What most people hear in their heads when
they think of the blues is the electric Chicago style. Perfected in
the 1950s and ’60s by such artists as Howlin’ Wolf and
Muddy Waters, today it is much imitated, sometimes degraded, and
only rarely perpetrated with the heart and soul necessary to
achieving the level of intensity and restraint required to make it
good. According to many of the world’s finest blues
musicians, Chicago-blues guitarist and songwriter Nick Moss seems
to have found that mysterious plateau. Not only does he get kudos
from Chicago-blues legend Buddy Guy, but many other North American
blues stars praise his abilities as well. In reading their quotes,
one essential element runs throughout their comments: Moss has that
unnamable, unlearnable, and undeniable gift for playing the blues.
Moss may have been blessed with the talent,
but it took years of steady playing to hone the ability and
understand the complexity of those simple old blues. He began by
watching his older brother perform in Chicago-area taverns. Then
Moss played bass with the Legendary Blues Band and gigged on guitar
with Jimmy Rogers for a few years. In the late ’90s he went
solo and formed his own group, the Flip Tops. Since then he has traveled all over the place, working
the live magic of the blues. He got busy in the studio and produced
four CDs, each pushing his capabilities while staying true to the solid
basis of his hometown blues. The latest disc, Sadie Mae (named for his
firstborn child) has been nominated for two 2006 Blues Music Awards
(formerly the prestigious W.C. Handy awards), in the Best Album and
Traditional Blues categories. Moss has been featured in prominent blues
magazines, discussed in guitar-player publications, and trotted out on
radio stations as the standard-bearer of traditional Chicago electric
blues. Perhaps Moss says it best on the biography page of his Web site.
“I’m trying to find that fine
line of not compromising the integrity of that classic music and
yet still make it a little fresher-sounding and
contemporary-sounding where I can get across to the element of the
crowd that isn’t hardcore.”
Nick Moss and the Flip Tops perform at Bourbon
Street Rhythm & Blues, on the northwest corner of 11th Street
and South Grand Avenue East, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4.
Walko Music (1120 S.
Second St., 217-528-6494) hosts a workshop/exhibition with
acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist Dennis Neff, 3-5 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 4. Neff lives in the area, but his fame has reached beyond our
community as a result of his incredible ability to fingerpick a
six-string. His son Scott will also be appearing, marking the first
time father and son have performed together in public.
You are
cordially invited to celebrate the birthday of Wingo (no other name
needed), 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at Floyd’s Thirst
Parlor (212 S. Fifth St., 217-522-2020). Mobscenity, Wingo’s
favorite band, performs.
Brain Regiment, a
popular St. Louis rock band, lands at Viele’s Planet (126 E.
Jefferson St., 217-525-9029) on Friday, Feb. 3, with fellow rockers
Frequency and Membrada. The band, led by southern-Illinois native
Corey Saathoff on vocals and guitar, released a six-song CD, Ancient Spaceman, last
April.
The Hilton Springfield (700 E. Adams St., 217-789-1530)
will be awash from top to bottom with great live music this
weekend.
Jazz Central Station hosts the Tiffany
Christopher Band on Friday, Feb. 3, and Chicago’s Treologic
on Saturday, Feb. 4. Christopher, who blends elements of jazz,
rock, blues, and folk to frame her lyrical compositions, also
collects rave reviews on the jam-band circuit. Treologic walked
away with the grand prize at the Discmaker-sponsored Midwest
Independent Music World Series in May 2005.
Down below, in the Underground City Tavern,
two nationally acclaimed roots-rock bands take the corner stage. On
Friday, Dave Insley, accompanied by the Careless Smokers, cruises
in with a bucketful of Americana songs from the Arizona
native’s newest release, Call Me
Lonesome. The disc features an all-star
support group of alt-country performers, including Rosie Flores,
the Dave Alvin Band’s Rick Shea, and members of Roger
Clyne’s Peacemakers. On Saturday, Feb. 4, Stephen Simmons, a
current Nashville resident and darling of the hip country scene,
unveils his style of singer/songwriter music. Simmons, who is
sonically linked to the likes of Steve Earle, Chris Knight, and
other dark and unruly songsters, broods his way through a stellar
collection of modern hillbilly tales.
Cruisin’ for a bluesin’
Nick Moss and the Flip Tops perform Saturday at Bourbon Street Rhythm & Blues
Nick Moss
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