Greetings! Hope everyone had a wonderful extended weekend for Independence Day. I know I did! It was a weekend filled with great people, parties, and future memories! I did manage to squeeze in one super awesome show on Friday night at The Bearsville Theater. The The Band Band rocked the house and channeled the spirit of the original Band, beautifully!

Now, as I mentioned, these guys cover the music of The Band, (hence the name, which I shorten to simply, The Band Band, and may not be so confusing if you think of it as The (The Band) Band. Get it?). But it’s not so much a tribute band, as a recreation of The Band’s music! And TTBB are quite upfront about this. They say, “We don’t do our arrangements. We do their arrangements!” And they do them well, recreating The Band’s music note perfect and channeling the spirits of Rick, Levon, Richard, Garth, and Robbie to a remarkable degree! Not an easy task! The Band’s music is deceptively complex! It may seem like basic Rock n Roll, but, believe me, it’s more complex than that, and not easy to recreate, but they do it, and they do it well!

Drummer, Vinny Nicosia, has Levon’s style down, again, not easy. Seems simple and basic, but what other drummers can nail it? Trust me, very few! Bassist, Gary Solomon has Rick’s licks covered, even down to the scroll bass and manic stage presence that Rick always exhibited! Garth’s and Richard’s piano and organ licks are perfectly covered by multi-instrumentalists, Jack Kraft and Mike Corbin, and even Robbie’s idiosyncratic and iconic guitar leads are matched note for note, in style and substance, by guitarist, Josh Radin!

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. These guys are not slavish imitators! They play The Band’s songs and arrangements, but they are their own players! They don’t try to look or act like the original players, but somehow they do! It’s probably not conscious, but they are so in the moment that the essence of all the original members comes shining through! You never think anything like, oh, this is good, but it pales beside the original. No, it’s actually just as good, just as entertaining as the original! Sure, it would blow everybody’s minds if Rick, Levon, and Richard returned from the dead to play with Robbie and Garth, and the historical importance of it would be almost too much to bear, but that ain’t never gonna happen! The Band is gone forever, and these guys carry the torch! It’s the closest you’ll ever get to the music of The Band in a live setting, at this point!

The show was totally entertaining, never boring, and a splendid time was had by all in attendance! I would go see The The Band Band anytime I could, and I highly recommend that y’all do the same! More info at www.thethebandband.com.

Live music picks for this week are:

Thursday, July 10 – Lots of music tonight, but all in the city! Upstaters will have to wait till tomorrow to rock! Brooklynites can start tonight, with FURTHUR at Barclay’s Center. This will be their first show since Bobby Weir fainted at The Capital Theatre last April, and I’m guessing that here, in the Dead’s East Coast stronghold, they will be back like gangbusters! If you’re not in the mood for a big arena show, try Reggae legends, SLY AND ROBBIE, original Wailers and the best rhythm section in the history of Reggae Music, at Irving Plaza! I’m sure they’ll be surrounded by A list players, so if you’re a Reggae fan, this is must see TV! Zydeco veteran BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO is at BB King’s (request their smokin’ version of Clapton’s “Why Does Love Have to be so Sad”), and Woodstock’s favorite son, CONNOR KENNEDY, makes the trip to Manhattan to rock The Rodeo Bar!
Friday, July 12 – Founding member of Traffic, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, DAVE MASON, returns to The Bearsville Theater. For more of Dave’s history and my thoughts regarding his music, please reference last week’s column at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, or www.brooklyncowboys.com, on the blog pages. Suffice to say that if he shows up, this will be a great show! For the harder rockers amongst you, original Dictator, ANDY SHERNOFF, debuts at Market Market in Rosendale! Andy has been around the Punk scene since the beginning, and his work as player, songwriter, and producer is quite extensive. This show is highly recommended, and I will be there! More info on Andy at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Shernoff.
Saturday, July 13 – The BEARSVILLE SESSIONS series continues at The Bearsville Theater with ONE HIT WONDERS! The band is composed of top Woodstock players, and this series is always entertaining!
Sunday, July 14 – Spend the day in Cooperstown. FURTHUR’s at Doubleday Field at 7 PM! Visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. Stroll the streets before the show. Eat dinner. Hope the weather co-operates.
Tuesday, July 16 – The musician’s band, NRBQ, performs at BB King’s in Manhattan tonight!
Thursday, July 18 – Downstate we’ve got ALICE COOPER at The Beacon Theater, and upstate, try my friend, FOSTER MCGINTY at The Bearsville Theater. Foster was fabulous last time he played here!

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.