July | 2014 | Dirty Bourbon River Show

0 Heroes of the Low End pt. 4

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (October 7, 1798 – March 19, 1875)

Master luthier, inventor, and general badass, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was not one to accept the limitations of his time. A constant experimenter, Vuillaume sought to improve existing string instruments and extend the range of the orchestra. This leads us to my favorite of his inventions, the octobass.

Standing at an imposing eleven and a half feet tall, the octobass is so large, players have to pull levers on the heel of the neck, connected to pads over the fingerboard, to fret the strings. The three string octobass was tuned an octave below a modern double bass with an extension, all the way down to a C0 (16.25 Hertz). That is a full octave lower than the lowest C on a piano.

Unfortunately the size and cost of the octobass stifled it’s adoption throughout the world. It is used to great effect in some orchestras who are lucky enough to own a surviving example or modern recreation

Here is a short video of Nico Abondolo warming up on an octobass before a recording session.

Here is an octobass playing with an orchestra for a bit more context.

Nicola Moneta on octobass.

P.S. Gig tonight at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA. Show starts at 9:30.

– Bassman

0 Blues you oughta know: Rubber Biscuit

07/10/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· Uncategorized

The Blues and poverty go together like pancakes and syrup, it’s nearly impossible to have one without the other. This song written by the Chips in 1956 is a perfect example of an artist turning the hunger pains of pauperism into something we can all have a good laugh at. Check out Elwood Blues performing “Rubber Biscuit” in 1979.

TONIGHT ONLY in the beautiful, historical, red brick town of Portsmouth New Hampshire, Dirty Bourbon River Show will be rocking and rolling New Orleans style at the Press Room downtown, show starts at 9:30. Bring your dancing shoes!

– Big Charlie

1 Bootsy’s Box of Records – Pt. 1

I love vinyl records. I LOVE them. I love how they feel, how they look, and especially how they sound. The past few years I’ve been digging through bins and shelves and am very proud of the collection that grows in my room. So much in fact that I would love to share it you! So with nothing left to say, let’s see what spinning in Bootsy’s Box of Records!

Do you know The Iceman? Have you heard the voice that belongs to Mississippi born Jerry Butler? A key member in The Impressions, Jerry Butler is behind some of the best love songs to come out of the 60s. The Iceman Cometh(’68) is Jerry Butler’s 11th studio album, and it is side-to-side one of my favorite records right now. On top of how great it sounds, the record comes with a fantastic signed photograph of the Iceman.

And yes folks the music sounds as good as he looks. Here’s the song “Never Give You Up” featured on Side 2 on The Ice Man Cometh.

Hope you enjoyed that! Tonight Dirty Bourbon is kicking the second half of our summer tour off in Belmar, New Jersey at Tenth Ave. Burrito! Showtime is 10pm, see y’all there!

0 Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

07/01/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· Uncategorized

Ladies and gentlemen,

With the help of our lovely fans such as yourself, we were able to raise $10,600 through Kickstarter for the production of our 9th studio album!

HELL YEAH!!!

We would just like to thank everyone who showed their support by pledging to our campaign, and helping turn this next album into a reality. We have big plans for this next album and are excited to be working with the wonderful Craig Schumacher as our producer for this project. However, we couldn’t have done it without you. We are eternally grateful to each and every one of you.

Can we just take a moment to applaud all you awesome people?