Singers like Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline and Eddy Arnold were branded as renegades to the Nashville music community and trying to “crossover” to the pop charts.  It happened again in the early ‘70s when pop diva Olivia Newton-John was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMA awards in Nashville in 1974 just on the strength of her hit single “Please Mr., Please.”  Then, the following year, John Denver was named Entertainer of the Year at the CMA’s, which suggested to the old guard that Nashville was doomed once again.

It happened yet again in the early ‘80s, when the “Urban Cowboy” soundtracks made country music seem cool, but luckily, Randy Travis and Ricky Skaggs came along and brought the music back toward the “traditional country” side of the business.  George Strait helped in that cause as well, but there were still artists like Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbit, Kenny Rogers, Dottie West and Mac Davis stretching the pop/country boundaries.

Even now, people are saying that today’s country music is pretty much watered down Southern Rock.  Look at Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Luke Byran, Kenny Chesney, and a host of others that are making rocking records nowadays.  Their live performances are nothing short of rock concerts, with pyrotechnics, huge speaker banks and backing bands that play louder than The Who.

All that said, I am pleased to report that there are several ‘Keepers of the Flame’ holding on to the great traditions of country music.  Two fairly recent album releases, from 2012, have an overall sound like it’s 1962 again.   The first, by Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, is titled “Nashville Vol. 1: Tear the Woodpile Down.”  The other disc is by The Time Jumpers, an always evolving group of studio musicians and singers, and the group’s first studio release. Unfortunately, you will not hear these records on country radio stations.

Marty Stuart has been playing music professionally since he was 13 years old and joined legendary bluegrass pioneer Lester Flatt’s band.  He then hooked up with Johnny Cash and toured constantly with Cash until the early ‘80s when he decided to step out on his own. Over the last 10 years, he made a series of excellent albums including “The Pilgrim,” as well as “Badlands” and “Live at the Ryman,” with his band The Fabulous Superlatives.

“Nashville Vol. 1” is  a brilliant album.  Most everything was penned by Stuart and backed by his incredibly talented band. And since Marty knows everybody who ever sang or played a musical note, he invited a few close friends to join in, including Kenny Lovelace (longtime member of  Jerry Lee Lewis’ band) on “A Matter of Time,” that sounds like something Jerry Lee would have recorded back in the late ‘70s.  The great Buck Trent, former member of Porter Wagoner’s Wagon Masters and a “Hee-Haw” regular, tears it up on two tracks, “Tear the Woodpile Down” and “Holding on to Nothing.”   Also stopping by the studio is a bit of country music royalty in the form of Lorrie Carter Bennett, granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter and daughter of Anita Carter (the Carter Sisters), harmonizing on “A Song of Sadness,” followed by Hank Williams III, adding  his unique hillbilly vocals to the haunting “Picture From Life’s Other Side.”

The songs are brilliant, wrenching with crying, loneliness, heartbreak and pain all held together with incredible musicianship.  An ode to the thousands who flock to Nashville to make it as a singer or songwriter, “Sundown in Nashville” tells of when“they sweep broken dreams off the streets.” “The Lonely Kind” with its Chris Isaac guitar feel coupled with tasty licks from Kenny Vaughn, invokes a real sense of pain, with a lyric like “Hearts ain’t nothin’ but sadness, Teardrops ain’t nothin’ but blue, Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin,’ It’s what’s left of me without you.”

The best part of it all is that the record has a feel like it was recorded in the early 1960’s around the time that Webb Pierce, Faron Young, Ray Price and others were creating country music masterpieces.  If there’s a true caretaker of country music, it might be Marty Stuart.

The Time Jumpers debut studio release comes after these incredibly talented session musicians have been playing live every Monday night in Nashville for some 13 years at the famous Station Inn.  The shows have recently moved to a long-standing Nashville club called 3rd & Lindsley primarily because it’s a bit bigger than the old club, has a lot more parking — and because within the last couple of years, Vince Gill has become a regular member of the band.

Everyone in the band is an exceptional musician and they have a great grasp of reviving a country chestnut from 40 years ago to presenting newly written songs for this project.  They play country, sure, but they also play Western swing, jazz, blues, whatever floats their boat at the time.

Nowadays, you would be hard pressed the hear one fiddle on a country record, much less than three very hot fiddles played exceptionally well.   Vince Gill, Andy Reiss and “Ranger Doug” Green (of Riders In The Sky) join on guitars; Jeff Taylor’s tasty accordion playing; the great Paul Franklin (Musician of the Year for many years) on steel guitar; and vocals with “a special power and nuance that regularly draws chills, tears and rousing ovations” by Dawn Sears, wife of fiddler Kenny, who himself also handles many of the vocal chores.

From the opening swing instrumental, the band begins to percolate with incredible musicianship, tight, heartfelt vocals and a song selection that covers all the bases.

Dawn Sears co-wrote and sings the beautiful heartbreak ballad “So Far Apart” and brings her killer vocal talents to “Someone Had to Teach You,” a long hidden gem written by the late, great Harlan Howard, once known as the dean of country music songwriters, who also wrote such classics as “Busted,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Heartaches by the Numbers” and “Pick Me up on Your Way Down.”

Vince Gill contributes five songs to the project including “The Woman of my Dreams,” the up-tempo “New Star over Texas,” and the gripping “Three Sides to Every Story.”

Listening to this record is a pure pleasure, as each solo is expertly played and every musician is on top of their game.  I think the release, recorded at Vince Gill’s “The House” studio (which is actually in his house) in Nashville, is flawless.

