www.roanoke.com

Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill
October 2008
1 – Karaoke
2 – Center Hill
3 – Groova Scape
4 – Electric Chameleon
6 – Monday Night Football
DJ Jorilla, Halftime Giveaways
7 – Crobar Cane
8 – Karaoke
9 – TBA
10 – AJF play THE POLICE
11 – Loud, Clangin’, & Bangin’
13 – Monday Night Football
DJ Jorilla, Halftime Giveaways
14 – Wide Open Jam
15 – Karaoke
16 – The Orioles & Animal Music
17– The Seed
18– TBA
20 – Monday Night Football
DJ Jorilla, Halftime Giveaways
21 – Crobar Cane
22 – Karaoke
23 – SolDrivenTrain
24 - Polarity
25 – Jubeus
27– Monday Night Football
DJ Jorilla, Halftime Giveaways
28 – Wide Open Jam
29 – Karaoke
30 – Madrone Pre-Halloween Bash
31 – Bad Casper – Halloween Party & Costume Contest with THE PLANET
martinsdowntown.com

Very good stuff here from my colleagues -- Mason Adams, Pete Dybdahl and Matt Chittum:

Civic Center seeks formula for success

Salem Civic Center faces challenges, too

Kid Rock or Carrie Underwood, the Wiggles or wrestling, what sells tickets in Roanoke?

This one was a real experience. A packed house, a band connecting with a receptive audience that is all screams and shouts and singalongs. A huge rear-stage scrim painting of some ancient warship floating toward what might've been a giant fish, or might've been a vortex -- affected by a smart lighting design.

I've always liked their CDs just fine -- appreciative but not awe-inspired. Live, it's another deal altogether. If the Avett's new producer, Rick Rubin, can harness that energy in the studio, he's going to have a monster on his hands, regardless of whether it sells in the millions.

Read the full review here: http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/177497

First up, hat's off to The Wright Kids, who were eliminated from competition on Thursday's episode of "America's Got Talent."

The talented three, who have spent much time as an act focusing on bluegrass music, wound up performing plenty of oldies pop on the show, and they came off fairly well. Frankly, I would rather have seen them playing some classical music, which I understand they can do very, very well. After all, a watered-down approach to classical worked well for Nuttin' But Stringz, a violin duo which made the final.

Next, I was four for five on my finals prediction. I had called it for Queen Emily, Noel E. Boyd, Nuttin' But Stringz, Eli Mattson and Jessica Price.

Only the previously overrated Price didn't get into the final. Instead, voters in TV land went for overly-tanned crooner Donald Braswell.

Now, for some inside information on the show from Sharon Feury, a Roanoke-based music teacher who coached the Wrights through their "America's Got Talent" performances.

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That update comes courtesy of a myspace.com bulletin from event headliners The Pickin Buds.

Take heart. There's still plenty going on this weekend. Check it at Top Tickets.

Read the full review here.

Really fun show. It was rough in spots, maybe a bit unrehearsed, but no worries -- the band is still a groove machine.

And if I'm able to do at 73 what Eddie Floyd can do, I will be a happy, happy old dude.

As for Booker T. Jones? Maybe he's a perfect musician. He missed nary a note, and his taste and restraint are remarkable. Yet when it was time to burn, he pulled a page or two from the Jimmy Smith playbook.

Just heard this bad news. I don't have details just yet, but Persinger -- a good guitarist, good writer and man about town -- had been ill for some time. He had leukemia, which recurred after he thought he'd beaten it years ago. He was 24.

I first met John, who at the time played with the band Frotter, when he approached me with The Phantom Critic idea. He would go to clubs, hang out, listen to bands, then blog about the shows -- no one would know it was him, so they wouldn't play "for the critic," and they wouldn't schmooze him up.

Several people were accused of being the Phantom, before he finally came out from under the "mask" to write Top Tickets for us a couple years back.

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Meant to post this link a little while back. Adding it now to our musician profiles category.
Jimmie Landry: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/music/wb/xp-175771

Wed. October 1st – The Blue 5 Jam
Thur. October 2nd - The Lenny Marcus Trio
Fri. October 3rd - BeBop Hoedown
Sat. October 4th - Ministers Of Soul
Wed. October 8th – The Blue Ridge Blues Society’s Meeting & Blues Jam
Thur. October 9th - The Good Sons
Fri. October 10th - Blind Pig Recording Artist from Australia Harper
Sat. October 11th – The Jordan Harman Band
Wed. October 15th – The Blue 5 Jam
Thur. October 16th – Jamie McLean
Former guitarist for The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – CD Release Party!!!
Fri. October 17th - The Bleumatics
Sat. October 18th - The Fat Daddy Band
Wed. October 22nd – The Blue 5 Jam
Thur. October 23rd - The Scott Perry Trio
Fri. October 24th - The Elderly Bros.
Sat. October 25th - The Big Lick Boptet
Wed. October 29th – The Blue 5 Jam
Thur. October 30th - Bryan Lee
Very influential blind Bluesman from New Orleans!
Fri. October 31st - The Square Society’s
Halloween Party!!!!!
w/ WJJS

Harper: http://www.harper.biz/, http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=30

Jamie McLean: http://jamiemclean.com/bio.php, http://www.myspace.com/jamiemcleanband

Bryan Lee: http://www.braillebluesdaddy.com/home.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Lee

On what might have been their final performance on "America's Got Talent," Franklin County's own The Wright Kids used Wednesday night's "heroes" theme to give a big shout out to one of their teachers, Sharon Feury. Check out this tune from Feury and her band, The Vibrators, on archive.org.

The session features one of the Roanoke Valley's best bassists, Brian Holt. He has a big, round tone and killer time feel.

I'm going to set up an interview with Feury for an article I'm writing for Saturday.

All 10 finalists played last night, and voting continued to cut the list down to five. The show will announce those finalists tonight.

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