BLACK CASH AT THE TOBACCO COMPANY

BLACK CASH AT THE TOBACCO COMPANY, SAT. SEPT. 20, 2008



Black Cash will say they are a Johnny Cash tribute band. But that is only partially true. The band does much more than throw out familiar Johnny Cash cover songs.
Black Cash carefully chooses songs that entertain, make you want to dance and holler, and also appreciate the more emotional ballads of Johnny Cash that represents the real heart of the man.

Johnny Cash himself spent the latter years of his career covering some very clever songs such as “Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden, “Rowboat” by Tom Petty, and the most popular release before his death, “Hurt”, by Nine Inch Nails. The other half of the songs covered range from both Hank Williams Jr. and Sr., Steve Earle, and alternative group Ween.

So, just as Johnny paid tribute to those he admired, Black Cash pays tribute to the Man in Black with both talent and taste, and there is no question that J.C. would be very touched by the love and dedication that goes into Black Cash and their fans.

As for playing The Tobacco Company, not much has changed in the two years they have been performing weekends there. The crowd ranges from young clubbers and yuppies to older “shockoe slippers” to the people there by accident that stay because they remember when they used to play their Johnny Cash songs on vinyl albums. It makes for an interesting crowd every time and they all have one thing in common, love for country music the way is used to be, proud with no apologies. Thanks Black Cash for keeping the “Family Tradition”.

Black Cash Band:

Matte Black: vocals
Jimbo Black: Lead guitar (electric)
Nathaniel Black: Lead and rhythm guitar (electric)
Damienne Black: Rhythm guitar (acoustic and electric)
Nickodeemus black: Drums, percussion
Jeramiah Black: Bass guitar

Band website: Black Hash Band












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JOE BUCK YOURSELF

JOE BUCK YOURSELF @ THE TRIPLE, SUN. SEPT. 21, 2008


To some, he’s Hank III’s jumpsuit wearing scary looking upright bass player, to others, he’s just plain scary, but to his fans, he is Joe Buck Yourself, Mutherf@#$er!
Mr. Buck was a one man band Sunday night at the Triple. No Hank III, no upright bass, no huge arena, just one man, one guitar and good ol’ spit, grit and down home hillbilly hellraisin’.

Before the first song was even played, Joe Bucks crowd of disciples were commanded to move up to him as close as possible to feel every ounce of energy and get lost in his evil stare while he took you on his journey of heaven and hell, angels and demons, love, hate, and rage.

Joe Buck songs are not for the meek or timid. His driving rhythms and lyrics are just as intense and disturbing as his persona. The songs performed for hungry crowd included “Hillbilly Pride”, “The Devil is on His Way”, “Planet Seeth”, “Bitter is the Day”, “Music City’s Dead”, and “Are you my Enemy”, which closed out the show and as Joe Buck Yourself stood up and thanked everyone for coming to the show and being such a good crowd, I saw the other side of Joe Buck. He was polite, and downright endearing.

The other exciting element of the show was that the entire set was video taped for Joe Bucks website and to be put on Utube. I took my own video of the last song from my camera and am proud to say it is kicks ass. The crowd participation will be one for the history books.

His fans are the real deal. Joe Buck is an outlaw, and I’m a sucker for an outlaw. It was my first show of Joe Buck’s, but it won’t be my last. After the show we were outside the club helping to load out and a fan asked Joe Buck to play a song on his banjo. Instead of blowing the guy off and getting into his huge RV and getting on the road, we all got to share a special performance of Joe Buck sitting on the curb in the alley behind the club playing banjo to please one fan. To this southern girl, That’s Hillbilly Pride!








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BLACK ROSE WITH SPECIAL GUEST BRITTANY O’NEIL

BLACK ROSE WITH SPECIAL GUEST BRITTANY O’NEIL @ GRANDPA EDDIE’S SAT. SEPT. 13

Submitted by Elvistra


I haven’t had a chance to do a review in a few weeks, so this article was a special treat and covers two acts that are dear friends and literally cover two generations both in age and music style.

Black Rose played two engrossing sets for the evening, as Grandpa Eddies is a family restaurant/bar and closes early.

