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South
Regional Report
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Edited by Mike Jones and
Chip Schramm
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Kudzu
Kings with special guests by Chip Schramm
On Saturday October 7th, 2000, a party of epic proportions took
place in the streets of Midtown Memphis, Tennessee. What was billed
on the Kudzu King web site as a "private function" was more akin
to a neighborhood hoe down; a gathering of friends, family, and
music lovers from all over the city. Folks drove up from hundreds
of miles down in Mississippi to partake in a very well organized
and classy affair both within a few of the houses on Eastmoreland
and primarily in the streets of the neighborhood. Oxford's Kudzu
Kings had set up there gear on a wooden stage erected out in the
middle of the neighborhood, one mere block from the hustle and bustle
of Union Ave., one of the busiest streets in the city.
Though it technically was a private party, Steve Pittman, the
primary host and resident of the house on Eastmoreland, had posted
an open invitation to the members of the Memphis Music Crew e-mail
newsgroup on the Internet (MemMusicCrew@egroups.com.) The epitome
of the gracious host, Pittman and the co-hosts had hot food cooking
in their kitchen and a Budwiser beer truck courtesy of D. Canale
Distributors on the curb. Needless to say, no one went hungry or
thirsty on this evening. The entertainment for the party was a
very special lineup featuring the Kudzu Kings and Bucky Baxter,
longtime slide guitar man for Bob Dylan. Baxter was indirectly
associated with the kings once before when he toured with George
McConnell and Gary "El Buho" Gazaway as the Jamming Troubadours
for a small time in the Fall of 1999.
The weather was not exactly ideal. Friday's rains had subsided,
but as the front behind them pushed through it sent temperatures
plummeting. While Memphians had enjoyed a week or 2 in the 50s
and 60s, by Saturday at sunset, it was already 42. The band mingled
and ate dinner with some of the guests, then proceeded outside to
soundcheck and get ready. The first segment was a short mini-set
of acoustic music with McConnell, Dave Woolworth, Bryan Ledford,
of the Kings along with Baxter and long time Kudzu Kings friend
and mentor Eddie Dye who played Dobro and sang sporadically throughout
the night. They opened the festivities with some old-timey pickin'
and singing to set the homey atmosphere. True to his roots, Baxter
played fiddle on a gritty and accurate rendition of It Takes
a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry.
The band broke quickly as the Kings assembled their electric gear
for the remainder of the evening. As Tate Moore pointed out while
adjusting his vocal mic., "It's too cold up here to screw around,
so we're gonna go ahead and get started." They Kings would play
two sets and a quick encore before ending the party promptly at
midnight, per city regulations. Highlights of the show included
Bryan's Song, Hangover Heart, and Bound For Zion.
The themes of the Kings' music range from the hysterical ballad
of a recently single man in Hangover to the amusing Jamaican-country
anthem in Zion, as Moore sings, "Get on board the rasta train,
we're bound for Zion, smokin' up the line, leaving Babylon behind."
Even Bryan's song has quite a bit of humor to it as it laments
the fate of the band's lack of radio play and dramatic twists of
fate.
They also played Tennessee, a fan favorite. That seemed
very appropriate for this evening. Tate Moore sings and writes
a majority of the songs for the Kings, but George McConnell also
got the chance to sing some. He dusted off one of his old favorites
Tear Stained Letter much to the delight of the crowd. Without
a doubt the peak in the evening came in the second set when the
ensemble performed a Bob Dylan song, giving Bucky Baxter a change
to really shine. It took them a few songs in the first set to get
his steel guitar right in the mix, but when they did it made for
an awesome compliment to the Kudzu Kings already rich sound.
The band played one of the best covers of Like a Rolling Stone
that I've heard. Moore sang it; no you could almost say it sang
him. Baxter made his steel guitar weep as he worked his hands smoothly
up and down the board, making it look far too easy. The encores
for the evening were also great. Those that braved the cold long
enough were well rewarded. The full cast of musicians played one
of the great blues songs in the Mississippi lower-delta blues tradition,
Down In Mississippi. Then they segued that into Streetwalkin',
another appropriately moving ballad to end the night.
The Kudzu Kings have plenty of dates coming up that they are encouraging
the public to attend. Tickets for their Halloween ball are almost
sold out. That is Saturday the 28th of October on Bourbon Street
in New Orleans. If you miss out on the chance to see that, they
also have a show on the night before, at the House of Blues. That
one is not as close to selling out, so visit the official web site
http://www.kudzukings.com
and order a handful. I know you'll be glad you did.
Allen Woody Benefit Show by Mike Jones
I couldn't let this month go by without posting this up just for
everyone to see. I'm listening to some Mule as I type this. It's
still depressing about Allen's passing and he will be missed very
much. The list of names that performed on this night's show just
a small amount of the lives Allen touched. Like all the greats
who have come and gone, he will be remembered through the music.
Screamin Cheetah Wheelies Live Volumes 1 & 2
Surely there are those of you out there that know of this band
and have heard them. You might have been wondering what they were
up to lately. Well back in February, the boys pretty much took over
328 Performance Hall in Nashville, TN and recorded their efforts
and now it is available on two cd's. The band played all three
of their albums straight through and the best of those songs are
available on these cd's. If you've ever been curious as to what
the Wheelies are all about and why their fans travel cross country
just to catch one show time and time again, check out these cd's.
It's as close as you can get to the experience without actually
being there yourself. Check out the Wheelies website for more info
http://www.wheelies.com or
there is a direct link to the live cd's at http://www.wheelies.com/livecd/
There's a nice quote on the live cd page that you just have to read,
even if you don't buy the discs! Some of the proceeds from the
sale of the live cds go to benefit the Matthew Butler Foundation
in Nashville. Mike Farris has been doing some solo acoustic shows
with Damon Johnson from Brother Cane the past few months and Rick
White, guitarist for the Wheelies has a side project now and that
band opened a Wheelies show this past weekend in Nashville. This
band is all about the music and just can't ever seem to quit playing,
they just can't get enough!
Will Hoge Takes Over Birmingham
Will Hoge and the boys played two shows in Birmingham in a span
of five days. The first trip was with Jump Little Children at the
5 Points Music Hall and the second show was with Ian Moore at The
Nick. The morning before playing at The Nick, the boys played 3
songs on the Fox affiliate in B'ham for their morning show, giving
the band some great exposure. The band plans to release their first
studio cd in January 2001 and some promo copies are already finding
their way to radio stations. This is one album that you will want
to check out when it comes out and this band has a live show that
you will definitely want to check out when they are in your town.
Believe me, if there is a place to play in your town, these guys
will come plug in and light the place on fire. This is rock 'n
soul at it's finest! For more info and tour dates, check out
http://www.willhoge.com
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