This blog is dedicated to Carter Allen from 100.7FM WZLX!

Well, it’s 4 in the morning here and I just got back from a crazy show at Chans in Rhode Island.  Imagine that, a world class stage (Dizzy Gillespie played the room one time!) and in a Chinese restaurant.  Yes, it’s a crazy place this ole’ U.S. of A. 
Anyhow, I’m tired, but not so tired that I’m going to tell you that along with EGB fans, there were a lot of newcomers to this show that came out to see the band because they keep hearing Carter Allen from WZLX play cuts of our records on his Sunday morning show.
  Got to tell you: I feel for this guy (and not just because he was the first brave one to spin U2 in the United States back in the day).  Carter Allen has got soul man and it’s down to the bone.

For the past few years we’ve bumped into each other quite a bit (he announced us at a lot of festivals and the Buddy Guy show that we did as well) and he was there the night that we won the Boston Blues Award.  I’ve spent a lot of time talking to him and I can tell you: He knows what’s up and what’s down, and he’s always curious to know the truth behind things. 
 Ok, it’s settled.  There will be a chapter in my memoirs with his name on it because for every big music exec who sadly looks at me and says, “I love your music, I just don’t think I can sell it in the marketplace,” or, “I could work with you kid if you might consider rapping,” Carter Allen has always been in my corner.  And considering the wealth of music the man has been a part of, I know that I must be doing something right. 

This is a photo I shot of him  when we played the WZLX Boston Marathon finish line party last year.  And you guessed it, we were goofing around like kids.  Carter, you can run but you can’t hide.  You are truly one of Boston’s unsung heros of the music scene. 

Thanks for everything man!

E

Rutland Herald Article.

By CLARA ROSE THORNTON Herald Correspondent - Published: April 2, 2009

Although southern Vermont has a vibrant music scene, by percentage it can be somewhat limited to similar, Eurocentric genres: folk, roots rock, hard rock. And of course, there are classic evenings of contra and New England fiddlers. It is rare that down-home, messy, slinky soul music finds its way to this trickle of the Appalachian Range.
Though Vermont is statistically both the second least populous and second least ethnically diverse state in the Union, musical energy does not have to suffer proportionately. Through fresh circulation of and open ears toward global sounds - as well as those of American pop music’s back porch - Vermont can creep toward the wild diversity needed in entertainment to maintain that distinct hum of bluesy deference.

A way to begin with good marks on a “Vermont dirty soul music” report card is with the Evan Goodrow Band (EGB) this Saturday at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro. Evan Goodrow and his trio of bluesy, funky, old-soul aficionados answered a call to bring a little “shake” to the hills.

Hailed by blues-circuit partner B.B. King as “exceptional,” young Boston-based guitarist and vocalist Evan Goodrow is not exactly from the Delta, but his sense of the rawness of expression at the root of soul is evident.

“I would have to say that the essence of blues and soul music is specifically about feeling,” said Goodrow in an early-morning interview from his hotel room in Miami. “I think there’s something genuine about it, a certain honesty in expression that makes blues and soul good. I don’t always see that honesty in pop music.”

As a child Goodrow was steeped in the sounds of Ray Charles and Solomon Burke, then integrated a passion for Jimi Hendrix’s electric mayhem into his burgeoning style. He pursued formal jazz training in Boston, though quickly took to the streets of the college town’s underground cafés and clubs instead, honing an unidentified hybrid sound that would aptly become described, simply, as modern soul.

“If you’re playing to jazz or blues purists that means you’re recreating,” Goodrow said. “And once you’re recreating, you can’t be creating and recreating at the same time. When you play something that’s resurfacing a style or a genre - something that’s already happened - you’re actually making it worse. Because you can’t necessarily make it better than it was. So the only way to make it relevant is to do something else with it - try to bring it to the next step. I think you pay homage to the musicians who come before you not by recreating their work but by creating new pieces that are inspired by them.”

While opening for legend Buddy Guy in Lowell, Mass., last year, EGB was “discovered” by Gail Nunziata of the Brattleboro Arts Initiative and Latchis Theater, who decided that bringing him to southern Vermont was an imperative. Currently EGB is touring as a trio with drummer Phil Antoniades and keyboardist John Cooke, downsized from their previously robust four-piece.

Goodrow feels that the stripped-down aesthetic allows for less of a veil, less cushion for extravagance. There’s “an honesty. It’s that thing again about blues, soul and jazz. There’s something so honest in it that I love. And I think that’s what makes music timeless.”

 

 

Yeah, I needed a vacation. Being an independent “art force” these days is a 20 hour day job. Writing, practicing, rehearsing, promoting, web-updating (there’s got to be a better word for that), road managing, emails, calls, yep…we do it all “in -house” ourselves.
So, I went to my favorite island for 7 days. And, now here comes the weekend:

There’s a lot of great things happening this month (that would be April) but I want to give you some last second details on this coming weekend.

This Friday (April 3rd) @ The Acton Jazz Cafe (Acton MA) @ 9:30PM.
PLEASE NOTE: We will not be playing the earlier show 8-9 as before, this will be the “late” show at 9:30pm. (Mark Zaleski Group opens 8pm-9pm)  $12 in advance/$15 at the door.  You can buy tickets ONLINE directly from the Acton Jazz Cafe websit (click “GET TICKETS”) ACTON JAZZ CAFE WEBSITE

This Saturday (April 4th) @ The Latchis Theater in Brattleboro VT.
One long show at 7:30PM.  
Some of you may remember the “Brattleboro Blues Festival” show that we put on there last year and how much fun it was. What a cool theater with a great history!   LATCHIS THEATER WEBSITE

My recommendation: come out for the night, grab a room in Brattleboro, catch the show, end the night at the bar with us, and treat yourself to a genuine Vermont brunch in the morning.

Recording continues on the new disc/discs. And maybe even a little “catch-up” with some past projects, including bootlegs, T-shirts, and other adventures. But that’s boring stuff, I’ll spare you the details, and just let you know when it’s done.

E