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Vol. 39 - No.4 • JANUARY 2021 • www.houstonmusicnews.net • FREE

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ROBERT CRAY Also In This Issue Allman Betts Band • N•I•T•E• Smile Empty Soul • Tantric Bellamy Brothers • Joyous Wolf Restless Heart • Blacktop Mojo Reverend Horton Heat

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January 2021 Hello Music News readers. Well, needless to say, last year really sucked. So much went wrong with it that we couldn’t even touch on it here if we wanted to. Our hopes are that this year things get a lot better for everybody, no matter what business you’re in. One of our main concerns is the Music Business here in our little area of Texas. We’d like to see everybody get out and support a local music business, be it club or music store, but please be safe. Be sure to wear your mask. You might even consider some sort of temporary gloves, as this virus is spread through touch as well as being airborne. Avoid crowds... just stand a little further away from the person near you, and keep your hands to yourself. You can just as easily catch this virus by shaking hands with someone who doesn’t even know they have it. The virus doesn’t care, it just likes to travel...

Please be safe.

Music News would also like to invite all of you out there to start submitting pictures to us. If you’re at a club and the band is really good, take a picture and forward it to us at Music News with a caption and a heads up on who is in the picture. If the picture turns out great, then we plan on running it, along with your name as the person who took it. Here’s a chance to get your name in print. Who knows, it might even lead to a job with us in the future. We want to see what you’re favorite bands are, so please let us know. Email your photo to musicnew@airmail.net. Thanks and we hope you will all participate.

Now, on to the new issue. In this issue, as usual, we have some great stories and information to pass on to you.

Check out stories on Robert Cray, The Allman Betts Band, N•I•T•E, Smile Empty Soul / Tantric, Bellamy Brothers, Joyous Wolf, Restless Heart, Blacktop Mojo, and the Reverend Horton Heat.

I sincerely hope that everybody reading this new publication finds something here that they like and I would like to encourage you to let your friends and colleagues know about us. Just look for us every month at http:// www.houstonmusicnews.net. I would also like to encourage you to email us for a free subscription to Rock And Blues International as well. Just email us at musicnew@airmail.net and in the subject line simply put “Sign Me Up” and we’ll email you a copy each month when it is published.

Kevin Wildman Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher

Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher Web Address http://www.houstonmusicnews.net Mailing Address Box 1162, League City, TX 77573 Phone 281-650-1953

For Advertising email us at musicnew@airmail.net or call 281-650-1953 For A Free Subscription email us at musicnew@airmail.net and in the subject line put “Sign Me Up Now” January 2021 • Music News

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Contents

VOL. 39 NO. 4

JANUARY 2021

6

6

ISSUE NO. 496

ALLMAN BETTS BAND Performs at Dose Doe Big Barn February 1 & 2

12 ROBERT CRAY

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Robert Cray Performs At The Heights Theater January 21

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SMILE EMPTY SOUL TANTRIC Smile Empty Soul and Tantric Perform at The Scout Bar February 5

22 JOYOUS WOLF Joyous Wolf Perform At Warehouse Live On January 15

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Contents

VOL. 39 NO. 4

JANUARY 2021

26

ISSUE NO. 496

BLACKTOP MOJO Blacktop Mojo Perform At Warehouse Live On February 5

26 26 10 18 24 32

Also In This Issue N•I•T•E BELLAMY BROTHERS RESTLESS HEART REVEREND HORTON HEAT

Page 35 Random Shots featuring

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January 2021 • Music News

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Allman Betts Band Perform At Dosey Doe Big Barn February 1 & 2 As their name makes plain, the Allman Betts Band continues in the tradition of the Allman Brothers Band. Devon Allman and Duane Betts — the sons of Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts, respectively — formed the group in 2018 with the intent purpose of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the groundbreaking group of their fathers. By playing classic Allmans tunes, the Allman Betts Band kept the Southern rock torch burning in the 21st century, but Devon and Duane also made sure to write new material, too, releasing their debut Down to the River in June 2019.

Bless Your Heart To form their group, Devon Allman and Dickey Betts recruited bassist Berry Oakley, Jr. — himself the son of original Allman bassist Berry Oakley — organist John Ginty, slide guitarist Johnny Stachela, and percussionists John Lum and R. Scott Bryan. Working with producer Matt Ross-Spang, the band recorded the album that became Down to the River at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. The record appeared on June 28, just prior to the Allman 6 Music MusicNews News •• November December 2020

Betts Band launching a summer tour. Using the same all-analog approach as their debut, the group reunited with both Ross-Spang and Muscle Shoals to record their follow-up, 2020’s slightly more expansive Bless Your Heart.

When The Allman Betts Band released Down to the River in June of 2019, the debut album represented not only the first time the group had recorded together, but, in fact, the first time the seven-piece ensemble had ever played together. If Down to the River was the sound of the band’s combustible sparks igniting, then Bless Your Heart is their bonfire, built for the summer of 2020 and beyond; a double-album follow-up fueled by road-forged camaraderie and telepathic musical intensity, vibrantly reflecting the individual and collective experiences of these seven, all drawing inspiration from the band’s symbolic hometown- a place Devon Allman calls “the United States of Americana.”

In 2019, as Down to the River topped charts and dotted playlists, The Allman Betts

Band toured. Relentlessly. Sold-out U.S. theatres in spring turned to festival dates in summer, even crossing over the Atlantic for a string of European appearances. It was in Germany in late July when Allman, the group’s co-founder, guitarist, and singer, required a tour-ending hospital stay for minor, but necessary surgery. His recovery postponed several ensuing shows, but the writing for a second album enthusiastically continued.

Along with co-founder, guitarist, and singer Duane Betts, the pair already had a growing notebook of new songs, largely composed on the tour bus or in hotel rooms in cities and towns across the country: Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Tybee Island, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois and Charlotte, North Carolina, to name a few. They re-enlisted Stoll Vaughan, a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles (via Kentucky), who’d collaborated on five of River’s nine tracks, to advise on the developing material. And they booked a return to Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the historic recording facility where

they’d cut the debut, as well as re-signing Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang to reprise his role helming the recording.

