19
Aug
2003
The focus at the River Rockin' Ribfest is obviously great food, but organizers have also assembled a strong musical lineup to fill your ears while you stuff your face.
The festival in Davenport's LeClaire Park features country music on Friday and oldies on Sunday (see the Live Music section for details), but the highlights are likely to come from a pair of artists on Saturday's blues card: James Solberg at 7 p.m. and Tommy Castro at 9:30 p.m.
Both of these critical favorites are currently "between record labels." That's been a problem for Solberg, the longtime Luther Allison bandleader who's had a record in the can for almost a year with nobody to put it out. But it hasn't stopped Castro, whom many critics have pegged as the blues' next big crossover star.
In March, he and his band self-released Gratitude, an aptly titled selection of covers, and next week he'll release Triple Trouble, a collaboration on the Telarc label with Jimmy Hall and Lloyd Jones that also features the rhythm section from Double Trouble.
Gratitude was an opportunity for Castro to give respect to his heroes in between records of original material, and he thinks it's important to recognize his roots. Castro said in an interview last week that the songs he writes are "original to a point. ... I have all these incredible influences that are responsible for everything I know. ... I thought it would be an interesting thing for our fan base to see where I came from."
Castro started with a couple of songs that he and the band played live but had never recorded - "I Take What I Want" and "Bad Case of Love" - and added other influences.
"Bad Case of Love" is particularly special because his outfit toured with B.B. King for two summers, and Castro has idolized King since he was 14. "Hardly anything is going to be cooler than that," he said.
But don't expect faithful renditions of the chestnuts on Gratitude. "I didn't want to take covers and do my best to imitate those people," Castro said. Instead, he mixed and matched some of his influences on songs, such as throwing a Freddie King-style jump-blues solo into Ray Charles' "Come Back Baby." This strategy has a dual purpose: Castro is able to pay tribute without aping, and he can give nods to more styles. This is particularly important because Castro doesn't like long albums. "I think a 10-song record is the thing to do," he said. (Gratitude has 12 tracks.)
Castro said he and the band created more of a live sound on Gratitude by cutting out a lot of vocal and guitar-solo overdubs. "The feel seemed so natural playing with the band," he said.
Gratitude was put out on Castro's own Heart & Soul label and is his band's first effort since it parted ways with Blind Pig after four records. But Castro doesn't envision his band self-releasing albums in the future. "Having your own record label is not all it's cracked up to be," he said.
Castro is now writing for his next album, and he promises that he and the band will take their time with it. "I'm all about songs these days," he said. "I want to take it up a notch. It has to be better than anything I've done so far, or I won't do it."
This is partially a reaction to what Castro sees as a slump for the blues. "A lot of mediocrity gets put out there," he said. "That's why I think the music hasn't survived. It's my job to make sure that doesn't continue."
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Solberg has a record he's happy with; he just can't get it out. Real Time, with 11 original songs and one Don Nix cover, has been finished since last year, but Solberg's still searching for a label. "We want it treated like a real release, with some money behind it," he said earlier this week.
That has to do with what happened to Solberg's last album, 2000's The Hand You're Dealt. On the day it was released, the Ruf label switched distributors. So even though Solberg was getting plenty of radio play - more than 300 stations, including a lot of rock crossover, he said - nobody could buy the album.
A veteran sideman whose band backed Allison throughout much of the 1990s. Solberg also co-wrote and arranged Allison's albums for the Alligator label. Solberg debuted as a solo artist in the mid-'90s to much acclaim.
At the Ribfest, blues fans will also get an opportunity to see Solberg's brand-new band; the drummer and bassist from Magic Slim & The Teardrops join him on tour starting Wednesday. "We went to Chicago and kidnapped them," Solberg joked. "I especially like working with these guys."
Solberg said the upcoming album - he's hoping for a January release - is more rock-oriented, with more guitar and less keyboard.
But you won't hear much from Real Time at Ribfest. "I've been trying to hold it back until the record is released," he said. "It sounds like we're lost in La La Land."
