Well, once again, it’s hot, everybody’s celebrating The Fourth, even though it’s the first, so it’s a holiday, not much going on, not even sure if the paper comes out this week! But, my loyal internet readers must be served, so the show must go on!

Last week, as promised, I went to see The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars at The Bearsville Theater. It was a good show, first class reggae and world music. I took photographer Erik Lamont with me, so we have some pictures for you. Thanks to Jodie at the theater for hooking us up.

The Cheating Hearts had a great night at Keegan Ales last Friday. The band is really starting to jell as a unit. Jimmy Eppard pulled some guitar licks in from outer space, and the rest of the band just cooked along. A splendid time was had by all.

Guitarslinger, Beki Brindle, is the Hudson Valley’s secret weapon! The girl cooks! Last Saturday at BSP in Kingston, Beki and her band, The Hotheads, rocked the house for two hours straight! She is really good! Besides her usual blues repertoire, they were pulling out Country classics like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Dead Flowers”, and rocking the Country right out of ‘em! She’s one of the best female guitar players around, and one of the best around, period! Catch her if you can!

Stones still getting ready for their 50^th anniversary tour by unveiling a new redesign of their famous tongue logo. It’s all over the internet, so Google it if you wanna see it!

And now for this week’s live music picks.

Thursday, July 5 – Tonight’s the first night of the 4 day CBGB FESTIVAL in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A team of investors bought the club’s assets and this is their first step towards re-opening the club in a new location. It’s billed as “300 Bands, 40 Venues”, and several of this week’s picks are part of the festival, but I couldn’t pick ‘em all, so go to www.cbgb.com for more info and a full schedule.
Home in the Hudson Valley, DWEEZIL ZAPPA bring his Zappa Plays Zappa show back to The Bearsville Theater. Always good.
Friday, July 6 – When someone comes into my store looking for a guitar, I always have to ask them, “What’s your budget”? And likewise, tonight, if someone asked me to recommend a show to them, I would have to ask, “Where ya gonna be”? Because if you’re in the Hudson Valley, you might wanna go see BEN TAYLOR at The Bearsville Theater. BTW, Ben is the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon. But if you’re in the city, you definitely wanna go see ROGER WATERS/ THE WALL at Yankee Stadium, which encores tomorrow night as well. And if you’re up in the Capital region, well then it’s PHISH at SPAC for you, which also encores Saturday and Sunday.
Wednesday, July 11 – A great night of music, if you don’t mind rockin’ tonight! The great roots rockers NRBQ return to The Iridium jazz club in Manhattan. Further downtown, ACE FREHLEY takes over the Best Buy Theater for the night, and over in New Jersey, DEF LEPPARD and POISON will rock the Prudential Center in Newark.

Dog days of Summer are upon us. Meow!

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.