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Beach Bits: Have you heard of the Dana Robbins Band? They have toured
with Delbert and currently have a tune, Party On The Ocean, that features the vocals of Jimmy Hall. It is the
title track of the latest KHP compilation.........Speaking of Delbert, both Oughta Know and Been Around
A Long Time from his latest album Blind, Crippled and Crazy with longtime buddy Glen Clark have been
on the Beach charts of late.......... Baby It's You by Gary Lowder from last year's Soul Therapy
solo album just went to #1 on 94.9 The Surf. Gary's new album with Smokin' Hot, Playin' With Fire, is on the way......Angel Rissoff's I Thought I Knew Her is coming back around. This song
was on Angel's Nu Soul Stories from 2012. We were pushing it back then here at Beach Buzz!........
New and getting hot, a collaboration
between Jim Quick and Hip Pocket Band entitled C'Mon Get Your Man, this one is on the latest KHP comp, also
the new Hip Pocket album is in the works and should be available soon.........Who Could Ask For Anything More
from veteran South Carolina musician Tony Torre is moving up.....Big Time Party Band's I Loved Them All has
an increasing sizzle going on, it is the third consecutive big Beach hit for the band........ Paul Craver's duet of Two
Hearts with Rhonda McDaniel is charting. The song is from Paul's new album Pyramid - more on that in
the coming months...........Mighty Mo Rodgers had a huge Beach hit in 2010 with Shame. He is back on the charts
with a tune entitled Black Coffee And Cigarettes. It comes from his latest album Cadillac Jack ........
One of our star performers
of this past year's CBMA Weekend, Andre' Lee, is gaining strong ground with Stepping With You, which actually
was included on the 2012 KHP Nothin' But A Party compilation.........I'm liking Susan Trexler's What I
Need Is Love, which is on Fessa hook's Top 40 Countdown. The song was on last year's I Love Beach Music
comp from Forevermore Records …. KCO, that would be Ken Knox and Company, has Ready Willing And Able firmly
entrenched in all the Beach charts.......
Just received I
Just Want To Satisfy, an advance DJ track from Second Time Around, the new project from Steve Owens
& Summertime, due to be released by the end of April.........Recent news out of Charlotte – John G. Franklin has
joined the Fantastic Shakers!!!.........
It is certainly the biggest news event this year so far in the genre. The latest in the 56 year evolution of the Royal
Ambassadors of Beach Music, The Embers, has caught quite a few folks by surprise. Craig Woolard, now 10 years removed from
the time he left the band, has re-joined them for another run. In that period of time, the Craig Woolard Band experienced
continued growth and success while the Embers kept on doing what they have done for so many years, providing top quality entertainment
up and down the East Coast. The reconstituted lineup includes Craig, original Ember Bobby Tomlinson, Andy Swindell, Jeff Grimes,
Stephen Pachuta, Hugh Blanton and Bobby Nance. Their event schedule is quickly filling up for the coming months - check out
the latest from the band at http://theembersband.com/.
North Myrtle Beach continues to bring in more and more live
Beach music entertainment with each passing week. The poster above indicates the outstanding lineup at 2001 Nightclub during
SOS Spring Safari. There is plenty more - in fact, a ton of great bands have already been featured last week with more on
the upcoming agenda as SOS continues through 4/13. Check out the lists by club here:
Fat Harolds
- Sea Cruz on 4/05, Jim Quick
& Coastline on 4/09, Embers on 4/10 and Steve Owens & Summertime on 4/11,
Spanish
Galleon - Jim Quick & Coastline
on 4/04, Steve Owens &
Summertime on 4/05, Summerdaze and Band of Oz on 4/06, Embers
on 4/07, Band of Oz on 4/08, Classic Soul and Entertainers on 4/09, Gary Lowder & Smokin' Hot on 4/10, Fantastic Shakers
on 4/11 and on 4/12.
Duck's - Embers w/Craig Woolard on 4/02, Gary
Lowder & Smokin' Hot on 4/03 and Holiday Band on 4/06.
HOTO's - King Tyrone & The Graveyard Ramblers
on 4/02, Tim Clark Band on 4/10, Fat Jack Band on 4/11 and Carolina Soul Band on 4/13.
Deckerz
- Fat Jack Band on 4/03, Carolina
Breakers on 4/04, Reverend Bubba D. Liverance and Sea Cruz on 4/10, Smokin' Hot on 4/11 and Tommy Black Band on 4/12.
Deckerz will be the location for a special CD Release Party
on Friday, 4/11.
I Like It Like That, the new compilation from Patman and Robin
Records features 15 songs from such stellar artists as Rick Strickland, Lesa Hudson, Dip Ferrell, Reverend Bubba D. Liverance,
The Shag Doctorz, Kingdaddy, Craig Woolard and many more. Quite a few of the tunes are originally written material –
several of the artists will be stopping by on the 11th to perform during the party. It should be a great event!
