transient man came up and started to hassle me, he told him from above, "Hey, you move on and leave my girlfriend alone," and when the transient went on in disbelief, we both cracked up laughing, me 55 years old and this kid of about 20 pretending to be my boyfriend. I told him, "You should have told him to leave my mama alone!" He said, "I didn't think of that."

I went across the street and sat in the car with the doors locked and Dan and Larry finally came out. They seemed to be in the same frame of mind as me about the show. NOT what we expected. Disappointed. While there were some good moments of Luther's prowess on the guitar, Chris' solid bass lines, and Cody's wash board psychedelia, it was not what we had come to hear. While each performer has the licks, they had not meshed to showcase them.
Patty and Chris Chew 

Cody Dickinson and his Psychedelic washboard by Patty McGehee

Thursday, April 29th, 2010. Shannon McNally and Lil' Band Of Gold at Louisiana Music Factory, and Lil' Band Of Gold Tribute to Bobby Charles at The Parish, Decatur Street, NOLA.

I rested quite a bit Thursday during the day and we left out of Ponchatoula with enough time to run down Decatur street to get our Will Call Tickets at the ticket booth in time to catch Shannon McNally at LMF. As we stepped off the street in front of the House Of  Blues, CC Adcock stepped out of the service alley with enough time to give me a quick hug and a to shake Dan's hand. He was bustling to get set up for the show and he seemed to be all excited and energized.

Shannon and her band put on a good set. I enjoyed her singing a lot. When the crowd left out, we jockeyed for a position and I managed to get to the right in front of Dave Egan on the piano.

This was an all Lil' Band of Gold set, not the tribute. It was wonderful. The band played several of their best songs and Warren Storm's voice knocked me out. David was under the Fess Poster and I felt the desire to compare a him to my favorite piano players at that moment. My Daddy (C. F. Whitey Fuller), Fess, James Booker, David Torkanowsky, Marcia Ball, Earl Scioneaux III, Sherman Bernard, Eric Adcock, and Dr. John all come to mind. But David Egan was holding his own and he sang his theme song, "I am a dreamer." I LOVE THAT SONG!!!

CC was having a great time and he was joking and having a ball. At the end they played "Spoon bread." It was incredible. Warren came down and shook my hand, David kissed me on the cheek, and we slipped off to find dinner before the next show at The Parish.

CC Adcock, Steve Riley, and Tommy McClain
photo by Patty McGehee

 David Egan
 Photo by Patty McGehee

 Warren Storm
 Photo by Patty McGehee

CC, Steve, Tommy
Photo by Patty McGehee

Dan and I wandered around the French Quarter and found a romantic place to eat. I got Shrimp Scampi and Dan got fish. It was very good and we were having a wonderful romantic moment. We wandered back to The Parish along Decatur Street. The night was perfectly cool and a slight breeze was making it very comfortable to be out on the street.The people on the street were pleasant and jovial. We wandered back just in time for the show to start...

Part Three: The Parish-tribute to Bobby Charles with Lil' Band Of Gold and Special Guests

by Patty McGehee on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 2:42pm

When we got back to HOB, the place was packed and we walked in with enough time for me to go to the Lady's room and BAM, they were up. No way to get up front all of the way. My cousin runs the sound board there and he said I was in the right place for the sound. I was standing in the "sweet spot," as the music techs call it.

LBG was AMAZING! Robert Plant did not materialize, but Elvis Costello was great, but NOT as great as WARREN! Dr JOHN was there but that just melted into the mix. Elvis has a wonderful stage presence. The rest of the show had the same lineup as the Wed night show with the addition of Elvis, Dr. John, Ani De Franco and Shannon McNalley singing backup. I could really get into following Elvis around if only he did shows like that regularly. I had great respect for him.

Drew Landry sang his song again as he did at The Blue Moon, clutching the lyrics. He did not read them, but felt safe having them in his had IF he needed them. Sweet stuff.

CC's performance shined and he was euphoric during the whole show. I do think that "The Last Hayride" was the best song. It had ALL of CC's talent shining in that song, like an old The Lafayette Marquis show. I was knocked out!! CC was so charged up and he looked excited beyond belief. His guitar was strong and awesome.

Right after the show ended, Eric Adcock came out and walked right up to me and hugged me asking me if I knew where his wife was and he asked "Did you take good care of her? She is a little tiny thing?" I told him she disappeared as soon as the show ended. He ran off looking for her, he wanted to be with her so bad and she had left and gone to the hotel, I think.

