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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/9/15


By Danny Coleman

originally published: 07/09/2015
"I owe it all to an old fashioned judge back in England," says Simon Kirke, former Free and original/current drummer of the legendary classic rock band Bad Co. as he elaborated on his abilities as a multi-instrumentalist. "My older brother was a musician and being competitive I wanted to be one too; so I started playing the drums. I'd practice every day after school and we lived in a small house with close by neighbors. I practiced so much that eventually the neighbors complained and we wound up in court. The judge ordered my father to allow me to go to school, do homework and limit my practice time to a half an hour a day. I couldn't let my brother outdo me so I started to teach myself how to play guitar because that could be practiced without the neighbors hearing!" 
 
Simon and his assembled band will be doing one date in the U.S.; that of July 18 at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA. beginning at 7:30 p.m. "This is going to be a leap of faith," laughed Kirke as he elaborated on the players who will be accompanying him on stage. "You know, I've never played with them in person. Thanks to technology such as Skype and the internet; we've been able to go over the music and practice a bit. I've never met them but I've read their resumes and they're very good and come highly recommended. My music is not that complex, it's pretty straight forward so I anticipate it will be just fine." 
 
An incredibly engaging man, Kirke is seemingly very content with his role in Bad Co. and says he does his solo material "For fun." The man who has authored perhaps two of the more famous drum tracks in rock history, Free's "All Right Now" and Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough" never expects anything other than said fun and a therapeutic release. "I have two solo albums and have been doing my own solo tours for ten years now," said Kirke matter of factually. "For me, quite honestly, this is like an exorcism. I have been writing for a long time. Sometimes the material just comes pouring out of me and when it does I usually record an album; as you can see, it doesn't happen that often!" 
 
As his laughter died down, Kirke continued, "I'm not looking to be a solo artist. I realize that a solo career is not happening. I spend more time with Bad Co. than anything else but when we take time off I do this for fun; that's really all it is to me is fun. I mean, we are all in our sixties now so we don't have as hectic a touring schedule as we did when we were younger, much younger (laughs) but we are planning a big tour of the U.S. and Europe in 2016." 
 
Naming the likes of Buddy Rich, Levon Helm and his "Number one influence," Al Jackson as his inspirations for studying the drums; Kirke admits that Ringo Starr got it all started. "Ringo was my first influence," he explained. "He is such a simple player yet so in tune with the material he performs. Listening and watching how Ringo just stays within the songs and is always so steady really made me want to play the drums." 
 
Along the lines of simple players and steady drummers; Kirke's opinion varies when it comes to today's music and the methods used to record it. "Music today is so different than it was when I first got into the game. Years ago all I had to deal with in the studio was the click track; I'd keep it on for the first sixteen bars then turn it off because I can't stand playing along to them; I like to be expressive and not so rigid. Today's music, the ogre in the room is the computer; it is a double edge sword. Gone are the days of the four track recorder but the internet opens up so many more possibilities than one could have ever imagined years ago. The computer blows me away with what can be done; you don't even have to be in the same country to write and record now. The bad part is that you lose the human interaction, you sacrifice intimacy for convenience, to me face to face; that's music. Every generation tends to rebel; new generations of musicians rebel and this generation seems to just have many more bells and whistles than we did in the past." 
 
Kirke also feels that today's music is not only different but seems to lack an element of guidance; not that it is inferior but that it is still trying to find it's way. "I look at Bad Co. and I am blown away by how good the band sounded on our last tour; our songs were greeted with a lot of affection. I believe that speaks a lot for the actual music. That decade from 1964 to 1974 or '75 was so fruitful; there will never be another like it. I'm not sure why so many big bands came out of that time period but there were so many and they flourished. We had some great influences though that helped us and I just don't see it as strong in today's music. We had black music, soul music, blues, an entire mix of every type of music we could all possibly listen to. Now I have friends whose thirteen year old son has a band and I was informed that they perform three Bad Co. songs. I am still humbled by it, by the entire experience and I just don't feel that yet in today's music." 
 
The Sellersville Theater is located at 24 W. Temple Avenue in Sellersville, PA and Kirke says that we should be ready to rock when attending. "This show, I'll be able to flex some musical muscle and I'll be playing both drums and guitar. I do a lot of Bad Co. songs and some of my own but not many really; come on, who wants to hear my songs (laughs)? It's going to be a lot of fun, I've been doing this for years and this one off show will rock; it has too it's the only shot I get at it!"
 