After Allman’s healthy return and a run of fall tour dates, including the third annual Allman Family Revival (expanded from San Francisco to Denver and New York City), the group decamped to Nashville for rehearsals ahead of the recording session, fleshing out the new songs until satisfied they had reached peak performance. “We thought that if we can maximize the potential of each song, then we have a shot at making a cohesive, great record,” says Allman.

Under a siren’s warning of approaching tornados, but secure in the familiar, single-story brickhouse comfort of Muscle Shoals, the band began tracking its own brand of whirling, raucous rock-and-roll. Following a year’s worth of touring as a unit- as Allman says, the “200 races the horse had run”- the dividends were immediate and plentiful.

“Now we know how the band plays. We know to trust each other’s instincts. The dynamics have a flow to them: when to step back; when to push forward,” says Allman.

Adds Betts, “Once we got rolling, the floodgates opened.”

A conflagration of influences and invention, confidence and ambition, Bless Your Heart captures a vast, panoramic scope throughout a baker’s dozen of modern rock.

Ragged and stomping. Heady and frayed.

Soaring and scorching. Generational and genteel. West Coast scenes and Gulf Coast shores. Gateways of the Midwest and swamplands of Florida. Wyoming’s Big Sky. New York’s Big Apple. Chicago’s Broad Shoulders.

Among the fiery set is “Magnolia Road,” a semi-autobiographical overview of Allman and Betts written, ironocally, by Vaughan alone, and a tie-dyed contender for summer festival favorite. There is the album’s starter, “Pale Horse Rider,” ominously evolving into a dark and dense rumbler accentuated by an unbridled storm of guitars, evoking the spirit of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and modern counterpart, My Morning Jacket.

And “Ashes of My Lovers,” a mourning motif of romance and wreckage, inflected with trail-dusted harmonica complementing the cinematic Badlands spook. Or “Airboats & Cocaine,” with its tongue firmly in its cheek, telling the Southern Gothic tale of a girl born into the wrong family and her guy regretting his incidental associations with the underbelly of swampland contraband, wrapped up in a loose, mid-tempo stinger.

Over a week’s time, they recorded 13

songs, with additional tracking in Memphis and St. Louis. Within the eclectic repertoire are the familiar: stacks of guitars; electric, acoustic, and slide; a throttling, percussive rhythm section. And the fresh: Bassist and singer Berry Duane Oakley’s ABB vocal debut on his original song (“The Doctor’s Daughter”); Allman’s baritone vocal channeling Johnny Cash (“Much Obliged”); Betts extending the legendary family legacy of incendiary instrumentals (“Savannah’s Dream”). They tapped friends, as well, such as Jimmy Hall, Shannon McNally, Art Edmaiston, Susan Marshall, and Reba Russell for guest contributions. Then, emerged with an undeniable achievement of an album (what sophomore jinx?) worthy of its winking, unabashedly Southern title.

producer spent his early years dividing time between the Lone Star State, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. Raised by his mother, Devon began playing music as a youth. He was 16 when he first met his father, Gregg.

“I think we definitely challenged ourselves, pushed ourselves artistically, and widened the spectrum on all levels. We wanted something that was a little more sweeping. A deeper experience,” says Betts.

He founded Devon Allman’s Honeytribe in 1999, recording two albums and touring the world intermittently over the next decade. In 2011, Devon paired with Cyril Neville to form Royal Southern Brotherhood. The supergroup released a trio of albums, won a Blues music award, and culminated their world tour with an appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Concurrently, Devon was cultivating a prolific solo career, issuing Turquoise in 2013 and Ragged & Dirty(2014), garnering widespread critical

Says Allman, “I hope what people hear on Bless Your Heart is a band that’s having a love affair with being a band.”

Devon Allman’s life reads like that of the quintessential American troubadour. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the singersongwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and

Gregg invited Devon on the road with The Allman Brothers Band, during the group’s Dreamstour in the summer of 1989, where he first met ABB progeny, Berry Duane Oakley and Duane Betts. On many occasions, Devon would sit-in with the Brothers, often performing “Midnight Rider” alongside his father. Included among the many musical heavyweights Devon would join onstage throughout his career are Les Paul, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Gibbons, Gov’t Mule, Blackberry Smoke, and Lukas Nelson.

continued on next page January 2021 • Music News

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Allman Betts Band continued from previous page acclaim as well as top Billboard positions, including #1 on the Blues chart for 2016’s Ride or Die. In 2017, Devon assembled the Devon Allman Project, commencing a 2018-19 world tour with Duane Betts as a special guest. Following that successful run, he and Betts announced the formation of the Allman Betts Band, reuniting with Oakley and recording their debut album at the famed Muscle Shoals studio.

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Duane Betts cut his teeth sitting-in regularly as a teen with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Allman Brothers Band. A Sarasota, Florida native, Betts relocated to Southern California and led Malibu rock outfits such as Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then ascended to a near-decade stint playing guitar alongside his father, Dickey Betts, in his group, Great Southern. Whether as a touring guitarist for folk-rockers Dawes or sharing the stage with luminaries from Jack Johnson and G. Love to Kid Rock and Phil Lesh, Betts became a consummate musician, honing his craft, and issuing his first solo effort in 2017.

After a brief, but celebrated stint with Jamtown- a supergroup featuring Love, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Cisco Adler-

8 Music News • January 2021

Betts took his own six-string storiesimpassioned songs portraying a life and a history steeped in blues, rock, and country music tradition- and released his longawaited recording debut: Sketches of American Music.

With venerable guitar, timeworn vocals and enlightened, seasoned songwritingenlisting the guiding pen of respected songsmith Stoll Vaughan and veterans Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the M.G.’s) and Marc Ford (Black Crowes) for a production hand on sessions in Nashville and Los AngelesBetts delivered Sketches in April of 2018.

In support, Betts released two videos for the EP’s singles- “Taking Time” and “Downtown Runaround- and undertook a year-long world tour with the Devon Allman Project. Betts also reunited with dad Dickey and his Band for a round of summer 2018 tour dates before officially announcing at year’s end the formation of The Allman Betts Band.

