Month: July 2017

Rollin’ Stone and the Rolling Stones

What’s great about going to live music shows is you never know who might drop by: here’s a great one from 1981 at the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago when Jagger and company dropped in on Muddy Waters. Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there for that jam?

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Kansas City’s Knuckleheads #16 Yelp

Knuckleheads on Yelp

Well, according to Yelp, Kansas City’s Knucklehead music venue rates in the top 20 in the United States!

People having fun with other fun people and seeing great music – what’s not to like?

Knucklehead's Merle Jam
Brandon Miller and Danielle Nicole put on a rousing show for the Merle Jam benefit Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Knuckleheads.
Knucklehead's Merle Jam
Chubby Carrier (with his Bayou Swamp Band out of Louisiana) was joined on stage by Kansas City’s own Jo Burke during the Merle Jam Friday, May 6, 2017 at Knuckleheads.
Merle Jam at Knucklehead's
A nice crowd turned out for Merle Jam Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Knuckleheads. where Kansas City blues artist Danielle Nicole and her band were part of several performances taking part in the charitable event. Merle Jam is an annual event to benefit heart transplant recipients in the Kansas City area with an additional goal of raising awareness for organ donation.

DSC_9489MerleJamLorel Ranney Hoffman brought her own tamborine to join in the Knucklehead’s Merle Jam May 6, 2017 during the Chubby Carrier show . Hoffman is an elementary art teacher in the Lee’s Summit School District.

 

Blues Insights: What’s hopping, Kansas City?

Kansas City’s blues scene has been sizzling nicely this summer with lots of great acts chilling out the local music venues.

Kansas City’s steadfast blues venue BB’s Lawnside BBQ has seen bassist Patrick Recob releasing a new CD, Perpetual Luau, this spring – and it’s been doing really well. Patrick could be seen accompanying several visiting acts, such as Adrianna Marie, The 44s and Orphan Jon and the Abandoned as these groups hit the Midwest for late spring/early summer tours.

Knucklehead’s was hopping several weekends including a great fundraiser for organ donation that brought in performances by Kansas City performers Danielle Nicole and Brandon Miller; Amanda Fish; The Santiago Brothers; and Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band from Louisiana.

Marcus King, the 21-year-old phenomenon out of Mississippi, blew on stage July 1 and staked a claim for the millennial crowd as one of the most promising up-and-comers yet. Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps opened for Marcus and Walter Trout wrapped up the evening with a solid blues veteran showdown.

Then there was Knuckleheads packed in to hear Robert Cray on July 11 and, out of Memphis, a young blues band with a new debut album by the same name: Southern Avenue, July 14.

I have picked up a couple of new song favorites this summer: One is “Don’t Give Up” from Southern Avenue. And the other is just getting pressed at press time and that’s from Bakersfield blues crooner Jon English of Orphan Jon and the Abandoned: “Leave My Blues Alone”