Greetings! Last week there was a show that flew under my radar and didn't
get recommended. The show was Connor Kennedy's 18th Birthday Bash at The
Bearsville Theater. Connor assembled a top shelf band of musician's and
the set list was the entire "Layla" album by Derek and The Dominos!

The Connor Kennedy Band at The Bearsville Theater, 7-20-12. Photo by Justin Foy.

From
the first note, the band channeled the spirit of the Clapton band! Connor
and guitarist Scott Sharrard did a more than passable reincarnation of
Clapton and Duane Allman, Jeremy Baum and Kyle Esposito did an admirable
job anchoring the keys and bass, respectively, Manuel Quintana was
wonderful on percussion and drums, backing vocalists Vicki Bell and
Lindsey Webster were fabulous, but drummer and vocalist Lee Falco shone
above all! Lee brought to mind a comment John Lennon once made about
Ringo. John said, "You couldn't yank Ringo out of the pocket with a
crane". Lee was right there all the way, laying down a perfect backbeat
with tasty accents and singing the second vocal parts! And he's a great
singer too! In one fell swoop, Lee Falco has vaulted into my top 5 Hudson
Valley drummers!

And speaking of great singers, Connor Kennedy NAILED Eric Clapton! It was
phenomenal to watch. His vocals had every inflection and emotion that
Clapton had back then, when he wasn't much older than Connor is now!
Connor is definitely growing as a guitarist as well, and being mentored by
Scott Sharrard, Gregg Allman's "secret weapon", has got to be helping!

After performing the entire double album, the band left the stage, but the
audience wouldn't let them go! They were called back for an encore, and
as Connor stepped up to the microphone, the entire audience was wondering
what they would do. They'd already done the entire album. Where could
they go next? Well, when Connor opened his mouth and sang out, "I'll bet
you didn't think I knew how to Rock and Roll", it was a Perfect Rock n
Roll Moment! "Blues Power" was the ONLY song that would have been
acceptable as an encore, and it was a perfect end to a truly enjoyable
night! Happy Birthday Connor!

This week's live music calendar is the easiest ever, and here it is! If
you live in the Hudson Valley, on Friday night you go see DAVID JOHANSEN,
lead singer of The New York Dolls, the former Buster Poindexter, and Blues
belter extraordinaire, perform with a duo at The Falcon in Marlborough,
and on Saturday night, you're at The Bearsville Theater for Master of the
Telecaster, BILL KIRCHEN, who was the guitarist in the original Commander
Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, one of the greatest, most underrated
bands of all time! These two shows are my two Picks of the Week!

Now if you're in the city, then Wednesday night, you're at Town Hall in
Manhattan for acoustic guitar master, TOMMY EMMANUEL. Thursday night,
you're at the Bowery Ballroom for SOUL ASYLUM, Friday night, BB King's for
a true master of Rock and Roll performance art, DELBERT MCCLINTON, and
Saturday evening, Rumsey Playfield in Central Park for up and coming Blues
guitarist, Gary Clarke, Jr.

Then everybody meets up at The Beacon Theater on Wednesday, August 1, for
DONALD FAGEN, MICHAEL MCDONALD, and BOZ SCAGGS!

See how easy it is when you let me plan your weekend for you? Have a
great week!

Fred Perry is the owner of Reservoir Music Center on Route 28 in Kingston, and founding member of Alt-Country supergroup, The Brooklyn Cowboys, is from a 3rd generation musical family and lives in the Hudson Valley, where he does what he can to promote live music.