Surrounded by a familial community of noteworthy talent, bassist Berry Duane Oakley developed his deeply ingrained love for music. As the son of The Allman Brothers Band’s founding bass player, the late Berry Oakley, and with stepfather Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night), Oakley’s musical

calling seemed preordained. He first met Devon Allman and Duane Betts, as a teenager, during The Allman Brothers Band’s 1989 Dreams tour. Often Oakley sat-in with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, laying the foundation for his prolific and successful career now entering its fourth decade.

In 1991, he toured with his godfather, Robby Krieger, then with Bloodline- in a lineup including Waylon Krieger and Joe Bonamassa. Bloodline’s self-titled debut launched a Top 20 single, leading to national TV appearances and support sets for Bob Dylan and B.B. King, among others. In 1996, Oakley teamedfor the first time with Betts for the Oakley Krieger Band.

In 2000, he joined Blue Floyd, the supergroup brainchild of Gov’t Mule’s bassist, the late Allen Woody. Additionally, Oakley served a stint with Betts, again, in Backbone69, and for 11 years with Negron in CNB. In 2015 he founded Butch Trucks & the Freight Train Band with the legendary, now deceased,Allman Brothers Band drummer.

Gathering annually in the Catskills, Oakley is also a recurring presence at Roots Rock Revival camp, performing with prominent players such as Oteil Burbridge and North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther & Cody Dickenson. At home in Sarasota, Florida, Oakley leads his Indigenous Suspects, including members of The Dickey Betts Band.

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January 2021 • Music News

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the pair finally found the rhythm that worked for them.

Kyle and Myles have been lighting up the stages of Texas and beyond since January 2014.

NITE completed two full tours within North America in 2016 with Seabound (Germany) and The Foreign Resort (Denmark), and also a U.S. tour with The New Division (Los Angeles) in 2018.

They have been humbled to share the stage on a number of occasions with artists such as Midge Ure (of Ultravox), Paul Young, Chad Valley, Howard Jones, Clean Bandit, The Griswolds, A Flock of Seagulls, Small Black, The Alarm, Zola Jesus, Blackbird Blackbird, Men Without Hats, Julien-K, Woody Woodmansey’s Holy Holy, A Silent Film, ChameleonsVOX, Modern English, De/Vision, ACTORS, and many more.

N•I•T•E Perform at White Oak Music Hall Feb. 11 NITE are Canadian-born twin brothers, Kyle and Myles Mendes, based in Dallas, TX. The duo create a unique hybrid of electronic-tinged rock with a nod to 80’s-influenced dream-pop. Kyle and Myles’ powerful dueling vocals might remind oneself of Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, with a delivery of tasteful guitar hooks amidst bright synthesizers and throbbing drum machines.

From an early age, music was a huge part of Kyle and Myles’ upbringing. Mesmerized by KISS, the first concert the twins attended, their interest in performance hit an all-time high.

Together with the memory of their first concert and the sounds of their favorite bands (New Order, The Cure, Depeche 10

Music News • January 2021

Mode) buzzing about in their heads, the two began experimenting, creating their own vibrant sound.

Beginning at fifteen years of age, Kyle and Myles fronted a three-piece band, RadioFire.

After a few years, they felt their music starting to take a bit of a different direction, so a new project was born. Originally named Nighttime Eyes and later shortened to NITE,

In July 2017, NITE released a new album, Reborn, on Cleopatra Records, which features the songs “Dreamer”, “Godless City”, and “I Long 4 U”, as a follow-up to their 2014 self-release, I Am Not Afraid.

SLEEPLESS the second album through Cleopatra Records is out now on all streaming platforms.

January 2021 • Music News

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Music News • January 2021

Robert Cray Performs at The Heights Theater January 21 The most commercially and critically successful blues artist of his generation, Robert Cray took his music to the upper reaches of the pop and rock charts when many major blues acts were counting their sales in the tens of thousands. On the strength of his breakthrough album, 1986’s Strong Persuader, Cray landed eight singles in the Top 40 of the American Rock Singles charts between 1986 and 1992, with two of them (“Smoking Gun” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”) rising to number two and number four, respectively. One of the most important things that set Cray apart from his peers on the blues scene in the ’80s and ’90s was his focus on songwriting rather than guitar heroics.

While he was an impressively strong player, his soloing was clean and concise for the most part, without excessive showboating, and his songs were more closely related to vintage Southern soul in their storytelling and sense of character than in the typical 12-bar paeans to whiskey and women favored by most blues acts of the era. 1983’s Bad Influence was the album that first earned Cray a major buzz among blues enthusiasts, while 1986’s Strong Persuader was a near flawless set of songs that made him a star and allowed him to cross over to the mainstream on his own terms. A hard-working performer, Cray recorded and toured steadily once he became a major headliner, and the consistency of style and quality among most of his subsequent albums meant that few were major standouts, but 1993’s Shame + A Sin dug deeper into traditional blues than most of his ’90s efforts, 2001’s Shoulda Been Home saw him giving himself a change to stretch out on guitar, 2010’s Cookin’ in Mobile was a potent document of Cray and his band in concert, he dipped his toes into topical material on 2015’s Nothin’ but Love, and 2017’s Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm was an inspired collaboration with one of the

great soul studio bands of the ’70s.

Robert Cray was born in Columbus, Georgia on August 1, 1953. His father was a quartermaster with the Army, stationed at Fort Benning, and like many military families, the Crays moved often during Robert’s youth. Cray became interested in music after digging deep into his dad’s extensive record collection, and after taking lessons in classical piano, he began learning the guitar in his early teens. While attending high school in Newport News, Virginia in the late ’60s, Cray formed his first band, the One-Way Street, who landed a gig playing covers at a bar despite being too young to be customers. By the time Cray graduated from high school, his family had settled in the Pacific Northwest, and while living in Tacoma, Washington, Cray developed a passion for the blues, taking particular inspiration from Albert Collins, Freddie King, Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy. Cray made his way to Eugene, Oregon, where he formed a band with singer Curtis Salgado, and next launched his own group, the Robert Cray Band. Cray and his band toured frequently on the West Coast and were mentored by Cray’s hero Albert Collins, who sometimes took them out as his opening act and taught them how to deal with life on the road. In 1978, Cray landed a small part in the hit comedy National Lampoon’s Animal House,

playing the bassist with Otis Day & the Knights.

