Recap of Dylan Tribute

Thanks to all the enthusiast music lovers that came out last night for our first attempt at a Dylan Tribute among the Americana music series. You all make it worthwhile and keep me going. Thanks to Bill for being a great host, and booster of music in many forms. Thanks for the great pictures, too!!! Hope we can have some more of the events at the Front Row, we'll talk! Thanks to the Front Row crew for keeping the customers satisfied; hope it was a good Saturday night for you all, too. Mainly, thanks to the musicians who came out and performed- there was a solid line up all night, everybody put a lot into their sets and they all sounded great. Thanks to Cory and JT for the sound work; it was set up nice, and you made it run smooth with all the switching musicians, and kept at the details right to the end. You guys are great to work with, its been a pretty fun ride these few years - hope for more to come.
Thanks to my contestants in the various contests, I know I subject you to much for my meager trophies, but its for the good of the overall spirit of the events. I hope the "serious" door prize winners all are pleased with something they came away with- I was glad some folks picked the shirts!
I hope I'll get some feedback, but I think it was a good night of music and celebration. Jan Gant got us started with Knocking on Heaven's Door, and Don't think twice its alright. Jeremy Mayle came out of "semi-retirement" to wow us with some great renditions of Dylan songs. He's got a great voice, guitar work, and intensity that impresses. Then we had the Stone Road band; and they were very much a crowd pleaser- they did two newer songs (from Modern Times) and those songs sounded like they were meant for this band- they had some versatility of song selections, and their band sound was a great contribution- you can tell they work hard and take pride in their band work, and we'll look to see some more of them out and about and around town. I think they were in discussion with Bill about a booking. They will be performing at our CHS coffee house most likely sometime in July- so stay tuned for that. They will undoubtedly perform at the Neil YOung tribute later in the year, and probably have some other surprises for an audience, when they can "cut loose" and play anything they want!!!
Jonny Nutter was up next, and in his usual admirable fashion, he had worked hard to put together a set of unique numbers from the Dylan songbook. Jonny digs deep, and has a great knack for songs that suit his style. He has a very nice driving guitar style, and his vocals are sincere and rugged, suitable for Dylan's deep diverse, styles. We had a newcomer to our series, Eric Lawson up next, and he performed perhaps the most "dylan-esque" voice and guitar style- he bravely ventured into some of the long songs with many verses- but delivered them with spirit and obvious appreciation for Dylan's music. He had some familiar faces in the audience, and really broadened the nights variety. Good Ol' Todd Heslep breezed in from playing earlier in the evening up in New Martinsville, and gave us a solid set of his great vocals, and solid guitar work. He branched out from Dylan for two songs - one he said was a George Jones song, but Todd Burge pointed out it was an Elvis Costello song really! and a John Conley song. Then we had one of those late night treats, when Jeremy Mayle came back out for two songs, with Todd Burge accompanying him on harmonica. Jeremy was in his element and did a great job on these two songs deeper in the song book. We really appreciated Todd stopping in late after his gig in Marietta. He adds a thread of continuity to these Dylan events, as he has put on something similar for about 7-8 years; throughout the Mid OHio Valley.
So, as you can see, there was a solid, diverse night of music celebrating Bob Dylan's birthday, and supporting the work of Children's Home Society in the area. I'll be posting some pictures Bill Poole took in a separate posting.