Bayport BBQ Blues Festival 2012 News

Wed 3-28-12  - 9pm – Outer Minds $10 

special guest opener 8pm – F*@# Knights

Chicago’s explosive and underrated Outer Minds have finally come to the surface after simmering in the underworld in several different incarnations over the past few years, and with unbelievably great results. Sharpening their sound into a legion of 60s pop/psych textures and nuances normally reserved for the baroque set with their impeccable glockenspiel-laden arrangements, Outer Minds weave a rich web of sound around impossibly perfect hooks and deliver an impressive EP worthy of your immediate attention. Lead by Zach Medearis (Black Beauties, Lover!) and A-Ron Orlowski’s (Baseball Furies, Lover!, Dirges) fine assemblage of rough-cut harmonies, the band has gone through more name and roster changes than most, but once the current lineup coalesced into the tight-knit unit performing today, everything fell into place to create this sumptuous wall of sound that will blow your little mind to bits.

“Fully endorsed" by Maximumrocknroll and described by Mongrel Zine as "way cool psychedelic garage punk", F*@# Knights' raging, ragged rock and roll, according to Smashin' Transistors, "pays homage to the 60s but doesn't care to sit around and play dress up because it's been proven that jumping in a time machine is corny. They just wanna play loud, probably get drunk and maybe get laid (or get arrested trying)."

Thu 4-05-12  - 2012 Bayport BBQ Deep Blues Festival lineup and schedule announcement

Ticket sales begin! Special presale on now!

Sat 4-07-12  - 8pm – Jay Lang $10

north Mississippi hill country blues

Sun 4-15-12  - 7pm – Four Bands - early start!   Tom VandenAvond, Willie Tea Taylor, Rachel Brooke, Viva Le Vox $10

Willy Tea Taylor was born and raised in Oakdale California. The self proclaimed Cowboy Capital Of The World has produced more NFR Champions than anywhere else.  Willy is very proud of his roots and comes from a long line of cattlemen - he can lead you in a dance and tell stories that'll bring you to tears. He's a hellraiser and poet.  Willy Tea been a full time professional musician for over 6 years now and is best known as the co-frontman of THE GOOD LUCK THRIFT STORE OUTFIT. He balances his time with the band writing songs, performing and recording - this year he's been silencing bars and venues all over the US as a solo artist.

Tom VandenAvond embodies everything that makes alt-country awesome. He's got a surly, drank-too-much-last-night-and-now-I-gotta-perform attitude. One can hear wisps of such late greats as Jimmie Rodgers or even Huddie Ledbetter in VandenAvond's songs, which alternate between good ol' country and low-key folksy ballads.  His vocals are rich with twang and as raw as whiskey, and he could quite possibly match Tom Waits someday for grit, as he croons out subdued menace at times. But even when VandenAvond spins a yarn in "Lost on the Bottle" about possibly engaging in alcohol-fueled spousal abuse ("Some days I got mean things on my mind/There's an odd chance I might treat that woman unkind/If she don't pay me mind she might wind up in the pines"), you get the feeling it's sung with a playful wink.

Like so many of us, Rachel Brooke was born in the wrong time. Her classic style, and her simple and poetic songs fit much more snugly in an oval picture frame of tarnished metal and smoky glass than on CMT or Clear Channel pop country. She might be from Michigan, but this girl must have been touched with the songs and sentiments of the southlands and the weary West at birth....     The Rachel Brooke brand of old school country soul is true, and doesn't even give a hint of fake, stereotyped molding to fit a style or genre that happens to be hip at the time. It flows out of her as true and vital as breath…”    With two solo albums, two collaborative albums, and various  guest vocal and compilation work, Rachel has become an important fixture in the modern-day  "roots movement."...--The fact that Rachel Brooke is physically alluring and enigmatic, talented beyond all, and skilled as a musician with the best, is somewhere between wrong and downright evil."--You can expect to see great things from this young lady. "

Viva le Vox is a ragtag group of ne’er do-wells hailing from the swamps and shores of southeast Florida.
They have a sound that’s hard to describe, influenced by everything from the sleaziest Dixieland jazz to the most sordid punk rock. The sound is by turns loud, fast, and creepy...it’s uneasy listening, crafted for discerning musical misfits everywhere. Live performances will find a crowd of exorcised souls drenched in sweat, dancing up a frenzy.

Fri 4-20-12  - 8pm – Scottie Miller (with Joe Cruz) $10

“Scottie Miller is a world class lyricist with working class sensibilities.  He sings from the heart with old school soul and plays the funkiest New Orleans piano this side of Dr. John.  This cat’s got the goods.” The  Blues Hound (KPFT Houston, TX)

Sat 4-28-12  - 8pm – Jeff Ray & Hurricane Harold $10

Acoustic duo described as "Delta meets Dead with a little Zen thrown in"

Fri 5-11-12  - 8pm – Reverend Deadeye $15

Sat 5-12-12  - 8pm – Reverend Deadeye $15

The Reverend Deadeye is the Reverend’s son of a Reverend’s son. He spent his youth handlin’ snakes and performin’ at tent revivals alongside his Pentecostal family on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. This sacred musical heritage finds its way prominently into his performances. But don’t expect a Sunday mornin’ church service; instead, expect a Saturday night baptism with fire holy rollin’ revival. With his modified wok-lid resonator guitar, homemade beer can microphone, kick drum, and washtub snare, he delivers a punk-rock version of gritty pre-war delta blues which he blends with fiery gospel interpretations capable of turnin’ the whole room into a spirit filled bar room revival.

