Larry Jon Wilson
This Augusta, Georgia native (and by some accounts, native American) has been making beautiful and moving – if underrated – country soul music for over three decades.
While he has never found the stardom or flash-in-the-pan success that kindred spirits like Dan Penn or Tony Joe White have enjoyed, that doesn’t mean his works have gone unnoticed, though for most folks they’re surely under the radar.
In 1975, he released an album of backwater ballads on the long-gone Monument label that more than a few reviewers (including Robert Christgau) were quick to praise for its homespun authenticity and optimistic outlook.
He’s continued to write and record folky, cut-to-the bone slices of life that have endeared him to many of today’s contemporary acoustic storytellers, like Grammy nominated Shawn Mullins, who shared the spotlight with Larry Jon on two memorable episodes of Turner South’s great songwriters-in-the-round TV series Live From The Bluebird Café.
While that famed Nashville venue is one of his favorite places to play, he’ll make a rare appearance in our area at this small live music room, which is now starting to branch out a bit from the straight bluegrass it is primarily known for. Sat., 8 pm, Randy Wood’s Concert Hall (Bloomingdale).
Kristine W.
Question: which artist has seen eight consecutive singles hit Number One on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart?
If you answered Madonna, you’d be wrong.
If you answered Janet Jackson, you’d be wrong as well.
In fact, both of those superstars had been tied at seven singles apiece, until Kristine W. put them in their place.
Her latest single “Save My Soul” was the one that pushed her over the top and into Billboard history, and there is little doubt she’ll perform that track when she appears as the headlining act at Savannah’s Purple Party for Pride.
The celebrated Tommy Boy artist also recently took home the award for Best Solo Dance Artist at The 19th Annual International Dance Music Awards (one can only imagine the outfits at that event).
Her albums are known for their unique mix of both sequenced electronica and live, acoustic instrumentation, and her vocal style seems to easily incorporate aspects of jazz, pop, scat and traditional R & B. In addition to producing her own tracks, she also plays sax and guitar.
Anybody interested in seeing one of the true giants of the dance club scene would do well to catch this special show. Fri., 5 pm, Club One (1 Jefferson St.).
The Massey Boys
In honor of their 21st anniversary, this regional group with strong local ties will appear at what guitarist Skip Jennings describes as their “musical home base.”
The act, which – along with Jennings – includes guitarist Ward Abel and guitarist/mandolinist Jerry Stenger, will be joined by bassist Ethan Hall and B.D. Sasser. It is rumored that jazz vocalist Jacey Falk (a longtime Massey Boys associate) may make an appearance as well.
The three members formed this group while attending their first year of law school at Mercer University in Macon, and their rollicking style has since been described as “extremely casual.” They shift easily from Delta blues to early rock & roll, to what might best be termed light jazz, and their sets offer both standards and originals. Sat., O’Connell’s Irish Pub.
The Mercy Seat, Brass Castle, Matador Blues
Here’s a powerful triple bill of unusual, left-of-center rock acts that each deserve a serious listen.
Though headliners The Mercy Seat hail from Florida, they recently inked deal with a respected indie label in England, of all places.
That’s not too surprising, as their edgy and dark, rootsy mood-music bears more than a whiff of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, two of the U.K.’s music mag darlings. However, there’s more to them than just the sum of their parts (which also include copious amounts of Lou Reed, and Charles Bukowski).
Brass Castle, on the other hand, is currently riding a wave of adulation in their adopted hometown of Atlanta. The guitar and drums duo’s full-length debut Get On Fire, is being called one of the most exciting blasts of slurred vocal and power-riff guitar rock to emerge form that town in a decade.
With a half-sloshed, hounded by demons vibe that’s part Kyuss and part High Priest-era Alex Chilton, their short songs aim for maximum damage with minimal notes.
Matador Blues is a Carolina quartet whose originals veer from Tim Buckley-style ethereal folk drones to the gnashed and clenched psycho-garage blues backwash of Iggy and The Stooges. Fri., The Jinx.