If you are a country music fan, I whole-heartedly suggest you seek out these two discs and revel in the fact that, yes, they can still make records like they used to.  The tradition lives on.

Both Sean and Marty are students of traditional American music that dates back some  80 to 90 years. Their original songs, most of which were penned by Marty, are seamless when shuffled within the four traditional “oldies” that they chose for the record.  Marty and Sean co-wrote “Feels Like Home,” and while they both contribute vocals, it’s Marty who takes the lion’s share of the lead vocals.

The musicianship is stellar, with both Marty and Sean contributing guitars, banjo and vocals plus a little harmonica by Marty on the album’s closing song, the New Orleans funky “Maybe that’s Alright.”

Marty and Sean were assisted in the studio by Cliff Hugo on double bass, Mikey Cannon on drums, Michael Fecskes on cello, Chris Lynch on fiddle, Bill Keck on piano and Sarah Summers on vocals.  Produced by Sean, the album was recorded at Ex’Pressions School for the Digital Arts in Emeryville.

“Marty and I are extremely happy with the result,” says Sean Carscadden. “It was definitely worth the wait, and we need to give a special thanks to Andy Saks who engineered the album and donated so much time to get it done.  The recording aspect was a learning process for all of us.  We were learning how to record our sound and Andy was learning how to get it down.  We all think it worked!”

To celebrate the release of the CD, Marty and Sean are performing at the Sebastiani Theatre on Monday, November 26 and will be featuring almost all of the musicians that appear on the recording.  The show begins at 7:30 p.m. with an admission price of $10 per person.  For that night only, the new CD will be available to all attending the show for just $5.  After the special kick-off performance, the disc will be available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and most of the usual music outlets.  You can hear a preview of the CD by going to Thebrokemoon.bandcamp.com.  About a minute each of three songs are available for listening.

Influenced by music from the early 20^th century, it was guitarist John Fahey who turned Marty’s world around, and guitarist Leo Kottke who played a big role in Sean’s development.  Both Fahey and Kottke were recording and performing back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, playing basically what Marty and Sean are now – resurrecting a music style that has gone out of favor with many listeners, and like Fahey and Kottke, they stay so close to the original style of singing and playing.  These two young men, in their twenties, are like a couple of old souls on a mission to keep the traditional roots music alive, and they are doing a fine job of it.

The CD opens with “If I Had My Way,” one of the songs that appear without writing credit, and the one that Marty adds some additional lyrics.  It’s a great story song that sounds like a spiritual from the 1930’s.  “American Rye” is a drinking song. A sample lyric: “I feel good, I feel bad.  Baby, that’s what it’s all about. You can help me, bartender, you can certainly try.  Fix me up with a double of American Rye.”

The title track, “Broke The Moon,” starts out in a spiritual vein but ends up sounding like a bit of 1950s doo-wop.  The song contains very clever lyrics as well as an excellent vocal by Marty.  There is great picking on the intro of “Goin’ for Broke,” but then again, there is great picking throughout the entire album.

“Maybe that’s Alright,” the closing track, kicks off with a very cool New Orleans groove that builds first with drums, then bass, guitar and then comes the banjo.  And typical of a song out of New Orleans, a sample of the lyric says, “If you don’t know what you need, and if you don’t know what’s right, baby, that’s all right.”

I’ve only had about 24 hours to listen to the music and write this piece, but I can tell you that however long it took Marty and Sean to record this thing, it was time well spent.  I hear something new each time I listen through.  I am a fan of the way these two guys play and I am also amazed at the way Marty O’Reilly sings.  His phrasing and his lyrics make him sound so much older than he actually is.  He and Sean are students of recorded music and it shows on this disc.

Often times you need to dig in the past to come up with the future, and I believe Marty and Sean have accomplished just that.  It has that old-time feel to the recording without all the scratches and skips that a record like this should have (which actually would be very cool).   Marty and Sean should be incredibly proud of what they created. In my humble opinion, this record is a home run.

Adam had 30 days to raise the funds needed to fund his project.  If the goal was not reached, nobody’s payment would be processed.  When the goal was reached, Kickstarter got their fee and Adam had a recording budget to start work on the new project.  More than 91 people contributed to Adam’s album, and because of the various levels of financial participation, most everyone who donated will receive a copy of the CD.  Some of the more generous folks will receive a house concert featuring Adam, which was one of the various perks used to seek donations.

I asked Adam how he had heard about Kickstarter and he said it was through Julie Last, an engineer he worked with at Cold Brook Studios in Woodstock, New York during the initial phase of the recording project.  The two songs on the CD that were recorded in Woodstock are “Why Tell Me Why” and “Going to the River.”  Both songs features Adams dad, Happy Traum, a legendary folk singer (along with his brother Artie) during the burgeoning days of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s.

Family friend John Sebastian was also a part of that scene, starting out in a jug band before forming the Lovin’ Spoonful in 1965.  Here, he plays a pretty wicked harmonica on “Going to the River.”

The remainder of the CD features David Thom on mandolin or guitar along with Joe Kyle Jr. on bass (Pat Campbell plays bass on the song “Boo”).  The closing tune, “Water Song,” was written by Jorma Kaukonen and arranged by Adam, and features Adam playing the tenor ukulele.

“I am really proud of how this CD came out,” says Adam.  “It accomplished the feel and the grooves that I heard in my head.  ‘Merry Go Round’ came out better than I expected.  I had to do a re-write after tracking the first vocal.  I just wasn’t happy with is, so David Thom and I worked out a few changes that made the song work.”

