“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show 2014 Rambling Steve Gardner, Libby Rae Watson, Wes Lee, Bill Steber

[Rambling Steve Gardner]

“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show  

 

 

featuring: Rambling Steve Gardner, Libby Rae Watson, Wes Lee, Bill Steber

“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show is a collaboration between four veteran roots and blues musicians. Rambling Steve Gardner, solo artist and member of the JERICHO ROAD SHOW, who grew up near Pocahontas, MS. and is now based in Tokyo, Japan.  Libby Rae Watson, solo artist and member of the group, the Liberaetors from the MS. Gulf Coast, who helped start the very first Mississippi Delta Blues Festival in Greenville, MS. in 1978.  Wes Lee, born in Alabama, making Mississippi his home since 1995, combines blues, soul, folk and funk to bring listeners what he calls “traditional with a twist”. Bill Steber, from Grinder's Switch, TN., the founder of the JAKE LEG STOMPERS Jug Band and the electrified duo, the HOODO MEN, plays his brand of traditional roots and blues music on everything from the saw and harmonica to the banjo-ukelee and National Guitar. ★♪♪

The Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show is a series of solo performances by each of the artist, some combined duo efforts, along with a closing set in which all four members share the stage to present a full on two hour show of great American roots and blues music. All four of the musicians play National Reso-phonic Guitars,Arch top guitars from the 30's of one kind or another while Rambling Steve Gardner and Bill Steber add harmonica, saw, banjo-ukelee, kazoo and washboard making the music fun to watch as well as listen to.  All Shows are Family Friendly and Big Leg Fun at its best. 

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The members of The Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show, Rambling Steve Gardner, Libby Rae Watson, Wes Lee and Bill Steber  have been featured in print, radio,  television and have produced more than 21 music CDs between the four of them, some award winning or critically acclaimed; all fresh, original and designed to get you to tap your feet, sing along or just jump up and “stomp it right on down to the brick”. ★♪♪

“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be...”

And we ain’t like we used to be!

The old folks used to say, “You got to watch out for those be’s. Man they’ll get on you before you know it! The Do Be’s, the Wanna Be’s, the Ain’t Never Gonna Be’s, and that most dangerous of all, the Free Be’s. Swat those things out of your way and JUST BE...Be your best self on your worst day and you have done your best. Be Good to yourself.” ★♪♪

SO COME ON. You can come to US or we’ll just come to you. We are mobile and carry a truck load of big leg fun to spill out into your front room, your pickin’ parlor, your flat boat, back yard, fish fry or most any other spot that you might have in mind! 

Contact Rambling Steve Gardner: [e-mail]

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July * August 2014

★ Live Schedule ★

“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” 
♪♪★Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show ★♪♪
featuring:

Rambling Steve Gardner, Libby Rae Watson, Wes Lee & Bill Steber

July 31 Thursday ♪ Jackson,MS
James Patterson’s Photography Gallery 
Start 7PM ($charge)
3017 N State Street Tel. [phone] ([e-mail])

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August 1 Friday ♪ Meridian,MS
Jacky Jack White’s Sucarnochee Review
Start 7PM $10
Temple Theatre Meridian 2310 8th Street Tel. [phone] (www.jackyjack.com)

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August 2 Saturday ♪ Jackson (Florence, MS)
Renee’ Fest-Yard Party Memorial for Big Steve Gardner
Start 6-10PM $10
(contact Renee’ Trusty via FACEBOOK for information)

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August 7 Thursday ♪ Meridian,MS-
Squealers Bar-B-Que
6:30-9PM 
4805 29th Ave (or if your using a GPS find Squealers at 4950 Great River Drive) Tel. [phone] (www.squealersbbque.com)

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August 8 FRIDAY ♪ TBA

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August 9 Saturday ♪ Clarksdale, MS
Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival 
Noon until~Rambling Steve Gardner & Bill Steber in front of Blues Town Music 317 Delta Ave

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August 10 Sunday ♪ Clarksdale, MS
Full Moon Float on the Mississippi River with Quapaw Canoe & John Ruskey 
291 Sunflower Ave 662-627-4070 (www.island63.com)