We waited for my cousin to finish taking down equipment to speak to him for a couple of minutes. He gave us two list sets. He introduced me to his boss, the manager of  The Parish HOB's. He was nice, but busy.

Drew Landry walked out and came up to talk to me. I told him I was going to bring him a wonderful picture of the Wed LGB show of him. I asked him about his music and he offered us a discount on a CD he had in his backpack. We bought it on the spot and he autographed it. (It is WONDERFUL. )

We got the parking validated and it was four bucks to park. I drove us back home with Drew's CD in the player. Dan fell asleep on the way back.

I downloaded pics after I got back from taking down the Hammond Art Guild Art Show which ended the next day. Got the pics off the walls, sales delivered,... a big job for me as the President of Hammond art Guild.

Dan wanted go to the Lil' Buck show later on at 11:00 that night. By 4:00 that afternoon he was asleep on the sofa and did not budge until Sat morning I don't think I had that much Jazz left in me, either.

On Saturday the rain came in all over Louisiana and we decided to forgo the Crawfish Festival. It made me a bit sad. Tornadoes had touched down in several places and high wind advisories were here and there. We lazed around for the remainder of vacation. ...
P

Drew clutching lyrics he never read
Photo by Patty McGehee

Steve Riley, Elvis Costello, CC Adcock
Sorry about the picture quality-the camera would not focus - that is why it is in the shop

Best CC Adcock Picture from the night
Photo by Patty McGehee

1) Christian Serpas and G.T.At Ruby's 2) Elvis Saves 3) Into Geronimo and Beyond

Christian Serpas And Ghost Town at Ruby's

Dan was sleeping on the couch at 7:00 Saturday night. He just can't hang with me on a Saturday night when he golfs on Saturday morning. I have a long time sulk going on about his Golf playing because it is always more important than my wants. It leaves me either watching him sleep on the couch all Saturday night or I can go out with friends. Problem is, at our age, no one wants to go out on a Saturday night to see music but me, so I find myself off into clubs alone.

That usually presents few problems but it does limit where I will go. For instance, I just won't go to The Marigny alone. Hammond is close but there is only two music clubs-one with too much cigarette smoke for me and the other a trendy College bar with high cover  charges for bands. Tommy's Pizza Parlor has Patrick Catania and Chris Zimmer there on Thursdays. They are wonderful to go watch, but alas, they are sandwiched in between the bar and a table section making it awkward to position oneself to listen.

That leaves Ruby's. It is a 30 minute drive away in Mandeville, La. It is a funky down to earth bar with a great sound system, a patio for smokers, and a staff that does not put up with nonsense from patrons. I feel safe there and usually have a great time.
So, Saturday Dan slipped off to go play golf and by 7:30 was cutting z's on the sofa. I was about as stir crazy as could be. I left in time to arrive there at 9:30 To see Christian Serpas and Ghost Town. The band was hanging around with friends cutting up and enjoying themselves. They are a very uplifting group of guys.

The show was solid and fun. I especially like their selection of covers of Rockabilly and vintage Country sprinkled with a few special songs on the verge of what I would call Folk music. ("Kocking on Heaven's Door," written by Bob Dylan.) They do a killer version of Bobby Fuller's "I fought the Law." George Neyrey made his guitar sound like a steel pedal guitar on this one somehow.They performed "Little Sister," a song made famous by Elvis - written originally by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, members of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. This night, Christian sang it less stylized and with less of a nasal tone than  he has in the past. I like the new way a lot better.

A few Johnny Cash covers, a few Buck Owens songs later, they did a couple of songs Christian wrote. My favorite is "Read them and weep." George Neyrey plays very sweet guitar licks on this song and they are his own......Christian's lyrics are wonderful. I love the way he writes songs. He always tells a sweet story. If it was up to me, I would like them to do a whole set of songs Christian wrote. "Nothing ain't worth nothin" was especially touching to me that night. I think my favorite cover they do is "Brand New Cadillac," a tune written by Vince Taylor, recorded in 1958. (covered by the Clash in the 1970's.) Somewhere in my vinyl  records I had a LP of Vince Taylor with a cover written in French. I think my cousin  has it now, over in Mandeville. I got it at Record Ron's in the French Quarter in the 70's when I saw the cover picturing a girl in a 50's style party dress hanging on leather clad Vince. Very campy stuff. I never even played it - had no turntable at the time and my cousin "stole" it from me when she was visiting. She claimed she would put it on cassette for me. I am still waiting. 

