Listening Room Blog

J.J. Cale has long been one of the most overlooked musicians and songwriters in the country. But while mainstream music fans may not be familiar with the Oklahoma-born guitarist, other artists certainly are.

Cale is a Grammy Award winner, and his work has been covered by some of the biggest names in the business, including Carlos Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kansas and Widespread Panic.

But no Cale song has gotten more acclaim than “Cocaine,” a song he wrote and recorded, and which was later covered with great success by Eric Clapton. Clapton, by the way, also covered Cale’s tune “After Midnight” and others. Clapton once described his attachment to the song, noting that it is typically misunderstood by fans – it’s actually an anti-drug song.

Cale himself said he started writing the song as a jazz tune, but later changed gears and gave it more of a rock/country feel which was the foundation for Clapton’s later version.

As with any great song, Clapton has hardly been the only one to cover it. In fact, one of my favorite versions comes from the Scottish rock band Nazareth, probably best known for their hit version of “Love Hurts” and, to hard rock fans, for their tune “Hair of the Dog.” They take a very different approach to “Cocaine” than Cale and Clapton did.

So, check out the three versions below.

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Truly tragic news today that music pioneer Don Cornelius was found dead in his California home early this morning, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Cornelius, 75, was the founder and host of Soul Train, a long-running television dance show that revolutionized the music industry by providing the first national TV venue for R&B music. The show, which ran from 1971 to 2006, provided scores of black musicians and artists their first national exposure in an era when American Bandstand was doing so for traditionally white rock and pop performers. It changed the musical landscape.

(photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

Recent years provided some controversy for Cornelius, who was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2008 and eventually was sentenced to three-years of probation.

Los Angeles police haven’t released any further details on Cornelius’ death. Authorities said officers were dispatched to his Mulholland Home mansion at 4 a.m. today and found Cornelius suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:56 a.m., police said.

His legacy, however, lives on, as well it should. Rest in peace, Don.

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It could be one of the more covered tunes in rock over the past four decades, and yet many modern-day listeners don’t really know where it came from.

“Hard to Handle” became a big hit for American rockers The Black Crowes, coming off of their 1980 debut album, “Shake Your Money Maker.” It has since been one of the highlights of the band’s live shows, even as the group has gone on to amass quite an impressive resume of music.

It’s hardly the only version of the song. “Hard to Handle” has been covered repeatedly over the years, including by The Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Tom Jones, King Floyd and Gov’t Mule.

The original tune was recorded in 1967 by Otis Redding, who co-wrote it. But he never got a chance to hear the final product. Redding died in a plane crash in December of that year, and the song was released posthumously the following year. It became a Top 40 hit for Redding.

The Crowes’ version does borrow from a more recent Buddy Guy tune, but is generally true to the original. Obviously, the band also gives it a raunchier rock edge, particularly on stage. So, here are the tunes. Enjoy.

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Sad news today with word of the death of Etta James at age 73.

James was truly one of the most under-appreciated R&B singers of her era, mostly remembered for her hit “At Last.” But she had an amazing voice and made a significant contribution to the world of blues and R&B music.

I saw her live downtown several years ago, and simply marveled not only at how remarkable her voice remained, but also at the energy she still possessed. Here’s how Rolling Stone magazine covered her death:

By Andy Green – Rolling Stone

Etta James, one of the great voices of the 20th century who fused R&B with gospel and blues, and scored landmark hits with “At Last,” “Tell Mama” and “All I Could Do Was Cry,” died today  from complications related to leukemia. She was 73. James had been battling health problems for many years. 

James had an enormously turbulent personal life with numerous periods of drug addiction and poverty, but she channeled all of that heartache into her music. “There’s a lot going on Etta James’ voice,” Bonnie Raitt told Rolling Stone in 2008. “A lot of pain, a lot of life, most of all, a lot of strength. She can be so raucous and down one song, and then break your heart with her subtlety and finesse the next. As raw as Etta is, there’s a great intelligence and wisdom in her singing.”

Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938, James was largely abandoned by her teenage mother at a young age, and was raised by her grandparents and foster families. She formed the the doo-wop singing group Creolettes with her friends in the early 1950s, and they even scored a minor hit with “Roll Me Henry” in 1955.

James signed as a solo act to Chess Records in 1960, kicking off the first great period of her long career. Working with producers Harvey Fuqua and Ralph Bass, she landed on the charts with “My Dearest Darling” and “All I Could Do Is Cry.” Leonard Chess heard tremendous potential in her voice, and in 1961 had her record the ballad “At Last” with a string section. The song became a massive hit, and remained her signature song for the rest of her career.