As word spread about Cray — under 30, he was considered a fresh, young talent by the standards of the blues — he cut his debut album, Who’s Been Talkin’, which was originally released by the independent Tomato label. (It would later be reissued by that label as Too Many Cooks, and then again

by Mercury under its original title.) The album earned good reviews, and Cray landed a deal with the blues and roots imprint Hightone Records. His first LP for Hightone, 1983’s Bad Influence, included the song “Phone Booth,” which would later be covered by Albert King, and False Accusation followed in 1985.

That same year, Cray appeared on the album Showdown!, in which he traded licks with two of his favorite guitarists, continued on next page January 2021 • Music News

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Robert Cray continued from previous page Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland; the album won a Grammy award for Best Traditional Blues Recording. By this time, Cray’s reputation was beginning to spread beyond blues circles, and he left the independents behind to sign a deal with Mercury Records. Cray’s Mercury debut, 1986’s Strong Persuader, received rave reviews (Robert Christgau in the Village Voice gave it a rare A+ rating), and with radio and MTV support for the first single, “Smoking Gun,” it became a major hit and earned Cray his first platinum sales plaque and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Recording.

Already having gained plenty of experience in the studio and on the road, Cray didn’t waste the opportunities the success of Strong Persuader brought him. Between 1988 and 1997, Cray would cut six more albums for Mercury, two of which — 1988’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and 1990’s Midnight Stroll — would go platinum. (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark also brought Cray another Best Contemporary Blues Recording Grammy.) In 1987, Keith Richards invited him to be part of the all-star band that backed Chuck Berry for a filmed concert that was the foundation of the film Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll. Cray maintained a steady touring schedule, headlining dates and becoming a frequent opener for Eric Clapton, as well as warming up audiences for Bob Dylan.

(Cray was also a guest at Clapton’s Crossroad Guitar Festival events from 2004 to 2019.) Cray shared the stage with Clapton, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimmie Vaughan at an August 1990 show in East Troy, Wisconsin that would prove to be the last concert of Stevie Ray’s life.

After his contract with Mercury ran its course, Cray struck a deal with the respected indie label Rykodisc, and his first release for the label, 1999’s Steve 14 Music News • January 2021

Jordan-produced Take Your Shoes Off, won him a third Best Contemporary Blues Recording Grammy. After a second set for Rykodisc, 2001’s Shoulda Been Home, he struck a deal with Sanctuary Records for 2003’s Time Will Tell and 2005’s Twenty. In 2006, he released the first live album of his career, Live from Across the Pond, culled from a series of shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. It was a joint release between Vanguard Records and Cray’s own Nozzle Records label; Vanguard and Nozzle would also team up for 2009’s This Time. A concert at the Saenger Theater in Mobile, Alabama would result in Cray’s second live album, 2010’s Cookin’ in Mobile, and he was unwittingly competing with himself in the marketplace when Mercury released an archival concert set the same year,

Authorized Bootleg: Austin, Texas, 5/25/ 87. Cray was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011, and the following year, he issued his first album for the European Provogue label, Nothin’ but Love, inspired by stories of romance and resilience in an economic downturn.

After a second LP for Provogue, 2014’s In My Soul, Cray recorded a passion project, 2017’s Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm, where he was backed by the Hi Records house band (best known for their work on Al Green’s hits of the ’70s) during sessions at the studio where they did most of their work, Memphis’ Royal Recorders. The album reunited Cray with producer Steve Jordan, and they went into the studio again for 2020’s That’s What I Heard. The project was issued by Nozzle Records as part of a new distribution deal with Thirty Tigers.

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Smile Empty Soul And Tantric Perform At The Scout Bar February 5 Smile Empty Soul was a heavy alternative trio formed while its three members were still in Santa Clarita, California high schools in 1998. Led by singer/guitarist Sean Danielson, the band also included drummer Derek Gledhill and bassist Ryan Martin. After honing their sound with numerous hometown gigs, Smile Empty Soul began venturing to the Sunset Strip, and eventually passed a demo to Todd Parker of the Los Angeles indie label ThroBack Records. That exposure led to a deal with Jason Flom’s Lava imprint, which was expanding in the wake of early signee Kid Rock’s white-hot success. The trio hooked up with producer John Lewis Parker, who was at the helm for their self-titled debut, issued by Lava in May 2003. With its screeching guitars and Danielson’s ragefilled vocals, the album was indebted to the alternative sounds of the early ’90s.

As the band recorded their follow-up in 2005, Gledhill parted ways with the band and Dominic Weir temporarily filled his position before he was subsequently replaced by Jake Kilmer. They also recruited guitarist Mike Booth (Cold). Anxiety was scheduled for release in 2005, but a split with Lava kept the album from seeing the light of day. Their de facto sophomore LP, the freshly recorded Vultures, was released in 2006. After promotional touring for the album, Booth amicably parted ways with the band. In 2009, Anxiety was 16

Music News • January 2021

finally released through their own MRAfia Records label (along with a bonus DVD version, More Anxiety).

The band also released their fourth fulllength, Consciousness. In 2012, Smile Empty Soul released a fifth album, the sharply polished 3’s, on eOne Records. It was quickly followed by Chemicals (Two Disciples/Pavement). In early 2016, they released the Shapeshifter EP, which was split between re-recordings of hits from their debut, as well as three new songs.

The post-grunge outfit Days of the New rocked heavy in 1998 with their major-label eponymous debut and the singles “Solitude” and “Touch, Peel and Stand,” and the boys from Louisville,

TANTRIC

KY, quickly absorbed the fast success and MTV’s praise. But as soon as they enjoyed the rock & roll fast life, original bandmembers Todd Whitener (guitar), Jesse Vest (bass), and Matt Taul (drums) left the band after creative differences and whirlwind hype. Two years later, the three were still making music, but under the moniker Tantric.

