Last weekend filled with great music all over the area
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Stu Johnson
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

What a weekend!
Friday night found me at Iacafano’s  Italian Deli. We just wandered in for dinner and wound up catching some great music from Jason from Category 6 and Jenna Wylie along with Rik Cribb and Johnny Cocktails.
I understand that they have live music every weekend.
And now, local soundman Comar Blanchard is installing a house PA.
Owner and Chef John Iacafano wants to make it easier for the musicians to come in and do their thing. It’s a nice place, run by people who care about great food and great music.  
Saturday  was my brother-in-law’s (Skipper Weston) 50th birthday party. He is a firefighter with Sullivan’s Island Fire and Rescue so he had his party at The Fish Fry Shack on the island. He went all out and booked Southern Culture On The Skids to play.
Since 1983, when they formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, SCOTS have played their unique hybrid of Americana, surf, R&B, rockabilly, and swamp pop all the while driving fans into ecstatic, sweat drenched paroxysms of joy.
Assisted by his cohorts in white trash renaissance - drummer Dave Hartman and bassist/singer/heartbreaker Mary Huff – Rick Miller and crew have been prolific and ubiquitous for over 20 years.
From their 1985 debut Voodoo Beach Party, to the international smash, 1998’s Dirt Track Date (featuring the hit single “Camel Walk”), and up to their last studio album, 2004’s barnstormer Mojo Box, SCOTS have continued to throw what Rolling Stone dubbed “a hell raising rock and roll party.”
Their 2005 live outing, Doublewide and Live!, captured all of this on tape, dirty and rough and wild. www.scots.com
The sound was handled by Andrew Higdon, and his company, Hope Sound. Higdon has been a prominent fixture in the local music scene for many years and to his credit, has engineered and/or installed sound systems in a great deal of venues in the area. I’ve known him for many years and can vouch for his commitment to great sound and his love of music.
From the pictures that my girlfriend  took, I also see that Tony McKie, the guy who keeps both locations of Fiery Rons Hometeam BBQ booked with some of the best bands  that play in the Lowcountry, was in attendance along with Camden SC’s Jeff Norwood. Norwood  is one heck of a musician himself. His latest release Awendaw  was recorded at Awendaw Green and features two of my favorite blues tunes, Horny Road and Call Me Money.
In a review that I wrote earlier this year, I praised the work of Jeff Leonard and Nat Mundy of the Awendaw Green Studio for capturing not only the depth of his guitar and voice, but also the personality of this exceptional talented SC native.
Check him out for yourself at www.jeffnorwoodblues.com.
The reason why I had to look at the pictures is that I didn’t get to stay at the party and, in fact, had to leave before the band started so I could get to work at A Dough Re Mi.
 I was honored to mix sound for Richard Lloyd who, among his many accomplishments played guitar for Television.
Television was instrumental in making CBGB’s the premier venue the world for new wave and punk rock. His guitar playing inspired  a great deal of  musicians that followed him in the years since.
To this day, he is still inspiring guitarist with his lessons in Guitar World as well as lessons online and on demand on cable tv.  
I should know as I take those lessons myself and have greatly improved my guitar skills in the process.
His two latest releases are Radiant Monkey  and The Jamie Neverts Story. Lloyd and his band turned in a great 2-hour performance that stunned the small but appreciative crowd (www.richardlloyd.com).
Opening the show was The BBQ Brothers which featured local musicians Bradley McClean ( The Del Ortos and formerly of SQZBXX) and Stan Grey ( Greyman ).
It’s always a pleasure to see both of these guys — and it’s always a great show.
Until next week, support live music and be nice to each other.

(Contact Stu at:allnightjohnson@gmail.com.)