"Best Music Venue Relocation"

Hi All -

If you haven't seen the Charleston City Paper yet this week, you should check it out. They were nice enough to give us an award in the Best of Charleston issue, for "Best Music Venue Relocation" with a nice write-up about the blues club jams. And Home Team also got voted as best jazz and blues club, so we can celebrate that as well! We want to always thank Dan Wright for continuing as our awesome jam-master, Greg Levkus for his all-around help, his reliability, and his drums, John Scott for running sound, we also thank our rotating cast of bass players, the dancers, Home Team for having us, and ALL the people who come out on Wednesday nights!! We do appreciate you all!!

Coming up this weekend: Friday night March 11, 9pm, The Victoria Station Band featuring LBC members Tim "The Big Guy" Shaw, Don Taylor, Jerry Newman and Wayne Pimental will be performing at Smokies Place in North Charleston. Located at the corner of Remount and North Rhett. Hundred Hands Down will opening. We hope you can come!

Other options for Friday night include The Louie D Project with J.R. Getches at the Silver Dollar, and Johnny Mac and the Booty Ranch at Home Team/West Ashley, 10pm. So get out there and have some fun!

And remember, if you want us to promote your band, please send all details of your event to lowcountrybluesclub@gmail.com, and put "Attention blog-writers" as the subject heading, please. Also, let us know if you would like to be one of our blog-writers! Or if you'd just like to write a short article that we could put in the newsletter, please submit it to lowcountrybluesclub@gmail.com. Thanks!

And here's an article for you, written by blues club member Jack Downey:

BLUES YOU CAN USE: Tube vs Solid State Guitar Amplifiers

In the guitar world, especially the blues/rock guitar world, there is a seemingly unending quest for ‘tone’. Today we will discuss the aspect of tone that is brought by the amplifier. This is intended to be a completely nontechnical discussion. If you wish to learn about the specifics of voltage vs volume, there is a ton of information available throughout the internet.

Tone. What a sneaky term. Often you will hear words to describe any given amplifier’s tone such as ‘warm’ or ‘bright’ or ‘clean’…all arbitrary terms that cannot be fully understood without actually hearing the amp itself. There are two basic technologies involved with guitar amplification…tube and solid state. Simply stated, tube amps are driven by vacuum tubes, while solid state amps are driven by transistors. When the first guitar amps were developed in the 1940’s, they, as with all amplification technology, were tube amps. As such, they defined the first amplified guitar sounds. In the 1960’s, solid state amplification was introduced. Solid state offered a more affordable (and, arguably, more reliable) solution to sound amplification. Tube amps remained in the market though, and do today, due to the distinctive difference in ‘tone’.

Is the tone of a tube amp superior to a solid state amp? That is a matter of opinion. That opinion is largely based on the tendency of a tube amp’s overdriven tone to be more pleasing to hear than a solid state amp that offers a 'clean' tone at the same volume level. Most guitarists share the opinion that tube amps are the product of choice. As a result, it is not uncommon to see retail prices for tube amps to be upwards of five times or more expensive than their solid state equivalents. I personally own several amplifiers, both tube and solid state, and I find them all to be useful depending on the situation. I have performed and recorded with both types of amps, and both have served me well. Most every guitar amp that sits on the stage at the weekly blues jam is a tube amp. I have played through some that I love, and some that I just cannot stand. Is it worth the extra money to get the tube amp? See for yourself. Come on stage and play your instrument with your own fingers through the professional equipment provided by the house band. Decide for yourself if the tone you can achieve is worth the extra money.

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Reminders:


March birthdays are Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Eric Clapton.

Join us on facebook and twitter, and check out some of our recordings from the Wednesday jams at http://www.reverbnation.com/lowcountrybluesclub

It's time to pay your dues for 2011 if you haven't already done so. Just come out to a jam, and give us $10 for an individual, $25 for a band or family, or $100 for a corporate membership. Or you can mail dues to The Lowcountry Blues Club, P.O. Box 814, Isle of Palms, SC 29451.

LMW, March 10, 2011