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  August 13 Wednesday ♪ Gulfport, MS

MURKY WATERS Blues & BBQ 
7-10 PM
1320 27th Ave Phone: [phone] 

http://www.murkywatersbbq.com/

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AUGUST 15 FRIDAY ♪ Ocean Springs, MS
MARY C. O’keefe Cultural Center of Arts and Education Show
starts at 7PM- $10
1600 Government Street
http://themaryc.org/

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August 16 Saturday ♪ NEW ORLEANS, LA
WWOZ NEW ORLEANS Community Radio THE PEGGY LOU SHOW
10PM-Midnight with surprise special guest! (www.wwoz.org)

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August 17-18 Sunday & Monday ♪ TBA

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August 21 Thursday ♪ Hattiesburg, MS
Sidelines Sports Cafe
The Hattiesburgers In Paradise, Inc. along with Sidelines Sports Cafe' presents:“Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show 
6:30-9:30PM -$$
2763 Oak Grove Road, West Hattiesburg, MS ★♪♪
Everyone welcome

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August 22 FRIDAY ♪ TBA

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August 23 Saturday ♪ Indianola, MS
The BLUE BISCUIT
9PM-Midnight Charge $5
501 Second Street 662-645-0258 (www.thebluebiscuit.com)

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August 29 Friday ♪ Meridian,MS 
The BRICK HOUSE BAR & GRILL
Start 9PM-Late $Door　
2206 Front Street ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Brickhouse-Bar-Grill/204487119599714)

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August 30 SATURDAY ♪ Memphis, TN
Memphis Blues and Heritage Festival 2014 
Center For Southern Folklore Main Stage
(We are on sometime after 2 pm Saturday. The festival is Saturday & Sunday morning till late.)
Center For Southern Folklore 119 South Main Street (At Peabody Place Trolley Stop)
http://www.southernfolklore.com/

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You can learn more than a body needs to know about each of the members of The Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show by checking out their home pages:

Rambling Steve Gardner Home Page: http://www.stevegardner.info

Videos: http://stevegardner-roots-n-blues.ning.com/video

Get in touch on Face Book "Rambling Steve Gardner"

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Libby Rae Watson Home Page: http://www.dwabrams.com/libbyrae/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOAT8juFLsw

Get in touch on Face Book "Libby Rae Watson"

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Wes Lee Home Page: http://www.wesleemusic.com/

Videos: http://www.wesleemusic.com/video

Get in touch on Face Book "Wes Lee Music"

 

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BIll Steber Home Page:http://www.jakelegstompers.com 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LkXmTbVefU&list=UUqeb_hUu_vJqYM...

Get in touch on Face Book "Bill Steber"

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★♪♪ ★★--Press Quotes and Reviews --★★★♪♪★ 

 Rambling Steve Gardner:

..the gut power of Delta blues has had fewer finer exponent than Rambling Steve Gardner.” Michael Pronko-The Japan Times (Japan)

“Rambling Steve Gardner...storyteller, singer, bluesman... blues originale.”

Dietmar Hoscher- CONCERTO magazine (Austria)

Steve and his guys bring the best of the back porch to the front of the big stage” Peggy Lou WWOZ  91.3 FM Public Community Radio New Orleans (USA)

"Does it get any better than WALKIN' THE DOG or WOOLY BULLY EXPRESS? You bet it does when you listen to Rambling Steve Gardner's newest CD, HESITATION BLUES". James POE WABG AWESOME AM 960 (USA) 

"Some of the coolist music that I have ever heard. Metal guitars and saws. Real blues from Rambling Steve Gardner. He is the real thing."

