Last Saturday
at Rancho Nicasio, Stikky Vikki and her Pinecones
tore it up big time leaving no prisoners.. nothing
but a bunch of slackjawed, definitely lit up,
locals and yokels. Props to her dynamite band:
Chris Ivey, stellar Pedal Steel , the remarkable
Russ "Muleskinner' Whitehead on Bass. The
very hot Bob 'Skunk Train' Woods, Guitar the ever
steady Steve Namle, Drums, talking of the night as
the breaking down and packing up was underway
Steve put it simply....'Pinnacle of my career as a
drummer.' That during the breakdown part of
the night as the humble Brit 'Country Boy' himself
chatted and signed CDs out front.
Albert
Lee just gave a tour de force of country
rocking guitar that... just was not only not
holding back but seemed like Albert came out
swinging for the fences. 'Tear it Up' was exactly
that. Albert just seemed to toss off notes as if
he was daring himself to pull those country poppin'
notes together. From down there to up there and
how do you pull that all together and he did of
course and the reckless abandon was just their to
give all those people a wild joy ride and it
worked. Angela
Strehli the great Texas born blues singer sat
in for a couple of numbers and afterwards was all
humble as if she didn't add big time to the
rocking festivities. She did. Great to see a
strong contingent of Fairfax regulars in the
audience. Tim Bush after the show compared notes
with Russ Whitehead and realized they were both
back up bass men for the east Bay band Lucky
Strike back in the 80's. It's a small world and
pretty amazing one at that especially that night
in Nicasio.
I almost forgot Albert also blew me away
with some great Jerry Lee Lewis style rock piano
that night. I can't remember what tune he covered.
I had no idea of the depth of the man's talent and
probably still don't.
Great work Vikki. The girl is a genius.
Bye the way Chris Ivey you know the silver
haired ...have you heard me say brilliant. There,
Brilliant, he is, pedal steel man Chris is
fighting off leukemia and everyone move some power
of prayer and positive vibes to be with
Chris and all of you fabulous unheralded and
slightly heralded and mucho heralded musicians of
the world out there. Hang in there. We love you
and we need you! (hope no one mind's me speaking
on their behalf on that subject.)
Thanks,
Guy
PS I see Wikipedia still makes no mention of
this current band that Albert calls home with on
the West Coast.
Under the radar... the best music on the Planet. |
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pictures from Palms
Playhouse, Davis CA
September 2005
Send me yours from Nicasio if you got some. |
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