Despite her incredible success, James started to use heroin in the mid-1960s and it began to have serious effects on her career. At various points she was committed to a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital, though she still occasionally scored hits – most notable the R&B classic “Tell Mama” in 1967.

In the 1970s, James hit the club circuit to support herself. The Rolling Stones took her on tour in 1978, which exposed her music to a whole new generation of rock fans. That same year she signed to Warner Brothers and cut the classic LP Deep in the Night with Jerry Wexler. Her drug habit resumed in the 1980s, but a 1988 stay at the Betty Ford Clinic set her on a much better course. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 

James continued to tour until illness sidelined her a couple of years ago. She made headlines in 2009 when she criticized Beyoncé’s performance of “At Last” at President Obama’s inauguration, but the public didn’t realize that she was suffering from dementia at that point. 

In 1997, James spoke with Rolling Stone about her life. “Life’s been rough,” she said. “But life’s been good. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I would live it the exact same way.”

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Sad news for the local music scene, with word that the Towne Crier Café will be shutting down at the end of February after 40 years as a premier venue for top-rate music.

Towne Crier owner Phil Ciganer broke the news in an open letter to patrons on the Crier’s home page. For those of you that know the place, this is truly bad news – although Ciganer does leave the open the possibility of a new location.

But at a time when the northern ‘burbs are lacking quality venues, this is a big blow.

In his message to customers Ciganer says business isn’t an issue – he’s got a few sold-out shows in store before closing the doors. But with an expiring lease and the building for sale, it looks like he’ll need to pack up.

He got into the business in the late ‘60s, giving up a successful job as a floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange to explore other avenues. He found himself in Brooklyn and later moved the business upstate, setting up the Towne Crier at the site of a former general store and stagecoach stop – first in Beekman and, 23 years ago, on Route 22 in Pawling.

Over the years the Crier featured an impressive lineup of folk, blueglass, blues and jazz artists, with acts like Pete Seeger, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Pat Metheny. David Byrne and Richard Thompson once showed up to jam, as did members of David Letterman’s band. My first time there was many years ago, when I got hooked after an amazing New Year’s Eve show headlined by Johnny “Clyde” Copeland.

So, hopefully Ciganer will re-open. If the current roster of sold-out shows is any indication, he should take the crowds with him wherever he goes. Good luck, Phil.

Here’s his open letter to patrons:

Dear Friends,

After 23 years on Route 22 in Pawling, we are closing our doors after the end of February. Our lease expired and the building is on the market. Despite a string of recent sellouts, it’s time for us to move forward.

The good news: We’re exploring the possibility of relocating to a new and better location, and we hope to make an announcement in the near future.

Until the end of February, we’ll continue to operate as we always have. We have some great shows scheduled, plus open mics every Wednesday and Thursday. After that, until we’re in our new location, we hope to present concerts at a variety of other venues, celebrating 40 years of The Towne Crier Cafe in the Hudson Valley.

What I want to express most, though, is my enormous gratitude to all of you for your ongoing support over the years, and for having made the Towne Crier the cultural landmark it has become. Many careers have been launched here. Bands have formed here. Couples have met here, married and had children—and grandchildren. Some of you have been regulars since we opened in 1972, and I think of you as family.

Again, I want to stress that this is not the end. The Towne Crier has relocated twice before in its 40-year history. I look forward to welcoming you to a new and better Towne Crier location soon.

I wish you all the best for the New Year. We’ll be here—operating as usual—until the end of February, so please check out our calendar and drop by for a show, a meal and our famous desserts!

With heartfelt thanks,

      Phil

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While this blog tends to focus on the guitar-related aspects of the music scene (for good reason: the founder plays guitar as does this contributor), here’s a treat for the drum geeks out there. The L.A. Times has a really interesting Q&A with Glenn Kotche, the drummer for Wilco.

Here’s my favorite excerpt: “We were on tour in Leeds, and there was a fire drill that went off in the middle of the night, and they had a roll call. They evacuated everyone. I recorded it. I record constantly. I have a digital recorder with me all the time. If I go on a walk, it’ll be with me. Anywhere I go, if there’s an interesting sound, I hit record. I’m always cataloguing sound. It’s all percussion, whether it’s a baby crying in an airplane, or an amazing escalator vibrating thing.”