To discover more about Simon Kirke, please visit www.officialsimonkirke.com. To order tickets directly from the Sellersville Theater, please go to www.st94.com.  
 
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!





THIS WEEKS CALENDAR LISTINGS 
 

Alchemist & Barrister


28 Witherspoon Street Princeton

(609) 924-5555

 

Thurs. 10 p.m. Arnie Baird

Sun. 9 p.m. Matt Roach

All shows 21+



 


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Amarones Windsor Inn








29 Church St. Windsor

 

(609) 448-7144

 

Fri. 8 p.m. Larry D

Sat. 8 p.m. Meg Hanson Band feat. Billy Hill

 

Blend Bar & Bistro

911 Highway 33, Hamilton

(609) 245-8887

 

Tues. 8 p.m. Triviajam 

 

The Backstage at Championship Bar 

931 Chambers St. Trenton

 

Fri. 7 p.m. Counter-Earth, B1nary Cur1ous, The Mountain Chiefs, Ten Cent Days,Catching Wasps. All ages, $10

Sat. 5 p.m. "Scruff's Birthday Show" feat. Todd Killingz, Physical Thing, Sortuff, Welter, TheO>Matics,Steve Schwills, Devo Spice. All ages, $10

Sun. 5 p.m. Trphy Scars, Golden Age, Myheavyhearted, Mediseasin, Hot Gospel, Loaded For Bear, Cat In The Wall. All ages, $10/$12

Wed. 7 p.m. Resilience, Buried In the Walls, Mortanius, Beyond Black Skies. All ages, $10

 

Candlelight Lounge 

24 Passaic St. Trenton

(609) 695-9612



 

Sat. 3 p.m. Bob Devos Jazz Guitar Quartet. (No cover-$10 minimum)

 

Chickie's & Pete's

183 US Highway 130 North Bordentown

(609) 298-9182

 

Tues. 8 p.m. Acoustic Music Night feat. The Dawgs

Wed. 9 p.m. Trivia Night

 

Dog & Bull Brew House

810 Bristol Pike (Rte. 13) Croydon, PA.

(215) 788-2855

 

Thurs. 8 p.m. Gypsy Mother



 
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Fri. (4 p.m.) "Happy Hour Jam" feat. Visoon (9 p.m.) New Pony

Sat. (11 a.m.) "Saturday Brunch Jam" feat. Michael Leggerie (9 p.m.) Soul Custody Trio 

Sun. (11 a.m.) "Sunday Brunch" feat. Keli Vale Jazz Duo (3 p.m.)  Kevin Toft & The All Stars

Mon. 8 p.m. Dustin Beck

Tues. 8 p.m. Nytrous

Wed. 8 p.m. Brian Eastburn

 

Fran's Pub



116 S. Main St. New Hope, PA.

(215)862-5539

 

Thurs. 9 p.m. Curtain Call

Sat. 8 p.m. Honey Spot Blvd.

Mon. 8 p.m. Open Blues Jam

All shows 21+  

 

Halo Pub

9 Hullfish Street Princeton

(609) 921-1710

 

Sat. 6 p.m. The Kim Yarson Band

 

Havana New Hope

105 S. Main Street. New Hope, Pa. 

(215) 862-9897

 



Thurs. 10 p.m. "Beat The Clock" College Night DJ Dance Party

Fri. 8 p.m. "Drum Wars" Carmine & Vinny Appice in Concert. Doors at 6 p.m., $35


Sat. 8 p.m. The Artimus Pyle Band. Ages 21+, Doors at 6 p.m., $30 (advance), General Admission

Sun. 3 p.m. John Eddie's Annual Birthday Bash. Doors at 2 p.m., $15 (adults), $10 (children under age 12)

Mon. 10 p.m. Karaoke w/ DJ Ron

Tues. 8 p.m. Stu Hamm. Doors at 6 p.m., $25

Wed. 8 p.m. Pat Foran & Friends

 

Ivy Tavern 

3108 S. Broad Street, Hamilton

(609) 888-1435

 

Thurs. 9 p.m. Karaoke

Fri. 10 p.m. El Ka Bong

Sat. 10 p.m.  F2 & The Anchovy Brothers

All shows 21+



 

