6th Annual Blues Bash to rock The Sitnik Theatre
HACKETTSTOWN — The 6th Annual Blues Bash at Centenary College blends Blues, Americana, and other styles of music in a two night extravaganza.
The event will be held on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 in the Sitnik Theatre at the David and Carol Lackland Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. both nights with lobby entertainment and main stage performances start at 7:30 each night.
Friday nightFriday night's line-up includes the award-winning Todd Wolfe Band performing with special guest John Ginty on the B-3 Hammond Organ, along with The Bob Lanza Band.
Wolfe was part of Sheryl Crow's band for many years, but has a distinct sound of his own that has gotten him national recognition. Ginty, a founding member of the Robert Randolph Family Band, is one of the most sought after keyboardists in the U.S., having played with the Allman Brothers, Santana, Govt. Mule, Bob Wier and Ratdog, Widespread Panic, and on a regular basis, the Dixie Chicks, among others.
Saturday nightSaturday night’s line-up features the Godfather of Americana, David Bromberg and his Quintet. Bromberg was born in Philadelphia in 1945 and raised in Tarrytown, N.Y.
“As a kid I listened to rock ’n’ roll and whatever else was on the radio,” says Bromberg. “I discovered Pete Seeger and The Weavers and, through them, Reverend Gary Davis. I then discovered Big Bill Broonzy, who led me to Muddy Waters and the Chicago blues. This was more or less the same time I discovered Flatt and Scruggs, which led to Bill Monroe and Doc Watson.”
Bromberg’s sensitive and versatile approach to guitar-playing earned him jobs playing the Village “basket houses” for tips, the occasional paying gig, and employment as a backing musician for Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker and Rosalie Sorrels, among others. He became a first-call, “hired gun” guitarist for recording sessions, ultimately playing on hundreds of records by artists including Bob Dylan (New Morning, Self Portrait, Dylan), Link Wray, The Eagles, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, and Carly Simon.
He toured with his own band for some time and then went into semi-retirement for a while and got into the violin making business. In 2013, content with the balance of both his violin business and performing career, Bromberg was ready to record again with his live band. Enlisting old friend Larry Campbell (three-time Grammy-winning producer for Levon Helm and multi-instrumentalist with Bob Dylan) and engineer Justin Guip, David and his group entered Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., in March 2013.
Enlisting some of Helm's former recording and touring musicians for added instrumentation, the David Bromberg Band emerged 12 days later with "Only Slightly Mad," a return to his genre-bending albums of the 70s and 80s.
Opening up for Bromberg will be the blues duo Mulebone. The launching pad for their musical expression is traditional blues. Together they have recorded a CD which spent 15 weeks in the Top 100 Albums in America. Along with playing live and TV appearances, they won blues artist of the year at radio stations from Seattle, Washington to Red Bank, N.J. Any given week, you may find them playing clubs in NYC or entertaining at private parties thrown by David Rockefeller, Bruce Wasserstein and list of other East Coast residents who are enthusiastic about bringing these boys in for a party by road, sea or air.
The Blues Bash also features pre-show entertainment at Marleys Gotham Grill each day, and a post-show party on Saturday night at Marleys. To learn more about Joe Hirsh Productions, visit www.joehirshproductions.com.
Tickets for Friday night’s line–up are $25 to $35 in advance. Tickets for Saturday night’s line–up are $37.50 to $65 in advance. Premier seating is available for both nights and limited to the first three rows of the orchestra. To purchase tickets or to get more information visit www.centenarystageco.org, call the box office at 908-979–0900 or stop by the box office in the David and Carol Lackland Center 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown on the campus of Centenary College.