Roots Review 27

Here's an example of our American Roots Music system.



Listen to the earliest sounds of Son House and Charlie Patton, then the distinctive blues guitar of Hubert Sumlin behind Howlin' Wolf, the electrified slide vibrato of Muddy Waters, then, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, then, come to American Roots Live at Crossroads in Garwood, New Jersey or the Bluetone Cafe in Easton, PA and hear Johnny Charles and Bernie BB Brauswetter whipping like two leaves on a tree in a hurricane - and you have come full circle.

Root to trunk to branch to leaf...

Hearing Johnny and BB on-stage together was an experience we all enjoyed at American Roots Live 27 Wednesday night down at the Crossroads. The two strat-masters, shoulder to shoulder, rocked the house with JR Bradfield on bass and John Powers slappin' the skins.

Making their American Roots Live debut that night, and placing their mark on our stage, was North Jersey's, The Congregation. We were mightily impressed by their interesting material and arrangements, and their musicianship and professionalism. Playing witty, well crafted original songs The Congregation's web site describes as a blending of blues, jazz, rock, soul and "cowboy themes" with a "distinctive flavor of pine trees and exhaust fumes"... they are right on - that's North Jersey - and that's The Congregation.

Thanks Evil Dick, Chuck, Sal and Rich. Hurry back!

Other inspired performances heard this night by Jukebox Jim Cimino singing and playing his red, Ovation double-necked guitar, Bones Sanford, harmonica, Arlene Schar, violin, Robert Z, guitar & vocals, Ed Pampani, drums, Screamin' Mimi Nowak, 'nuff said, Bob Del Rosso, guitar, Len De Piano, keyboards, EJ Rice, drums, Josh Gebhardt, bass and the future of American music, John Powers who kicked off American Roots Live 27 with a crisp set of his own original crowd pleasers including, Airplanes, Highway Lines and others.

On the Road

ARL 27 saw three "back to back" performances this week. Bernie BB Brauswetter, JR Bradfield and Arlene Schar all made the drive to entertain audiences on back to back nights, Wednesday at Crossroads and Thursday at the Bluetone. They are the first to do so since John Powers did it for ARL 24 and has committed to doing again for ARL 28.

...interesting things always happen when John Powers gets together with those musicians across the Delaware. Fan's should consider doing an ARLive "back to back" too.

Anyway, ARL 27 at the Bluetone Cafe in Easton, PA was the place to be Thursday night if you're diggin' dem live roots.

Joining us for the first time at American Roots Live Thursday was Dawn "Sugarfoot" Dengler playing drums and rounding out our guesthost band with AR All Stars JR Bradfield on guitars and vocals and Big Boy Kenny Nerbak thumpin' the bass.

JR Bradfield did the honors this night by beautifully playing the Star Spangled Banner on "stumpy", a guitar he hand crafted from an old tree in his backyard. Come see stumpy one night, JR will be happy to show you how his stumpavarious was made...

Outstanding performances at the Bluetone beyond those mentioned above were put in by American Roots favorites Billy K, Arlene Schar, Vern Mobely, Lori V, Sonny Young, Nick T, Leo, Danny B, Jason, Baja Zero, Eric and Chuck, Jeff, Jim, Jen and Niwana, Rob and of course the legendary Bernie BB Brauswetter.

Many thanks to our venues, ownership and staffs, all of the talented, dedicated musicians and singers who grace our stage week after week, our sponsors, supporters and friends, and the American Roots volunteers and ambassadors Powers and Chez and HoneyBoy Dupree who is gearing up for his show on October 14 at Alice Cooper Town with the Phoenix Blues Society, equipped with Elmore Magazines and the American Roots Movement message.

Please do your part. Come to the American Roots Live show nearest you and encourage your friends to do the same.

Keeping it real,

Ned