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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Other Artists → Pittsburgh Blues Festival
Well, I finally have details. Nothin But Trouble will play Sat. at 1:30pm on the main stage. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to nail down the details..but..I'll be there and hope to see some of my Bonabuddies there as well. http://www.pghblues.com/ Cathy
I just got a room for all 3 nights Cath.....I'm really lookin' forward to this.....
I'm planning on going down Sat. night to see Taj Mahal. Not sure if I'll be there for the openers though.
I'm planning on going down Sat. night to see Taj Mahal. Not sure if I'll be there for the openers though.
I had the very great pleasure of being taken to a NBT gig in Baltimore. They are a really good little band, and they rock! They're on before Taj Mahal so I'd try and get there a bit earlier to catch them too. Auntie Cate will be the one dancing front and center. 
I'm planning on going down Sat. night to see Taj Mahal. Not sure if I'll be there for the openers though.
Hey Brett...
If you can make it, Friday night with Tab Benoit looks to me to be the highlight of the weekend.....and it's free with a canned food donation......
Here's a taste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXAH3WVhhwg
Hey Cath,
Unfortunatly I will not be around that weekend. Silly me volunterred to work a private party at Ben Rothlisbergers house on the 26th from noon till 8. When I was asked to do this party I never thought about the date being the weekend of the PBF. This gig has been planned for 2 months and there's no way for me to get out of it. Should you come to town Friday night I would love to meet up somewhere for a "cocktail" or 3. Or maybe even breakfast Saturday morning.
Great Cathy and SRV. I will be there Friday night and on Saturday too, so I will definitely see you both there. Darrin are you coming? Looking forward to next weekend. See you guys soon!
Barbara 
Hey Barbara...
The festival shifts to Moondog's after 10 o'clock for at least another 4 hours.....
You guys feel like jumpin' afterwards??
I have it on good authority that Tab Benoit stops in whenever he's close.....
I will definately be there on Friday night. Saturday is still up in the air and Sunday I have a family reunion to go to. So Ill see all you guys that will be attending on Friday for sure.
See y'all on Monday.....'ceptin' them that are goin' to the gig.....
Time to get funky, now.....
(Swami Cate...you on the road yet??)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSAwjJ6kV4k
I dont know about Cate but Ill be on the road as soon as i log off from here.....See ya there !!!
Cathy and the NBT posse should be arriving round about now. You should be able to spot them real easy as they're nothin' but trouble.
Happy to report that all is well in Pittsburgh, NBT went down very well and Cathy is having a swelteringly good time selling cd's and t-shirts.
What a great time!!! The ride there and back was beautiful. The park is a perfect setting, and the crowd was the usual Blues crowd, which means NO DRAMA. It was hot and humid, but luckily there were frequent clouds.
Friday's highlight was Tab Benoit. He was SO happy to be there and the crowd loved him. Now for the coolest part...A club called Moondog's (Starlite), hosted the post fest "jam". It's a perfect blues club and even had JB there (back in the day). The Zydeco Band from the fest took over most of the time we were there. The host band was fun and I'll leave it to SRV to tell you about the "cast of characters". Then you hear "Tab's here" as he walks thru. A bit later he came out and played drums! (I might say as usual)..We left at 1:30 to get ready for Sat. SRV have a Tab encounter until 4? a.m....again, I'll let him tell his story. (Something about a barmaid waking him in his truck at 6:30?????)
Nothin But Trouble is getting great support from the Western Penn. Blues Society, their sponsors for the next IBC's. They played at 2:00 and had a wonderful reception. Sold lots of CD's and shirts. The Pitssburgh Blues Allstars played after NBT and we would all meet later at Moondog's. The mix on the main stage was horrid during the day. I think they changed techs before the evening performers, because it was perfect then. The youngsters from Tupelo Miss., Homemade Jamz Band, got lost and ending up playing right before Taj Mahal. They are 3 siblings, 9-15y/o..but don't think they are a novelty..they have real talent. They had these wicked guitars made from mufflers. They didn't have them earlier this year at the IBC's! I really got a kick out of them!
Speaking of getting a kick...While they were setting up for the final act of the night Taj Mahal, they were blaring "You & Me" thru the sound system!! Taj has a touch of that "old school" attitude..you know..yada, yada...so I thought it was Karma!!
So, back to Moondog's with guitars....There was a young guitar player there that BLEW MY MIND..Very animated, but a talent that transended thought. Just a natural organic player. (He won the Albert King guitar player award at the IBC's in the past)..Again, more on him from SRV....
Then, NBT had their turn and they were ON!!! I'm biased, but their talent is deep. Moondog loved them and has booked them for 2 shows!!! I KNOW SRV enjoyed Crossroads, and the morp to some Santana...yes it was a rockin night!!
We didn't stay for Sunday. Pitts.Jeff and his wife tried to meet up for breakfast, but we just couldn't get it together this time..I hope to next trip!!! (Luv to ya Brother!!!)
One last note...The Food Network is rerunning last week's "Diners, dives.." on Tuesday, which inclues a segment on Moondog's.. (He is a very cool, music LOVING man.) I watched last week and wanted to eat there...it all looked so good..oh well...
Barbara, Darrin..I'm sorry I didn't see you but, we'll be back!!! Cathy
Thank God Cathy took care of most of the review.....I don't think I've got enough energy left!!
Wadda weekend.....3 days of perfect weather in a row (that may be a Pittsburgh record...), and like Cathy said, NO drama. I don't think I saw one jerk the whole weekend.....
