Dirty Bourbon River Show

0 Gold Hill CO, a friend of New Orleans

07/18/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· Uncategorized

Tonight the Dirty Bourbon River Show kicks off our Colorado tour in the beautiful mountain town of Gold Hill.

We drove straight up the dirt road side of a mountain and plunged straight into downtown. As we walked into the venue, a collective “Wahhh!” rang out amongst the band as we saw this hanging up behind the stage:

As it turns out, this town was not only home to, but was once presided over by a New Orleans music legend. That’s right, in the late 70s, New Orleans’ favorite washboard player was the mayor of a beautiful Colorado mountain town!

Washboard Chaz is a monster of a musician and a joy to be around, Dirty Bourbon has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him and the Tin Men (our favorite trio ever) numerous times in New Orleans.

So come on out to the Gold Hill Inn and help us bring New Orleans back to Gold Hill, and pay tribute to our friend who’s hundreds of miles away!
Show starts around 9:00 right in the middle of town at the historic Gold Hill Inn

– Big Charlie

0 Bootsy’s Box of Records pt. 2

This weeks edition of BBR features master guitarist, Chet Atkins. However, this is not a feature on his widely known and praised sophisticated Nashville sound, but rather on his Spanish style abilities.

The Other Chet Atkins is a record unlike any in Mr. Guitar’s catalog – an entire album with no electric instruments or country music – only Latin folk music and Spanish style guitar playing. I bought this record in Houston, Texas at Sig’s Lagoon in Midtown and must have listened to it at least 3 times that night. Everything on this album is beautiful, especially the cover artwork done by Gerry Powell! I own a few other Atkins records (love them all) and was so excited to see and hear this one. It’s without a doubt my favorite.

“The Peanut Vendor”

“Yours (Quiereme Mucho)”

So if you ever come across this record, do yourself a favor and get it! I’d also recommend you get something sweet to sip and someone sweet to kiss too!

Also…

We’re performing in St. Louis tonight at our favorite spot – The Gramophone! We’ll be joined by Al Holliday and the East Side Rhythm Band too! Show starts at 8:30, see y’all there!

Boots.

0 Chicago Tonight!

Playing in Chicago tonight at the City Winery with the fabulous Fishtank Ensemble! Show starts at 8, DBRS hits at 9:30pm! Come get down Chi Town!

Also, wanna win a free vinyl? Follow us on our Twitter between now & 7/31 to enter our Vinyl Lottery! Winner will be posted here at the end of the month!

0 Follow us on Twitter(@DirtyBourbon) and enter to win a free vinyl

07/14/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· Uncategorized

You like getting free stuff? Who doesn’t?! Want a chance to win a free Accordion Anthology vinyl?

Sexy no?

Then all you have to do is follow us on Twitter (@DirtyBourbon) by July 31st and you will be entered in a lottery to win a free vinyl! It’s that easy. Follow us and a free vinyl is possibly yours. Plus you will get to follow us on the road as we tweet sweet pics, our show dates, and fun little Dirty Bourbonisms.

Till next time,
Dirty Bourbon River Show

2 A Truly Glorious Day

07/13/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· festivals · Live Shows · New York · On The Road · Photos

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The touring lifestyle is a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs, which requires patience and grit to get through the trials between the good times. Sometimes you’re flat broke; sometimes you have to sleep on tile/concrete/wooden floors; sometimes you spend mind-numbing, endless hours in the van to play a new city, and sometimes the whiskey is gone… The payoffs, though, can sometimes be so rewarding that your decision to do this whole, crazy godddamned thing is validated a hundred times over!

Yesterday was one of those days, my friends. We left Cambridge early to play our little hearts out at the sold out Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA, and had the time of our lives! We were honored to share the bill with greats like Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave, Norah Jones, the James Hunter Six, and our personal heroes, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band!

We played our set to a great audience, second line paraded a bunch of cardboard fish-bearing children and parents around the grounds, and sat in with the Dirty Dozen! We had such a good time that we decided to share some pics from the festivities with you. The tour is kicking off right, and we’ve still got almost 2 more months of shows to do, so keep your eyes out! We’re coming for ya.

Ah, what a day. We aren’t done with the northeast just yet, though!

Tonight we’ll be debuting at Rochester, NY’s Lovin’ Cup with the talented Amanda Ashley! The doors open at 6, and Amanda Ashley kicks things off at 7. Come make our last night in the northeast for this chunk of tour a party!

~Slyfox

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?

And throw roses at your feet?

You all make us feel awesome, and we are going to put this money to the best use possible, and that is making music like we do!

Love,

Dirty Bourbon River Show

0 Blues you oughta know: Balkan edition

06/28/2014
by dirtybourbonrivershow
· Uncategorized

Music is a universal language. This video is proof that the visual differences in humans are trivial and shallow. Underneath it all our similarities far outweigh our differences, the brass bands of the world are a perfect example.

When I watch this i can’t help but be reminded of the countless brass band shows I’ve seen in New Orleans. From the snare and bass drum setup and the lead trumpet solos, to the intricate backing parts and pure energy onstage, the 5,000 miles that separate New Orleans and The Balkan Peninsula seem to disappear.
When you look into the history of brass bands you start to better understand the parallels and what causes them. Both Balkan and New Orleans brass band spawn from a tradition of military style brass ensembles. In Southeastern Europe the military bands date back to the height of the Ottoman Empire. Players from the military bands would learn to play the folk music of their home lands on their brass instruments, thus spawning the music we know today a Balkan Brass.
A very similar thing happened in New Orleans when old instruments from military brass bands and Sousa style marching bands found their way to Congo square, mixing with the native sounds of Africa and the rhythms of New Orleans to create the brass bands we know and love today.

In other news…

Tonight and tonight only! The Dirty Bourbon River Show is back in Knoxville Tennessee at the palace of taps and pizza known as Barley’s!. Show starts at 10:00, come get some pizza before!

-Big Charlie