Tag: Jonny Lang
A Shooting Star finds home with the Young Dubliners
June 14, 2010 June 13, 2010 by thedailyrecord, posted in band feature, Kansas City music scene
(Above: "Nobody's getting any money for this one." The Young Dubliners bring a little bit of Ireland to the CBS Early Show in 2007.)
The first thing Chas Waltz does when he returns to Kansas City is check in with friends and family then head straight over to Gates BBQ for a slab of ribs. Waltz has been living in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years, but hasn't forgotten the great tastes of his hometown.
As the violin player in Shooting Star, Waltz was part of one of the first major rock bands emerge of Kansas City. From 1977 to 1987, Shooting Star rubbed elbows with ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship, Kansas and Journey. They helped put the local music scene on the radar of the powerful coastal labels.
"Whenever people learned we were from Kansas City they always kind of perked up, especially people on the coasts," Waltz said. "People knew our town from the legendary reggae group the Blue Riddim Band, who were big at the time, but we were the first rock band. It made people take notice."
After the demise of Shooting Star in the late '80s, Waltz relocated to Los Angeles. His violin skills inadvertently put him at the heart of the burgeoning Irish rock scene. The success of U2 and the Pogues had brought a new generation of Irish songwriters to America.
"Shortly after I moved to Los Angeles I hooked up with a friend of mine who was a producer out there, but grew up in Springfield, Mo.," Waltz said. "He introduced me to that world, and particularly to Dave King, who would later form the group Flogging Molly. I joined his band, which got me into the whole scene. Through that I met the Dubliners."
Above: The Young Dubliners play tonight at Davy's Uptown Rambler's Club. Show starts at 8 and tickets are $12. Visit http://www.daveysuptown.com/ for more information.
The Dubliners were informal group centered around Dublin natives Keith Roberts and Paul O'Toole who started tweaking and recording their favorite songs from back home. When Roberts and O'Toole lost their fiddle player In the mid-'90s, they asked Waltz to join their band, now known as the Young Dubliners.
"I didn't know any of this music when I started out. I was a rock and roll guy," Waltz said. "But through the festivals we've been booked to play, I've gotten to learn from a lot of the best fiddle players from Scotland and Ireland."
Waltz was present for the band's first full-length album, 1995's "Reach," but was gone by the time the second record materialized.
"I was in the band for three years, left to front another band and was back in 2001," Waltz said. "The timing was right. The band I was in wasn't working out. Our bass player was also from Kansas City, and he wanted to go back and start a family. That was Norm Dahlor, who now plays with the Elders."
When Waltz returned, the Dubliners' lineup finally stabilized. O'Toole had left around the same time as Waltz, but the current crop of players has stayed together, more or less, until today.
"Touring is hard work and not everyone is cut out for it," Young Dubliners founder Keith Roberts said. "It took a while to find the right mix of people, but the band we have today is the best group I've worked with."
The past 10 years have taken the quintet around the world several times, performing at both Irish and rock festivals and opening for Jethro Tull and Jonny Lang. In 2006, Roberts hastily assembled the band to record a quick follow-up to their biggest record to date, "Real World." The resulting album, "With All Due Respect," a baker's dozen of their favorite Irish songs, has surpassed everything else in their catalog.
"We did that in 17 days," Roberts said. "The beauty of that album is that we didn't have much time to over (mess) with it. It was like in our bar band days.
"No matter where we play, we'll sell as many copies of that album as the new one," Roberts continued. "It's timeless. We might do it again."
It might be a while before that happens, though. The band is feeling the itch to write some more original songs to complement "Saints and Sinners," the all-new album that followed "Respect."
"I'm looking forward to getting some new material going," Waltz said. "I'm writing all the time and I have a lot of stuff wanting to be finished. I can't wait to hear what the guys will do with it."
Review: Flogging Molly
Kansas City Rocks Out
Go green with Stiff Little Fingers
Tagged Charles Waltz, Chas Waltz, Dave King, Flogging Molly, Irish music, Jethro Tull, Jonny Lang, Keith Roberts, Norm Dahlor, Shooting Star, The Elders, the Pogues, U2, With All Due Respect, Young Dubliners1 Comment
Review: Experience Hendrix
March 31, 2010 March 26, 2010 by thedailyrecord, posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star
(Above: Jonny Lang and Aerosmith's Brad Whitford blaze through "Fire" on March 6, 2010, at The Joint in Las Vegas.)
The Kansas City Star
The lineup for Tuesday's Experience Hendrix concert at the Uptown Theater seemed to set up a joke: How many guitarists does it take to pay tribute to the most celebrated axeman of all time? The answer: Fourteen, including half of Los Lobos, all of Living Colour, a pair of virtuosos, a handful of bluesmen and several contemporaries.
Bass player Billy Cox met Jimi Hendrix while the two were in the Army. He is the last living musician from any of the bands Hendrix lead.
Billy Cox, the Band of Gypsys bass player and Jimi Hendrix' last living band mate, opened the night with a heartfelt thank you and romp through "Stone Free." Backing him on drums was Chris Layton, better known for his time backing Stevie Ray Vaughan in Double Trouble, and Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers. The star-power of the opening lineup may have had the loaded house drooling over their guitar magazines, but they didn't have long to revel.
