| "BLUES WITH A FEELING 2004" ARNOLD'S - MOHAWK COLLEGE - MAY 15, 2004 (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE) |
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| Slide guitarist Bill Dowey, also with Calgary�s King Eddie House Band showed that cowboys get the blues, too, as he led the way on �Seventh Son� and �Little Red Rooster�. Jesse O�Brien, Hamilton�s Amadeus of the Keyboard, bridged the generation gap by alternating strong vocal leads with his dad, Obie (Michael O�Brien), backed up by Maple Blues award-winning bassist Neil Nikafor (one of the committee organizers), Steve Bannon on guitar and some sort of lap steel instrument, and Danny Lockwood effortlessly doing double-duty on drums (and loving every minute of it!), as well as vocals. They displayed their versatility with �What�d I Say� (Col Joye), �Whole Lotta Shakin� Goin� On� (oh, yeah!), Chuck Berry�s �You Never Can Tell�, and a slow-blues number sung by Jesse, whose vocals are as delightful as his keyboarding. Another group of Hamilton musicians that has largely been overlooked in musical hierarchy is Trickbag. Lead female vocalist Donna Panchezak bears a strong vocal resemblance to Bonnie Raitt and deserves to have her own showcase. Her obvious talent was nevertheless overshadowed by the musical heavyweights she was keeping company with that night, including featured guests Sonny Del-Rio on sax, Kelly Jay on piano, vocals and rabble-rousing (You tell �em, Kelly!), as well as Guitar Mikey, a Boston-based blockbuster on the frets, who really knows how to work an audience! Donna�s Trickbag band-mates - Les Smith, Larry Feudo, Peter Rhibany and Paul Panchezak � weren�t just basking in the limelight of the more well-known players but worked hard at proving their own mettle, repeating a successfully-received gig the previous night at Buddy�s, which might also become an annual tradition. Along with one of Sonny�s apparent favourites, �Let the Good Times Roll�, there was a rockin� rendition of �Mercury Blues� (a la David Lindley), and heartfelt performances of �Rainin� in My Heart� and �I Used to be a Bad Boy�, performed by Mr. Jay. Crowbar stole the show, of course, starting their �sound check� with �Ready, Willing and Able� (right, on all counts) and continued with Colin Linden and Jim Weider�s �Remedy�, recorded on The Band�s Jericho album. U.K.-expatriate music publisher Frank Davies (of TMP - The Music Publisher), credited with discovering, producing and promoting King Biscuit Boy, Crowbar, and more recently, Ian Thomas and Murray McLauchlan, was also in attendance to pay tribute to his late prot�g�. (continued) |