I love the idea of finding sounds, hearing everything as music and using it to create songs. Tom Waits does that, too. In a recent interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air he talked about putting rocks in a garbage can, dragging it around his yard, recording it and using that rhythm as the basis for a song. Cool stuff.

We here at The Listening Room love music – specially when it’s free.

And sometimes it comes from some unexpected places. So, hats off to the National Automatic Merchandising Association for reaching out to music fans with a musical bit of gratitude – 17 downloadable tunes. NAMA is the national trade association for the food and drink vending and management industries, and they tell us they wanted to thank Gen Y customers in particular for being, well, good customers.

Anyway, here are the details right from the association’s mouth, so to speak:

CHICAGO - Following its successful seven-city Gratitude Tour, the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) announced that it is continuing to thank Gen Y by giving away a free music sampler as a special holiday gift. The Gratitude Tracks consist of 17 free downloadable original songs, written and performed by the local artists featured on the vending industry Tour. The Gratitude Tracks is now available on the following sites:

• TuneCore


• CD Baby


• The Vend.Love.Win. Facebook page

The Gratitude Tour took vending on the road this fall to convey thanks to Gen Y (ages 18-29) and other loyal consumers for preferring vending and to reinforce that vending delivers what consumers want, when they want it and where they want it. A major catalyst for the Tour was recent NAMA research indicating that Gen Y prefers vending over convenience stores and grocery or drug stores for snacks and cold beverages. Tour stops featured the latest in vending machines, products and technology, thousands of free product giveaways and entertainment from the local bands and performers featured on the new music sampler.

“The idea behind The Gratitude Tracks is to continue showing appreciation to Gen Y with a key staple in their lives: music,” said NAMA Interim CEO Dan Mathews. “As the current and future users of vending, these are tech-savvy consumers who will appreciate free music downloads. We thought this would be a great way to say ‘thank you’ and extend the Tour to others who may not have participated in it.”

The Gratitude Tour is one element of a larger ongoing program initiated by NAMA and the vending industry earlier this year, all designed to boost awareness and generate excitement among consumers about the vending experience. Other elements of the program include a Facebook contest (http://www.facebook.com/vendlovewin), a broad media relations program targeting social media and other online destinations where young consumers “hang out” on the Internet, a mobile nutrition app that will be launched in the coming months, and other vending-related surprises involving consumers’ mobile devices.

 About The Gratitude Tracks

Boston

Aloud: This high-energy rock ‘n’ roll band is known for its entertaining live shows, powerful vocals and impressive songwriting. In support of its latest album Exile, Aloud has engaged crowds at almost 100 shows in 42 states. The band consists of married couple Henry Beguiristain (lead vocalist, guitars, keys) and Jen de la Osa (lead vocalist, guitars, keys) along with Charles Murphy (bass, backing vocal) and Mike Tucker (drums).

New York

Zak Smith: Often described as “haunting indie rock,” Zak Smith’s music is filled with emotional highs and lows. This prolific songwriter is influenced by artists such as Leonard Cohen and Elvis Costello. Although Zak mostly plays around New York City, his recent album, Haunted Feet, has generated some nationwide buzz.

Under the Elephant: With a unique mix of pop, rock and electronic sounds, Under the Elephant features melodic lyrics and dance-worthy beats. In 2011, the band released its debut album, The Eleventh Hour, which received recognition on NBC in New York.

Emily Brooke: Emily Brooke is a talented singer/songwriter who has been active in the New York City music scene since the age of 17. More than just a pop singer, Emily writes inspirational songs with a deeper meaning behind them. Her music has been compared to Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple.

Atlanta

Rollie: With a diverse sound that blends pop, acoustic and hip-hop, Rollie is a dynamic force in the Atlanta music scene. Rollie is currently filming for the premiere season of the potential MTV reality show, Rising Stars.

Austin, TX

Marmalakes: This dynamic folk-pop trio plays lyrical songs with rich harmonies. Marmalakes is comprised of Austin natives Max Colonna (bass/vocals), Josh Hapern (drums/vocals) and Chase Weinacht (guitar/vocals). On November 15, the band released its latest album Even Clothed.

Minneapolis

GABE: Louisiana-born recording artist GABE writes lyrics and melodies on a daily basis. Influenced by artists such as Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross and The Temptations, GABE has a diverse mix of songs about love, relationships and overcoming challenges. He has toured with popular recording artists including Chris Brown and Trey Songz.