They ended the night playing "Sleepwalk," a tune written by Santo and Johnny Farina. It was originally recorded in 1958. I am very familiar with this song as it is the favorite song that Paul Lil' Buck Sinegal loves to open and close his gigs with. Now, after hearing both guitar players play this song, it is hard for me to chose who does it better: Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, Lil' Buck  or George Neyrey, ????? IT is a toss up to me. How either of them can make a guitar sound like a pedal steel guitar - I don't know. And, Paul Lil' Buck Sinegal is a legend, so that should tell you a thing or two about George Neyrey's ability. Behind all of this is two other solid wonderful performers that provide a foundation for Ghost Town: Brent Roser on Bass and Jeff Oteri on drums. Jeff is a driving force  in Ghost Town. Brent is solid and fun to watch. Ghost Town will be performing at The Rock N Bowl in NOLA on Tuesday , July 21st. Check them out. 

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ELVIS SAVES

Jun 9, 2009

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I was in a restaurant today and saw a painting of Elvis on velvet. I have a thing for Velvet Elvis Paintings.  I could decorate a whole room with velvet Elvis Paintings. Nothing else on velvet "gets to me" except Elvis.

Elvis was IT before he was exploited by  Col. Parker.

Lafayette Television: I can't remember which station it was when I lived in Lafayette La. (in 1973) played an Elvis song at the end of the day at midnight. In those days TV went off the air. (Kids today would die if they did not have TV after midnight! LOL!)

 It was  three or four songs - strung together. Elvis sang 1) "Love me tender," 2) "Dixie" 3) Hush Little baby don't you cry and 4) a  gospel song with the words "All my trials, Lord..." Then they went off the air.

I would stay up until midnight just to sit in the living room alone and listen to it before heading off to bed. It was winter and I had no heat and I would wrap myself up in a quilt and sit in a rocking chair until it was over. I was young, lonely, poverty stricken, and afraid of what I should do with my life. My landlady had given me the old TV with broken rabbit ears and an old pair of rusty pliers to change the channels with since the knobs had all broken off. It was a black and white set and the picture was terrible, but it SOUNDED GREAT! This ritual was of great comfort to me at the time.

I stayed in Lafayette for 6 months and went back to NOLA at Christmas. But during the time I was there I discovered Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band, learned how to Cajun Two Step, Cajun Waltz,  found self respect,  self worth, and self reliance.  Not a bad haul.......

Two years ago I went to Memphis with Dan and he would not take the time to take me to Graceland. I have not forgiven him yet...but a close friend of mine said, "Don't go to Graceland. Remember Elvis the way he was before the Col. ............."

I think she was  RIGHT! I like to remember him as a voice of soothing calm  oozing out of the old black and white ...

Into Geronimo and beyond....

I started out the door headed towards Lafayette, Louisiana on Thursday just after five o'clock. I tried to get away earlier but all sorts of chores got in my way. I got over there around quarter to 8:00 and got settled in at  La Qunita Inn.  Nice place. I was a bit worried about  how the four days would go alone in another city without a companion to hang out with. But I went about the business of following the plan I had in my head of getting in as many music shows that I could.  I changed clothes and went out to eat and the showed up at the Blue Moon Saloon.

Kristen Cothorn played and I was unimpressed. Each song sounded EXACTLY alike and at one point her guitar was out of tune or maybe she hit a sour note??? and she did not even seem to notice. Her voice had some good qualities but, in my opinion, she needs to rethink her show. There is a problem with a performance if the person can only play two chords and can't tune their own guitar. There were a few great moments when her voice quality shined, but these moments faded fast.  My overall feeling was that she should get an accomplished guitarist to play for her so she can focus on her beautiful voice.

I slipped out to the front porch for a while and when Emily Guidry and her band began to play I realized I was just tired by then, so I slipped off to bed. (I felt guilty that I did not stay to hear her.)

I spent all day at the Arts Council Of Acadiana at a workshop with some amazing people. The participants were Artists who teach. Like me, the participants are accomplished in a special art form and take their art form into schools and teach kids how to express themselves through art, music, and creative writing. My special art form is Printmaking, but I also teach other forms of visual art. Several of the participants were musicians who teach. It was awesome to be there. The program was to facilitate teaching art forms through artist residencies in schools.

At 5:00 we broke up for the day and I was a block away from the Downtown Alive scene. Brass Bed and then The Howdies each played a set. I felt the sound system was not up to par. I was hanging out with people from the workshop so I was distracted from really getting into the music much. I was impressed by the upright bass player in one of the bands, but since I was in and out of Adobe Grill  with friends I found it hard to figure out which band was on at the time.