Signed to Madonna’s Maverick label, the band welcomed new vocalist Hugo Ferreira and issued a brand-new selftitled album, more rollicking and bold than their previous output. That album became a gold-selling hit, with “Breakdown” topping Billboard magazine’s Mainstream Rock chart and reaching the Top Five of its Modern Rock chart; “Astounded” going Top Ten on the Mainstream Rock chart and reaching the Modern Rock chart; and “Mourning” reaching both charts. Tantric followed three years later with After We Go, which reached the Top 100 of the album chart and produced the Top Ten Mainstream Rock hit “Hey Now” and two other tracks that reached the chart, a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” and the album’s title song. In late 2007, Whitener, Vest, and Taul exited Tantric, just as they had Days of the New. Ferreira retained rights to the name, however, and he organized a new edition of Tantric with Joe Pessia (guitar), Erik Leonhardt (bass), and former Fuel member Kevin Miller (drums). With this lineup, Tantric recorded their third album, The End Begins, released by the Silent Majority Group label on April 22, 2008, prefaced by the single “Down and Out,” which reached the Top Five of the Mainstream Rock chart. By the time of the band’s fourth album, Mind Control, released August 4, 2009, Miller had been replaced by Richie Monica, and the group had expanded to a quintet with the addition of electric violinist Marcus Ratzenboeck.

Bellamy Brothers Perform at Main Street Crossing January 29th & 30th Best-known for the easy rolling, ’70s Southern soft rock classic “Let Your Love Flow,” the Bellamy Brothers are the most successful duo in country music history, consistently climbing into the upper reaches of the Billboard country charts during the ’80s. More than most acts of the late ’70s and ’80s, the Bellamys pushed the borders of country music, adding strong elements of rock, reggae, and even rap, racking up a string of Top Ten singles that ran into the early ’90s, after which they remained a popular concert attraction.

Howard and David Bellamy were born and raised in Darby, Florida. Their father, Homer, played traditional country music around the house and performed with a Western swing band on the weekends. In addition to the country music they heard in their house, the brothers were drawn to the calypso 18

Music News • January 2021

music of the neighboring Caribbean islands. However, nothing provided as much attraction as the rock & roll they heard on their sister’s records and the radio. From the Everly Brothers to the Beatles, the Bellamy Brothers soaked up the sounds of contemporary pop and rock. In their late teens and early twenties, they once again became infatuated with country music, thanks to the music of George Jones and Merle Haggard.

In 1968, the brothers moved to Atlanta, forming Jericho. After a while, the Bellamys relocated back to their home state. In 1973, they met a friend of singer Jim Stafford, who directed the vocalist to David’s “Spiders and Snakes.” Stafford was immediately taken with the tune, releasing it as his next single; the humorous retelling of David’s boyhood farm experiences would

eventually sell over three million copies.

The success of “Spiders and Snakes” gave the Bellamy Brothers enough money to move out to Los Angeles, where they concentrated on a full-time musical career.

In 1975, the brothers signed to Curb/Warner Bros, releasing their first single, David’s “Nothin’ Heavy.” The song flopped. Dennis St. John, who was a friend of the Bellamys and Neil Diamond’s drummer, suggested that the duo record “Let Your Love Flow,” a song written by Larry E. Williams, one of Diamond’s roadies. As it turns out, “Let Your Love Flow” broke the doors wide open for the brothers, topping the pop charts and climbing into the country Top 30, as well as being a major hit in Britain, West Germany, and Scandinavia, continued on page 20

“Old Hippie” and “Kids of the Baby Boom.” The Bellamy Brothers continued to have hits on Curb/MCA until the end of the ’80s.

Bellamy Brothers continued from page 18 and going to number one in 15 countries.

The Bellamy Brothers quickly released their debut album, also called Let Your Love Flow, which became nearly as successful as the single. Their second album, 1977’s Plain & Fancy, was a major success in Sweden and Norway, but it didn’t make much of an impact in America. With their next album, they began to move closer to a straight country sound, beginning with “Slippin’ Away,” which reached the country Top 20.

The Bellamy Brothers’ country breakthrough happened in 1979, with the tongue-in-cheek “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me.” The song rocketed to number one on the country charts — and was also a massive hit in the U.K. — followed by the Top Five success of “You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie.” The Bellamy Brothers’ success continued to roll forward in 1980, as they scored two straight number one hits, “Sugar Daddy” and “Dancin’ Cowboys.” They earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group, and the CMA named them the Most Promising Group of the Year. Throughout 1980 and 1981, the group continued to rack up the 20 Music News • January 2021

hits, including “Do You Love as Good as You Look” and “They Could Put Me in Jail.”

Curb switched the Bellamy Brothers’ distribution from Warner Bros to Elektra at the end of 1981. Coincidentally, the change in distribution coincided with Howard and David’s desire to experiment with their music. After they released the number one “For All the Wrong Reasons,” the brothers followed with “Get Into Reggae Cowboy,” which was a groundbreaking country record that incorporated Jamaican rhythms. In 1982, the group was given a Lifetime Membership of the Federation of International Country Air Personalities, as well as being named the Top Country Duo by Billboard.

Throughout 1983, the brothers logged a number of hits. The following year, Curb signed a distribution deal with MCA, which had no effect on the continuing success of the Bellamy Brothers. For the next three years, the brothers were at their peak, both popularly and artistically, scoring a number of hit singles that showcased their continuing musical development as well as their increasing lyrical sophistication, as indicated by the Vietnam vet anthem

By the turn of the decade, the duo switched record labels to Atlantic.

After one album with Atlantic, 1991’s Rollin’ Thunder, the Bellamys left the label, founding their own record company, Bellamy Brothers Records, one of the first artist-driven country independents of the modern era. The Latest & the Greatest (1992) was the first album released on the label. The duo still reached the charts, like the Top 25 “Cowboy Beat,” but the strongest proof of the Bellamy Brothers’ popularity was their reliably large crowd, not just in the U.S. but throughout the world. The Bellamys put out numerous independent records during the ’90s and following the 1998 collection Reggae Cowboys, the duo switched to Blue Hat Records for 1999’s Lonely Planet. The Bellamy Brothers’ biggest project of the new millennium was Angels & Outlaws, Vol. 1, a 2005 record for Curb which found the duo re-recording old hits with a host of other country superstars, including Alan Jackson, Tanya Tucker, and Dolly Parton. Following 2007’s gospel album Jesus Is Coming, the Brothers released The Anthology, Vol. 1, a collection of rerecordings of career highlights that also featured new recordings, including a duet with the Bacon Brothers on “Guilty of the Crime.” A collection of new songs entitled Pray for Me arrived in 2012, the same year the Brothers teamed with DJ Otzi, an Austrian schlager DJ, to rerecord schlager versions of their hits for the Austrian-only compilation Simply the Best. A few singles followed — “Boobs” in 2014, “Dyin’ Breed” in 2015 — before the Bellamys released the fulllength Over the Moon in 2019.