Andreas Dirnberger Blues Promotions (Austria) @ www.bluesfan.at

“Rambling Steve Gardner, rambles the lost highways of Hank Williams and Jimmy Rogers as easily as the flat delta of the Mississippi blues men whose music he carries on so very well.” Norio Higashi Radio Tokyo 954 AM (Japan)

"Mississippi's music ambassador to Japan" Al Brown WMOX Radio 1010 AM (USA)

"Rambling Steve Gardner's music is as Mississippi as the cotton fields and the dark, muddy river bearing the same name." C. Sade Turnipseed "Delta Renaissance" WABG-TV (USA)

"Great sound...Just my cup of tea." Barry Ivory “Melting Pot" 99.3 FM (Australia)

"Rambling Steve Gardner, Hesitation Blues, is one of my favorite artist, playing some of my favorite songs on some of my favorite instruments" Thomas Greener "Ragged But Right" KVMR 89.5 FM (USA)

"I hear cotton fields, Tom Sawyer, the Mississippi River and the great

American open road in Rambling Steve Gardner's music.”

BIG BIKE CRUSING Magazine (Japan) 

“Rambling Steve’s arrangements bring something fresh to the roots and blues tradition and that is every blues man’s greatest responsibility.”  Ry Beville, Ko-e Magazine (Japan)

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Wes Lee: 

The new "Wood & Steel" album by Wes Lee, the musician takes the listeners back to the essence of music: feeling good while listening... Fingerpicking with slides, soulful bluesy, engaging and dynamic whole, many music lovers will delight.
~Eric Schuurmans, Rootstime.Be

Incredible energy. Total heart and soul performer
~Malinda White, Executive Chair, BBHF

Wes Lee comes by his trade honestly. Bluesman? Sure. Folk artist? Yep. Jazz Man? You bet. In fact R&B, Dixieland, Classical, Rock, Country, Gospel, Disco- as long as the music's got soul, honesty, authenticity, and a big sound, he's all for it.
~Eric Stone, Ms. Legends Magazine

Right from the get-go, Wes Lee just took the music to a level of conviction and artistry that says, "I'm not afraid to spread the Truth."
~Lynn Rabren, LA Songwriter's Festival

Wes's voice is super - he has a Swamp Pop, funky swagger. A dynamic live performer.
~Mean Willie Green, WUSM Radio
 
He accompanies himself with Resonator guitar, and  
makes clear his confession that he does not choose the blues, but that 'the Blues chose him’.  The classic "John The Revelator," countless times covered, comes to him as new, intense and most deeply felt. Wes Lee's devotion to the old blues pioneers he confesses. His warm voice gives them all respect...follows his gut feeling and spirit unconditionally 
~Marcie from www.rootstime.be 

 

Just him, a guitar and brilliant songwriting backed up by guitar 

playing that's steeped in blues and a style than can best be 

defined as "Wes Lee Music". The only elements needed to bring the original feel of the blues back to life. 

 ~www.meridanms.org

 

Wes Lee plays with a “little grease” to keep it real, but with enough 

touch to keep it pretty. ~Blue Healer

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Bill Steber:

“There is a swagger to the Jake Leg Stompers. They play their version of old timey music and make it relevant to this day and age. It may be old timey, but it’s not elderly. This is party music from the last century to this current one.

-Offbeat magazine

"The Jake Leg Stompers continue their finger-licking, jug-hugging love affair with all things prewar on 2013's Up to No Good- another sparkling, bathtub gin-soaked audio fun wheel that is not to be missed."

-Living Blues

“The Jake Leg Stompers are the beacon of light that the music world needs to prove that musicianship is not dead.”

-Cookeville Times

The Jake Leg Stompers resurrect the rent-party vibe of music in feast-or-famine America between the World Wars, perform[ing] with joyous abandon. JLS sing and swing traditional songs on traditional instruments—washboard, banjo, trombone et. al.—and guzzle tradition like vintage port from a Bama-Jelly jar. Well-worn tunes like “Cocaine Blues” and “Viper’s Drag” get painted with a broad brush but bear no weight of paint-by-numbers construction, giving the rest of us a reason to recollect our musical inheritance in all its vital glory.”

- Nashville Scene

It’s easy to get mushy when romanticizing the bygone past, but the Jake Leg Stompers and their hill country gypsies do so in a way that the lost decades retain their dignity as well as their mystery, demonstrating that the spirit in many of those old George Mitchell field recordings and dusty 78 r.p.m.’s is still very much alive and well. Hill Country Hoodoo is essential.”