Along with “Water Song,” “Freight Train Boogie,” written by the Delmore Brothers, Alton and Rabon, and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” written by Kris Kristofferson, are the only other songs that Adam did not write.

“’Freight Train Boogie’ is a song I stumbled on when I heard a rare board recording of a Doc and Merle Watson show from the mid-1970s at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall,” recalls Adam.  “It was a pivotal song for me in my exploration of Americana music.  I had heard the song over years of seeing Doc Watson play live, but something about this particular performance hit me like a sledgehammer and it has been a staple of my repertoire ever since.”

Of the Kristofferson song, Adam says, “’Sunday Morning Coming Down’ paints a beautiful picture and provides a glimpse into the mind’s eye of the great Americana songwriter.  I’ve been covering this song for a few years and keep seeing more layers and truth in it, the mark of a truly brilliant song.”

The CD is dedicated to Adam’s wife Becky, who wanted to hear an acoustic recording that resembled the songs she loves to hear at home when Adam is just sitting around picking and singing.  The song “If You Stay” was a song he wrote for Becky as a birthday gift and according to Adam, “I think it expresses in music and lyrics how I feel about her.”

Back to “Going to the River,” Adam relates, “This song was written during a brutal two-week heat wave.  It was so hot in the house that my pregnant wife and I ended up moving an air mattress outside for a few days.  On about the tenth day, a friend and I took my two dogs to the Russian River to cool off and this song followed shortly thereafter.

“After inviting my dad, Happy, into the studio in Woodstock, I talked our long time family John Sebastian into coming out, too.  It seems fitting with this CD being about family that John, who loaned me my first electric guitar to try out, was available to record while I was home.”

“1960 Caddy,” the disc’s opening track “Was a half finished song collecting dust in a pile of other old songs,” says Adam.  After tweaking the melody and the guitar groove, I realized I had a fun tune with an infectious bounce.  I enjoy the playful nature of the song and how much Joe Kyle, Jr. and David Thom added to the track.”

And just in time for Halloween is Adam’s song “Boo.”  “This is a relatively new song for me,” says Adam. “Living in a neighborhood with a lot of Hispanic families, one day I found myself playing what turned out to be a Bolero-style rhythm and melody.  Through osmosis of the music in my neighborhood, I drifted into a new musical direction for which I am grateful. The title comes from the fact it was finished around Halloween and has a spooky minor feel.”

The goal of this project was to make a recording sound like it was being played in one’s living room.  With his gentle, easy going vocal style, his always tasty guitar work, and the able assistance of good friends David Thom, Joe Kyle, Jr., Pat Campbell along with Happy Traum and John Sebastian, Adam truly succeeded not only in making the album his wife Betsy wanted to hear, he was aided and abetted to do it with the financial help of a bunch of new found believers and fans.

When it’s time to sit back and relax, slip “Just Like Home” into the CD player, grab a glass of wine, and enjoy.  It’s the easiest prescription on earth.

Titled “….First Came Memphis Minnie,” the disc is a loving tribute featuring Muldaur (who performs eight of the albums 13 songs), Rory Block, Ruthie Foster, Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow and Koko Taylor, with acoustic backing from Del Rey, David Bromberg, Steve Freund, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Steve James and Roy Rogers.

“….First Came Memphis Minnie” contains several previously released tracks from two of Muldaur’s Grammy-nominated albums as well as new recordings by Block, Foster and Raitt.  Added to the mix are songs written by Minnie or her husband Ernest Lawlers, a prolific writer in his own right, that were previously recorded by Koko Taylor and Phoebe Snow .

Her 40th album is a true labor of love for Muldaur, who considers Memphis Minnie to be not only a trailblazing musical pioneer for all women, but also her personal blues hero.  “Way back in 1963, when I was ‘In My Girlish Days,’ I had the amazing good fortune and privilege of meeting one of the original classic blues queens, Victoria Spivey, when she was in her late seventies, living in New  York City, and running her own record label,” writes Muldaur in her liner notes.  “She took me to her apartment and played old 78s, looking for songs that would be suitable for my young voice.  Of all the amazing tunes she played for me, the one that made the deepest impression was an old scratchy record of a haunting, soulful tune called ‘Tricks Ain’t Walkin’’ by Memphis Minnie.  From that moment to this, Memphis Minnie, and the example she set for me, has remained a profound influence on my life and my music.  Here I joined with some of my Sisters in Music to pay tribute to the woman that inspired us and paved the way for us all.”

In her prime, Memphis Minnie was a blues singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and guitar player par-excellence; a very colorful, larger-than-life figure whose recording career spanned more than 40 years. She released more than 200 songs, many of which she wrote and several of which endure today as blues classics including “Chauffeur Blues,” “In My Girlish Days,” “What’s the Matter with the Mill?” and “When the Levee Breaks.”  From the beginning of the great depression through the end of World War II—through an endless stream of innovative recordings and consistently compelling live performances—Memphis Minnie dominated the primarily male dominion of the Chicago Blues scene.

“While many female classic blues artists in the ‘20s and ‘30s (Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Sippie Wallace, Victoria Spivey, etc) sang accompanied by the likes of Louis Armstrong and other New Orleans-style jazz musicians, with bands that featured horns and piano, Memphis Minnie accompanied herself with a raw rhythmic guitar sound that came to be known as ‘country blues,’” says Muldaur.