Bert Wills

Legendary Texas Singer/Songwriter Bert Wills Delivers The Goods

Down in southeastern Texas lives a man that was born in rural Kentucky but moved to Texas years ago. He came here playing the blues harp with a slow, winding country bent to it, part of his Kentucky roots, and the recording industry was quick to pick up on his unique sound.

Abilities is used in the plural here and that’s because the man not only wails a mean harp but his guitar work is aces as well. His name is Bert Wills and if you are a studio musician you know that name well as the man is sought after by many producers. One of those producers is Andy Bradley, known world wide for his talents at the console, his past co-ownership in of SugarHill Studios, and his successful book titled, “House Of Hits”. Bert and Andy go back a ways, 35 years to be exact, both know each other’s talents well so it would be of no big surprise that they could team on a compilation of Bert’s songs for a new album.

It would not be their first collaboration as Andy has recorded nearly every album Bert has presented to the world. A new album has come to life recently simply titled “Bert Wills”. It’s just being shipped to radio stations right now and let me tell you whether you are a blues fan or an Americana fan or both this album is packed with stirring and riveting selections. Both men have similar personalities, friendly but direct. Both will tell you where to go in a New York second if you are a poser and both will be the first to tell you how welcomed you are if you are the real deal. Bert is known throughout the industry internationally and has worked with a ton of well known stars over the years. He’s also an accomplished songwriter and when he puts his Kentucky roots into a song well Katy bar the door because it’s going to be good. His last gig was with Nashville artist Rob McNurlin who is part of the Marty Stuart clan. Then he returned to Texas to work on his new blues Americana album. The end result was a fourteen track collection of 13 original songs and14 one Rock cover,and notBlues a klunker among On the2020 collection you Music News • October International 2020them.

• September can hear the raw strains of good back woods country music in Bert’s voice and on the same collection you will hear some of the best blues you have heard in years. To learn more access www.bertwillsmusic.com

Lady Bianca Submitted for Grammy® Nomination

2014 by vocalist Nick Reese, guitarist Blake Allard, bassist Greg Braccio, and drummer Robert Sodaro. Reese and Sodaro met on their first day of 6th grade during student orientation. They went to different high schools where Sodaro would go on to befriend Braccio. During that time Reese, by chance, met Allard in the acoustic room at Guitar Center where they would jam CCR’s “Born on the Bayou”.

There was an immediate dynamic between the two that ultimately led to an exchange of information. Months later Reese reached out to both Sodaro and Allard with the interest of starting a new project with them. Braccio would soon follow suit.

In the waning months of 2014 early jam sessions would yield the foundation of what Joyous Wolf has become.

Fusing together influences ranging from Heavy Metal to Delta Blues, Joyous Wolf creates an expressive, highenergy fingerprint that separates themselves from their contemporaries in the realm of Modern Rock.

Founded in 2014 by vocalist Nick Reese, guitarist Blake Allard, bassist Greg Braccio, and drummer Robert Sodaro, the band spent their formative years honing their modern rock style regionally and eventually caught the attention of Roadrunner Records, which signed the group in 2018. Later that year, they released a smoldering cover of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” and an original track, “Place in Time,” both of which were helmed by Grammy Award-winning producer Howard Benson. The latter cut, along with the singles “Odyssey” and “Quiet Heart,” appeared on Joyous Wolf’s 2019 debut EP, Place in Time.

Joyous Wolf Perform at Warehouse Live January 15 Southern California rockers Joyous Wolf emerged in the mid-2010s with a hard-driving sound that combines 20 January 2021 2020 22 Music News • Decemberr

elements of blues-rock, post-grunge, and heavy metal. Joyous Wolf is a Rock band from Southern California formed in

October 2020 • Music News

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have been certified Gold by the RIAA, and they have won a wide range of awards from many organizations – including the Academy of Country Music’s Top Vocal Group trophy. Those stats aside, Innis feels that their career goes much deeper than that.

“In the past few years, we have really started to branch out in the community, particularly our work with the Nashville Rescue Mission. We have hosted an event called Restless Heart & Friends – Music With A Mission that we do at the Schermerhorn Center with the Nashville Symphony. We invite a lot of our friends in the industry across all genres to join us, and all of the money we raise goes to the Nashville Rescue Mission. The other thing that stands out is the tours we have done in support of the men and women of the Armed Forces. We did some tours with the Air Force, going all over the world.”

Restless Heart Perform January 28th At Main Street Crossing In Tomball Restless Heart lead singer Larry Stewart can remember the exact moment and place his life began to change forever.

“I was driving east on I-40 from West Nashville into town to an appointment,” he recalls. “Back then, I was listening to what we were doing in my Jeep Cherokee every day. I had turned the radio on, and ‘Let The Heartache Ride’ was right in the middle of the acapella intro.”

Stewart had been living with the song for a while, and hearing it through his car speakers wasn’t that big of a deal – until he looked at the stereo and saw the numbers 97.9. “It didn’t sink in because I had it in the tape deck for days, then I realized ‘That’s the radio. It’s WSIX.’ I pulled over on the shoulder around White Bridge Road and sat there with my car idling. It was like yester24 Music News • January 2021

day.”

‘Yesterday’ has come full circle for Restless Heart. Then one of Nashville’s newest acts, the band is celebrating their 30th Anniversary in 2013, and Dave Innis enjoys the musical ride as much as ever.

