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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/29/21


By Danny Coleman

originally published: 04/29/2021

"That whole album was made in Muscle Shoals with the Muscle Shoals band; The Swampers. The same guys that played with everybody from Aretha to Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Stones with Roger Hawkins on the drums, David Hood on the bass, Jimmy Johnson was alive then on the guitar, Clayton Ivey on keyboards because Barry Beckett had passed; Steve Cropper co-produced it with me and yeah, we had a blast making that record because that was a great band."

"The Preacher and the President" was released in 1998 by blues great Joe Louis Walker and as one can read above; Joe doesn't mess around when it comes to recording his music. Truly getting by, "With a little help from his friends," he's used the pandemic down-time to finish a new album, to continue honing his craft and waiting patiently for things to return to somewhat normal; aka, live gigs.  

The new album is still untitled and is due out toward the end of summer or early fall and once again, much like 2020's "Blues Comin' On" Joe employed his rolodex, oops, I mean contact list to contribute to its recording. 

"Most of the time, it's people that I know. On "Blues Comin' On" I have not only Dion and Eric who I've known since I was about 15 but I also have Keb Mo, John Sebastian, Carla Cooke who is Sam Cooke's daughter on two of the tracks, David BrombergJorma Kaukonen, Albert Lee is on one song; there's quite a few friends on that record. So, when I choose people to be on my records, it's usually someone I know, somebody that I have worked with, somebody that Lappen may have recommend; be it a female singer or a different guitar player. He'll send me two or three things and I'll listen; so that's basically how it works for me."

"Dion sang the first part of that song and then I sang it and then Eric Gales played lead guitar and Waddy Wachtel is on there too, he played acoustic guitar; it turned out pretty good," he said with a hearty laugh as he discussed the title track of that previous album while re-affirming his inner circle of, "Friends." "On this new record there are 11 songs, I'm thinking of calling it "Electric Eclectic" because it's pretty eclectic," he laughed once again. "It's got different things because people ask; what would you sound like doing this one? I wonder what you'd sound like if you did that song? So, I did a few songs that people asked me to do and I have some new original material on there; we're hoping that people enjoy it. Waddy is on the record of course and I did Waddy's song, "Werewolves Of London" and I did it really, really funky. I have a great young lady named Betty Miller from Harlem and she sang a track with me; she's on the Wolf Record label; she is a great singer. John Lappen listens to all of these up and coming artists and I told him I needed a female singer for a song called, "Lady In Red" which was a song that a friend of mine had wrote in the 1960's and we recorded it in 1970; I think it was when I was living in California. I wanted to do it as more of a guitar driven song with the woman and the man going back and forth; so, I Googled her and listened to some of the things that she's doing and she sounds great; definitely an up and comer. I met Juma Sultan at Woodstock the great percussionist who played with Jimi Hendrix; this is the second record he is on. We haven't picked the exact date for release; we haven't finished the art for it yet but it's mixed and mastered and all of that stuff; it needs two or three months of lead-in time before they release it. So, I'm thinking late August, September, somewhere around there."



 


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Recording this record wasn't all he was doing to keep busy over the past year; sometimes those friends need help too and Joe is always willing to oblige because after all; he feels the closeness of being a working musician and knows the effort it takes to maintain the level of professionalism needed for a cohesive unit; especially after having most of the year off.

"I've been finishing this record which should be out some time in August or September as I said and I've worked on quite a few other people's records that were released. I was on Dion's record and there are some that haven't been released yet; I was trying to keep busy musically even when there wasn't that much to do. I was trying to keep my chops up when there wasn't that much to do; I'd go downstairs and play a little bit in my basement. I'd play a little guitar, little bit of piano, little harmonica; music is such an organic thing which most of the time you do with other people (laughs). That's the joy of it, I know a lot of musicians who are friends of mine who say they go down and play twice, three times a week but it's not the same." 