“At a time when women were ‘kept in their place,’ both personally and professionally, Memphis Minnie was tough, independent, outspoken, and played a mean guitar!  But, she was more than just a guitar hero of early country blues. She ably adapted to newer trends and modernized her style, which helped account for her years of popularity. Memphis Minnie was one of the few figures to make the successful transition from the rural, acoustic guitar-dominated blues of the 1920s to the urban nightclub styles of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s.  She was tough, determined, talented, and courageous enough to defy and overcome all the racial, social, and economic and gender barriers that existed in her time, forging the life she envisioned for herself on nothing but her own terms,” says Muldaur.

As stated earlier, the predominately acoustic album features Muldaur on eight tracks and she sounds like she is having a great time interpreting Minnie’s songs.  She shines on “Me and My Chauffeur Blues,” “I’m Goin’ Back Home,” accompanied on guitar and vocals by Alvin Youngblood Hart, “As Long As I Can See You Smile,” the classic “Tricks Ain’t Walkin’,” “Crazy Cryin’ Blues,” “I’m Sailin’,” “Lookin’ The World Over” and “She Put Me Outdoors.”

Bonnie Raitt sounds like, well, Bonnie Raitt, singing and playing guitar on “Ain’t Nothin’ In Ramblin’,” one of Minnie’s better-known songs.   And it was Raitt who paid for the tombstone in the Mt. Zion cemetery in DeSoto, Mississippi for Minnie that was erected in October of 1996 with some 35 family members in attendance including Minnie’s sister, and numerous nieces (including LaVerne Baker) and nephews.

One of the stand-out selections on the disc is Rory Block playing guitar and slide guitar on “When You Love Me.”  Her playing is incredibly tasty, especially her slide work, and her vocal is as true to Minnie as anyone else on this brilliant package.  And then there is Ruthie Foster who brings it all home with “Keep Your Big Mouth Closed.  Sample lyric: “Sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re wrong, but you got to use good judgment and keep your big mouth closed.”  Excellent advice!

The late Phoebe Snow recorded “In My Girlish Days” some 35 years ago which includes David Bromberg on guitars and mandolin.  The disc closes with Koko Taylor’s rave up on “Black Rat Swing” which features Bob Margolin on slide guitar, Criss Johnson on guitar, John Kattke on piano, Jimmy Sutton on upright bass and Willie Hayes on drums.  Of course, Koko belts it out and sets everybody straight.  Both of these songs were written by Ernest Lawlers.

This was going to be a short piece about this album, but the more I listened to it, the more excited I got about it.  I’ve been listening to the disc almost non-stop for the last three weeks and it doesn’t get old, which confirms that classic songs, no matter where they come from never get old.  They just get re-told and keep getting better.

Tracy Nelson, Dorothy Morrison, Annie Sampson and Angela Strehli are The Blues Broads.  With more than two centuries of collective experience in blues, country, gospel, and rock, this group is nothing less than a roots music super group of the first order.  The CD/DVD contains a few familiar songs that are associated with their respective careers as well as a few newly written tunes that highlight the talent and creative might of these women.  Each brings a unique perspective and history to the group that came together in early 2011 under the aegis of Bob Brown, the album’s executive producer and whose Rancho Nicasio venue serves as the Blues Broads’ unofficial home base.

The DVD was directed by John Korty who won both an Oscar and Directors Guild Award for the documentary “Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?”  Korty also won an Emmy for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.  He called the Blues Broads “living testimony to the persistence and longevity of musical talent, proving the value of life experience in making art.”

So let’s delve into the history of these four women.  I would guess that Tracy Nelson is perhaps the most famous of the four.  Her career dates back to the mid 1960s when she recorded an album of acoustic blues tunes, with Charlie Musselwhite’s backing, for the Prestige label.  After moving to San Francisco, she founded Mother Earth and rose to the front ranks of the era’s great female singers, sharing stages with Janis Joplin, the Dead, Jimi Hendrix and many others.  She moved to Tennessee, just outside of Nashville many years ago, recorded with Willie Nelson and turned out a steady stream of blues and country-rooted albums.  Her most recent solo release is the critically acclaimed “Victim of the Blues” which received a Blues Music Award nomination for Traditional Blues Album of the Year.

Even if you don’t know her name, you know her voice.  Dorothy Morrison rose to international renown as the lead vocalist on the Edwin Hawkins Singers hit “Oh, Happy Day,” the biggest selling gospel recording of all time that was released and topped the charts in 1969.  Ms. Morrison was a member of the singing Combs Family early on and rose to prominence in East Bay church circles.  She has worked with artists such as Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie, Rita Coolidge, Merry Clayton and even Simon & Garfunkle – she is heard on “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Angela Strehli had been one of Austin, Texas’ most highly regarded female vocalists prior to her move to the Bay Area in the 1990’s.  She was a fixture at Antone’s in Austin where she played a key role in that club’s development.  At Antone’s, she was mentored and encouraged by many of the artists she booked including Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, all of whom helped her transition from the back office to the stage of the famous music club.  Her collaborations with Lou Ann Barton and Marcia Ball were, in some way, a forerunner for the Blues Broads concept.

Annie Sampson sings rock, gospel and a theatre background to the Blues Broads.  She played one of the leads in the original San Francisco production of “Hair” in the late 60’s and would go on to be a founder of Stoneground, the communal rock band that included Sal Valentino of the Beau Brummels in its line up as well as Cory Lenos, Steve Price and David Jenkins who would go on to form Pablo Cruise.  Annie, like Dorothy, comes from a church background and has recorded and performed with notables like Maria Muldaur, Taj Mahal, Journey, Eddie Money, Elvin Bishop, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia and many more.

