South By Southeast Update

The big news, boys and girls, is that SxSE – my favorite nonprofit music organization – has finally received their 501 (c) (3) status. That means the I.R.S. formally recognizes them as a nonprofit organization and when you join or make a donation, you can declare it on your taxes. (Hey Jeff, we’re legal!)

Upcoming Shows (These will be SRO, so order your tickets yesterday!)

Mike Farris . (Photo Ed Rode)

Dec. 4. The amazing Mike Farris brings his rockin’ gospel back to the Train Depot. Mike Farris has been part of the Delbert McClinton Cruise (and will again for 2011). He’s played Bonnaroo, SxSW, Austin City Limits. I’m here to tell you, he’ll take your breath away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guitarist Rev. Johnny Mac

Jan. 15, 2011. Johnny Mac & the BootyRanch. You may know the Rev. Dr. Johnny Mac from the Jumper Cables. Well the Booty Ranch – made up of Johnny on guitar and vocals, Chris “Mega” Watts on bass and vocals, and Stevie “Fatback” Kent on percussion and vocals – have been burning it up in Charleston since about 1998. The genre-jumping trio covers electric blues, R&B, funk, rock and swamp. Exciting stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

Randall Bramblett (Photo Jeff Jeffares)

March 5, 2011. Randall Bramblett Band. Can you hear me shouting my excitement?  Randall is one of my favorite songwriters ever, and his band blows the roof off the Depot every time. If this is a name you don’t know, Google it and see what you’ve been missing. Randall Bramblett brings together blues, jazz and rock like no one else does.

Visit  the South By Southeast website  for more information on these shows, and then shoot an email to southxsoutheast@aol.com to reserve your spot. You can always Trust the Frog.

Piccolo Spoleto Blues in Charleston, S.C.

Spoleto, Charleston’s art & culture extravaganza runs from May 22 through June 7, 2009. It’s a wonderful festival, but some folks prefer their art a little less formal and, in some cases, less expensive. That’s what Piccolo Spoleto (also in Charleston) is all about and it takes place during the same time period. Since I’m a great lover of the blues, I wanted to let you know what Piccolo Spoleto Blues has in store for you. The following information is from the Piccolo Spoleto website:

Blues On the Dock

Blues Romp in the Swamp

5/23 4PM – 7PM

Blazing guitar blues from two great guitarists, Rev. Dr. Johnny Mac & Booty Ranch and Dr. Kim May, plus the incisive humor and sharp harp of Smoky Weiner & the Hot Links and their high octane blues outfits. Food and drinks available for purchase.
Bowen’s Island Restaurant
1870 Bowen’s Island Rd., James Island

Blues Diva Wanda Johnson & The Shrimp City Slim Band

5/24 4PM – 7PM

Greenville’s Goddess of the Blues, Wanda Johnson, will warm your heart and sear your soul backed up by the originator of Lowcountry Blues, Shrimp City Slim. Food and drink available for purchase.
Bowen’s Island Restaurant
1870 Bowen’s Island Rd., James Island

Mudcat N` Mama

5/31 4PM – 7PM

Georgia showman and his leggy Charleston protégé Skye Paige provocatively mash down home Southern blues with a twist of rockabilly. Food and drink available for purchase.
Bowen’s Island Restaurant
1870 Bowen’s Island Rd., James Island

Early Bird Blues

Cotton Blue

5/27 4PM – 7PM
Gator Rob and Detroit Debbie inhabit the verdant jungles of Edisto Island and emerge to present a spicy program of swampy rock and Geechee blues. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Drink Small

5/22 4PM – 7PM
6/5 4PM – 7PM

South Carolina’s iconic 76-year-old blues legend has been on the international scene since the mid-1950s. Razorwire guitar and inimitable basso profundo vocals have made this unique artist a blues favorite for generations of Carolinians. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Geoff Achison

6/3 4PM – 7PM

Back by popular demand, Geoff Achison; “Blues Thunder from Down Under,” is a world-class guitarist/singer from Australia who will return to Piccolo on his annual tour of the U.S.A. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Jeff Norwood

5/28 4PM – 7PM
Jeff Norwood is one of the area’s best-traveled blues bards, logging in many miles ‘tween here and the juke joints of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Delta blues and Hill Country stomp…latest CD is “Awendaw.”
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Juke Joint Johnny & Drew Baldwin

5/29 4PM – 7PM
Juke Joint Johnny has been dubbed “The Harmonica High Priest of the Southeast” while Drew Baldwin has mastered the harp guitar (1910 vintage guitar with added bass strings)-a rootsy, bluesy sound we doubt you’ve heard before. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Matt Walsh Duo

6/2 4PM – 7PM

North Carolinian Matt Walsh (slide guitar/vocals/epic hairdo) leads his duo through torrid readings of classic Chicago blues. His dossier includes recent stints with Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist Hubert Sumlin and Bob Margolin of Muddy Waters. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Porkchop Meyer

