#325 : Tinsley Ellis / Wooden Nickel Lottery live @ The Redstone Room

Tinsley Ellis w/ opening act Wooden Nickel Lottery

Live @ The Redstone Room      

March 16, 2018

Davenport, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Mar. 17, 2018

Tinsley Ellis blessed a full house at the Redstone Room in Davenport, Iowa with an amazing night of guitar blues, this past Friday, March 16^th.  Performing with Ellis as his rhythm section was new touring bassist Kevan McCann and drummer Erik “Jazzy Skins” Kaszynski. 

Eastern Iowa blues-rockers Wooden Nickel Lottery opened for Tinsley with a powerful forty-five minute set.  WNL is comprised of lead singer Rick Gallo, lead guitarist Rich Toomsen, bassist Jess Toomsen, and drummer Delayne Stallman.  WNL kicked their set off with “Morning Heartbreak” off their 2015 debut album On My Way and proceeded to play through favorites from their latest album Down The Line, such as “Can’t Be Wrong”, “No Second Chances”, “Bad Gone Good” and “Nickels and Dimes”.  They closed out with a tight delivery of Sam Cooke’s “Change is Gonna Come”.  Gallo’s vocals were on the mark and the band’s performance was magnificent.

Tinsley did what Tinsley does best… and that’s play the Blues with his amazing arsenal of guitars.  He covered tons of favorites right from the get-go, hitting on “Saving Grace”, “Cut You Loose”, “To the Devil For a Dime”, and “Quitter Never Wins”.

My favorite moments occurred with Tinsley's Dobro in hand.  Before playing “Can’t Be Satisfied”, Tinsley explained Bob Margolin taught the song to him, and Muddy Waters had taught Margolin the song.   It was spectacular. He spoke about meeting many of the blues masters as a youth, and then tore into a breathtaking “Little Red Rooster”.

    

Before the evening was over, Tinsley let loose on “Highway Man”, “The Last Song”, and “Pawnbroker”.  It definitely was a marvelous night for music. 

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all photos by Phillip Smith

Wooden Nickel Lottery

Wooden Nickel Lottery

Delayne Stallman, Jess Toomsen, Rick Gallo

Rick Gallo

Rich Toomsen, Delayne Stallman, Jess Toomsen

Delayne Stallman, Jess Toomsen

Rich Toomsen

Delayne Stallman

Rick Gallo

Rich Toomsen, Jess Toomsen

Rich Toomsen, Delayne Stallman

Tinsley Ellis

Kevan McCann, Tinsley Ellis

Kevan McCann

 Erik “Jazzy Skins” Kaszynski.

Kevan McCann

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Kevan McCann, Tinsley Ellis , Erik "Jazzy Skins" Kaszynski

 Erik “Jazzy Skins” Kaszynski.

Kevan McCann, Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

 Erik “Jazzy Skins” Kaszynski.

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis

Kevan McCann, Tinsley Ellis

 Erik “Jazzy Skins” Kaszynski.

Kevan McCann

Tinsley Ellis, Kevan McCann

Tinsley Ellis

all photos by Phillip Smith

#301 : Crystal Bowersox live at CSPS

Nov. 8, 2017

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Nov. 9, 2017

Crystal Bowersox blessed CSPS with her third appearance on November 8th.  With an acoustic guitar strapped around her shoulder, the songstress was joined by drummer Derek Louis, and bassist Lucas Morton.  It was a perfect evening for music, as Bowersox belted out two fabulous sets, much of which can be found on her new Alive album. 

The Season 9 American Idol finalist initiated her show with a stellar cover of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”.  It was fantastic.  “Broken Wing” was s such a lovely song, being sung from the heart as effortlessly as Bowersox makes it seem.   She gave a terrific performance on “Staycation”, which teased Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle“, and suavely segued into Bob Marley’s “Everything Gonna Be Alright”.  Laying out a roadmap to her heart in song, Bowersox beautifully sung “He Calls Me Angel”.   “The Ride”, a tale of a gonzo off-the-cuff trip with a bad news scoundrel, co-written with Lance Carpenter, kept the audience in the palm of her hands.  In closing, she delivered a bodacious finale with a couple of striking covers, The Eagles’ “Desperado”, and Janis Joplin’s “Bobby McGee”.          