For a splash of real musical talent, The Blues Broads are playing at the Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa on Friday night, October 12.  Tickets are $20 in advance and $22 at the door the day of the show and available at Lastdaysaloon.com. Opening the show is The Coahoma To Sonoma All Stars featuring Sarah Baker, Gary Silva, Donny Mederos and Steve Pile.  The show begins at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7:30 p.m.

Another show worth seeing this weekend is at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco.  Saturday’s show (October 13) features multiple Grammy and Blues Music Award nominee John Lee Hooker, Jr.  Hooker recently released his latest CD “All Hooked Up” on his own Steppin’ Stone Records label which was produced by Larry Batiste and recorded at Pajama Recording Studios in Oakland.  The album showcases the versatility of the singer on a dozen original songs that demonstrate his roots in blues as well as soul, gospel, funk rock and even a touch of jazz.

Born in Detroit, John Lee Hooker, Jr. was weaned on the blues at an early age by his famous father.  By the time he was eight years old, the younger Hooker was already performing on local radio stations, and when in his teens, he was touring with his dad.  Exposed to blues greats such as Jimmy Reed and local Detroit heroes Washboard Willie and Boogie Woogie Red, young Hooker became a regular at such prestigious venues as Detroit’s Fox Theatre as well as a variety of upscale Motown clubs.  At 18, he was recording with his father, most notably on senior’s landmark “Live at Soledad Prison” on ABC Records.

This show also doubles for his CD release party for “All Hooked Up” that was released a few weeks ago.  There are two shows, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. and tickets are $22 per person at Biscuitandclues.com. Oh, and the food at Biscuits & Blues is very good as well.

Enter two musicians who call Sonoma home and who have reputations for playing, touring and hanging out with some of the top musicians in the world.  Roy Blumenfeld and Kurt Krauthamer have decided to create a new kind of music festival for Sonoma and they are building it, literally, from the ground up.

The ultimate goal: an all day event on the Field of Dreams next summer. But first things first.

“The last thing we wanted to do was create a huge splash, book a bunch of bands and not be able to handle the growth of the event,” says Kurt Krauthamer, leader of the Rett Hamer Blues Band and Sonoma resident.  “We want to grow this thing organically, starting out small and taking the necessary steps to increase the talent and the number of performers over time.  And rather than do a one weekend a year event, our plan is to do several events throughout the year.”

The Sonoma Music Festival Vol. 1 takes place Wednesday, August 29 at 6 p.m. and will feature Roy Blumenthal’s new band Talk That Talk, Krauthamer’s the Rett Hamer Blues Band, and guitarists Sean Carscadden & Marty O’Reilly.  Petaluma-based Lagunitas Brewing Company is the sponsor for the evening, and there will be food truck vendors at the venue along with beer and wine at the Andrews Hall concession area.  Tickets are only $20 per person and can be purchased through the Sonoma Community Center box office and on-line Sonomacommunitycenter.com.

For those of you who have been entertained at the Center’s Andrews Hall, you know how limiting the seating will be. Get your tickets early. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The headline act, Talk That Talk, features Roy Blumenfeld on drums.  The event co-producer, Blumenfeld was an original member of the legendary New York-based band Blues Project.  He was also a co-founder of Seatrain, toured extensively with John Lee Hooker, and continues to be in-demand as a session musician.  Talk That Talk features David Aguilar (Norton Buffalo/Tudo Bem) on guitar, Austin Delone (Elvis Costello/Howard Tate) on keyboards, Stefanie Keys (Big Brother and the Holding Company) on lead vocals, and Rick Kirch on guitar and Ron Perry on bass, both of whom also toured with John Lee Hooker.

“For many years, the local professional musicians in and around Sonoma have been talking about events that feature local talent,” says Roy Blumenfeld, who has been a Sonoma resident since 1985. “We’ve got a wealth of it here.  We would like to fill the empty shoes of the Jazz fest with a sustainable annual event made up of Sonoma and northern California talent.”

Adds Krauthamer, “we are starting small, with a three band show.  As we gather momentum, we will move it on to the Veteran’s Hall this fall with a Saturday event that will include more acts and activities. If we keep going, we’re looking at an all day event on the Field of Dreams next summer.  We may not be as big and fancy as the Jazz Fest, but we will be home grown and a lot of fun!”

“We want to give back as much as we can to the community,” says Blumenthal, “and down the road we want to use as many local musicians as we can.  The local vendors are important to us as well.  The proceeds from this first show will benefit Pets Lifeline, which is a great organization and can always use assistance.  Future events will benefit other local organizations.”

Nancy King, executive director of Pets Lifeline stated, “We’ve done some big events here in town, bringing in wonderful talent.  Now it’s time to support our local musicians with a festival that embraces and celebrates the essence of our community.  We are happy to be involved with the nascent Sonoma Music Festival.”

Since the Sonoma Jazz Plus took a nosedive, there has been a lot of discussion around town about its replacement.  While many are still talking about what to do, Roy Blumenthal and Kurt Krauthamer have stepped up to the plate to take a swing at bringing something new to town.  Here’s hoping that these guys hit a home run.

When the Ray Davies show was announced in April, I got tickets right away.  I had seen the Kinks at the Fillmore East in New York in 1969 and again at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville in 1982.  Of all the British invasion bands, the Kinks were in my top three along with the Beatles and the Stones.  Ray Davies writes with great wit, combining the playfulness of Paul McCartney with the acerbic style of John Lennon and it all becomes uniquely Ray Davies songs.

