| The Little Red Blues Band is rapidly becoming a popular attraction at its regular Thursday night gig at Hamilton's well-known Mermaid's Lounge (Hess Village). An offshoot of The Shakers (not to be confused with another band of the same name originating out of Toronto), this outfit consists of Tim Gibbons (lead and slide guitar, harmonica and lead vocals), Bucky Buchanan (bass), and Claude Desroches (drums), who is rather heavily involved with the Mermaid's Lounge itself (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Guesting with them on this January 5/02 showcase Saturday evening was another member of the musical Desroches family, i.e. Dave Rave (Teenage Head, Shakers, Edge102) Desroches. What I liked about this '60s-flavoured blues and rock ensemble is that they don't play the typical standards from those genres of music, instead demonstrating their beyond-the-surface affection by playing lesser known but very appealing selections by Jimmy Rogers and Big Bill Broonzy, for example. Tim Gibbons, apart from being an excellent instrumentalist, has a great, gutsy set of vocal pipes reminiscent of Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon and early Van Morrison. Bucky Buchanan, also on vocals for several songs, sounds eerily like guitarist Dylan Wickens, and Claude Desroches kept the crowd's toes tapping and fingers snapping with his dynamic techniques on the drumkit. Dave Rave, who will be performing an acoustic set at a benefit concert sponsored by indie record companies at Casbah @ La Luna in Hamilton on the afternoon of January 27/01, has recently joined the roster of artists (The Shakers and The Kings - "Switching to Glide" - included) being re-released and/or newly promoted by Bullseye Records Canada. The admission is $2 for the afternoon show and there is an all-ages concert later on in the evening. More information can be obtained at 905-777-7844. Diane Wells P.S. Make sure you check out Harrison Kennedy & The Blues Angels at Mermaid's on Wednesday nights! The bass player, legendary Prakash John, has played with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, and Funkadelic. UPDATE Neil Nikafor is now playing bass with Harrison Kennedy (May 2002) |
| "LITTLE RED BLUES BAND MAKES A SPLASH AT MERMAID'S LOUNGE" [Published in ARTSbeat - Feb.-Mar./2002 Issue] |
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