"What we do is inspirational; you can if you want to but people will notice immediately if you think you're gonna just dial it in. This really is give and take with the people that you are playing for; a group is like a ball team; you go into a different town and you grab each other and try and lift each other up. Somebody may have a cold that night and maybe they can't sing their part and you make compensation for it and that's the stuff that brings groups together and to be honest that's how you find different things; that's how you find your sound in a way. You make a mistake or something is missing and it comes out in what we are doing; it's like if you are a singer; what is it about the voice? The voice is a muscle and if you don't exercise that muscle and just go out and start singing the way you would normally sing; you're going to blow your voice out. You've got to work your way up; one of the things that I do when I'm at home is try to get down and force myself to sing. Believe me, I know for a fact that everybody who sings for a living, the hardest thing they have to do is to get in and try to sort of make it seem like they are singing in the same type of situation as if they were singing for an audience of people. It is really hard to take that and sing for nobody as if you were singing for 1,000 people; there's no substitute for that (laughs). There's no substitute for 1,000 people, there's no substitute for 100 people. So, you've really got to visualize and get in there; depending on what kind of music you're singing and what your voice is but it's like when you play guitar; your arm is the muscle. Your elbow, your wrist, your niche, the way you holding your chords shredding as they call it; you know what? If you've not shredded in about a month and a half, you might get a cramp and that could be pretty embarrassing but it can happen to the best of us. So, I can totally relate to getting back up on the horse but the horse has still been galloping every day and going on and you ain't! You have to get used to how you're gonna gallop and how you're gonna try and lead the horse; it's something that you just can't dial in, it's physical and mental." 

Well, Joe's patience and perseverance has paid off and the dividend is arriving in the form of some live gigs complete with audiences; two of which are in Marlboro, NY and Sellersville, PA early in the month of May. Walker is ecstatic to be performing at a larger venue but but he realizes that things could change in a minutes time; let's say he's cautiously optimistic.

"I just did a little gig here at The Town Crier in Beacon, NY; me and Murali Coryell did an acoustic duet and that was recently. I have my band and I, we are going to be at The Falcon on May 7 in Marlboro, NY; an outside show and then we are going to be at Sellersville Theater on May 8; both limited capacity shows but it's good that the theater is trying to bring some live music to the folks. I've got some other gigs in June and some coming up in July but the only thing about gigs in the COVID era is that if a municipality has an outbreak then everything changes. It doesn't make any difference if it's two minutes before the show, if there is something going on and then everything has to adhere to CDC guidelines; a lot of shows have been pushed back three, four, five times because there were outbreaks in different areas. It's hard to make concrete plans but as we go on, it seems to be going hopefully in the right direction where we can get some live music back." 

"We've played outside and we did a couple of things for the Tupelo Music Hall up in New Hampshire," he went on, "That was an outdoor show but quite a while back. We did another in Plattsburgh, NY and those went pretty well but to do an inside theater? There's not a lot of people doing them. Sellersville is a big theater but as far as things getting even half-way back to normal; I don't think we are quite there yet."



 
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Walker says even with the lack of on-stage hours that, "The show is usually around 90 minutes but it will end up being a couple of hours," at Sellersville Theater so, if attending just know that Joe and the band are looking to deliver an evening of solid blues and rock 'n' roll music. So, what is on the tune menu? Any new songs from the next album? 

"We'll probably play a song or two off the new album but we'll be doing some songs off of my previous albums; I've got 30 (laughs). We'll definitely be doing some off of "Blues Comin' On;" we like that song and we do a pretty good version of that song; different things that we have been working on. Everybody is just chompin' at the bit to play and perform for people so, it should be a good night."

To discover more about this fantastic blues artist, please visit www.joelouiswalker.com 

That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!



