It was a full weekend of music.  Two nights of music at the Snout Saloon.   Friday night was Volume One's Best Blue Band, Mojo Lemon and then Saturday night it was Steve Meyer and Blues Dogs.   I almost thought it was going to be the perfect trifecta, because I had thought Billy Krause was playing at the Red Parrot Nightclub as an early show on Friday night.   …Which, to tell you the truth, I was looking forward to more than the other shows.  But Friday afternoon came and I checked my Facebook, only to find people talking about "last night's show."  Turns out it was a Thursday night show and I had missed it.

I thought Steve Meyer and The Blues Dogs had improved somewhat since the last time I had seen them.  (The Blues Dogs at Owen Park) Maybe they have been just as good the whole time.  There were lots of environmental issues clouding my opinions the last time.  This time, there was no rain, no whining children, and beer.  I guess it is easier to understand why I was in a better mood to see a band.  But, I still maintain they were sounding better.  They still have the minor annoyance of not having a playlist.  Between songs there is a lot of time spent "wada, you wanna play", "I dunno, wada you want to play".  Once consensus is reached, the results are favorable.

They played a solid three sets.  Not flawless, but no real cringing moments either.  And, the guys seemed to be having a great time playing, which goes a long ways towards audience picking up on it.  The music was straight blues earlier in the evening, tending more towards rock and roll as the evening went on.  The only real disappointment of the evening was the crowd size.  The music was good, but for much of the second set there were only nine customers in the bar.  Hard to cover expenses with that size of crowd.

It was during the end of set announcement of the band member names that I finally made a connection.  The drummer for the Blues Dogs, Frank Juodis, is the father of Phil, the bass player in the up and coming band, South Farwell.  I met Phil a little over a year ago, we were both watching the band Half Life blow off a show at 1st and Goal in Chippewa Falls when I got talking to Phil and discovered he was a bass player.  He told me music and bands are in his blood, thanks to his father.  Even though dad was in a "TOTALLY LAME-ASS, blues band", it was still a band.  Phil was referring to the The Pumps, who I had seen a few times.  Light blues, but they aren't really that lame.  Ahhh, the  joys of fatherhood in the undying support by ones offspring.

Willie Chopper on Keyboards playing with the Mojo Lemon Blues Band

Mojo Lemon on Friday night was good as ever.  The crowd was a little bigger than the Saturday night crowd.  Still quite small though.    The big news on the Mojo Lemon front is the return of Willie Chopper on Keyboards, after being gone from the band for a bit.  I need to walk a bit of a fine line here, because I like Willie, I like what he brings to the band.  In the music the band plays, when Willie is with them, he makes an excellent addition.  However, that being said, I like the song selection a little better when he is gone.  It seems like when they are a three piece the music tends to be a bit rockier, a bit rougher, and a bit wilder.  And, the guitar solos, which I always love, tend to run a bit longer.  So a bit more yummy goodness there.   Am I just saying I like my cake both ways?  Perhaps.

Good blues and good company.  At one point I was talking to my friend, a bar regular who goes by the nickname Snapper.   He said "Its a lazy man who can't find his wife at least two jobs…"  As good as Mojo was, it's possible that quote edged out the music for the high point of the night.

Steve Meyer & Blues Dogs sing the Allman Brothers One Way Out

Mojo Lemon singing a little Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone

A bit of world order was restored at the Snout this weekend when I walked in and saw a long time absent face.  Russ, a blues fan from south Eau Claire was at a stool.  It was his first visit this music season.  I guess employment changes moved him to Wisconsin Rapids, a two hour drive to the Snout.  So, he is thinking of going to check out the Lacrosse blues scene.  Next time I see him, I might have a report.  In the meantime, if you see a guy, blue shirt, leather snap brim, fingers blazing on his iPhone, buy him a beer from me.  Have him tell you the story of ridin' in a little rain storm in Indiana.

Also, I ran into Howard Luedtke at Farm and Fleet over in Hallie last week.  Always a surreal event when you run into someone you only know from a bar.   Especially when it is a person I still place in the category of someone famous.  For those that don't know it already, his wife, Magic Deb, bass player in the Blue Max Band, has been sick.  Talking to Howard, he said she is doing real good and there has been some good news along the way.  We are all thinking of you Deb.  For more information, check Deb Notes over at: http://howardluedtke.com/debNotes.htm

Steve Meyer and The Blues Dogs have a MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/stevemeyerandthebluesdogs
Mojo Lemon Blues Band has their own web site at: http://mojolemon.com/

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