Blues Society of Western PA - Newsletter

On Sunday, August 23rd, The Blues Society of Western PA put on its 2nd “ Blues Go Pink” show at the impressive, Cefalo’s Restaurant and Night Club. We did this as a fundraiser for Adagio Health. All the money raised at the benefit will be used for Cancer screenings for women who otherwise cannot afford them. Everyone agreed that it is quite a worthy cause. I had been in the hospital on Friday and Saturday. I was told to ‘rest up’ on Sunday...not bloody likely! I had planned this event (with help) for months and was not about to miss it. I did arrive late and missed the set by the Patti Spadaro Band. I made sure, however, that I had gotten there in time to hear Jill Simmons singing, “I’d Rather Go Blind.” The fiery Andrea Pearl was backing Jill up and Patti Spadaro Band was backing them both up. Wow! I arrived with minutes to spare and knew that I had made the right choice. Andrea and Jill have two of the finest voices that I have heard anywhere, yet alone from Pittsburgh. The “Sweaty Betty Blues Band” came next and was led by the energetic and talented Marcy Brown. It was great seeing her again. She had George Kalantzis back on guitar for this day only. Thanks, George, always great to see you. It is always fun watching “Too Tall” Billy on drums. You can tell from the smile on his face that he truly enjoys it...Either that or he’s heavily medicated. Pamela Bick and the Warehouse Blues Band followed. It has been great watching this group evolve over the last two years. When I first saw them they sounded good, but were just finding their way. Today, they are a must see! Some songs feature Pamela’s great vocals, others John and Denny’s guitars or bass and drums from John and Jerry. They will be one of the bands on our new compilation CD, “ Blues From the Burgh II.” Angel Blue and the Prophets were next. They brought a lively, charged set to the crowd, featuring Angel’s powerful vocals. There is one song of theirs that I absolutely love –“Short Chain” which will also be on our new CD. I asked Angel before the show to play “Short Chain” for us. She gratefully obliged. Angel wrote this tune herself. I was a little surprised that it was more literal than I suspected. I thought it was written about a scoundrel of a man, but was –as the song says – about a dog. Every time I see Katie Simone she sounds and looks better. What a voice! I think part of it is that she seems to enjoy it more each time. She has a good band behind her now and she looks right at home on stage. When I went to thank her after her set, she had a big, sweet smile on her face. This is not the same young Katie that I first met. She has grown in many ways. I hope you go to see her soon, I know I will. Then came a band that just knocked everyone out! …Miss Freddye and Blue Faze! They have a great beat and are a very talented, professional band. Every one of the musicians excelled alone and together. They had a new guitarist who blew me away. I need to find out more about this Bugsy Cline. Bugsy meshed perfectly with John, Chris, Matt and Miss Freddye. I heard that they got so good because Miss Freddye won’t feed them till they get things perfect. Miss Freddye’s vocals were powerful and driving. She is also a double cancer survivor. What a great role model. The final act of the night was the All-Girl All-Star band, led by Patti Spadaro. Patti is a talented guitarist who has opened for bands like Little Feat, which is a favorite of mine. Her leadership skills showed these last two years in putting together a band that had never played together before. This year’s band again featured the lovely and talented Andrea Iglar on her wailing sax and two new members, Jazz Robertson on drums and Kara Puskaric on bass and guitar. They started a little slow, still getting to learn each other, but by the 3rd tune, they were starting to rock. I know that I never enjoyed a Michael Jackson song as much as I did hearing Andrea Iglar do “Bad.” She had people dancing, laughing, and just re-energizing after a long day. Other highlights were Kara playing guitar and doing a fine job on a Joni Mitchell tune, and Patti Spadaro singing and playing guitar on “Gravity,” a great John Mayer tune. I was hypnotized.So, thank you to all the wonderful ladies and their bands that gave their time to help a great cause. Thank you to the BSWPA members and Adagio people who gave a great effort. Thank you to all the people who came to support a great cause and enjoy some great music. Our late president, Jim Weber, in his last blog to the Blues society said it best “ Blues people are the greatest.”