Monday, July 20, 2009

It all began... over a beer in an alley

I worked with the Longview Downtown Development Corporation and 100 Acres of Heritage for 25 years. This volunteer group created and oversaw both Alleyfest and the Alley Musicfest. The festival evolved from the Alley Art Show, a one day art show started in 1978. In 1988, Alley Art featured a few local Musicians in the beer garden as part of festival. While listening to the entertainment, Jerry Russell, Ken Kennedy and I talked about how well the crowd responded to the music and the possibility of adding a street dance to the organization's events. This was the genesis of Rigadoon/Alley Music Festival, the one night street dance featuring three bands, which ran as an independent event for three years. In 1992, under the direction of Longview Downtown Development Corp. president, Jay Godfrey, Alleyfest began by combining AlleyArt, Hoop It Up - a 3 on 3 basketball tourney, and Rigadoon/Alley Music Fest. It was a three day festival in downtown Longview, Texas. I worked with the both musicfests from 1989 to 2002. In 2003, Alleyfest took a new direction, both deleting one music stage and booking fewer national touring artists. This decision coincided with the end of my tenure as music director. In the fourteen years of coordinating the music and serving a year as Alleyfest chairman, the group strived to never compromise the original goal set from the festival's inception ~ to bring the best bands available to the people of Longview, Texas ~ because we knew this would be the only live musical/art event many festival attendees would see each year. Here is the year by year list of the bands who played the festival from 1989 through 2002. Rigadoon ,1989 - The Bluebirds played to a hasily moved crowd in the National Guard Armory when a down pour soaked Longview. Even with a shaky start, the first event was well received and LDDC ran out of food and beverage. Rigadoon, 1990 - Gary Primich and the Midnight Creeps, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Trout Fishing in America provided a great evening of music from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Alley Music Fest, 1991 - A New name was chosen because most folks didn't understand the meaning of Rigadoon. Christine Albert, know for her Blue Bell Ice Cream jingle, Dallas Brass and Electric and Trout Fishing In America provided a great evening of musical entertainment. Alleyfest 1992: Dallas Brass and Electric, The Stratoblasters, The Carribean Connection, Warren Caesar Zydeco Band, The Old Fiddler's Contest, and The Original Dixie Chicks 1993: Brave Combo, B. B. Major, Walter Hyatt, Joe Kubek and B'nois King, The Bluebird's with former A-Train vocalist, Micki Hunneycutt, Michael Johnson and the Killer Bees , and Joe King Carracso and the Crowns. (Joe and Michael teamed up together for a last set of Raggae meets Tex-Mex that blew away the whole crowd). 1994: Anson Funderburg and the Rockets with Sam Meyer, Toni Price, Grady Gaines and the Texas Upsetters, Wayne Toups and Zydecajun, Brian Black, Webb Wilder,and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. 1995: Blues great Big Daddy Kinsey and the Kinsey Report, Chris Duarte, Doyle Bramhall, Tutu Jones, R. L. Griffin and the Holt House Review, and that kid from Shreveport, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jo-El Sonnier, Trout Fishing in America, Joe Ely, and the Back Seat Drivers. 1996: Elvin Bishop,Our first national headliner, Russell Jackson made his first appearance, Big Mike Griffin, Sue Foley, Tommy Castro, Mitch Woods and the Rocket 88s, Ronnie Dawson, Tiesco Del Ray and the Nut Rockers, The Naughty Ones, and Ponty Bone and the Squeezetones. 1997: Katie Webster and Vasti Jackson, Wet Willie vocalist, Jimmy Hall and his new band the Prisoners of Love, Russell Jackson, Mem Shannon and the Membership, Sean Costello and the Jivebombers, The Cate Brothers , Sam "Bluzman" Taylor, the Bluebirds, The Radio Kings ,and local bands Mr. Walker and Dr. Benjamin and Van Go. 1998: Eric Burdon's I Band featuring Ansley Dunbar, Long John Hunter, Sherman Robertson, Russell Jackson, Bryan Lee, The Bluebirds, Micheal Burks, Wes Jeans. Hash Brown's Band with 13 year old guitar prodigy Andrew Baxter, Jr., Sun Pie Barnes and the Zydeco Sunspots, and Hippie Gumbo. 1999: Canned Heat , Chris Thomas King and Rockin' Tabby Thomas and the Mighty House Rockers, Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones, The Excello Allstars with Earl Gaines and Roscoe Shelton, Mark May and the Agitators, The Bluebird Review with guests Wes Jeans, Mikki Honeycutt, and the Moore Town Horns, Andrew Baxter, Jr., Mason Ruffner, chicano bluesman, Randy Garibay and Cats Don't Sleep, Billy Bacon and the Forbidden Pigs , Mr. Walker. 2000: Leon Russell, Savoy Brown featuring Kim Simmonds, Little Charlie and the Night Cats, Rick Moore and Mr. Lucky, Big Mike Griffin, Russell Jackson, Anthony Gomes, Brint Anderson, Sweet Miss Coffey and the Mississippi Burning Band, The Bluebirds and Mikki Honeycutt, The Headhunters,The Mofo Party Band. 2001: Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Guitar Shorty, The Reba Russell Band, The Rockin' Highliners with Robert Tycholis, Theresa Andersson, Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns, Andrew and Morgan Baxter and Serious Business, and Voodoo Healin'. 2002: Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine, W. C. Clark, The Silent Partners Reunion featuring Russell Jackson, Tony Coleman, and Andrew"Jr. Boy" Jones, Joe Louis Walker, Anders Osborne, The Reba Russell Band , The DeRailers, The Radio King's Brian Templeton, Joe "King " Carrasco and the Crowns, and Ponty Bone and the Squeezetones. The purpose of this blog is to revisit many of these artists via "YouTube" the latest of science's modern miracles. I hope you enjoy these posts. ~ The SR Mgt. Team

