I've been under the weather…have you missed me?!

Wow, it seems like forever since I've sat at my throne and receiving table at Blues & Greens.  After our spectacular weekend with Steady Rollin' (I'm foregoing the rest of his name this week; I'm too weak from my cold to type that much), I woke up sick.  I'm almost back to myself, which is good, as My Beloved Delta Sonics are playing tomorrow night, and we all know I never miss them.  Plus, I'm not coming alone.  I'm bringing a party with me for a celebration, so I'm damn happy with the band for the night.  Want to know what the celebration is regarding?  Join us and find out!  And rumor has it Gretchen Troop might be sitting in with the boys for a little fun.

The Informants are back Saturday, following David Booker, so three consecutive nights of some fine music, food, company, and dancing.  I'm still anxious about what to wear Saturday night; Kerry always looks so great, but let's face it, I'm competitive and have to find something pretty spectacular to get a smile out of another fashion connoisseur.  Look out Kerry, I'm heading for my closet.  God only knows what I'll find in there (or who).

I missed all of last week because of this @#*$&%@ cold!  I missed my buddy, Jack Hadley, but I hear he drew a big crowd.  Congratulations, Jack!  [SIDE NOTE TO JACK:  had you brought Mojo with you, I would have torn myself from my sick bed and crawled there if necessary.] 

I also missed Lethal Lisa's first Outlook/Blues & Greens gig!  Luckily for you, Chick didn't miss it.  And what a fun surprise the evening turned out to be for Chick ~n~ Patti!  Here's Chick explaining the surprise.  Honey Bee Sepeda

Over the summer, I accidentally stumbled across the Lethal Lisa McCall band online. The first thing you have to love is the name; then I instantly liked the music at my first listen, so when Dan booked them here I was excited to check 'em out live. Honey mentioned in the last BL that rumor had it Lisa "was not a beginner on the guitar," and that has to be the biggest understatement of all 29 years of Honey's life. Whew! Lisa just tore the place up with her playing!  She is definitely another guitar wiz I am going to want to see a lot more of in the future (I tend to pick up fav guitar players the way Honey collects fiancés). Once you hear her play, it's easy to see how Lisa picked up that nickname; a guitar in her hands IS a lethal weapon. Nice voice too; granted my ears usually zone in on the guitar and don't always notice vocals, but take it from Pat King who said as far as he was concerned he would be content if Lisa put the guitar down and just sang.

Her 3 piece band was pretty tight. Husband Rick plays a solid bass and also handles some lead and back-up vocals nicely. I didn't catch the drummer's name (I apologize for that) but it was like her 5^th gig with them and she did a great job. Lisa is definitely the star performer, reminds me a little of Kelly Richey, so put that down as another testament of her skills. It's great to be seeing more and more top-of-the-line female lead guitar players; I missed Glass Ceiling a few weeks ago but have been lucky enough to catch Kelly R,  Deborah Coleman, Eef (Mike Kaylor Band at our IBC finals), and now Lethal Lisa all in about a 5-month span. These ladies don't just sing the blues, they assault the blues with some powerful guitar playing.

Lisa was equally at home whether playing stinging electric blues or some super smooth (and powerful) slide. The sets showed her to be a very talented and high energy performer (jeezus, she has one of the hardest leg kicks since seeing Walter Trout last summer).  She has a masterful touch and combines her blues with a touch of rock, a dash of R&B, maybe just a hint of country, but always showcasing her ferocious guitar.She ran through some Susan Tedeschi & Bonnie Raitt, and then the band did some wry, crunching blues as they paid tribute to some of my favorites like Little Milton, Robert Johnson, and Willie Dixon. She blistered through several Elmore James tunes during the night that showcased that wicked slide. They mixed in a couple rock tunes as well, but mostly kept to the blues even and added in quite a few songs Lisa had written. Her original stuff is as sweet as the classic tunes they did.   I bought her two CDs and she's a damn talented composer, writing all 25 songs on both CDs. She even plays some mandolin on the CDs, so hopefully she pulls that out the next time they play here.

And, on top of their talent, Lisa and Rick Mccall are super nice people. Patti and I met them at the Blues Society annual meeting last March. Didn't have a clue who they were; we just figured they were members like us, nothing else. We sat with them and talked awhile and they mentioned they were musicians and she played guitar but she wasn't promoting herself or anything, just small talk. I assumed she meant they were like a husband-wife acoustic guitar duo doing folksy stuff. That's what I get for assuming; you know when you do you make an…oh, never mind.

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