“I think it’s been an amazing legacy, and it’s been such an honor to have been part of an organization that is still together doing it after thirty years with the same five original guys, and it’s more fun than ever.”

John Dittrich, Greg Jennings, Paul Gregg, Dave Innis, and Larry Stewart – the men who make up Restless Heart have enjoyed one of the most successful careers in Country Music history, placing over 25 singles on the charts – with six consecutive #1 hits, four of their albums

Those audiences have sung along with their record-shattering string of hits, such as “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” “Fast Movin’ Train” and “When She Cries.”

Stewart says it’s humbling to know Restless Heart has made an impact. “I’m proud of the fact that we get to hear stories from young artists and musicians that we might have made an impression or inspiring them to come to town – having number one records, and hearing the stories of what they meant to people.

To know that you have been a part of something that made a difference, the power of music, the power of a song. To be a part of something that made a mark.

However big or small of a mark Restless Heart made, it’s still a mark. To be able to appreciate and feel blessed that we got lucky enough to get together. I feel like it was something that was meant to be.”

And, the story is far from over, as Stewart says Restless Heart still has a lot of history to make. “We are still at the top of our game when it comes to singing and playing together. We’ve got some projects we’re working on, and we want to put the Restless Heart brand out to music fans again – to let them know we’re still here and making good music.

We’re really looking forward, not trying to rest on our past laurels, we really want to do some new music. We have some fun things we’re considering to celebrate the moment, which we’re trying to put together, and reintroduce ourselves to the world, and take another stab at something.”

Restless Heart – Thirty Years and Those Musical “Wheels” are Still Going Strong!

Blacktop Mojo Perform At Warehouse Live February 5th Growing up in small town East Texas taught the boys from Blacktop Mojo that a little leap of faith and a lot of hard work will get you pretty far in life.

Formed in late 2012 by vocalist Matt James and drummer Nathan Gillis, Blacktop Mojo’s fiery blend of heavy grunge grooves, classic rock guitar riffs, and Southern Metal shredding falls somewhere between Soundgarden and Lynyrd Skynyrd. After their debut album “I Am” in 2014 and a few years cutting their teeth in dive bars, dancehalls, and honky tonks, the band decided to go all in. In 2017 they teamed up with famed Muscle Shoals Sound producer Jimmy Johnson (The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger) and his long time engineer Steve Melton for their sophomore outing entitled, “Burn The Ships” at Sound Emporium in Nashville. During the recording of the record, the guys took the leap and quit their day jobs, moving into a small house together in Palestine, Texas where they all still live today. The house created an unbreakable fellowship between the band and a culture of constant creativity.

Released via their label Cuhmon Records, “Burn The ships” yielded two top 40 Billboard singles on the Mainstream Active Rock charts including “Where The Wind Blows” (#27) and a cover of the Aerosmith classic, “Dream On” (#31). The

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Music News • January 2021

album cycle saw a heavy bout of touring where the band shared the stage with a wide range of heavy hitters including Bon Jovi, Candlebox, and Puddle of Mudd, a guest appearance on “Sammy Hagar’s Rock and Roll Road Trip, as well as festival appearances at major rock festivals around the US. After concluding touring early that year, the guys returned home in October of 2018 where they locked themselves in the band house for six months to write and record demos for their third studio record “Under The Sun”. Recorded in 2019 at Rosewood Studios in Tyler, TX with long time friend and producer Philip Mosley, The record is a hodgepodge of throwback sludgy rock and metal mixed with sensual and at times even, carnal blues.

“Under The Sun” debuted at #19 on the Billboard Hard Rock albums Chart and its lead off single, “Can’t Sleep”, gave the band another Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 40, rising to #27 on the chart. The band continues relentlessly touring to support their latest studio venture, and continuously strives to be one of the hardest working, Independent bands in Rock and Roll today.

A hard-driving Southern rock unit based out of Palestine, Texas, Blacktop Mojo’s fiery blend of post-grunge, classic rock, and metal falls somewhere between

Soundgarden, Black Stone Cherry, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The group’s approach, full of crunchy guitar chugging and minorkey melodies, was firmly in place on their first full-length album, 2014’s I Am, though the richer production of 2017’s Burn the Ships boosted the heaviness of their sound.

Under the Sun Founded in 2012 by frontman Matt James and drummer Nathan Gillis, Blacktop Mojo eventually morphed into a five-piece with the addition of bass player Matt Curtis and guitarists Ryan Kiefer and Kenneth Irwin. They selfreleased their debut album, I Am, in 2014, followed by a heavy bout of touring that saw the group sharing the stage with a wide array of heavy hitters including Bon Jovi, Puddle of Mudd, Sammy Hagar, and Drowning Pool. The band teamed up with Muscle Shoals producer Jimmy Johnson for their sophomore outing, Burn the Ships, which came out in December 2017. The band hit the road in support, and devoted most of the next ten months to live work, returning home in October 2018 to start writing material for their third LP. By the time they went into the studio with producer Philip Mosley, Chuck Wepfer had replaced Kenneth Irwin on guitar, and he made his recording debut with Blacktop Mojo on Under the Sun, released in September 2019.

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Music News • January October 2021 2020

Reverend Horton Heat Performs At The Scout Bar Saturday, February 6 Horton Heat, and add a pianist to the mix on 2018’s Whole New Life, but onstage and in the studio, Jim Heath and his bandmates could always be depended upon to deliver some of the twangy fire that their fans loved.

Wth their hot-rodded fusion of dazzling high-speed guitar runs, thundering rhythms, high-profile swagger, and lyrical smirk, the Reverend Horton Heat are perhaps the most popular psychobilly artists of all time, their recognition rivaled only by the esteem generated by the genre’s founders, the Cramps. The Reverend (as both the band and its guitar-playing frontman are known) built a strong cult following during the ’90s through constant touring, manic showmanship, and a barbed sense of humor.

