MUSINGS & RAMBLINGS

So, I drove to the Russian River Brewery on fourth street in Santa Rosa. I didn't remember that the Farmers Market was going on and downtown was blocked off. It didn't matter much for I found parking right behind the brewery. Easy doin'!
Walked in and the first person I noticed was Steve Fromberg standing there. I asked him if he was playing, he said,"Yes" and I said, "Awesome".
Right then I knew it was gonna be a solid back beat for he is one of the best bass players around!

I mosied around fourth street and headed down to the Sweet Spot to check out what was going on there. It was Fortunate Sons and I never heard them before. They were playing some cover song I recognized but couldn't place my finger on it. It wasn't blues and no....it wasn't a Creedence Clearwater song. I kinda thought that with a name like "Fortunate Sons" that they might be a CCR cover band.
I headed back over to the brewery. I didn't have long before I turned into a pumpkin so there was no time to waste here. It was a school nite after all.

Downtown was busy, that's for sure. Pretty good size market. The brewery was full and this is the place to be for the youngsters, no doubt. Sure there were a few older folks like myself but mostly it was a place for the college kind of crowd.
And it's no wonder Jake Mackey keeps gettin' gigs there because I would venture to say that his music is geared towards the younger crowd. It's got that Reggae feel with some R&B thrown in there. If he started rappin' the songs it could be that dancehall raggae stuff that all the rave these days. It also has a New Orleans flavor to it. I asked a few people if he played any blues and they assured me he did but I didn't hear much except in his guitar licks!!
He is very good on that guitar and he rips some blues on it but the band kept it reggae/world beat. One exceptional band that's for sure!!
He had a percussionist who played a conga thingy and he was great!! He would sing one too. The whole band was tops. I had fun watching all the stuff that was going on with just four guys up there! They were tight.
Yep, that Jake Mackey sure can play that guitar. It was featured all through the night. He can really sing too. He writes, sings, Plays, he's got it goin' on these days. Very talented young man. A show worth checking out if you haven't yet.

But, I was starved and getting hungrier by the minute for some blues. I was hopin' for a shuffle somewhere in the mix.

The crowd was awesome!! I had to turn away from the bandstand every now & then just to get some of their energy. It was very cool. What a bunch of dancin' fools. Really good dancing going on and the little tile dance area stayed full. They loved what they were hearing. I had a blast but left after the long first set. Work was fast approaching. I left feeling pretty good, and glad I finally caught up to this guy again, but still unsatisfied and like I said, hungry for the blues.
I wish I could expand my horizons and stop being so narrow-minded about my music preference but I'm sorry....it's gotta be blues. I could listen to that shit all day and night and I do. It drives my co-workers crazy and the kids always got tired of it too. Even when it's not playing, it's in my head, my heart, and deep in my soul. I can't seem to put these ol' blues down.
It's true what they say about the blues.....once you've been bitten, there's no going back.

Later,
Mo