The River Rockin' Ribfest runs Friday through Sunday in Davenport's LeClaire Park, starting at 11 a.m. each day and ending at midnight Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $3. For more information on the festival, visit (http://www.downtowndavenport.com/ribfest03/RibFest2003page1.html).
Both of these critical favorites are currently "between record labels." That's been a problem for Solberg, the longtime Luther Allison bandleader who's had a record in the can for almost a year with nobody to put it out. But it hasn't stopped Castro, whom many critics have pegged as the blues' next big crossover star.
In March, he and his band self-released Gratitude, an aptly titled selection of covers, and next week he'll release Triple Trouble, a collaboration on the Telarc label with Jimmy Hall and Lloyd Jones that also features the rhythm section from Double Trouble.
Gratitude was an opportunity for Castro to give respect to his heroes in between records of original material, and he thinks it's important to recognize his roots. Castro said in an interview last week that the songs he writes are "original to a point. ... I have all these incredible influences that are responsible for everything I know. ... I thought it would be an interesting thing for our fan base to see where I came from."
Castro started with a couple of songs that he and the band played live but had never recorded - "I Take What I Want" and "Bad Case of Love" - and added other influences.
"Bad Case of Love" is particularly special because his outfit toured with B.B. King for two summers, and Castro has idolized King since he was 14. "Hardly anything is going to be cooler than that," he said.
But don't expect faithful renditions of the chestnuts on Gratitude. "I didn't want to take covers and do my best to imitate those people," Castro said. Instead, he mixed and matched some of his influences on songs, such as throwing a Freddie King-style jump-blues solo into Ray Charles' "Come Back Baby." This strategy has a dual purpose: Castro is able to pay tribute without aping, and he can give nods to more styles. This is particularly important because Castro doesn't like long albums. "I think a 10-song record is the thing to do," he said. (Gratitude has 12 tracks.)
Castro said he and the band created more of a live sound on Gratitude by cutting out a lot of vocal and guitar-solo overdubs. "The feel seemed so natural playing with the band," he said.
Gratitude was put out on Castro's own Heart & Soul label and is his band's first effort since it parted ways with Blind Pig after four records. But Castro doesn't envision his band self-releasing albums in the future. "Having your own record label is not all it's cracked up to be," he said.
Castro is now writing for his next album, and he promises that he and the band will take their time with it. "I'm all about songs these days," he said. "I want to take it up a notch. It has to be better than anything I've done so far, or I won't do it."
This is partially a reaction to what Castro sees as a slump for the blues. "A lot of mediocrity gets put out there," he said. "That's why I think the music hasn't survived. It's my job to make sure that doesn't continue."
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Solberg has a record he's happy with; he just can't get it out. Real Time, with 11 original songs and one Don Nix cover, has been finished since last year, but Solberg's still searching for a label. "We want it treated like a real release, with some money behind it," he said earlier this week.
That has to do with what happened to Solberg's last album, 2000's The Hand You're Dealt. On the day it was released, the Ruf label switched distributors. So even though Solberg was getting plenty of radio play - more than 300 stations, including a lot of rock crossover, he said - nobody could buy the album.
A veteran sideman whose band backed Allison throughout much of the 1990s. Solberg also co-wrote and arranged Allison's albums for the Alligator label. Solberg debuted as a solo artist in the mid-'90s to much acclaim.
At the Ribfest, blues fans will also get an opportunity to see Solberg's brand-new band; the drummer and bassist from Magic Slim & The Teardrops join him on tour starting Wednesday. "We went to Chicago and kidnapped them," Solberg joked. "I especially like working with these guys."
Solberg said the upcoming album - he's hoping for a January release - is more rock-oriented, with more guitar and less keyboard.
But you won't hear much from Real Time at Ribfest. "I've been trying to hold it back until the record is released," he said. "It sounds like we're lost in La La Land."
The River Rockin' Ribfest runs Friday through Sunday in Davenport's LeClaire Park, starting at 11 a.m. each day and ending at midnight Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $3. For more information on the festival, visit (http://www.downtowndavenport.com/ribfest03/RibFest2003page1.html).