Following up immediately on SOS, here is the Spring
Fling Beach Music Festival being held in Franklin, VA on April 13th. The lineup includes special guests the Hardway Connection
along with Steve Owens & Summertime, Band of Oz and Jim Quick & Coastline.
Do you remember Bill Lyerly? He won the Best New Artist at the 2000 Cammy Awards with his infusion of Blues/Rock into
Beach music. That recognition was based on the strength of his 1999 Cobalt Blues album, which also received several Cammy
nominations. Bill had an outstanding follow-up on Ripete Records that year entitled Motel Room Blues. He has had several singles
chart in the Beach and Shag market, including FM Shoes, Gimme All Your Lovin, I Won't Care, Stand By Me and Bangin' In The
Dunes.
Lyerly's career has spanned 4 decades, beginning when he was just 11 years old. After finishing school, he co-founded
the Super Grit Cowboy Band in 1974, writing most of the songs and singing lead on their first self-titled album. Bill went
on to form his own alternative Country band, with touches of Blues and Rock in the mix. His creativity in songwriting and
producing yielded 7 albums from 1982 to 2001. Along the way, he has played with the Shirelles, Steppenwolf, John Lee Hooker,
Bo Diddley, Gregg Allman, Leon Russell, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, REM, Bill Monroe, Steve Earle, Emmy Lou Harris, John
Mayall, Levon Helm, Rick Nelson and many more.
Bill currently resides in Pamplona in Northern Spain. He has toured extensively in Spain and France in recent years
with various musical combinations, playing the Blues, which they love in all European locales. Lyerly's current performances
center around a power Blues/Rock duo called Jacks Black. His most recent album, Too Hurt Too Cry, was recorded on the Basque
Country based Gaztelupeko Hotsak label. Bill has had his entire song catalog re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios (yes, that
is the same place that recorded The Beatles!!). I would not be at all surprised to soon see Bill Lyerly back with another
hit song in our Beach market as well!
The 16th Annual Triangle Beach Music Festival is scheduled for April 26th. Intriguing
this year is the fact that The Holiday Band is back in the show lineup in quite a while. The view from backstage was incredible
the last time they played the TBMF - it was 2004. The band closed the day with an electrifying set of Beach, Funk, Soul and
Rock that had the crowd of roughly 8,000 attendees up and rocking.
I recently sat down with Mike Taylor to talk about, among other things, the
evolution of the Burlington, NC based Holiday Band. Mike, bassman Doug Neese and drummer Bill Ward are the remaining
members who were there at the TBMF in 2004. All three currently have some level
of ownership in the band. Many changes have occurred with the group since that point in time - original members (from 1991)
Alan Brantley and Mike Neese are no longer with them. Veteran horn man Mark Payne
also left several years ago. Chase Givens was a band member for a brief stretch around 2005. Current Hip Pocket sax man Mike
Maffeo came back for a short while for a second (or was it third?) tour with the band. Current players saxophonist Bob Martin
and multi-talented Duane Neese have been strong additions to the group. The newest
member, young gun Mark Perry, brings a whole new dimension to the stage.
Holiday released their songbook, a 2 CD set of 26 tunes as well as an accompanying video in 2006, in celebration of
their first 15 years in the business. The band's Got It Bad For You release won CBMA Group Album of the Year in 2008 –
Sweet Love won the award again in 2011. Holiday received the CBMA Group of the
Year Award in 2009, it was their second win in this category (first was 2003). Over
the last 15 years, since 1999, no solo artist or group has had more singles to hit the Beach charts than the Holiday Band.
A large percentage of those songs are original material, written or co-written by band members.
Across all that can happen, some to be expected and some not, Mike Taylor will be the first one to tell you that it
is an extremely tough business. A venue that is going great guns for a band one year, for example being booked there like
once a month, may be closed the next year. It is a constant scramble to find new places to play as well as showcase the band's
talent and versatility. Mike would say ''diversity and adaptability'' in both updating the song catalog and booking venues
is the key to staying alive. Mike was very positive about the future outlook for the Holiday Band – bookings are looking
good for 2014. We will be travelling with Holiday for a period of time later this year, working on a documentary piece on
the effort that goes into the making of a successful Beach music band. I am also working in advance on getting this published
on several online sites and magazines. Will keep you posted on the progress of this effort.
How
about this for a music variety lineup? The poster above represents 3 solid days of quality entertainment coming to Alamance
County, NC with one of the most diverse festivals of its kind seen in the Carolinas in quite a while. There is a little something
for everyone with Beach, Boogie, Rock, Country and Blues across 11 acts. The dates are May 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Advance tickets
60 bucks, hard to beat the price for that much good music! The lineup by days and expected order of performance (subject to
change):
Friday – Megan Doss Band, Hip Pocket, Jim Quick & Coastline
Saturday
– Big Time Party Band, Tams, Jive Mother Mary, Castaways
Sunday – The Embers w/ Craig Woolard, Holiday Band, Nantucket
Artists, DJ’s, Club owners etc. send me your latest news for potential inclusion in Beach Buzz at nealfur@aol.com.
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