Monday, February 13, 2006

Little Fox Theater Blues Jam




Kenny Neal

Kenny "Blue" Ray hosted another fine jam at the Little Fox Theater this past Wednesday evening. Joining his band during the opening set was Greg Heumann from the Bluestate Band. After an excellent opening set, the jam started with a great singer named Taylor P. Collins. She set the bar really high by burning through a couple of Little Milton tunes that could have melted steel. She was a tough act to follow, but the next person up would raise the bar even higher and still manage to clear it.

Kenny Neal joined the Kenny "Blue" Ray Band. He performed for about a half hour and it was some of the finest Blues music that I had heard in a while.

The band took a short break...

At that moment, I felt a little guilty seeing some great music without paying an entrance fee, so I dropped some cash into the tip bucket.

After he finished up, Greg Heumann said to me, "He's got some of the best harp tone playing straight through a PA that I've ever heard." I spoke with Don Yonder and he said, "I feel sorry for whoever has to follow his playing." The sentence was barely out of his mouth when the next person's name got called. That guy refused to play and walked out.

Next up on the list was me and a some other guys that I had never seen before. Needless to say, the bar set by Kenny Neal was cleared. All of us flew right under the bar with room to plenty of room to spare.

A little later in the evening, James Reed of Mojo Madness played a few tunes with Don Yonder. Afterword, the lovely Lara Price played some drums and sang a couple of great tunes. This lady has got a huge voice shoved into a tiny package. She can flat out sing.

A few more musicians got up. I was asked back up to the stage. I proceeded to blow up my amplifier. Other than that, it was another pretty cool evening at the Little Fox Theater

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