Fri 5-18-12  - 8pm – Crankshaft $10

Forging his own brand of high-energy, low-brow Upper Mississippi blues, the one-man band powerhouse Crankshaft has been gigging around Minneapolis for nearly three years.  Expanding his fan base with every frenzied performance, Crankshaft earns his living as a musician and is taking his show on the road following the release of his new album, Junkyard Rhythm.  Born into this world from gas station cassette tape collecting semi-truck drivers, Alex “Crankshaft” Larson was introduced to blues, rock 'n' roll, and R&B as a pup.  In 1996 he traded a combination oil/wood stove to his uncle for his first electric guitar and amp.  In April 2008, while self-employed as a contractor, he started practicing as a one-man band and was playing shows two months later. Larson self-produced and released three albums during the next two years.  In 2010, he decided to hang his hammer up for good and focus on his music.  Larson's newest release, Junkyard Rhythm, features a backing band, "The Gear Grinders," which gives the album a more full sound than his previous recordings.  He performs both as a one-man band, and as the leader of a trio, adding an upright bass player and a drummer when it's possible to do so.

Sat 5-26-12  - 8pm – Don Scott and Curtis Blake $10

C.D.RELEASE" Sure Thing " by Don Scott (slide / guitar/ voc ) & Curtis Blake (harmonicas)

Mon 5-28-12  - 2pm – James Leg  - free show for Memorial Day afternoon

If James Leg’s record sounds uncannily like the guy who sings for the Black Diamond Heavies it’s because he’s John Wesley Myers of that same band. Solitary Pleasure dips into common musical paint pots (bluesy keyboards, greasy soul and raucous garage), mixes in a bit more pop and splatters the lot over a wide canvas. – The Barman I94 Bar

Sat 6-2-12  - 8pm – Dead Pigeons $5

Drew Peterson’s new project. Drew on guitar and vocals, Gretta Hunstiger on fiddle and backup vocals, Mikkel Beckmen on percussion, Rich Casey on stand up bass

Wed 6-6-12  - 8pm – two bands!  Johnny Lowebow and also Hymm For Her $10

Johnny Lowebow is the renowned cigarbox guitar builder and one man band from Memphis.

Lucy Tight & Wayne Waxing are “Hymn For Her”, a band that hails from anywhere they can park their trailer. H4H live, tour and record in their 16 foot, 1961 Bambi Airstream (comes with dog and baby). Their new release, ‘Lucy & Wayne and THE AMAIRICAN STREAM’ was entirely recorded in their classic trailer on a coast to coast U.S tour. They stopped at various campgrounds and friends driveways between shows, set up their gear in their Bambi/home recording studio, rolled tape and rocked out. Armed with 2 bullet mics, a three-stringed broom handle/cigar box, banjo, dobro, bass drum, hi-hat, and harp, this ‘lil duo causes massive earthquakes wherever they play.

Fri 6-15-12  - 8pm – Two Many Banjos $10

Bluesgrass from Duluth.  Their final show before a long hiatus.

Sat 6-23-12  - 8pm – Henry’s Funeral Shoe $10

All the way from the UK tro the Bayport BBQ. Henry's Funeral Shoe was formed by two brothers from South Wales, inspired and influenced by many of the albums that singer/guitarist Aled Clifford had looted from his father's vinyl collection when he was growing up. The Who, CCR, Peter Green, Robert Johnson and the Beatles were favourites, and Aled quickly became a gifted guitar player, aided and taught by Ned Edwards, a long time collaborator of Van Morrison. Aled soon played with various bands, eventually doing some recording sessions for producer Ian Grimble, and even recording at the legendary Abbey Road studios. His younger brother Brennig started playing drums at nine. At fifteen he joined a local band, learning his trade by performing covers of The Clash and Thin Lizzy before moving on to writing original material. The dexterous brothers have finally joined forces to create some of the loudest soulful rock'n'roll to come out the UK in a long time.

Fri June 29 to Sun July 1st – Bayport BBQ Deep Blues Festival

ticket sale start date is Thu Apr 5^th  (special presale on now!)

it will include all you can eat BBQ for the weekend!

We’re announcing the festival bands one by one on our facebook page

So far, bands include:

David Kimbrough Jr.

Henry’s Funeral Shoe

Possessed By Paul James

Left lane Cruiser

Charlie Patton’s War

Ben Prestage

Restavrant

Delaney Davidson

Tijauna Hercules!

John The Conqueror

Daniel Kroha

Adam Gussow

Molly Gene One Whoaman Band

James Leg

Reverend Deadeye

10 more to be announced – watch our facebook page each day for another band!

Bayport BBQ

328 5^th Ave N

Bayport MN 55003

651-955-6337

www.bayportbbq.com