The Ponkiesblog

Ann Rabson and Bob Guida tore up Jalopy with some great solo blues last night. Ann played a lot of her originals, even some of her "pro-woman" songs despite the Sarah Palin candidacy, including her famous "Don't Treat Your Man Like a Dog" (the dog is the hero of that song), on both guitar and piano. Bob Guida opened, playing an old Gretsch built in Brooklyn, filing the place as usual with his powerful voice.

And both of them made a point of thanking Geoff and Lynnette and talking about how wonderful Jalopy is. We're really lucky to have such a great music venue, run by people who love the music and the community, so much.

It's actually fall, which means you probably want to be inside with
some good hot music. And as usual you have plenty of opportunities.

Note that there is no Whiskey Wednesday tonight, because 68 Jay Street
is being renovated, but when it returns it will be a much larger venue,
so that's good news. Instead, Will Scott will be at Two Boots on
Friday and the Dumbo Arts Festival (in front of 68 Jay) on Saturday.

Other than that the usual jams are happening tonight, plus Smokey
Hormel is a tSunny's and the Havens are at Trash Bar in Williamsburg.
Tomorrow night the Jones Street Boys play Union Hall, and the
CashHank will be on at Buttermilk, while Rob Hecht plays a midnight
show at Rockwood. Also on Thursday, Jalopy has a HELL of a blues
doubleheader, with the mighty-voiced Bob Guida opening for Ann
Rabson, of Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women. She's pretty amazing on
both piano and guitar; that will be a hell of a show.

Saturday night Jamie Lyn brings a flight of Honky Tonk Angels to
Banjo Jim's, plus there will be a jam at Sunny's.

Also, on October 5, I will be doing the BikeMS charity ride, in
support of the NY chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
You can donate to them through my ride page at:

http://msnyc.kintera.org/bikems/kenficara

I wasn't able to see as much of it as I would have liked, but hats off to Alex for a rollicking time at Southpaw this past weekend. This is the fifth year of the festival, and just stop and think about that for a second -- five years of being able to fill several nights (one year, I think it was a full week) with fantastic local country bands -- lots of original tunes, great playing, and enthusiastic crowds. We got it good here!

Bob Jones and Boo Reiners, and everyone else who braved Tropical Storm Hanna, had a great time at Barbes on Saturday night. The two guitarists, and their microphone, did a long set of old favorites and some new songs including a version of "It's All Your Fault" by Wade Ray that included some indelicate lyrics in Yiddish that I don't think were in the original version. Whether it's the crack musicianship, the spirit of their performances, or Bob's talents as a comedian (and Boo's as a straight man), their shows are always worth venturing out in a storm for.

Sorry to be late with the newsletter this week, but my summer ended
with a bang (a good one), so I'm just getting to it now. There's a
lot going on so listen carefully, I'm only going to read this list
once.