Madison, WI

What Moves: Milwaukee-based funky rock band What Moves has a unique sound that doesn’t fit into any one genre of music. That’s why the band doesn’t categorize itself into any category and prefers its fans to decide what the music sounds like. What Moves consists of Noah Snyder (bass), Flo Rida Sunrise (percussion), Jamie Hollenberger (vocals & keys), Taylor Jarocki (vocals and guitar) and Panro Smithe (guitar).

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I was a music collector as a kid, at a time when music was all about vinyl. The beauty of it was the real sense of experimentation – when you would take a chance on a record and strike gold. I found the Ramones that way, picking up their debut album in the ‘70s because the cover just grabbed me. It was so simple and straight-forward.

But nothing could top a live album. When a band you were into put out a live album it gave you a chance to hear them raw, out of the studio and unfiltered, or at least relatively so. The stage was where musicians couldn’t hide.

The thing is that the issue of live albums came up recently during a discussion with a colleague, who had spent the weekend rediscovering Live at Leeds. It sparked a debate about the greatest rock live albums of all time.

As with anything it’s clearly subjective. But we bounced around a few ideas, and it prompted me to take it to the blog.

So, here’s my list of the top 10 of all time, in no particular order:

The Who Live at Leeds

Allman Brothers At the Fillmore East

Deep Purple Made in Japan

Hendrix In the West

Humble Pie Rockin’ the Fillmore

Rolling Stones Get Yer Yas Yas Out

MC5 Kick Out The Jams

Derek and the Dominoes At The Fillmore

J. Geils Band Blow Your Face Out

Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous

The last two are clearly homer picks. I loved Geils’ stage shows before their “Centerfold” pop phase. That album captures the energy of what was an amazing blues-R&B band. And as anyone who has read my posts here knows, I loved Thin Lizzy since I was a kid, so this remains one of my favorite rock live albums.

Of course, there’s more to live albums than just rock. So, I have a few others on my must-have list. I put them on a separate list because they’re not rock albums per se. But they’re awesome recordings.

Here’s my top five non-rock live albums:

James Brown Live at the Apollo

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

Sam Cooke at the Harlem Square Club

Jerry Lee Lewis Live at the Star Club Hamburg

Etta James Rocks the House

So, what’s your list look like?

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David Lee Roth and his Van Halen bandmates hardly parted on friendly terms. Bitter tension between Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen was reportedly at the heart of the split in the hit rock band.

Now, 27 years after Roth walked away the band announced that it will reunite with their flashy former lead singer for a 2012 tour and possibly a new album, according to Rolling Stone magazine and a few other press outlets. It would be the first time they record together since 1984.

So it would seem that Roth and Van Halen decided to kiss and make up.

In truth, this has been coming for some time. Roth took to the stage again with Van Halen and his drummer brother, Alex, in 2007. So, the ice has been melting for a few years now, it would seem. Just how the re-formed band will be received by rock fans is another matter altogether. There’s no doubting that Eddie Van Halen is one of the most remarkable rock guitarist of his generation, and whatever damage he did to himself through his years of well-publicized alcohol abuse, you would think that his fingers remain as nimble as ever.

But it’s been a long time since they were on the charts, last doing so with Sammy Hagar taking Roth’s spot. Hagar left in a huff in 2006 as well, and his replacements – with all due respect – didn’t have the same star power.

It’s also not a complete reunion of the band’s original lineup. Bassist Michael Anthony was booted from the band and was replaced by Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son with actress Valerie Bertinelli. Bass prowess aside, Anthony’s high-pitched backup vocals were part of the band’s signature sound.

So, best of luck to Roth, Eddie and the boys. We’ll see how they sound.

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Leah Rae — Listening Room contributor

Paul Simon is on tour and Art Garfunkel hasn’t been heard from in two years, WFUV disc jockey Pete Fornatale said – quite in passing – during a presentation about the duo Sunday night at Irvington Town Hall Theater.

So it was all the more surprising when Garfunkel himself stepped onstage at the end of Fornatale’s presentation. Garfunkel was joined on stage by musician Larry Campbell.

Humbly thanking the audience for listening as he tries to get his voice back, Garfunkel sang a few songs and answered questions from a delighted audience. The crowd had come for a free film series event titled “How Strange to be 70,” a reference to a song lyric and to the fact that both Simon and Garfunkel reached that milestone this fall.

‘’See, it’s a little fragile,” Garfunkel told the audience in an aside during his song “Perfect Moment.” He said later that his voice felt truest when he sang that song, though his vocal chords are recovering at the moment. “It really fits, from syllable to syllable,” he said.