This Augusta, Georgia native (and by some accounts, native American) has been making beautiful and moving – if underrated – country soul music for over three decades.
While he has never found the stardom or flash-in-the-pan success that kindred spirits like Dan Penn or Tony Joe White have enjoyed, that doesn’t mean his works have gone unnoticed, though for most folks they’re surely under the radar.
In 1975, he released an album of backwater ballads on the long-gone Monument label that more than a few reviewers (including Robert Christgau) were quick to praise for its homespun authenticity and optimistic outlook.
He’s continued to write and record folky, cut-to-the bone slices of life that have endeared him to many of today’s contemporary acoustic storytellers, like Grammy nominated Shawn Mullins, who shared the spotlight with Larry Jon on two memorable episodes of Turner South’s great songwriters-in-the-round TV series Live From The Bluebird Café.
While that famed Nashville venue is one of his favorite places to play, he’ll make a rare appearance in our area at this small live music room, which is now starting to branch out a bit from the straight bluegrass it is primarily known for. Sat., 8 pm, Randy Wood’s Concert Hall (Bloomingdale).
Kristine W.
Question: which artist has seen eight consecutive singles hit Number One on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart?
If you answered Madonna, you’d be wrong.
If you answered Janet Jackson, you’d be wrong as well.
In fact, both of those superstars had been tied at seven singles apiece, until Kristine W. put them in their place.
Her latest single “Save My Soul” was the one that pushed her over the top and into Billboard history, and there is little doubt she’ll perform that track when she appears as the headlining act at Savannah’s Purple Party for Pride.
The celebrated Tommy Boy artist also recently took home the award for Best Solo Dance Artist at The 19th Annual International Dance Music Awards (one can only imagine the outfits at that event).
Her albums are known for their unique mix of both sequenced electronica and live, acoustic instrumentation, and her vocal style seems to easily incorporate aspects of jazz, pop, scat and traditional R & B. In addition to producing her own tracks, she also plays sax and guitar.
Anybody interested in seeing one of the true giants of the dance club scene would do well to catch this special show. Fri., 5 pm, Club One (1 Jefferson St.).
The Massey Boys
In honor of their 21st anniversary, this regional group with strong local ties will appear at what guitarist Skip Jennings describes as their “musical home base.”
The act, which – along with Jennings – includes guitarist Ward Abel and guitarist/mandolinist Jerry Stenger, will be joined by bassist Ethan Hall and B.D. Sasser. It is rumored that jazz vocalist Jacey Falk (a longtime Massey Boys associate) may make an appearance as well.
The three members formed this group while attending their first year of law school at Mercer University in Macon, and their rollicking style has since been described as “extremely casual.” They shift easily from Delta blues to early rock & roll, to what might best be termed light jazz, and their sets offer both standards and originals. Sat., O’Connell’s Irish Pub.
The Mercy Seat, Brass Castle, Matador Blues
Here’s a powerful triple bill of unusual, left-of-center rock acts that each deserve a serious listen.
Though headliners The Mercy Seat hail from Florida, they recently inked deal with a respected indie label in England, of all places.
That’s not too surprising, as their edgy and dark, rootsy mood-music bears more than a whiff of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, two of the U.K.’s music mag darlings. However, there’s more to them than just the sum of their parts (which also include copious amounts of Lou Reed, and Charles Bukowski).
Brass Castle, on the other hand, is currently riding a wave of adulation in their adopted hometown of Atlanta. The guitar and drums duo’s full-length debut Get On Fire, is being called one of the most exciting blasts of slurred vocal and power-riff guitar rock to emerge form that town in a decade.
With a half-sloshed, hounded by demons vibe that’s part Kyuss and part High Priest-era Alex Chilton, their short songs aim for maximum damage with minimal notes.
Matador Blues is a Carolina quartet whose originals veer from Tim Buckley-style ethereal folk drones to the gnashed and clenched psycho-garage blues backwash of Iggy and The Stooges. Fri., The Jinx.