This week's event listings


Al's Airport Inn
636 Bear Tavern Road West Trenton
(609) 883-5252
Wed. 7 p.m. Brian Elliot
Broken Goblet Brewing   
2500 State Road Bensalem, PA   
(267) 812-5653   
Thurs. 7 p.m. Mike Estabrook 
Fri. 8 p.m. "Broken Karaoke"
Sat. 8:30 p.m. "First Saturdays" w/ Bridge Beat Duo
Wed. 8 p.m. Open Mic w/ Cara Cartney 
All Shows 21+
Championship Bar   
931 Chambers street Trenton   
(609) 396-5457  
Tuesday 8 p.m. "Jam Night" Hosted by Nikki & Caleb   
Ages 21+
Clubhouse at Mountain View
 (The Patio)
850 Bear Tavern Road Ewing  
(609) 771-0400  
Fri. 6 p.m. Bridge Beat Duo
COARadio.com     
125 South Main Street Hightstown     
(609) 241-7103
Sun. 7 p.m. "Rock On Radio" feat. Rory D'Lasnow, Joe Louis Walker, Danny's Mom 
Cooper's Riverview 
50 Riverview Plaza Trenton 
(609) 393-7300
Thurs. 7 p.m. The Time Peace
Fri. (4 p.m.) "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere Happy Hour" (8 p.m.) Shameless
Sat. 8 p.m. 80's Undercover
Sun. 11 a.m. "Sunday Latin Brunch" w/ Victor Tarassov
Mon. 7 p.m. "Sunny Monday Blues Jam" 
Tues. 7 p.m. Karaoke w/ Karen and Mark
Wed. 12 p.m. "Wine Down Wednesdays'
All Events Ages 21+
Cream Ridge Winery   
145 Route 539 Cream Ridge   
(609) 259-9797 
Sat. 2 p.m. Alex English
Sun. 2 p.m. Ronnie Brandt
Dacey's Pub 
215 West Philadelphia Avenue Morrisville, PA 
(215) 295-4838 
Fri. 6 p.m. Acoustic Music Night 
Wed. 8 p.m. Quizzo 
Dempster's Pub
437 Pine Street Mount Holly
(609) 261-0500
Thurs. 9 p.m. "Ladies Night" and "Throwback Thursday" w/ DJ Entertainment
Fri/Sat. 8 p.m. DJ Entertainment
Dog & Bull Brew House     
810 Bristol Pike (Rte. 13) Croydon, PA.     
(215) 788-2855     
Fri. 6 p.m. Vince Schneider
Sat. (10 a.m.) "Saturday Brunch" feat. 4 p.m. (TBA)
Sun. (12 p.m.) "Sunday Brunch" feat. (4 p.m.) Brian Elliot
Eddington House Bensalem
2813 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem, PA
(215) 639-1220
Fri. 8 p.m. The Zone Acoustic
Sat. 8 p.m. Brian & Mindy
Wed. 7 p.m. Cinco de Mayo Party w/ "Se7en Band"  
Forsgate Country Club
375 Forsgate Drive Monroe
(732) 521-0700
Tues. 10:30 a.m. "The Ryan's Quest Golf Classic 2021" 
German American Society   
215 Uncle Pete's Road Hamilton   
(609) 585-5200   
Fri. 7 p.m. Ess Gees (Outdoor event). $15/$20
Gleason's Bar
6700 Mill Creek Road Levittown, PA
(215) 943-4781
Thurs. 7 p.m. Weekly Corn Hole Tournament
Fri. (6 p.m.) "Happy Hour" w/ (TBA)  (9 p.m.) Shinkickers
Sat. 8 p.m. Karaoke w/ Paula and Sam
Wed. 5:30 p.m. Family Fun Night w/ "Gina the Balloon Girl" 
Greenhouse  
90 South Main Street New Hope, PA  
(215) 693-1657  
Thurs. 8 p.m. "Musicians Night Out" Hosted by Lovelight 
Tues. 8 p.m. Open Mic Hosted by Sam Ryan
Wed. 8 p.m. Trivia Hosted by Dwayne Dunlevy
Grounds For Sculpture   
80 Sculptors way Hamilton   
(609) 586-0616    
Thurs. 9:30 a.m. Tai Chi
Sat. 10 a.m. "Member Mornings" 
Sun. 1 p.m. Family Meditation
Hopewell Valley Vineyards     
46 Yard Avenue Pennington     
(609) 737-4465     
Fri. 4 p.m. "Music & Merlot" feat. Modern Rewind