Davies opened his show with a short acoustic set, joined by guitarist Bill Shanley.  The first tune was a Kink’s B-side called “I Need You.”  They plowed through some five other hits before he brought out a four piece backing band, The 88, who also served as opening act, performing a 45-minute set of material from their various albums. The Los Angeles band has been backing Ray for the last couple of years, and while they are not Dave, Pete and Mick, (the other original Kinks) they did come pretty close.

The group was formed in 2002 by high school pals Adam Merrin, who plays piano, and Keith Slettedahl, lead vocalist and guitarist. Bassist Todd O’Keefe and drummer Anthony Zimmitti came on a bit later. They backed Davies on a British tour that included a stop at the Royal Albert Hall and they also got to record in his Konk studio in London where they worked on Ray’s “See My Friends” album, and backing Lucinda Williams, the late Alex Chilton, and Davies himself on the song “David Watts.”

At the Napa gig, Ray seemed to have as good a time on stage as the audience had in watching him.  But it is probably a safe bet that the Kinks will never play together again, since Ray and his lead guitar playing brother Dave Davies can’t seem to get along.  In a “Rolling Stone” interview several months ago, Davies offered an olive branch to his younger brother, but apparently it was not accepted.

Davies knows how to prance around like a rock star, but most of the time he is more akin to a British music hall performer who engages the crowd with a lot of call-and-response activity. He also encourages the audience to sing along, which they did with very little prompting.  Blasting through a set of hits and album cuts, Davies thoroughly entertained with “Apeman,” “Victoria,” “Celluloid Heroes,” “A Well Respected Man,” “Till The End Of The Day,” “Sunny Afternoon,” “Waterloo Sunset,” and of course “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night.”  He only performed one song from his latest solo album, the title track “Other People’s Lives.”

The following night, 79 year-old Willie Nelson walked on stage looking a little bit frail, but he perked up when the band kicked in and opened the show with “Whiskey River.”  Willie does a quick 90 minutes — no more, no less.  His son Lucas, who plays many shows with him, played lead guitar and sang an occasional background vocal.

Like Davies, Willie has more than 40 years of music to fill a 90-minute show.  I am told that his set list varies only slightly, but he enthralled the crowd with “Still is Still Moving To Me,” “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain,” (his first Grammy win), “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I’m Gone,” from his latest album which is also a duet with Snoop Dog, a Hank Williams medley with “Move It On Over,”  “I Saw The Light” and “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Good Hearted Woman” (for Waylon, he said), “Always On My Mind,” “Me & Paul,” and more.

He threw headbands, guitar picks and cowboy hats into the audience and for all the traveling he does every year and all the shows he plays, he still appears to be having a great time on stage.

An incredibly gifted songwriter, he penned “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Hello Walls,” “Pretty Paper” and hundreds of other songs including “Crazy” that was recorded by Patsy Cline and remains the most played jukebox song in history.

A true American treasure, Willie still knows how to entertain a crowd.  In a recent show in Atlanta, Roselyn and Jimmy Carter (wearing headbands) came out on stage to sing “Amazing Grace” with him.

Two musical legends in two nights was an amazing experience for this somewhat jaded music writer.  I felt like a kid during Ray Davies show and was just plain blown away by watching and listening to Willie.  And kudos to the Uptown for presenting a wonderful cross-section of music.  That theatre has become my favorite place to be entertained.

Down at Rancho Nicasio this weekend, you can get a good dose of the blues from Tommy Castro and the Pain Killers on Friday, June 15.  The next night, The Hot Club of San Francisco, featuring Isabelle Fontaine entertains, followed on Sunday, Father’s Day, with the Blues Broads, four incredibly gifted singers who performed for the first time ever on the Rancho Nicasio stage.  Tracy Nelson was founder of the legendary San Francisco band Mother Earth, Dorothy Morrison was co-writer of “Oh Happy Day” and member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Angela Strehli organizer of the group and a driving force of the success of Rancho Nicasio, and Annie Sampson, a former longtime cast member of “Hair” and the group Stoneground, come together with a vocal explosion like no other.  Backed by a crackerjack band, this is a show that will definitely have you dancing in the street.

If you want to go a little further south (okay, maybe a lot further south) head to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga where they host an impressive lineup of talent all summer.   They opened their music series with Creedence Clearwater Revisited and Three Dog Night last week, and this weekend (Sunday, July 17) they are bringing in Kenny Loggins and the Blue Sky Riders.  From what I gather, Kenny will do his regular show opened by the Blue Sky Riders –  which consists of Kenny with two Nashville singer-songwriters, Georgia Middleman and Gary Burr.  Middleman and Burr are married, and Burr is one of the most successful songwriters based in the Music City.

Gary Burr is one of the most entertaining songwriters I have ever seen.  To his credit, he owns 32 Top 40 hits, 24 Top 10 hits and 14 No. 1 hits.  He has been named Songwriter of the Year by Billboard Magazine, ASCAP and the Nashville Songwriters Association International.  A few of the artists who have recorded his songs include Conway Twitty, George Jones, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Ringo Starr, Diamond Rio, Ricky Skaggs, Neil Diamond, Reba McEntire and a whole bunch more.  If you make it down to Saratoga, you will be totally entertained.

Also coming to Mountain Winery next week are the Indigo Girls on June 19 and Glen Campbell’s “Goodbye Tour” on June 20.  Future shows this summer include Lyle Lovett, Foreigner, Ziggy Marley, Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, Ray Davies (of the Kinks), Johnny Winter, John Fogerty, Diana Krall, Buddy Guy and more.

Rodney Strong winery kicks off their summer concert series on Saturday, June 16 with Tower of Power headlining and Craig Chaquico opening.  Next up is Al Green on July 15.