Black Rose is: Jean Labelle: vocals, guitar and harmonica
Andre Labelle: percussion
Stevie Gentile: bass

The band originally formed in the same elementary school I actually attended. Their bass player and good friend, Bruce Henn, was taken from us in a fatal car crash early on, and the future of Black Rose seemed uncertain. As time passed they added Stevie G to play bass, knowing Bruce would’ve lovingly approved. Black Rose was now reincarnated, rejuvenated and ready to play again.

This time around, however, the sound would be acoustic, but don’t kid yourself, the power is still there thanks to the relentless Andre Labelle pounding on those drums like he did in the 80’s and 90’s with all the hair metal bands he played with, (some actually famous, like Vinnie Vincent).

The show Saturday was filled with much loved classic rock including some obscure songs you would not expect to hear. Some standard covers are Tom Petty, Bob Segar, The Beatles, Peter Frampton, David Bowie, and my personal favorite, Alice Cooper. Those are the tamer songs of the set, other songs by artists like The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, really wake you up and get you out on the dance floor thanks yet again to the powerful drums of Andre and Jean and Stevie’s amped energy..

The material is nostalgic and performed with passion and class. Black Rose may have started out at my middle school’s Battle of the Band talent show, but they have matured into a very talented trio that aims to please and leaves you with great memories of songs you probably did naughty things to if you are at least over 35. And if you’re under 35, you really missed out and I have the pictures to prove it!! I guess the bottom line is Black Rose is for everyone because the music is timeless and crosses the age barrier.


That brings me to our second act of the evening, Brittany O’Neil.

Brittany is a fresh new 17 year old singer/songwriter who is nudging her way into the music field one show at a time. It doesn’t hurt that her mom is the beautiful and talented Elana of King Edward and the BD’s and formally of Steppinstone. Naturally trained vocal chords obviously run in the family and Brittany sings with a richness that is well beyond her years.

Brittany was the guest performer with Black Rose and did covers such as Jewel’s “Save Your Soul”, Ben Harper’s “Walk Away”, Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee”, and Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You”.

Britanny also did her own original songs on acoustic guitar with such titles as “From the Balcony”, which mom Elana helped with harmonies, “An Easy Way Out”, which spoke well beyond her youth, “The Homeless Man”, and a duet with Grace DeValk called “I’ve Learned”.

Brittany’s lyrics are solid and truthful and tell a very realistic story of a girl turning quickly into a woman with a beautiful and shining future ahead of her and many, many more gigs to perform.

The support Brittany was shown by her family and friends was obvious when you looked around the room and the majority of people were 18 and under, and sang along with every word. Now that’s impressive, for a musician of any age. Congrats, kiddo, you done good.










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SPEED8LIMIT @ DADDIO’S SAT. SEPT. 13

SPEED8LIMIT (AKA RICK & ROD) @ DADDIO’S SAT. SEPT. 13

Submitted by Elvistra


Rick and Rod Hollowell are twin brothers who perform in an acoustic duo covering songs that are classic rock, country, rap, and everything else you can imagine. Rick and Rod both play guitar and sing and offer traditional and not so traditional covers. My particular favorite song of the evening was The Beastie Boys “You Gotta Fight for your Right to Party”, or whatever the title is. It gave me the boost I needed considering the bars coffee pot was broken at Daddio’s and I had already seen two acts that evening.

Some other artists Speed8Limit cover are Tom Petty, Steppenwolf, Jet, Grateful Dead, Violent Femmes, Pearl Jam, The Doors, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Buck Cherry (sorry I missed that one), Smashing Pumpkins, and Poison, just to give you a hint of the variety involved.

Saturday night at the newly renovated Daddio’s was a typically crowded one with some patrons playing pool in the back, others hanging out at the bar, and some dancing to the band. I became one of those dancers toward the end of the evening, which doesn’t usually happen, but the positive and fun energy Rick and Rod threw out was contagious and I left on a happy note, looking forward to catching another show very soon.

Upcoming shows for Speed8Limit will be posted on my October Events Schedule





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