Every 20 minutes or so, another pairing of musicians emerged, each seeming to emphasize a different aspect of Hendrix' music. His rhythm and blues roots came out in Living Colour's set, while members of Los Lobos paid tribute to his roots and Kenny Wayne Shepherd emphasized the rock star angle.
Jonny Lang's performance of "Fire" was the first explosive moment of the night. Backed by Brad Whitford of Aerosmith and a vivacious chorus of singers, Lang's feverish vocals and impassioned playing drove the crowd to their feet. Whitford was finally able to emerge from the long shadow of his Aerosmith band mate Joe Perry as he and Lang traded solos.
Lang's set was followed by Kenny Wayne Shepherd's explosive interpretation of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." Knowing his boss was about to burn down the fret board, singer Noah Hunt, who also sings in the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, abandoned the stage after completing his verses. Alone onstage, save the rhythm section of Layton and Scott Nelson, Shepherd struck about every rock star pose imaginable as he soloed endlessly to the rapture of the crowd.
Susan Tedeschi was the lone intruder into this guy's night out. Although she wasn't given a set of her own, each of her frequent guest appearances was inspiring. Her singing on "One Rainy Wish" added an earthy sensuality and vulnerability to Hendrix' lyrics, and her tasty guitar solos were a welcome relief from the pyrotechnics.
The night's two dozen songs spotlighted classic rock staples "Purple Haze," "Foxy Lady" and "The Wind Cries Mary," and also unearthed some deeper treasures. Cox celebrated the guitarist he met in the Army with "Message of Love," a song he a Hendrix recorded on the "Band of Gypsys" album. Eric Johnson embraced Hendrix' love of unusual textures with the deep cut "House Burning Down."
Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel brought new life into "Purple Haze." The result wasn't too different from what Randolph's Family Band typically serves up, but the playing was much more elastic bouncing between the trio of steel guitars. Eric Johnson enlisted three drummers to help summon the heavy, drugged feel on "Are You Experienced." Later, Joe Satriani had no trouble coaxing alien sounds from his guitar during "Third Stone From the Sun."
Midway through the set, guitarist emeritus Hubert Sumlin emerged to represent the pre-Hendrix guitar world. Backed by Tedeschi, and Cesar Rosas and David Hildago of Los Lobos, Sumlin showed none of his 78 years powering through "Killing Floor," a song he originally cut with Howlin' Wolf for Chess Records in 1966.
While all the expected heavy hitters drew big responses, some of the evening's best moments occurred during songs Hendrix didn't write. Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel teamed with Cox and Living Colour singer Corey Glover for a jubilant gallop through Buddy Miles' "Them Changes." Cox tried to end the number, but Randolph wouldn't let it stop, motivating Glover's fervent yelps with his riffs. Early in the night, Isley's unaccompanied incorporation of "Amazing Grace," mostly played with his teeth, brought back shades of Woodstock.
After every trick and novelty had been exhausted, Cox returned to the stage and closed the night with the blues staple "Red House." When all the performers were brought out for a final bow, they extended nearly all the way across the stage. Evidently it takes a lot of bodies to fill some very big shoes.
Stone Free – Billy Cox, Ernie Isley
Message To Love – Billy Cox, Ernie Isley
Manic Depression > Amazing Grace – Ernie Isley
Power of Soul – Living Colour
Crosstown Traffic – Living Colour
House Burning Down – Eric Johnson
Bold As Love – Eric Johnson
One Rainy Wish – Eric Johnson, Susan Tedeschi
Are You Experienced – Eric Johnson, Will Calhoun
Fire – Jonny Lang, Brad Whitford
The Wind Cries Mary – Jonny Lang, Brad Whitford
Spanish Castle Magic – Jonny Lang, Brad Whitford, Susan Tedeschi
I Don't Live Today – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Noah Hunt
Come One – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Noah Hunt
Voodoo Chile > Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Noah Hunt
Can You See Me – David Hildago, Cesar Rosas
Little Wing – David Hildago, Cesar Rosas
Killing Floor – Hubert Sumlin, David Hildago, Cesar Rosas, Susan Tedeschi
Purple Haze – Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel
Them Changes – Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel, Billy Cox, Corey Glover
Third Stone from the Sun – Joe Satriani, Corey Glover, Doug Wimbish, Will Calhoun
Foxy Lady – Joe Satriani, Living Colour
All Along the Watchtower – Joe Satriani, Living Colour
Red House – Billy Cox, Joe Satriani, Brad Whitford, Robert Randolph, Will Calhoun
Note: Except when replaced by Living Colour or Billy Cox, Chris Layton and Scott Nelson played drums and bass. The Sacred Steel is Robert Randolph, Darick Campbell and Aubrey Ghent. Living Colour is Will Calhoun, Corey Glover, Vernon Reid and Doug Wimbish.
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Review: Los Lobos
Review: Chickenfoot
Review: Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Tagged Aerosmith, Amazing Grace, Band of Gypsys, Billy Cox, Brad Whitford, Buddy Miles, Cesar Rosas, Chess blues, Chris Layton, Corey Glover, Cult of Personality, David Hildago, Double Trouble, Eric Johnson, Ernie Isley, Experience Hendrix, Foxy Lady, Howlin Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, Isley Bros., Isley Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Joe Perry, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Living Colour, Los Lobos, Noah Hunt, Purple Haze, Red House, Robert Randolph, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Sacred Steel, Scott Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stone Free, Susan Tedeschi, The Wind Cries Mary, Them ChangesLeave a comment