The Kate Wolf Music Festival at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville takes place June 29 and 30 and July 1 and features a great lineup including k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, Lucinda Williams, the great Richard Thompson, the Texas Tornados, Justin Townes Earle, Loudon Wainwright III, Blame Sally and more.  Get more information at katewolfmusicfestival.com.

The Uptown Theatre in Napa has the Indigo Girls with their full band playing on Thursday, June 21.  Other upcoming shows include Lyle Lovett on July 6, Ray Davies on July 17, Willie Nelson on July 18 and in August, Rosanne Cash on the 25^th of the month.

Alice Radio is hosting a free concert on Sunday, July 24 in Golden Gate Park featuring Adam Lambert, Graffiti6, Scars on 45 and Rebecca Ferguson.  The show takes place in Hellman Hollow (formerly the Speedway Meadow).

Lisa Marie Presley plays Slim’s in the City on Sunday, June 24.  Billed as “An evening with Lisa Marie Presley,” it should be an interesting show.  Also in the City, Justin Townes Earle plays the Great American Music Hall on Friday, June 29.

And a little closer to home, this weekend finds singer-songwriter Tony Gibson performing at Murphy’s Irish Pub on Friday, June 15 starting at 8 p.m.  On the same night, the Plaza Bistro hosts the Dick Conte Trio beginning at 7 p.m. and still sticking with the Friday night gigs, Dan Martin plays Steiner’s starting at 10 p.m.  The Hellhounds play the Sebastiani Winery gig, also on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.

And finally, the Meadowcroft Wines’ monthly Songwriters In Sonoma series takes a summer road trip into town for three shows at the Community Café (875 West Napa Street) beginning with the June 21 show.  There has been a lineup change since this show was first announced.  Katy Boyd, who I wrote about several months ago, will not be able to play the show since she broke her back a few weeks ago.  Sounds painful.  In true show business fashion, the show will go on with singer-songwriters Adam Gottstein, Richard Sumberg and Uni and her Ukelele.  Tickets are $10 and reservations for the show may be made by calling the Meadowcroft Wines tasting room at 707/934-4090.

The July 19 show at Community Café features Tony Gibson, Garrett Pierce and hometown singer-songwriter Sarah Summers.  The final show of the series at Community Café features Chris James, Steve Kritzer and Ash Tuesday (I love that name).  Songwriters in Sonoma returns to the Meadowcroft tasting room with the September 20^th show which promises to be a blockbuster!

Now get out there and dance or boogie or groove or cut a rug, just go out and see some fine, live music.

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Mike grew up with the Wet Willie boys, also from Mobile, but also played with a host of other musicians from throughout the state.  He’s been writing songs since he was 10 years old, and has forged a pretty amazing musical career over the years.  He was a member of Wet Willie and wrote the majority of songs on their last four or five studio albums and when the band disbanded, he recorded with The Outlaws.  He’s toured the world as a member of Delbert McClinton’s band, and sat in with every major act you can think of including Chuck Berry, Billy Preston, Etta James, Clarence Clemmons and just about every Southern band that ever made a record.  In the 1990’s he wrote hits for Huey Lewis & The News, Delbert McClinton, and many others through his publishing deal in Los Angeles.

He is happy as a clam in his new position running Rancho Nicasio for owner Bob Brown, the investment banker and longtime manager of Huey Lewis and the News, Pablo Cruise and others.

“Bob bought the place in 2000 and called me to ask if I could run it,” says Mike Duke.  “I told him that I would and that was 11 years ago.  It’s a great place to be, out in the country and yet close enough to the City.”

While running the restaurant during the week, there is plenty of music in the place on the weekends.  “We stay pretty booked all year long,” Duke says.  “We get a lot of acts coming through here that play in the City first and then head on up the road. There are also a lot of folks who live in the county that come out and play, too, like Elvin (Bishop) and Maria (Muldaur).”

And if an act is coming through without a band, Duke pulls together the Rancho Nicasio All-Stars with himself on keyboards and backing vocals and a county full of musicians from which to choose.

Rancho Nicasio’s upcoming BBQ on the Lawn and concert series features The Blues Broads on June 17 with Tracy Nelson (worth the price of admission alone), Dorothy Morrison, Annie Sampson and Angela Strehli.  On June 24, Petty Theft rolls in and on Sunday, July 1 it’s Peter Rowan’s 3rd annual Bluegrass Birthday Bash featuring the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band and special guests, The Rowan Brothers.

Rancho Nicasio will present its annual 4th of July celebration with the Zydeco Flames and then coming in August are some cool shows featuring the Paul Thorn Band (which is quickly selling out), Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, Asleep at the Wheel, and Charlie Musselwhite.  The great Marcia Ball comes to Nicasio on September 9.

Mike and I talked several times this week for this piece and he regaled me in stories about working at the Sweetwater, in Sweden with Little Milton and Denise LaSalle, filling in on vocals for Delbert McClinton when he lost his voice; and the same with Tommy Castro when he, too, lost his voice.  To say that Mike has a compelling way to tell a story is an understatement.

His tale of racecar driver Dale Earnhardt and Delbert McClinton at a big dinner at the Sherry Netherland Hotel in New York and singing “Giving It Up For Your Love” for some 30 minutes had me rolling on the floor.

Duke was fortunate enough to back Chuck Berry for two shows at the Electric Ballroom in Atlanta and had nothing but praise for the legendary entertainer.  Berry rarely traveled with a set band.  He would pick up musicians in whatever town he was performing.  Duke on keyboards, a drummer and a bass player were selected for the Atlanta gig and true to form, Berry showed up 15 minutes before showtime, which meant no chance of a rehearsal.