-Living Blues

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♪♪ Personal Bios★♪♪

Rambling Steve Gardner, Mississippi Roots and Bluesman, based in Tokyo, Japan, plays original, acoustic roots and country blues music; finger picking and slide on National Reso-phonic guitars, with harmonica. You know, Big Leg Acoustic Stuff.

With more than six CDs of traditional and original music, Rambling Steve Gardner has played and toured solo and with the JERICHO ROAD SHOW in the Southeastern United States, Austria and Germany as well as his home base of Japan, where many of his tours have been sponsored by the Cultural Affairs section of the United States Department of State. 

Rambling Steve  Gardner, based in Japan since 1980, grew up in Mississippi, listening to, learning from and sometimes playing with many of the legendary blues greats from: Sam Chatmon of the Mississippi Sheiks, Booby Barnes, and James “Son” Thomas in the Mississippi Delta; Jessie Mae Hemphill, the “She Wolf” of the Mississippi Hill Country; down to Central Mississippi Blues Man Jack Owens from Bentonia,  to name but a few. 

CDs to date by Rambling Steve Gardner include his latest and sixth release on Blues Cat Records(2012), HESITATION BLUES, which follows WOOLY BULLY EXPRESS (2010) and WALKING THE  DOG (2009) both with the JERICHO ROAD SHOW along with JERICHO (2007); BIG DELTA CROSSING (2005); RAMBLING WITH THE BLUES (2002). (The JERICHO ROAD SHOW, a group of international musicians based in Tokyo, Nashville and New Orleans include Washboard Chaz of Playing For Change and Bill Steber of the Jake Leg Stompers). 

The JERICHO ROAD SHOW release, WALKIN’ THE DOG, was chosen by New Orleans community radio WWOZ as one of the top ten best releases for 2009. The single, “Been On The Job Too Long”, Rambling Steve Gardner’s original tune from the CD JERICHO, was nominated for Best Political Song of the Year (2008) by The Just Plain Folks international music awards, Nashville, TN. Rambling Steve Gardner is  featured in the DVD/Double CD, Jessie Mae Hemphill and Friends, “Dare You To Do It Again” 219 Records (2004).

Rambling Steve Gardner is available for workshops and seminars on American Roots and Blues music as well as house parties, live performances and concerts. As  part of the four member ACOUSTIC HOUSE PARTY & TRAVELING SHOW he will be playing a selection of his original and traditional tunes including, “Summit Road”, “MS River Blues”, “Hesitation Blues”, “ Midnight Special”, his arrangement of “16 Tons” with Bill Steber on saw and the ever favorite “Walking The Dog”.

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Libby Rae Watson grew up in Mississippi a few blocks from the Gulf of Mexico. Not exactly the heart of the Delta and the delta blues, but pretty close- only a few hours drive. Captivated by the music, she became deeply involved with the Delta in the 1970's, searching, exploring, documenting, meeting and playing with all the blues artists she could find.

People like Big Joe Williams, Furry Lewis, Johnny Woods, Son Thomas and many more. Legends and obscurities.

But it was her friendship with Hollandale’s Sam Chatmon that influenced her the most. They became fast friends from day one and remained that way until his death in 1983, where Libby Rae performed "Sitting On Top Of The World" at his funeral. Now, after years of staying close to home with her band, The Liberaetors, Libby Rae has come back to the old Delta Blues where she started!

And back to the road.

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Wes Lee has appeared solo in many festivals throughout the Southeast including The L.A. Songwriter's Festival, King of the Delta Blues Festival, The Juke Joint Festival, The Roots Reunion, Hubfest, The Jimmie Rodgers Festival, Robert Johnson Remembrance Festival, Natchez Bluff Blues Festival, and has performed for the Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. Other times he has been accompanied by his band 'Blue Roux' atBogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival, 59/20 Festival, Margaritafest, South Mississippi State Fair, Equinox Festival, among others.