The latter was nothing new in the world of psychobilly, of course, and Heat’s music certainly maintained the trashy aesthetic of his spiritual forebears. The Reverend’s true innovation was updating the psychobilly sound for the alternative rock era. In their hands, it had roaring distorted guitars, rocked as hard as any punk band, and didn’t look exclusively to the pop culture of the past for its style or subject matter. Most of the Reverend’s lyrics were gonzo celebrations of sex, drugs, booze, and cars, and true to his name, his early concerts often featured mock sermons in the style of a rural revivalist preacher. On their 1992 debut Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, the group established the template of their no-frills, high-intensity approach to rockabilly, and though celebrity producers helped beef up the sound of their next two albums — Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers on 1993’s The Full Custom Gospel Sounds and Ministry’s Al Jourgensen on 1994’s Liquor in the Front — the Reverend’s essential style changed little with time. They would explore a more introspective side on 2004’s Revival, embrace their country influences on 2009’s Laughin’ & Cryin’ with the Reverend

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Music News • January 2021

Reverend Horton Heat — the man, not the band — was born James C. Heath in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Growing up, he played in local rock cover bands around the area but was more influenced by Sun Records’ rockabilly, electric Chicago blues, and country mavericks like Junior Brown, Willie Nelson, and Merle Travis.

According to legend, he spent several years in a juvenile correction facility, and at 17 was supporting himself as a street musician and pool shark (according to the Reverend, however, the story was fabricated by Sub Pop to add color to his greaser image). Heath eventually moved to Dallas, where he found work at a club in Deep Ellum. There, he gave his first performance in 1985 as Reverend Horton Heat, christened as such by the club’s owner. Heat played the city’s blues club circuit for a while, performing mostly for polite crowds and swing dancing enthusiasts. Craving the excitement of a rock & roll show, and seeking a more financially rewarding avenue to help with his child support payments, Heat revamped his sound and moved into rock and punk venues. In 1989, he added bassist Jimbo Wallace to his band, and drummer Patrick “Taz” Bentley soon completed the lineup.

Reverend Horton Heat were a big hit around the area, and soon began touring extensively all around the country. They ultimately landed a deal with the prominent Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop, and in 1991 issued their debut album, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, which featured fan favorites like “Eat Steak,” “Marijuana,” “Bad Reputation,” and “Love Whip.” The band kept building its audience through steady touring, and received considerable media attention for 1993’s sophomore effort The Full Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat. Produced by the Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes, it spawned a minor MTV hit in “Wiggle Stick,” and also included Heat staples “400 Bucks” and “Bales of Cocaine.”

Having amassed a significant underground following, Horton Heat signed a major-label deal with Interscope in 1994, and debuted that year with a joint release between Interscope and Sub Pop, Liquor in the Front (subtitled “Poker in the Rear” for anyone who missed the first double-entendre). This time around, Heat had an even more unlikely

producer in Ministry’s Al Jourgensen; he also had major-label bucks, which contributed to a ratcheting up of the hell-raising lifestyle he often sang about, and eventually the temporary worsening of a drinking problem. In the meantime, drummer Bentley left the band later in 1994 to join Tenderloin; he was replaced by Scott “Chernobyl” Churilla.

Horton Heat returned in 1996 with It’s Martini Time, which featured several nods to the swing and lounge revival scenes emerging around that time; as a result, the title track became a minor hit, and the album became their first to chart in the Top 200. That year, Heat made his small-screen acting debut thanks to his on-stage preacher shtick, which earned him a guest spot on the acclaimed drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The following year, he appeared on The Drew Carey Show. The band’s final major-label album, Space Heater, arrived in 1998; after its release, the gigantic label mergers of that year resulted in the band being dropped from Interscope. In the wake of their exit, Sub Pop released a 24-song best-of compilation, Holy Roller, in 1999, covering their entire output up to that point.

Undaunted, they continued to tour, and in 2000 recorded the more straightforward rockabilly album Spend a Night in the Box for the Time Bomb label. This time, Butthole Surfers’ Paul Leary manned the production booth. The Reverend next surfaced on Artemis Records with 2002’s Lucky 7, his hardest-edged album in quite some time. Its single, “Like a Rocket,” was selected as the theme song for that year’s Daytona 500 race. Buoyed by the publicity, Heat signed a new deal with Yep Roc in 2003. His first album for the label, Revival, appeared the following year, as did a live DVD. In 2005, he gave the world its first psychobilly holiday album, We Three Kings. Three years later, the frontman unveiled his side project Reverend Organdrum, which explored a wider range of retro sounds with Hi-Fi Stereo. In 2006, Scott Churilla left the band, and Paul Simmons became the group’s drummer. Laughin’ & Cryin’ with Reverend Horton Heat, a country-leaning set, appeared from Yep Roc in 2009, followed by 2012's 25 to Life, a live documentary/greatest-hits CD/DVD box set released to coincide with the group’s 25th anniversary. After the release of 25 to Life, Scott Churilla returned to the lineup, and stayed with the band until 2017, when he was succeeded by drummer Arjuna “RJ” Contreras. In 2018, the Reverend Horton Heat became a quartet with the addition of full-time piano player Matt Jordan; Contreras and Jordan would make their recording debut with the band on their 2018 album Brand New Life.

Friday, January 1 - Mark May Saturday, January 2 - Jonn ‘Del Toro’ Richardson Sunday, January 3 - Katie’s Jam with Mark May Thursday, January 7 - James Wilhite Friday, January 8 - Tony Vega Saturday, January 9 - Sparky Parker Sunday, January 10 - Katie’s Jam with Jay Hooks Thursday, January 14 - Bert Wills Friday, January 15 - Eric Demmer Saturday, January 16 - Jay Hooks Sunday, January 17 - Katie’s Jam with James Wilhite Thursday, January 21 - Hugo Jamz Trio Friday, January 22 - Paul Ramirez Saturday, January 23 - Ricky Jackson Sunday, January 24 - Katie’s Jam with Ricky Jackson Thursday, January 28 - Live Mojo Friday, January 29 - John Calderon Saturday, January 30 - Chris Casteneda

January 2021 • Music News

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RANDOM SHOTS Brian Scott Performs At The 19th Hole

Rainchild Performs On The Outdoors Stage At The Jailhouse Saloon The Heavy Honeys Bring Something A Little Different To The Acadia Bar

Wooly Margot Bring Their High Energy Show To The BFE Rock Club January 2021 • Music News

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