| John Nemeth & Jr. Watson Return to Blueport April 19 |
 John Nemeth So, I saw BB King at the Col in ’83. (I can see you doing the math. “Let’s see, that would make him at least…” Hey, I was in junior high, OK?) I came across a ticket stub for that show recently—three dollars and seventy-five cents! Which means somebody was sitting around trying to decide on the admission price, and they figured $4.00 would just be too steep. BB’s due to play the Adler at the end of May, and I haven’t priced the tickets, but on recent tours they’ve tended to run in the $50–$70 range. Now, I don’t want to sound for a minute that I think the King of the Blues isn’t worth every nickel of that, and I’m gratified that he’s finally earning what he’s worth. My question is; will this be a better show than the one I saw way back when? I mean, the Adler’s dance floor is nonexistent, the seats are all reserved (eew!), and it’s an awful long walk back to the bar. I still have a few photos from the Col show, and not only is BB standing up in all of them, there’s not even a stool onstage. My point is this: I would always advise that it’s better to see a blues show in a bar, club or lounge than it is to see it in an auditorium, concert hall or sports arena, particularly if the cover charge is a fraction as much. Which brings us to John Nemeth, appearing at an MVBS co-sponsored show on Saturday, April 19th, at Blueport Junction in Davenport. A few years back, this young man seemingly came out of nowhere. Actually, he hails from Idaho, which I believe is right next to nowhere on the map. He’s a terrific harmonica player, but you don’t hear much about that, and that’s simply because the guy possesses such an awesome voice. He’s got that classic sound of the blues belters of the ’40s and ’50s, even though the majority of the stuff he does is contemporary originals. If you want to know more, your best bet is to just Google him, and read as musicians and reviewers struggle to find the words to describe his vocal prowess. So, a few years back we had Charlie Musselwhite in the tent at the IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. I swung through as they were setting up the stage, and I could see that they had Charlie’s equipment on stage left, so that’s where I planned to be, as I’ve got this weird compulsion about planting myself directly in front of the harp amp. But by the time I got back, that side was already packed, so I ended up in front of the guitarist. So this tall skinny vaguely familiar guy comes out, and proceeds to rock me back on my heels. I’m leaning into this guy’s monster sound, and about halfway through the set, Charlie takes a break to nonchalantly introduce the band. You know, on bass is so-and-so, and on drums is so-and-so, and on guitar is…RUSTY ZINN! I mean, this is one of the finest blues guitarists around, and his name didn’t even appear on any of the blues fest promotional materials; it was just Charlie Musselwhite and his band. There wasn’t even an “Oh, by the way…” And my point this time is; the musician you came to see isn’t always the musician you’ll remember after you leave. Which leads us to Junior Watson, who’s playing guitar with Nemeth, although it might be difficult to know that just by looking at the press they’ve generated recently. Junior started playing professionally about thirty years ago, which would be around the time John Nemeth started walking. He was a founding member of The Mighty Flyers, and then was with Canned Heat for about ten years and five albums. He went on to record with Lynwood Slim, Big Mama Thornton, William Clark, Johnny Dyer, James Harmon, Mark Hummel, Rod Piazza, Janiva Magness, Charlie Musselwhite, Snooky Pryor, Sonny Rhodes, Jimmy Rogers, George “Harmonica” Smith, Kid Ramos and Kim Wilson. And that’s just who he’s recorded with—he’s shared the stage with, well, everybody. Junior is a consummate bluesman, with fluid, greasy phrasing once described as “like a train off the tracks.” His solos are astounding, going from West Coast and Texas to Chicago styles, and even working in stuff as diverse as the “Flintstones” theme and the Oscar Mayer wiener ditty. The last time he was at Blueport, he was tearing through a blistering solo, the whole time looking intently over his left shoulder, watching a boxing match on the TV over the bar. I mentioned it to him during the break, and he replied, “Hey, I had money riding on that fight!” Now, that’s a true professional. As if that weren’t enough, opening for Nemeth and Watson will be the Chris Avey Band. Chris, on guitar, and his brother Mark on bass, played locally years ago under the name of the Twin Towers Band and their hard rock alter ego Blue Ash Ink. Chris later spent several years honing his chops in the thriving blues scene of Phoenix, playing with several bands, including a stint with Southwestern blues icon Big Pete Pearson. If you haven’t seen them yet, this is your chance to stop missing out. It’s all set to get rolling at 8:30pm on Saturday, April 19th, at Blueport Junction, where West River Drive crosses I-280. Cover will be $8 for MVBS members and $10 for everyone else. And here’s my final point: Gitcherbutt down there and see this show. Then, years from now when you’re trying to decide whether you want to stand in line to pay, like, a hundred dollars for a seat in the twentieth row to see these guys, you can ask yourself, “I dunno—will it be a better show than the one I saw way back when?” —The Rt. Rev. J. “Muggles” Freebourne
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