Sat. (1 p.m.) Acoustic DuoVer (4 p.m.) "Music & Merlot" feat. Craig Leach Group
Sun. 1 p.m. "Jazzy Sundays" feat. Dan Kassel
Iron Plow Vineyards     
26750 Mount Pleasant Road Columbus     
(732) 306-9111  
Fri. 6:30 p.m. George Dern
Sat. 6:30 p.m. Rob Silvers
Sun. 2 p.m. Bud & Maggs
Ivy Tavern     
3108 S. Broad Street, Hamilton     
(609) 888-1435     
Thurs. 9:30 p.m. "Thursday Night Dance Party" 
Kellysbar
14 Railroad Avenue Wrightstown
(609) 723-4242
Fri. 8 p.m. Asylum Choir
Killarney's Publick House     
1644 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road Hamilton    
(609) 586-1166    
Thurs. 5 p.m. "Girls Night Out" 
Sat. 5 p.m. Mario & Frank
KUO Social
2360 Route 33 Suite 106 Robinsville
(609) 208-9988
Thurs. 6 p.m. The Blue-Eyed Balladeer
Laurita Winery     
85 Archertown Road New Egypt     
(609) 752-0200   
Fri. (7 p.m.) Mexican Fiesta Dinner. $29 (Reservations required for 2-6 people) (7:30 p.m.) "Yeast Coast Comedy" Hosted by Tom Mongelli feat. Buddy Harris, Joe Fernandes. $25 (Online tickets only)
Sat./Sun. 11:30 a.m. "Cinco de Mayo Laurita Cantina" $20 (Per Table) 
Marie's Kozy Korner
111 Trenton Road Fairless Hills, PA
(215) 943-3131
Fri. 7 p.m. Bill Monach
Sat. 7 p.m. Hind Sight
McGuinn's Place     
1781 Brunswick Avenue Lawrence     
(609) 392-0599    
Tues. 9 p.m. Karaoke     
Ages 21+     
McStews Irish Sports Pub     
5316 New Falls Road Levittown, PA     
(215) 949-9570     
Thurs. 10 p.m. "Beer Pong Night"
Sat. 9 p.m. All Lit Up
Music Mountain Theater
1483 Route 179 Lambertville
(609)397-3337
Fri. 8 p.m. "Groovin' Up Broadway; A 70's Revue"
Sat./Sun. 3 p.m.  "Groovin' Up Broadway; A 70's Revue"
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company
909 Ray Avenue Croydon, PA
(215) 458-7081
Fri. 7 p.m. FREE Movie Night 
Sat. 2 p.m. "A Celebration of Dogs" 
New Egypt Flea Market Village
933 Monmouth County Road Cream Ridge
(609) 758-2082
Sat. 12 p.m. "The SPRING Big Kid Toy Show"
New Hope Winery    
6123 Lower York Road New Hope, PA   
(215) 794-2331   
Fri. 8 p.m. Griffin House. Doors open at 7 p.m., $35.
Newtown Brewing Company
103 Penns Trail Newtown, PA
(215) 944-8609 
Thurs. 7:30 p.m. Trivia Night
Sat. (1 p.m.) "Kentucky Derby Party" (7 p.m.) Ryan Sabalaske
Nick's Roast Beef
4501 Woodhaven Road West Philadelphia, PA
(215) 637-5151
Thurs. 6 p.m. Natalie & Tim
Fri. 6 p.m. Penny Rhodes
Sat. 6 p.m. Split Decision
Wed. 6 p.m. LeCompt
O'Fowley's Tavern & Grill
200 State Road Croydon, PA
(215) 785-6998
Fri. 8 p.m. DJ Entertainment
Olde Liberty Tavern
2114 Liberty Street Trenton
(609) 396-2262
Fri. 9 p.m. The White-Sacco Experiment
Palmer Square
Nassau Street Princeton
Sat.12 p.m. Strictly 60's
Pasquale's Sports Bar
9078 Mill Creek Road Levittown, PA
(267) 202-6268
Fri. 5 p.m. Happy Hour feat. (TBA)
Sat. 7 p.m. DJ or Live Band Entertainment 
Tues. 7:30 p.m. Quizzo
Wed. 7 p.m. Open Mic
Patriots Crossing     
1339 River Road Titusville     
(609) 737-2780    
Thurs. 8 p.m. Open Mic Night
Wed. 7 p.m. "Quizzo"  
Randy Now's Man Cave 
  