I went back to the Hotel and got a bath and went over to The Blue Moon Saloon to see Lil' Nathan. I got to see about half of his show before I had to go to the Hotel to sleep. I had to be up early. His show was solid and fun.

After day two of the workshop, I slipped off to Geronimo Festival. I checked out the stage at Borden's Parking lot and caught a Swing band - name escapes me now. They were great and I am sort of awed by this interest in Kelzmer style swing that  is showing up in the music of several bands I have seen.

I paid for tickets at the gate of The Blue Moon Saloon..walked in to catch half of Arbor Vitae. I was surprised to see Chad Viator  on stage with this Indie style band. The show was strong and powerful. I liked it a lot.
I went over after their set to talk to Chad as he wound up power cords and jacks and he told me he teaches in the Talented music program in the schools. We spent about five minutes discussing which bands he plays in and I gave him space to take down his equipment. It was an honor that he took the time to talk to me.

I went out front to cool off and let the guys set up for Snarky Puppy. I talked with the guy at the ticket table, wandered out to the booths again. Went back in for the start up and watched it all unfold. Snarky Puppy is out of Dallas Texas and has TEN members in it! They were a superb Jazz Fusion style band- two keyboard players, three percussionists, a sax, a cornet, a bass, a guitar and ????? I think another type of horn player..Can't remember - but they were solid and really good. I was overwhelmed at how great they were.

I went out and walked around looking for something to do or someone to talk to and then by the time I returned, MyNameIsJohnMichael was about ready to go on stage. I walked around for a while and went back in by the gate. I was standing out by the entrance  and Roddie Romero walked in and we visited for a while. I was telling him about the New Rock N Bowl and he told me all about his summer gigs line up. We had a nice visit.

When the music started  I told Roddie I would catch him later. I walked around the building again and beat him  inside. He had a laugh about that. I was right up front and it was intense.  The band has a keen sense of humor and they use a garbage can, chains, and other things to beat on during the performance. The zylephone was a treat. It was very good and I kept wondering why my son Jake expressed dislike for them.

When that ended I needed something to eat. I slipped off to eat pizza and when I came back the tables in the Bordon Lot were breaking down. I thought I might get a parking spot closer, but that did not happen. I parked again back by the church a block away. I was really hot and getting a upset stomach. Nausea hit me pretty badly there for a while. The pizza did not sit well on my stomach.
I realized that I had lost my ear plugs out of my tiny pants pocket. I was sure I could not endure Quintron without them. Mark, who owns Blue Moon,  sent a guy into the office to get me a complimentary set of ear plugs. Throughout the three days I was there, the staff at The Blue Moon  treated me like ROYALTY!

But,  I was determined to see Quintron and Miss Pussycat. I watched the whole set up and got sandwiched up to the monitor right in front of Quintron. I was mesmerized by Quintron's weird gadget of  painted PVC pipes, light and a tin can with holes in it. I don't know how or why it works to make the weird noises it produces, but I think that is what "makes it"  fun. People were good mannered but smack up to my back. I endured it all for quite a while. I watched the puppet show - which I found to be lame, but the crowd loved it. The only part I loved was at the end when the whole puppet  stage becomes this Cloud Monster like thing. THAT was fun to watch.  The crowd was really  wound up and jumping up and down to the beat. It was fun to watch. Roddie and Chad were at my left and they endured it all until the second song. There was a smoke machine that left me gasping for breath, and the cigarette smoke got really bad in there for a while. The porch was swaying and after three songs I threw in the towel. Quintron is really good looking and he can play the organ well. I did not enjoy Miss Pussycat yelling into the mic. That was not good at all,  but THE CROWD LOVED IT!  But it just was not enough............for me. Maybe after all, I am getting too old for this stuff. I laughed at myself - actually leaving a gig at 11:00, not my usual  MO, BUT I did have a workshop to attend in the morning. I rationalized leaving to myself, "You were up at 6 am andIS the 5th band you saw today..."

I got up Sunday at 6:45, went to eat breakfast downstairs in the hotel. I visited with people from the workshop and slipped off after checking out of the hotel to the Acadiana Arts Center. The workshop was a three days worth of pure fun. I enjoyed it immensely. I left out of there at 4:45 after making lots of new friends.