     


All photos by Phillip Smith

Sena Ehrhardt live at Campbell Steele Gallery - Feb. 11, 2017

Marion, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 12, 2017

Saturday, February 11,  The Sena Ehrhardt Band gave a superb performance at the Campbell Steele Gallery in Marion, Iowa.  This Minneapolis-based blues band is fronted by singer/songwriter Ehrhardt, her husband, guitarist Cole Allen, drummer Wayne Allen, and bassist Crosby Williams.  Prior to Ehrhardt taking the stage to sing the wonderful “Things You Should’t Need to Know” off the 2014 Live My Life album, Cole Allen warmed the audience up with a serious dose of instrumental electric blues. His talent on the guitar runs deep.  

Ehrhardt’s strong and powerful vocals sounded so good on the slow and swampy “Last Chance”, from her first record. Cole’s ripping guitar performance, an added bonus, is such a treat.  The band blessed the crowd with the house-rocking Chicago blues fave “Little By Little”, which ended in an audience participation sing-a-long. I was happy to hear them play a personal favorite, “Buried Alive”. It is an outstanding number.  For the fabulous finale, Ehrhardt closed out with “Rock Me Baby”, dedicating the song to B.B. King, Johnny Winter, and Smoking Joe Kubek.  It was a terrific show for sure.

Collective Soul live at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort Jan. 28, 2017

Riverside, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Jan 29, 2017

Saturday, January 28, Collective Soul (front man Ed Roland, his brother, rhythm guitarist Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, lead guitarist Jesse Triplett, and drummer Johnny Rabb) hit the ground running with an outstanding performance of “Heavy”, bringing a surge of energy and excitement to a sold out show at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort.  This was my sixth time to experience them since 1995, and it was so good to see and hear them again.  Ed was in rare form and Triplett was tearing it up on guitar

After tackling “Contagious” with a big bowlful of grit, Ed switched over to acoustic guitar to play the “AYTA (Are You The Answer?)” from their 2015 album, “See What You Started by Continuing”.  It sounded terrific.  With Ed still on acoustic, he segued in to “Shine” with a mini intro of “Amazing Grace” before the band burst fully into “Shine”.  Camera phones all over the venue rose into the air to capture this one played to perfection.  Ed poured everything he had into the song, jumping high in the air in ways I could never accomplish.  The crowd totally in his hands, the song ended with heavy thrashing and audience accompaniment.   

Before beginning “Draw the Blood”, a song so new, it had only been played live once before, Dean unfortunately fell ill and sadly was unable to continue on for the evening.  After checking with him to make sure he was alright, Ed and the band continued on through two other newer songs, “Pieces” and the melodically spacey “Rule #1”.  As the oh-so familiar riff of “Precious Declaration” tears through the speakers, the house rises, only to remain standing through the rest of the show.  “December” opens to a wave of whistles and applause and climaxes with Ed doing a Chuck Berry “duck walk” across the stage. They played through an amazing “World I know” and rock anthem “Gel”, putting a big smile on my face.  Still feeding on the frenzy started by “Gel”, Rabb blessed us with a fantastic drum intro on “Where the River Flows”.  This is Rock and Roll at its finest.

Just before closing the night with their last song, “Run”, Ed commented, “It’s been 23 years now.  Not bad for the one hit wonder of 1994.” As the song came to its end, Ed was the last to leave the stage, still strumming his acoustic guitar and marching off, like the troubadour, into the dark, disappearing off to back stage.    

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Photos by Phillip Smith

Ed Roland

Dean Roland

Will Turpin

Ed Roland

Jesse Triplett

Ed Roland

Will Turpin

Ed Roland

Dean Roland

Johnny Rabb

Jesse Triplett

Johnny Rabb / Will Turpin

Jesse Triplett

Ed Roland