134 Farnsworth Avenue Bordentown     
(609) 424-3766   
Sat. 7:30 p.m. Robyn Hitchcock
Recklesstown Farm Distillery
2800 Route 206 North Columbus
(609) 784-8046
Thurs. 6:30 p.m. Trivia
Revere Restaurant
802 River Road Ewing
(609) 882-6365
Fri. 6 p.m. Danny Lynch Project
Sat. 6 p.m. Bad Hombres
Rosedale Mills
101 Route 31 North Pennington
(609) 737-2008
Sat. 1 p.m. Outdoor Line Dancing. $10 (Rain date Sundays 12 p.m.)
1675 Spirits
2685 Bristol Pike Bensalem, PA
(215) 645-1445
Fri. 6 p.m. John Brennan Blues Duo
Temperance House     
5 South State Street Newtown, PA     
(215) 944-8050     
Thurs. 7p.m. "Blues Night" w/ Steve Guyger 
Fri. 7 p.m. Anders Hyatt
Tues. 8 p.m. Trivia w/ Righteous Jolly 
Wed. 7 p.m. Open Mic Night w/ Cara Cartney 
Terhune Orchards  
330 Cold Soil Road Princeton  
(609) 924-2310  
Sat./Sun.10 a.m. "Kite Day Festival"
TGI Fridays
3535 U.S. Route 1 North #275 Princeton
(609) 520-0378
Fri. 5 p.m. Kim Yarson & Joey J
The Bank of Princeton
10 Bridge Street Lambertville
Fri. 6 p.m. Strange Brew Crew
The Buck Hotel
1200 Buck Road Feasterville, PA
(215) 396-2002
Fri. 7 p.m. Love Junk
Sat. 9 p.m. Legacy
The Cool Cricket     
216 Burlington Street Fieldsboro     
(609) 291-9110     
Fri. 9 p.m. Karaoke     
Sat. 8 p.m. Unleashed 
Wed. 6 p.m. "Cinco de Drinko" w/ El Ka Bong
The Irish Horne Bar & Restaurant
882 2nd Street Pike Richboro, PA
(215) 942-4000
Sat. 8 p.m. 60's Brigade
The Morrisville Tavern
376 West Trenton Avenue Morrisville, PA
(215) 295-5310
Mon. 7 p.m. "Country Night" 
Trenton Buzz     
702 Pine Street Trenton     
(609) 392-6000      
Sat. 10 p.m. "Buzzed Saturdays" 
Triumph Brewing Company (New Hope, Pa. Location)     
400 Union Square New Hope, Pa.     
(215) 862-8300     
Thurs. 8 p.m. Trivia   
Sun. 7 p.m. Open Stage 
All shows 21+   
Vault Tap Room
19 West College Avenue Yardley, PA
(267) 907-8550
Fri. 7 p.m. Jon Savage & The Classic Rockers
Sat. 7 p.m. Cara Cartney w/ Michael Reinig
Water's Edge Gastropub and Lounge
1067 Totem Road Bensalem, PA
(267) 332-2095
Thurs. 7 p.m. Cornhole "Blind Draw." $10 
Sat. (12 p.m.) "Drag Brunch  (7 p.m.) "Comedy on the Crick" 
Wed.7 p.m. Drag Bingo & Karaoke
Working Dog Winery     
610 Windsor Perrineville Road Hightstown     
(609) 371-6000 
Sat. 1 p.m. Love & Duffy
Sun. 2 p.m. Bob & Dave
WWFM 89.1 FM HD2 Radio
MCCC Old Trenton Road West Windsor
Jazzon2.org
Mon. 7 p.m. "Danny Coleman's Got The Blues" 50th Show Special
 


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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