Wes Lee was born in Alabama but has been a resident of Mississippi since 1995. His musical career started on brass instruments in the genres of Jazz, Dixieland, Swing, Classical, and Funk but switched to guitar in 1997, to embrace the Blues. He quickly became a strong Bluesman in the Southeast and has shared the stage with Tab Benoit, Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal, Sonny Landreth, John Mooney,  Greg 'Fingers' Taylor, Steve Forbert, Ruthie Foster, among others.

 

Wes has self produced 6 CDs of WesLeeMusic, beginning with Tone City(1998) and Anything But Wrong(1999), which are Electric Blues. His style and songwriting have evolved into a dynamic solo artist as shown on Live & Alone(2010), The ShackSessions(2011), and the most recent, Wood & Steel(2013). His 2012 Six Pack of Soul was a full band tribute to the Memphis Sound.

 

Wes is a member of the Roots Music Association,Americana Music Association, and No Depression, all sources of strong acoustic and Country Blues. He is listed in the Who's who onCountryBlues.com. Wes has may international fans that find his music via website, iTunes, Internet Radio, YouTube, Reverbnation, and Facebook pages. Also, Wes has press in many publications includingMississippi Legends magazine, Blues Festival Guide magazine, Drawl magazine, Alabama Coastmagazine, Siganture magazine, The Hubmagazine, The Hattiesburg American, and is a featured subject in a University of Southern Mississippi class called The Psychology of Music. Wes recently was a guest panelist for the Creative Mississippi Institute on the subject of Mississippi Creative Economy.  His song, Angel Eyes, was featured in a American Cancer Society Relay For Life campaign in the state of Mississippi, and Wes headlined a benefit for T-Bone Pruitt when the aging Bluesman lost his possessions in a house fire in 2010.

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Bill Steber is a multi-instrumentalist from Grinder’s Switch, TN. Hailing from a long line of Tennessee preachers, bootleggers and musicians, Steber’s passion for American music has deep roots in all forms of the Southern folk tradition.

Steber developed a love of singing both in the rural congregational churches of his youth and family gatherings. He soaked in everything he heard, from gospel to hillbilly to his mother’s early rock and roll 45’s to his father’s blues albums.

Steber wrote his first song at age 7 and soon picked up harmonica and dulcimer, discovering that music came to him quickly by ear. Other instruments followed, including guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo, ukulele and musical saw.

Over the years Steber’s passion for authentic music has taken him from the hollers of Appalachia to the Carolina Sea Islands to the state of Mississippi where he has spend more than 20 yrs. documenting and learning from the musicians who created blues culture.

Since 2004 Steber has devoted himself to championing and performing Southern roots and blues music with his all acoustic jug band, The Jake Leg Stompers, who play something they call Chicken-Fried, Pre-War, Hokum-Billy Jug Band music. The Stompers have been played often on XM/Sirius satellite radio and have just released their 4th CD, “Up to No Good.”

Steber is also a founder member (along with Rambling Steve Gardner of Toyko and Washboard Chaz of New Orleans ) of the international roots and blues band Jericho Road Show. JRS have released 2 CD’s, garnering a top ten album of the year honor from WWOZ radio in New Orleans for their 2009 release “Walking the Dog.”

Over the past few years, Steber has played his music in rural delta juke joints in Mississippi, honky tonks in Nashville, the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Symphony Hall in Vienna Austria, an orphanage in rural India, concerts in Tokyo Japan and numerous festivals, opulent theaters, dive bars, dance halls, and all manner of gathering throughout the world where people enjoy Southern American roots and blues music.

A few of the tunes that Bill Steber will be playing on the “Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be” Acoustic House Party & Traveling Road Show 2014: Big Road Blues, Stop Breaking Down, In the Jailhouse Now.

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DON'T Keep KEEP IT ALL TO YOURSELF. PASS IT ON. http://stevegardner-roots-n-blues.ning.com/profiles/blogs/times-ain...

ALL THE BEST FROM HERE! AND MANY THANKS TO ALL OF THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO COME OUT, SHOUT OUT AND LEND A HELPING HAND. WE'LL BE SEEING YOU SOON. 

 ★♪♪ Tour begins July  2014.