Fornatale, author of “Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends” about the relationship between the two musicians, presented a series of videos and told the story of a collaboration that began in junior high. Simon’s song “Old Friends” contains the line, “Can you imagine us years from today sharing a park bench quietly? How terribly strange to be 70.”

He appeared as part of the Irvington Town Hall Theater Best of Film Series. Garfunkel answered questions after singing “Scarborough Fair,” “Kathy’s Song” and “Sounds of Silence.”

“Since we rehearsed when we were in Queens, age of 12 when we first knew each other, we’ve got our two-part harmony down tight, and it’s a lot of fun to make that tight, blendy sound,” he said. He described the pleasure of singing with Simon’s guitar rhythms.

Lately Garfunkel has been playing with a four-piece band, but he said, “I want to get back into my touring gear, with or without Paul.”

One of his fans was a teen-age boy who came up to ask Garfunkel how to find inspiration during writer’s block.

“Aim for a tiny bit and see whether that leads to the next tiny bit,” he said. “Try and write a line this week, a line. Then spend a week wondering: Where does that line want to go? What flows out of that?”

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Well, tip your beer tonight for Hubert Sumlin, one of the last of that essential generation of musicians who first electrified the blues, taking it from the cotton fields of the South to Chicago’s clubs. Sumlin, who made his name as Howlin’ Wolf’s lead guitar player, died Sunday of heart failure. He was 80. Man, could he play.

Rolling Stone wrote this about his death. The Chicago Tribune put out this remembrance. Watch this to see Sumlin playing “Smokestack Lightning with Wolf in 1966. And, if you’re looking for a lesson from a master, watch this clip from Sumlin’s later days.

Here’s something you don’t see very often: a rock legend telling fans not to buy his records.

Elvis Costello, peeved at his label for hanging a whopping $202 price tag on his new boxed set, is steering listeners to a Louis Armstrong collection instead.

“Frankly the music is vastly superior,” a post on his website says.

Read the rest of the statement here.

Not sure how this is going to sit with his label, but it’s admirable. Would that the other Elvis, or his estate, had taken such a stand against crass commercialism.

Steve Marriott was a voice, a hard-rocking, screeching bundle of energy that made the Small Faces and Humble Pie legendary rock bands.

But man could he play guitar.

Often overlooked in Marriott’s resume as a rock icon is that the man could play with the best of them, laying down blues licks with remarkable mastery.

It’s why today we’re honoring the late, great Steve Marriott.

Marriott began his performing career as an child actor, doing musical theater at a young age and even enrolling in acting school with his parents’ enthusiastic support.

But by his mid-teens Marriott had settled on a career in music — despite his family’s insistence that he remain devoted to acting.

Marriott’s first noteworthy band was the Small Faces, formed with Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones. It was Marriott’s first taste of success, with four albums and a following at live shows that reportedly included eventual Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. In fact, the Small Faces was among the influences to the future Zeppelin sound.

But feuding among the members dissolved the group at the end of 1968, at a time when Marriott had been pushing to have guitarist Peter Frampton join the Faces. Instead, Marriott and Frampton moved on, with Marriott joining the newly formed Humble Pie. Marriott was still just 22, with seemingly a lifetime of rock stardom in his future.

Notably, Marriott’s departure from Small Faces prompted Lane and Jones to replace him with two musicians — singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood — and shorten the band’s name to the Faces. It would launch both Stewart’s and Wood’s careers.

With Humble Pie, Marriott hit his stride. The band’s songs — many penned by Marriott — began to hit the charts, while their live performances became legendary. Their 1971 live album, “Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore,” not only captured the band’s energy, but became one of their most memorable releases.

However, having a reputation as a top live act carries a price. Pie toured almost non-stop for years, prompting Marriott to climb deeper into the drug and alcohol abuse that had increasingly infiltrated his life. They lasted until 1975.

Marriott was far from done, but the years that followed were rocky. His solo work and a number of new bands failed to rekindle his earlier success. Meanwhile he found himself broke due to bad business deals inked during his Small Faces and Humble Pie days. Both bands later reunited briefly, with Pie’s second incarnation in 1980 and 1981 faring relatively well. But Marriott struggled to regain his footing in the industry, even walking away for a stretch, disillusioned with the recording industry.

Still, he continued to perform, battling substance abuse as he went. In 1990 he began collaborating with his onetime Pie bandmate Frampton, who had risen to meteoric heights as a guitar god in the mid-1970s, only to see his career plummet in the years that followed. A songwriting and performing partnership promised to benefit both men.