6/1 4PM – 7PM
Ed “Porkchop” Meyer is a Chicago-bred pianist/singer who has plied his trade all over the world. Funky jazz/blues/cabaret with a nod to Tom Waits and Mose Allison. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Skye Paige & The Original Recipe

5/26 4PM – 7PM
Seductive vocals and guitar from one of Charleston’s blueswomen, admittedly influenced by the fabled Memphis Minnie. Paige and her combo specialize in prewar blues, rockabilly and surf music. Food and drink available for purchase.
Mad River Bar & Grille
32 N. Market Street, Downtown Charleston

Blues & Jazz: Piccolo Harbor Cruises
Franklin Ashley Quartet

5/26 7:30PM – 10PM
Enjoy a unique night of original jazz with a renowned theatre professor at the College of Charleston, who has played for several U.S. Presidents. Food and drink available for purchase.
Fountain Walk Dock
360 Concord St., Downtown Charleston

John Tecklenburg & Friends

6/3 7:30PM – 10PM
Join Lonnie Hamilton III, John Tecklenburg, Brian Reed and Frank Cothran as they serve up a night of swinging jazz standards while cruising the Harbor. Food and drink available for purchase.
Fountain Walk Dock
360 Concord St., Downtown Charleston

Rolling on the River Revue

6/4 7:30PM – 10PM
Delighting Charleston audiences for more than three decades, Rivers and Company is known throughout the state as the premier beach music and Motown band.
Fountain Walk Dock
360 Concord St., Downtown Charleston

Smoky Weiner & The Hot Links featuring Nature Boy Nik

5/28 7:30PM – 10PM

Hot blues and swing band that’s sure to get you dancing and laughing with old swing tunes. The Links have played up and down the East Coast, including most recently at presidential inaugural balls. Food and drink available for purchase.
Fountain Walk Dock
360 Concord St., Downtown Charleston

South By Southeast Gets a Jump From the Cables

Guitarist Rev. Johnny Mac

Okay, you Carolina folks are going to have one up on me here. I wasn’t in this neck of the beach in the eighties, so I didn’t recognize this group by name. I thought the Jumper Cables were, well, jumper cables.

Turns out they’re a rock trio that was based in Charleston featuring none other than Johnny Mac on guitar, Paul Tucker on bass and Steve Kent on drums. They’ll be electrifying the Grand Strand on Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m. at Myrtle Beach’s historic Train Depot, thanks to my favorite nonprofit group, South By Southeast.

A true jam band, the Jumper Cables always loved playing those long numbers à la the Allman Brothers, and they did … to packed houses all along the beach. Johnny Mac, who had moved to Charleston from Georgia in 1972 had initially played piano and moved over to guitar as a teenager. Influenced by a range of musicians that includes the Allman Brothers, Santana, Albert King and Deep Purple, he liked playing a lot of bluesy rock stuff.

His band mates, both from Georgia, were part of the 70s Macon scene, working with some of the big names, including Sea Level and Chuck Leavell (current keyboardist for the Rolling Stones);Randall Bramblett, Davis Causey, jazz great Joe Taylor, Percy Sledge and others.

According to Mac, the trio, which hasn’t played together  in at least five years, will be performing a number of instrumentals like War’s “The Word Is a Ghetto” plus some Sea Level stuff. “”Don’t be surprised,” he tells me, “if we get into  some jazz, funk and intense rock and roll.”

South by Southeast organizer and jam band fan, Sam Hanneford, is beside himself waiting for these guys to get here. “We are going to have some rockin’ music goin’ on. You are going to be blown away by these guys. The last time they were here, we heard some excellent sets including driving renditions of eclectic material from Derek & the Dominoes, Traffic and even some Stanley Clarke.”

Whatever they play at the SXSE show, rest assured it will be a high-energy, high-octane show, one that folks will be talking about for some time to come.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for anyone under 21, if you’re a SXSE member, $25 if you’re not.

Your price of admission includes not only this every intimate concert, but also a pot luck dinner, wine and beer courtesy of New South Brewery.

About South By Southeast

If I were Warren Buffet, this is where my philanthropic money would go. This all-volunteer group of music lovers is dedicated to preserving and promoting all sorts of American music that normally isn’t performed in mainstream venues. As part of that mission, they also support local music education programs, instrument drives and help out any way they can.

Membership in SXSE costs $25 per year.  If you are interested in joining, visit www.sxsemusic.com and download an application form. For more information call Jeff Roberts, owner of Sounds Better Records at 843-497-3643 or Seth Funderburk at 843-455-6499.

A version of this will also be published in  the Beach Newz music column of Coast magazine and Alternatives NewsMagazine and on MySpace.