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Celebrating Those Who Have Gone On



These posts keep reminding me how important it is to see these great performers before they are gone. Looking back, many of the great artists who played Alleyfest through the years have passed into that "big jam session in the sky." Here is a list of those artists and the year they played Longview:

Gary Primich (blues) ~ 1990 Rigadoon
Laura Lynch - Original Dixie Chicks -1992                                                                                          Warren Caesar (zydeco) ~ 1992
Walter Hyatt (folk) ~ 1993
Champ Hood (with Walter Hyatt)~ 1993
Michael Johnson of the Killer Bees (Raggae) ~ 1993
Sam Myers of Anson and the Rockets (blues) ~ 1994
Doyle Bramhall (Texas blues)~ 1995
Big Daddy Kinsey (blues) ~ 1995
Ronnie Dawson (rock-a-billy) ~ 1996
Freddy Pharoh(drums Sue Foley Band) ~ 1996


Katie Webster (blues) ~ 1997
Sam "Bluzman" Taylor (blues) ~ 1997
Sean Costello (blues) ~ 1997

Bryan Lee (blues) ~ 1998
Michael Burks (blues) ~ 1998
Rockin' Tabby Thomas (blues) ~ 1999
Randy Garibay (blues) ~ 1999
Earl Gaines of the Excello Allstars (soul/blues) ~ 1999
Roscoe Shelton of the Excello Allstars (soul/blues) ~ 1999

Robert Lucas of Canned Heat (60's boogie music) ~ 1999
Billy Bacon (Texmex-blues-abilly) ~ 1999
Koko Taylor ( Queen of the Blues ) ~ 2002
Leon Russell (Master of time and space) ~2000
Charlie Baty (blues) ~ 2000 
Ponty Bone (Accordianna) ~ 1996 and 2002

    


Dixie Chicks' Laura Lynch Founding Member Dead at 65 ... After Car Accident in Texas 

Laura Lynch, a founding member of The Dixie Chicks, has died after being involved in a car crash ... TMZ has learned.

The musician's cousin, Mick Lynch, tells us Laura passed away Friday outside of El Paso, TX just after sunset while driving from there to nearby Dell City -- which is about an hour and a half away going east. We're told she was traveling on a highway and got into a collision.

Lynch co-founded the famous music group  -- now known just as The Chicks -- alongside Robin Lynn Macy, Martie Erwin and Emily Erwin back in 1989 ... serving as the upright bassist and eventually taking on the role of lead vocalist for the band.  

TMZ.com

 

  Blues guitarist and singer Bryan Lee, known by the nickname “Braille Blues Daddy,” has died in Sarasota, Florida after battling various lung, heart and kidney issues. He was 77.

Brian Leroy Kumbalek was born on March 16, 1943 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin to working-class parents who divorced when he was seven. He lost his eyesight totally at age eight when eyes that were damaged at birth finally clouded over forever.

 

RIP: Billy Bacon, the California/Texas roots rocker ... (Aug. 2019)

Billy Bacon likes to call the kind of music he makes "Texmex-blues-abilly." With his band, the Forbidden Pigs -- or the "swingin' swine" from San Diego -- he has put out albums that shake it up with a combination of rock and Latin music. Among his recordings are Una Mas Cerveza, the group's debut put out by Triple X in 1991; the follow-up album The Other White Meat, issued by Triple X in 1992; a CD of live material titled Thirteen Years of Bad Road, in 1999; and Pork Que?, from Swine Song Records in 2000. Bacon has taken the pig -- er, bull -- by the horns and taken charge of several important aspects that have contributed to his trio's rise. In addition to acting as the Forbidden Pigs' leader and frontman, Bacon writes the songs, handles publicity, manages the group's tours, and takes care of its website. At one time, he even had to be the bouncer during a couple of shows. In later years, he took on the job of record company executive, establishing and running Swine Song Records.



Charlie Baty ( 1953 - 2020)
Northern California guitarist Charlie Baty, better known to jazz, blues and swing fans as “Little Charlie,” has died.
The news was reported by Blues Music Magazine, citing information provided by Baty’s former label boss at Chicago’s legendary Alligator Records.
“Sad news from Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records regarding Little Charlie Baty’s passing. RIP Charlie, we love you!!” reads a tweet from the magazine.
No official statement or details about his passing were available.

 

 

RIP: Ponty Bone (1939 - 2018)

Ponty Bone (October 9, 1939 – July 13, 2018) was an American accordionist who led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones, to international popularity over a twenty-year period.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was five years old. Later, he also learned to play trumpet. Ponty attended Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Early in his career Bone was a member of the Joe Ely Band. By the mid-1980s, Ponty Bone had formed his own band, Ponty Bone & the Squeezetones. The group’s early style ranged through Russian gypsy dances, reggae-blues, Tex-Mex polkas and Cajun boogie. In 1987, the group made an appearance on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits, as part of a “Squeezebox Special” episode, with Queen Ida and Santiago Jiménez Jr. Longtime Squeezetones bassist Wash Hamilton died in early 2008.

With his band, Ponty has shared the stage with such artists as The Clash, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, King Flaco Jiménez, Linda Ronstadt and Ronnie Lane.

Bone’s album Fantasize (on the Loud House label) has been described as drawing from Tex-Mex, rock, blues, R&B, zydeco, and Caribbean music to create a whole new style.

Bone died of progressive supranuclear palsy on 13 July 2018. He was 78.

 

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