Happy New Year, music lovers.
I’m thrilled that we have an entire year of awesome interviews and concerts to look forward to together.
But as we do every year here at Spotlight, we look back at a year in SouthCoast entertainment. As promised, here’s Part II of 2018's Spotlight highlights.
It’s crucial to highlight these stellar shows and A-list artists here because this is evidence.
This is proof of the major culture and arts destination that SouthCoast is becoming.
There was a time, not long ago, when you’d have to go to Boston or Providence to see these shows. I had hard a tough time just limiting this list to 10.
#ICYMI, last week we covered five artists: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer/New York Times bestselling author Patti Smith; guitar hero Nils Lofgren, of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and Neil Young’s touring band, Livingston Taylor, Ladysmith Black Mambazo of Paul Simon “Graceland” fame, and Jimmy Vivino of TBS’s “CONAN.”
And now, five more that round out a stellar year in SouthCoast. #CulturalDestination.
BETTYE LAVETTE
LaVette stands out as one of the most fascinating interviews of ’18 because she’s just a fascinating human, period, and is utterly candid in talking about it.
Put it this way, her 2012 memoir, “A Woman Like Me,” opens like this:
“A vicious pimp was precariously holding on to my right foot as he dangled me from the top of a twenty-story apartment building… He was sadistic, callous, and impossibly gorgeous… [he] slapped me around, and told me to get out. I ran like the wind [and] hit the streets of Manhattan wearing a pair of shorts, a bra and no shoes.”
Her second act is the stuff dreams are made of:
She brought down the house in her tribute to The Who’s Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors. She performed at Barack Obama’s Inaugural Celebration. Shared the stage with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
I told her it seems like there’s been streaks of good luck and bad luck in her life.
“Oooooh, honey, it’s been in almost perfect balance,” she told me with a laugh.
LaVette performed songs off her Bob Dylan cover album, “Things Have Changed,” at the Narrows Center for the Arts in June.
“Bob Dylan’s fans are so quirky, I thought they’d be throwing apples and bananas and sh—. But they’ve been so receptive,” she told me.
One of my favorite quotes of the year.
THE OAK RIDGE BOYS
A country music institution.
And not new country, which, sorry, is not country. I’m talking old-time bluegrass mountain mandolin-pickin' country. Real country.
When I called up Country Music Hall of Famer Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys in March, he told me about playing with Elvis and Johnny Cash.
I mean…Wow.
“Even though he was The King of Rock, his favorite music was gospel,” Sterban told me of jamming with the King. “We’d sing gospel, spirituals. Some of my fondest memories involve singing gospel with Elvis.”
Since joining the Oak Ridge Boys in 1972, he’s recorded with Paul Simon and played with George Jones, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, Bill Monroe, Ray Charles… The list goes on.
The five-time Grammy-winning, Country Music Hall of Fame Oak Ridge Boys — now comprised of Sturban, Joe Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden — originally formed during World War II, and were Grand Ole Opry regulars by 1945. In the mid-50s, they were in TIME as one of the top gospel groups the country, and by the late 60s, had some 30 alumni.
The Boys rocked New Bedford’s Z in March.
I asked Sterban what moments stood out for him in his career, and he shared this tear-jerker of a story:
“I don’t think there would be an Oak Ridge Boys if not for Johnny Cash… the encouragement he gave us was more valuable than money. One time when we were feeling discouraged, he called us to his room in Vegas. He said, ‘Boys, your heads are hanging, but there’s something special about you. I want to encourage you guys not to give up... Good things will start happening.’ We said, ‘Wow Johnny Cash thinks we can make it, we’re going to make it!’ A few years after, we won the County Music Award [in 1977]. And Johnny Cash was hosting. They announced the award, and we all ran up and hugged him on stage. He said, “See, fellas? I told you so!”
My God, I love that.
JETHRO TULL’S MARTIN BARRE
The Grammy-winning guitar hero and multi-instrumentalist rocked as a member of Jethro Tull for decades, and now has a stellar band of his own. He played a night of Tull hits and solo songs at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River in October.
Barre joined Jethro Tull in 1968, just in time for their second album, “Stand Up.” (1969), and also worked with Paul McCartney and Phil Collins, and shared the stage Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin among others.
“I wanted to be in a band, and the choices were drums or guitar. Drums were expensive, so it was guitar,” the guitar hero told me.
His first audition for Tull “was horrible,” he told me with a laugh. “I played terribly. [I told them later] ‘I’d love another chance’ … [Eventually] we started doing music that nobody else was doing. Most bands of the day were trying to be in the charts. We didn’t want to be mainstream. We were the rebels of our day. Then we became the boring people, and the punk people wanted to get rid of us.”
DEVON ALLMAN
Like Jakob Dylan or Norah Jones, Allman has always been determined to make it solidly on his own — not to ride on his famous musical dad’s coattails.
He’s managed to walk the line and respectfully pay tribute to his dad Gregg Allman’s life and music, while making his own mark.
Allman rocked New Bedford’s Zeiterion Theatre in July, with The Devon Allman Project, and guest Duane Betts, the son of Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts.
Gregg Allman met his son when Devon was 17, a few years after the boy had started playing guitar.
“I think whether you’re from a famous family or not, anytime you get a chance to reconnect with a parent, that’s a huge thing in life,” Devon told me. "It connects dots on a lot of things, and bring things full circle. It makes you feel like more of a complete human being, having that connection to those who came before you. So it was cool. And it was super cool to realize we were a lot alike, and had the same passions, and loved lots of the same music.”
JOHN GORKA
The nicest guy in folk.
The first time I saw John Gorka live, I loved everything about him.
He was shy, incredibly sweet, self-depreciatingly funny, humble — and a helluva songwriter.
Between his sweet stage presence, and repertoire of songs that range from hilarious to heartbreaking, I just kept smiling.
He played New Bedford’s Music in the Gallery series a the Wamsutta Club in June.
“Performing is more fun now than when I started,” he told me. “I was always drawn to performing, but I wasn’t always comfortable doing it. Over time, I’ve come to terms with my own discomfort.”
Gorka in a nutshell.
And now, a toast to more awesome shows and stars in ’19, my friends. Cheers.
Lauren Daley is a freelance writer and Spotlight music columnist. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her at https://www.facebook.com/daley.writer She tweets @laurendaley1.