Saturday, January 16, 2016

Rocking on... 2015 turns to 2016.. with gratitude...

How much do I adore this photo, showing the thrill of finishing 2015 in Connecticut, making Connecticut music with its most talented native son, Big Al Anderson & the mighty men of The Floor Models and The WIldweeds... you can see the joy! My thanks to Stacey Sandler for the snap! This year has brought me from the SNL40 Plaza Hotel concert stage with Jimmy Fallon, the B52s and Elvis Costello, to NOLA and Dr. John, to Muscle Shoals and the Swampers (Travis Wammack, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Kelvin Holly, riding in Sam Phillips' 1960 baby blue Caddy--Jerry Phillips & Big River), to guest shots with Steve Miller, Graham Nash, Bonnie Bramlett (also hanging with Bonnie in Nashville; we will perform together there in June..), soul brother R&R Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd, the flash cats of Rebel Montez (of course!), (Michael Colbath, Cliff Goodwin, Larry Donahue, Chris Bickley), Liberty DeVitto & my NYC Hit Squad brothers, the students of Conservatory Tchalkovsky in Calabria for The Sessions Panel, Darlene Love, Paul Shaffer, John Leventhal, my SNL Band Soul brothers and sister led by Lenny Pickett and a summer concert with true brother GE Smith.....the fabulous girls & staff of IMA led by June Millington and Ann Hackler, singing for the HBO series "Vinyl" (premiering in January) and good work for well-loved causes The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic, The Rock and Roll For Children Foundation, and Casey Cares. I'll finish the year on New Year's Eve with James Montgomery and the Uptown Horns and my soul brothers Cliff Goodwin and Mitch Chakour tomorrow night. But for this past week, it's been Connecticut rock all the way.. and believe me, Connecticut ROCKS, led by the Big Man himself, Mr. Anderson. Kudos to us all for keeping music at the forefront, and creativity in mind! My love to all!!!