On the drive back, I left I-12 at Henderson to drive down the levee road to Angelle's Whiskey River Landing. I payed 10 bucks to stay an hour listening to see Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys. They were a solid group playing Country style Cajun music, some of it  sung in French. They have a great guitar player who plays twin style with the fiddle player. The guitar player reminded me of they style of guitar played by Dickie Betts. I was very pleasantly surprised. I wished they show cased him more.  A man came out and sprinkled sawdust on the floor. I watched the dancers waltz across the  well worn dance floor in a circle. Then the music changed into Cajun/Texas style dance music and people switched to Zydeco dance style of  dancing. It was pure pleasure. I wished for a while I could have a few beers, loosen up and dance for a few hours, but I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me, no DD,  and no dance partner on hand. Out behind the band stretched what seemed an endless swamp: Sunlight bouncing off the waters of The Atchafalaya Basin streamed in the windows behind the band making it hard to see the faces of the musicians. That was annoying to me. I bet a rainy afternoon at Angelle's is the best time to go.....you probably can see the band better on a rainy day and the view of the Basin is spectacular.
I slipped out and the lady near  the ramp  said, "Leaving so soon, Cher?' I said, "Yes, It was a pleasure and I will be back one day soon with my dance partner." She said, "Ole man Guidry over here  will dance with you. He's not too old to shake a leg."  She pointed to a tall elderly  man grinning at me. He was wearing a  cowboy hat and snakeskin boots.  I shook his hand. I said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Patty."  and he said, as he shook my hand,  "If you don't mind dancing with a man with a wooden leg, " as he reached down and punched his wooden leg. WE all laughed. I said, "It really is nice to meet you, but I  have a ways to drive before I get back home. I will look for you next time I come back. "
And I was out the door before  I got too wrapped up in meeting people. I would definatly not want to leave then.
I got back up on to I - 12 and headed home realizing at that point how tired I really was.
Back at the house, the guys ( hubby Dan and son Jake) had messed up the kitchen cooking awesome Chicken Parmesan. It was delicious. I ate the chicken with  a glass of wine on the side and went to bed leaving the mess for Monday.
It was a magical four days and I am so very glad I went.....................(.No photos-my camera was stolen the week before) worked all day and this

Dick Dale at The Blue Moon

Patty and Sam Bolle

Patty and Dick Dale

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  I was feeling blue, under the weather, and was actually financially broke, when I convinced my husband Dan to slip off at the last minute to see legendary guitarist Dick Dale at The Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette La. on Tuesday night.
  
  It was mind bending to see Dick Dale channel Johnny Cash channeling Dick Dale...weird sensation! Dick had on hand his custom amps made with old school tube technology. NOTHING else sounds like them. He is one of the rare performers  that makes the audience feel that he feels privileged to be up on stage for them. 
  
  He plays the guitar in the regular way then plays the harmonics on the strings - which always sets a different aura to guitar work, in my opinion. I have seen very few guitarists that know how to play harmonics and do it so it is incorporated seamlessly within the set. One of whom is Sonny Landreth, the other is Robin Trower. BUT!!!! Dick Dale probably invented it.
  
  He worked extensively with Leo Fender on creating the perfect amps for the electric guitar and was the first to perfect the electric guitar sound, especially the Surf music  from the 1950's.  He played it all, the old surf rock, the sounds of Hendrix which showcased his influence on Jimmy in an astonishing way. I felt Dick Dale's style rare its head up out of Jimmy's music. There he was again, Dick Dale, channeling Jimmy Hendrix, Jimmy Hendrix channeling Dick Dale! It appeared seamless. The drummer  showcased a West Coast style of drumming that was heard in the rock in the 60's very well. The bassist, Sam Bolle,  was astonishing. (I got to talk to him later that night at Somewhere Else Lounge after the show at a goodbye party thrown by CC Adcock.)
  
  After the show, I went and got autographs, had a photo taken and I asked him if he had ever worked with Les Paul, and he discussed that with me. He said he and Les were friends.  He said, " Les Paul invented the electric guitar. I invented electric guitar music."  Then he told a cute story about his t shirts. after I asked him if he had a fan club. He said they are called the "Dickheads."  He had t shirts made up and all of them sold.
  
  Dan and  I slipped off to Somewhere Else Lounge to attend  the going away party for the band that C.C. Adcock was working with from London, England named The Scoundrels. It was astonishingly good. We stayed out there until 1:00 am and drove back to Ponchatoula. It was not too bad until around 4:00 Wednesday when I had to crash from exhaustion.
  
  It was a wonderful evening. I am very glad that I went.