Cathy and Nothin' But Trouble made one hell of an impression on Moondog. You have to realize.....here's a man that's seen it all, and then some.....and he sat down front for practically their whole set......grinnin' from ear to ear. I've never seen him do that.....you guys should be proud, Cath.....
Tab was Tab.....just the nicest guy in the world. I talked with him 'til 4 in the morning about his other passion.....the wetlands. And, of course he played drums!! He told me he'd rather play drums than guitar.....
Now.....about the 6:30 AM wake up call in the parking lot.....that's what's known as a "teaser" in the media, huh Cath?? What happened was this.....my back went out at the gig on Friday, just as I was leaving. So bad that I had trouble getting up the hill and to my truck. By the time I got to Moondog's, it felt a little better from sitting in the truck on the way there (I had stood the whole day...) But then, after standing at Moondog's for another 5 or 6 hours, it went out again.....I could barely make it to my truck, let alone get in it. Once I was able to get both legs in, I realized I couldn't raise my left leg to work the clutch, so I figured I'd wait a while before pulling out.....and I.....well, I kinda fell asleep. Mary the bar maid woke me up at 6:30, then it was off to Denny's for breakfast.....
The "kid" Cathy mentioned is Zack Weisinger.....<<There was a young guitar player there that BLEW MY MIND..Very animated, but a talent that transended thought. Just a natural organic player.>> That describes him perfectly.....he's one of the special ones......
Guitar Zack & No Slack.....great name, huh?? He's about 6'10", skinny as a rail, and just OUT THERE!!! CRAZY good!!!!! And I do mean crazy.....the boy just ain't right. But put a guitar in his hands, and a pork pie hat on top of that black mop, and a switch goes on somewhere.....he BECOMES music.....hard to explain, but it really is something to see. Unique doesn't begin to explain. He has a CD release party at Moondog's this Friday, and I'm goin' to that and skippin' Walter Trout at O'Malley's in Youngstown.....he's THAT good. Of course, Walter's at Moondog's on Sunday, so it ain't a real big sacrifice!!!
Another local favorite is Norman Nardini.....<<All man, all day...the last true man...the heart and soul...the undisputed, undefeated, uncrowned King of Pittsburgh Rock N Roll. The manful handful, the beauty on duty, the wop wit da bop, the guinea wit da skinny, the Pittsburglar, the high priest from the church of Rock N Roll. Your personal white trash warrior!>> That's Norman.....and he wrote that!! I think Cathy liked "The guinea wit da skinny"!! I walked in Saturday night, walked passed the stage to get to the men's room, gave him a thumb's up, and he tells the crowd that I was fresher than I was Friday night!! The bastid.....
Sunday's line up at the PBF was excellent as well......Southern Culture on the Skids were incredible!!
http://www.scots.com/theband/discography.htm
Hardly a "blues" band, but man, do they have fun and know how to work a crowd!
If there had been a roof on the venue, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk woulda blown it off.....
I knew they were gonna be good, but DAMN!!! FUUUUUNNNNNKKKKKYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Tommy Castro nailed it, again. He's just a whole lotta fun to see.....and I love them horns!!
Other notables.....Lil Brian and the Zydeco Travelers play a real sweet funky zydeco, and are a ton of fun. They rocked Moondog's OUT!!!
http://www.intrepidartists.com/lilbrian.html
Joanna Conner drove in from Kingston Mines in Chicago, where they played 'til 4 in the morning the night before.....and TORE it UP!!!
http://www.joannaconnorband.com/
I was also impressed with Taj. When I saw him on the BluesCruise, I kinda thought he mailed it in.....I was disappointed. But he honestly seemed to be having a lot of fun, and absolutely LOVED Homemade Jamz, who were on before him, and actually ran over into his time slot because they had gotten lost. But I talked to a photographer who was shooting him as they played, and he was diggin' it through their whole set.....even gave 'em props when he finally got to play.....
So many stories.....so little time.....
Like the lesbian photographer with this otherworldly zoom lens that was shooting women's behinds, then showin' me how she could blow 'em up into 3' x 4' posters.....honest. It never fails.....there's always sumptin' off the wall goin' on around me.....it's either a blessing, or a curse.....but I like it.....
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need another nap.....
PS.....JB was pumpin' through the sound system on Sunday, too, Cath.....seriously cool.....
I was in Memphis when Zak won the Albert King award. He seemed like a shy kid. Not anymore apparently. He was the best guitar player in the house except for one of the judges. Checked out his site and myspace. That is some quirky stuff. He seems to of left them blues behind.
I was in Memphis when Zak won the Albert King award. He seemed like a shy kid. Not anymore apparently. He was the best guitar player in the house except for one of the judges. Checked out his site and myspace. That is some quirky stuff. He seems to of left them blues behind.
This was the second time I saw him, Jim.....both times being in a small bar. (I missed him with the Pittsburgh All-Stars at the festival...got there late because of back problems...) So I don't know if he acts shy in front of a larger audience or not. But he's anything but shy once he starts playin' in a bar. He spends almost as much time playin' in the middle of the audience as he does on stage.....
"Quirky" is a fair assessment.....he just doesn't take himself seriously.....at all.....ever. But he hasn't left dem blues behind.....this was the first time I saw him, at Harvey's......a little bar over the hill from me, in his hometown last year......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f477lNMX … re=related
I just love this kid.....
I wondered what happened to him. I checked out several videos. He seems more concerned with schtick than lick. He wasn't like that at all. He was more serious and seriously good in Memphis.
Check out the Guitar Center King of the Blues video. He is very raw sounding but when I saw him he was polished. That was what made him stand out to me. He reminded me of Joe.
The on tour with Vai video on there are just wacky. I guess that's entertainment. Find a niche' and he has his sown up.
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