Muddy Fete at B-B’s Lawnside
by El Dormido
Champagne and cake at BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Que? Not usually on the menu unless it's Lindsay Shannon's annual celebration of Muddy Water's birthday. Traditionally April 4th is the date but this year Lindsay stretched it out with a 2 day booking of the Nick Holt Blues Band, featuring Shawn "Li'l Slim" Holt.
Lindsay has been celebrating Muddy's birthday for years now, beginning with his Sunday evening blues show on KCFX-101.1 FM. He plays Muddy's music throughout April. Then he picked up the celebration at his road house restaurant about the past 6 years or so, that cake and champagne thing, along with commemortive tee shirts, party favors and who knows what else he might pull out of his trick bag!
And then, of course, there's the blues!
Now, the Nick Holt Blues Band is a family affair that goes like this: Nick is Morris "Magic Slim" Holt's bass playing brother and long time member of Magic's backing band, the Teardrops. Shawn "Li'l Slim" is Magic Slim's son. Magic Slim lives up in Lincoln, NE, where the famous Zoo Bar is located. He's visited BB's several times recently with the Zoo Bar house band. From that loose aggregation of musicians Nick pulled in Joe Matheny on guitar and Ryan Larsen on drums.
Nick Holt is the spitting image of Magic Slim, except, well, he’s slimmer. He is a blues shouter of casual intensity that cuts through the crowd noise. He has an easy, offhand singing style that is engaging and accessible. His bass playing style is rock steady, hitting those bass patterns with a solid regularity that anchors the whole band. It also allows Ryan, the drummer, to be a little more carefree and inventive as he fills out the band's sound.
Li'l Slim, a round face young man who doesn't look like either Slim or Nick, trades lead guitar duties with Joe, and they complement each other quite nicely. Li'l Slim has a nice round tone, an easy going solo style in the middle registers, and is apt to rip off some lightening fast leads.
Joe is an animated player. He is apt to come out stinging and biting with a bit of a harder edge to his sound. HE solos with space within the phrases, doesn't clutter things up with too many notes, is deliberate in building his solos.
They mine the music styles and arrangements of the masters and layer their blues lyrics on top. They'll use a Jimmy Reed riff on one tune with a lyric from another, use Sonny Boy Williamsons' "Help Me, Mama" riff to great effect. They mine B. B. King’s music for everything. They are presenting a genre showcase here, done up in a loose and free manner that has the crowd waving their arms and popping up out of their chairs.
Their first set included takes on B.B. King's "You Upset Me, Baby" and "Woke Up This Morning". They do "Mustang Sally" starting with a slapping, rhythmic bass and easy, loping rhythm that has the crowd gyrating in the aisles and singing along. They end their first set with "Kansas City" done as a shuffle.
Nick Holt’s blues shouter style doesn’t work so well when they do "Stand by Me", but the bass drives the melody and the band fits in all around it for a nice, bluesy treatment. On their rendition of "I Don't Know What Love Is", Li'l Slim fiercely attacks his solo, stutters and cries through his guitar while a couple dances in corner by band.
The celebration continued on into the night, driven as much by Lindsay Shannon's devotion to the blues, and to Muddy Waters, as it is by Nick Holt and friends.
Eatin', drinkin' and being merry among the enthusiastic crowd is about as good a way to celebrate the blues. So mark your calendar for next year, Middy’s birthday party, every April 4, like clockwork.