“When I asked him about it, he said, ‘Boys, this is how we do it.  Just watch my right foot.  When I tap my toes, we go.  When I step on my heel, we stop.’  And that’s just what we did,” said Duke. “And one other funny thing, during the last song, he kept looking at his watch, and I kind of had an idea of where he was going with this, as soon as 60 minutes had passed, he ended the song and walked off the stage. He wasn’t going to play a minute over what his contract had stated.”

Another Mike Duke claim to fame was his appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Actually, he was not a guest, but was sitting in the audience and was selected to play “Stump The Band.”  Apparently, Carson enjoyed talking with Duke since the segment, which usually lasts a couple of minutes, went very long.

“It was like he was setting me up with his questions, and I was hitting them out of the park,” remembers Duke.  “It was incredibly funny and I saw that the band was laughing like crazy, too.  When Carson finally asked what song would stump the band, I told him it was called ‘Why Do You Think They Call ‘Em Cowpokes’ and the band lost it again.  They obviously didn’t know it, and when I sang it, Carson lost it, too.”  Incidentally, Mike wrote the song and made a few dollars for it being played on television!

To get the real Mike Duke treatment, head over to Rancho Nicasio and if he’s got the time, he will tell you some rock and roll war stories that are so funny they will bring tears to your eyes.  And the best part of it is he doesn’t even know how funny he really is.

The core of the group includes Cyril Neville once a member of New Orleans’ favorite sons, The Meters, as well as the Neville Brothers on vocals and percussion; Devon Allman, oldest son of Gregg Allman on lead guitar and vocals; and award winning the blues guitarist Mike Zito also playing lead guitar and providing vocals. The group is rounded out with Charlie Wooten on bass and Yonrico Scott on drums, an incredibly solid rhythm section.

The record company blurb that leads off the groups bio states, “Before they even hit a chord, The Royal Southern Brotherhood have your attention. In the U.S. South, where music is a religion, two rock ‘n’ roll bloodlines tower above all others. In the saloon bars from Mississippi to Maryland, mere mention of the Allman Brothers and Neville Brothers casts a magic spell.  Conversation falls silent. Pool balls stop rolling.  Ten-gallon hats are tipped in respect and beer bottles raised in salute. These aren’t just bands, they’re gods, and with a lineup comprising of both Cyril Neville and Devon Allman, The Royal Southern Brotherhood come pre-loaded with expectations. Don’t worry: they can match them. The family tree might be auspicious, but his new band trades on talent, not genealogy. It’s not about rock history; it’s about the here-and-now.”

A little bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but when you listen to the music, it all begins to makes sense.  You know you are in for quite a ride when from the opening downbeat you hear drummer Scott and bassist Wooten kick things off on “New Horizons,” a pretty apt way to inaugurate the new band with a big sound.

To call these guys a blues band, even with their credits, would be a stretch considering the overall sound of the disc.  To call them a Southern rock band would be a bit of a misnomer as well.  On “Fired Up,” a song written by Wooten and Neville, the band turns toward Santana for inspiration, and comes up strong especially with Allman’s guitar work and a very tasty little drum solo by Scott that sounds to me like a nod to the great Butch Trucks.

The songwriting duties are shared by Neville, Allman, Zito and Wooten in varying combinations, with the only outside song being a reggae-ish version of the Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain,” which lopes along with a nice bit of slide guitar, sounding more like Dickey Betts than Duane Allman.  Unfortunately, the album’s credits do not list who plays what or, for that matter, who is singing lead on each track. For an important debut release, the packaging is extremely short on information.

“Ways About You,” penned by Mike Zito and Cyril Neville, and sung by Zito is a slow blues, while the Allman/Neville tune, “Gotta Keep Rockin’” sung by Allman picks up the pace a bit, again with tasty guitar licks and a lyric that states this is his time to rock, “This is my time now baby/My time to shine in the sun. I gotta keep rockin.’” Which is later followed by the spoken word lines, “I worked hard for everything I got, I gotta keep rockin,’ I just can’t stop.”

“Sweet Jelly Donut” is a soulful, New Orleans’ style romp written by Neville, that names some pretty famous Crescent City venues such as Tipitina’s, Vaughn’s, and the Bon Temps Roule as well as some of the city’s fabled musicians like Dr. John, Kermit Ruffin and Trombone Shorty, all the while chasing “that sweet jelly donut that satisfies my soul.”  A kicking rhythm section coupled with Neville’s percussion prowess makes this song pop from start to finish, not to mention the guitar work by both Allman and Zito.

The final track is an instrumental written by all five musicians and covers a lot of ground.  For my money, it may have been more advantageous to open the disc with this track rather than close it.  Producer Jim Gaines, who has worked with Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn and a host of other rock gods, produced the disc and pulled together a great sounding record, giving each player a chance to stretch out and shine.

I would be hard pressed to call this band a “second generation” rock and roll band.  There is a lot of originality in the songs as well as top flight musicianship from every member and, however they all came together, which is not well documented within the packaging, I’m glad they did.  Apparently The Royal Southern Brotherhood will be touring to support the disc and then, hopefully, back to the studio to create their next project.  It’s not often that a debut disc can push all the right buttons through each track to create a very tasty gumbo, but the RSB are seasoned enough to pull off a successful first effort and begin their journey on the rock ‘n’ roll highway. Just jump into the left lane, boys, and hit the gas, I’d say you’re on your way!