Your Week in Music

Hi Music Fans --

We had a great jam last night at A Dough Re Mi -- be sure to come next Tuesday night, 8ish, if you can! Tonight you've got the usual Weds night choices: Mad River Grill downtown with Shrimp City Slim for Blues Happy Hour 4-7pm (also held on Mondays, no cover either day), the Bowens Island jam with Smoky Weiner, and the Awendaw Green barn jam (also no cover).

This Friday night you can head to Kiawah's Lagerhead Grill to see Shrimp City Slim, 6pm. Then there's Henry's Attic at A Dough Re Mi, 9:30ish -- they play a mix of interesting covers, including some New Orleans style music with washboard and accordion. Or if you're up for a road trip, head to the Statesboro (GA) Blues Fest to see Tommy Thunderfoot and the Accelerators play.

Saturday night is of course the third battle in the Lowcountry Blues Challenge. Last week's show was a very good one, with Jojo Wall getting the crowd to sing along, Steve & the Stilettos keeping the energy level high with some great sax by Lisa, and Dan Wright's excellent guitar playing to end the night. All of these bands gave us some great music. Scoring was very close, with Dan coming out on top and heading to the finale on September 19th -- put this event in your calendar! This week's show will be in Summerville at Southern Comfort Bar and Grill, and will feature The Highway 17 Blues Band with Jack Downey, Circa 56, and The Fabulous Porch Dogs - come out and see for yourself how much fun you can have, for only a $5 cover.

Soul Captive (with Dan Wright) also plays on Saturday night, at Bambu in Mt Pleasant, 9pm. They have a new myspace page, so check it out -- they've got lots of dates coming up, all over town.

On Sunday, Drink Small plays at the Circular Church downtown at 7pm, $10. If you've never seen Drink Small, you should. Check him out at www.drinksmallblues.com. And Soul Captive plays at Rita's Grill on Folly Beach, 7pm.

In other news, Guitar Center in N. Charleston will soon be having their King of the Blues Guitar contest, and needs qualified judges. If you have a good knowledge of the guitar and of the blues, you could talk to Ryan Nelson about volunteering as a judge to help them out. Call him at 843-452-6804.

And if you're looking for guitar lessons, Wyatt Garey can help you out. He's only 17, but is a phenomenal guitar player. Now a senior at Wando, he's been playing professionally since the age of twelve, and was picked by the Sarasota blues fest as one of the top up-and-coming young players in the nation. Contact him at wyattgarey@hotmail.com, or through his dad Ranny at 843-371-1602.

If you want harmonica lessons, be sure to contact Jojo -- jojowall@jojowall.com. He grew up with parents who love the blues, so it's in his blood. . .

So there's lots of choices for great music here. But you can also check the City Paper, the Post & Courier, and your favorite websites, too. We're lucky to live in a city with so much going on!!

Lmw, August 12, 2009