However, Marriott would never be able to see it through. He died early in 1991 in a fire in his home in Britain, presumably from a blaze started by a lit cigarette after a day and  night of heavy drinking. Two of his final recordings with Frampton were later released by the British guitarist as bonus tracks when he put out a greatest hits compilation.

Marriott remains an iconic and overlooked rock and roll pioneer. In a 2000 interview, former Humble Pie band member Jerry Shirley said Marriott “was certainly the most talented person I ever worked with.”

“He’s never got the credit he deserves,” Shirley said. “He should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because he was the greatest white soul singer that England ever produced. I’m certain that if you caught the likes of Rod Stewart and Paul Rodgers in a private moment and asked them who was the main man, they would say Steve Marriott.”

And hopefully one of them would throw in a line about Marriott’s guitar playing.

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  (NOTE: This is part of my ongoing series of reports on guitar players who fly under the mainstream radar. Keep checking The Listening Room for future installments of guitar players you should know – JF)

When I’m not pecking a keyboard, I’m usually picking a guitar. Outside of my job as a reporter for the Journal News, I play in Frankenpine, a Brooklyn-based string band. Last weekend, in an attempt to introduce ourselves to promoters, radio programmers and other musicians in the area, we attended the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference, in the Catskills, and played five sets over two days. It went well, I think, though by the end of it all I could barely move my fingers (in addition to the performances, there were non-stop jam sessions with players too good to pass up).

Chris Brown, another Journal News-er/musician, was there, too. I caught him at a song-swap in one of the hotel’s many rooms that had been converted to mini-clubs for the weekend. Chris has a kettledrum of a voice — deep, warm and stunningly resonant. He did great.

I also enjoyed Caitlin Canty, a Vermont-raised Manhattanite who performed solo. Beautiful voice and nice touch on the guitar. Singer-songwriter stuff without any of the self-seriousness or treacle that often afflicts singer-songwriters. She writes terrific material and appears comfortable and confident on stage. And off stage she’s nice as can be. Definitely worth checking out.

Roosevelt Dime, from Brooklyn, might have been my favorite band of the weekend. Banjo, junkyard drums, washtub bass and horns. Oh, and all four guys sing like champs. Their sound is a little New Orleans and bit Old Time, but it doesn’t come off as dated or foreign. They knocked me out. They’ve got a weekly residency at Brooklyn Winery, where they play Wednesday nights.

Big Slyde, from Lake Placid, wins the award for sheer exuberance and hectic fun, which I mean in the best possible way. Just listing their instrumentation leaves me breathless: dobro, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, cello, percussion and vocals. They play fast and, somehow, clean, and their songs travel over mountains, through valleys, around the moon and back. Oh, and their mandolin player, Lowell Bailey, is an Olympic biathlete. No kidding.

The best guitar player I saw was Sven Curth, also from Lake Placid. Now, I used to live up in the Adirondacks and know and like him and the folks in Big Slyde. But you don’t have to be friends with Sven to be knocked out by his playing. It’s so fast, so creative and so — seemingly — effortless, you can’t help but stop and stare if he’s playing anywhere nearby.

Major points go to the Stray Birds, a trio from Pennsylvania. Fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass (they all swap instruments) and just-right singing.

Plenty others impressed as well: Theresa Hartford and Bill Bourne among them.

I’m writing this on a very special day — and moment — that comes just once a century.

In fact, this very moment is quite unique — 11:11:11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2011. It is, some rock fans will tell you, The Nigel Second. It only happens twice on Nigel Tufnel Day, which won’t come around again until Nov. 11, 2111.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, 11/11/11 has been picked by fans as a day to honor Spinal Tap axeman Nigel Tufnel, a character made legendary by actor Christopher Guest in Rob Reiner’s 1984 mocumentary classic, This is Spinal Tap. And, of course, 11:11:11 a.m. and 11:11:11 p.m. have been dubbed The Nigel Second.

Tufnel’s amps, you’ll recall, had volume knobs that went up to 11 — a fact explained by the fictional Brit guitar icon in one of the flick’s more memorable scenes. Hence the fascination with the number 11.

And this has been picking up steam. There’s both a facebook page and a website devoted to Nigel Tufnel Day, which has also hit the blogosphere, including on Blog on the Tracks, music writer Simon Sweetman’s music blog.

So, if you missed the moment you still have your last chance to celebrate at 11:11:11 p.m. tonight. Go out, rent the movie and make a night of it.

I mean, who knows where we’ll be in 100 years.

Happy Nigel Tufnel Day.

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