John & Peter's 

96 S. Main St. New Hope, Pa.

(215) 862-5981



 
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Thurs. 9 p.m. Bambu Roots

Fri. 9 p.m. Human Adult Band / King Darves / Wild Rice / Dark Monks

Sat. 1 p.m. The Paper Jets / Jesse Elliot / The Low Doses / Wolfasaurus Rex

Sun. 3 p.m. Jamie Salvatore

Mon. 9 p.m. Open Mic. w/ Justin Pope



Wed. 9:30 p.m. The Invitational

All shows 21+

 

JoJo's Tavern

2677 Nottingham Way Hamilton

(609) 586-2678

  

Wed. 10 p.m. Karaoke

 

Palermo's Of Hamilton

310 Klockner Rd. Hamilton

(609) 838-7979







 

Thurs. 9 p.m. Karaoke

All shows 21+ 

 

Patriot's Crossing

1339 River Rd. Titusville

(609) 737-2780

 

Fri. 7:30 p.m. Steve Bross

Sat. 7:30 p.m. Kevin Toft & The All Stars

 

Pete's Steak House

523 Whitehorse Ave. Hamilton

(609) 585-8008

 

Fri. 9:30 p.m. Ernie White & Tom Reock

Sat. 9:30 p.m. The Polish Nannies

 

Randy Now's Man Cave

134 Farnsworth Avenue Bordentown

(609) 424-3766

 

Check web site for upcoming shows

 

RHO Waterfront








50 Riverview Plaza Trenton



(609) 393-7300

 

Fri. (4 p.m.) Happy Hour Buffet. $10 (8:30 p.m.) Xclusive

Sat. 10 p.m. "House Music Party" w/ DJs Eddie Boom, Don Juan. Benefiting 4th Annual Trenton House Music Festival. $15 (advance) $20 (day of show) 



All Shows 21+

Tavern On The Lake

101 Main St. Hightstown

(609) 426-9345

 



Wed. 8 p.m. Karaoke Night 

 

The HOB Tavern

146 Second Street

(609) 291-7020

 

Sat. 9 p.m. Karaoke

 

The Ivy Inn

248 Nassau St. Princeton

(609) 921-8555

 

Thurs. 10 p.m. Karaoke w/ DJ Ron

Fri. 10 p.m. Rainbow Fresh

Sat. 10 p.m. Mad Notes

Tues. 8 p.m. Quizzo w/ Bob E Luv

Wed. (8:30 p.m.) Tune Trivia (10:30 p.m.) DJ Rockn Ron

 

The Sticky Wicket 

2465 South Broad St. Hamilton

(609) 439-0007

 

Fri. 9 p.m. Alright Alright

Sat. 9 p.m. No Way Out

 

The Sun National Bank Center 

81 Hamilton Ave. Trenton

(609) 656-3200

 

Check web site for upcoming events

 

Tir Na Nog 

1324 Hamilton Ave. Trenton

(609) 392-2554

 




Fri. 9 p.m. Chay & Taylor

Sat. 9 p.m. Mike Nabinger

Tues. 9 p.m. Open Mic. w/ Taylor Reed

Wed. 9 p.m. Paul Wiese

All shows  21+

Trenton Buzz

702 Pine St. Trenton

(609) 392-6000

 

Thurs. 8 p.m. Open Mic. w/ Hek Cat

 

Trenton Social

449 South Broad Street Trenton

(609) 989-7777

 

Thurs. 8:30 p.m. Cinema Thursday Presents: (TBA)

Fri. 7 p.m. First Friday

Mon. 10 p.m. Service Industry Night w/ DJ-Jay Kountree 

Tues. 7 p.m. Open Mic.

 

Triumph Brewing Company (New Hope, Pa. Location)

400 Union Square New Hope, Pa.

(215) 862-8300

 

Fri. 10 p.m. The Rooks. ($5 cover charge)

Sat. 10 p.m. The Boiled Owls. ($5 cover charge)

Sun. 7 p.m. Open Jam Night



All shows 21+

 

Wildflowers Inn



2572 Pennington Rd. Pennington

Sat. 9 p.m. Acoustic Rock 

All shows 21+





















Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program entitled 'Rock On Radio' airing Sunday evenings at 7:00pm EST on ThePenguinRocks.com where he features indie/original bands and solo artists.

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