Weekend Picks: Wood Brothers, Buddy Guy, George Porter Jr, Tim Barry, Northcote, Allison Weiss, Lee Ann Womack, Butcher Brown, Susan Greenbaum

Back from Key West, refreshed and not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. If it wasn't for the kids, I probably never would have left Key West, like so many others before me. But it looks like there is some great music here in RVA this weekend, so that will take some of the sting off of leaving island paradise.

Thursday night finds founding member of The Meters, George Porter Jr. & The Runnin' Pardners at the Capital Ale House downtown. Show starts at 8 and no openers are listed. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. They'll be out promoting their new EP, "It's Time to Funk". Indeed it is. Indeed it is. Here they are playing "Cissy Strut" and "Funkify Your Life" with Clarence Johnson on sax:



The Wood Brothers, Oliver Wood and Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin & Wood), will at Friday Cheers with their band for the last Friday Cheers of the season. The Wood Brothers are roots/folk rock in the mode of The Band, Ray Lamontagne, Justin Townes Earle, Marc Broussard, Josh Ritter, John Prine, Taj Mahal, Avett Brothers or Muddy Waters. It's $10 to get in. Son Little kicks things off at 6:30 and The Wood Brothers are on around 8. The Wood Brothers just got back from a European tour and here they are playing live for NOS Met het Oog. And I have no idea what that means. Music starts at about 0:50.



Susan Greenbaum with percussionist Chris Parker are at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Friday night. Show starts at 8, it's $10 to get in and there is no opener. Susan recently performed at the SPARC Live Art benefit. She performed Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move" with Sara Bareilles. Susan has a lot of great originals but here she is covering Del Shannon's "Runaway":



At the Broadberry Friday night, it's Butcher Brown, DJ Williams Projekt and Midnight Snack for a night of soul funk jams. Doors open at 8 and it's $8 in advance, $10 at the door. You may have caught Butcher Brown opening for Snarky Puppy last week at Cheers. Here's Butcher Brown in April performing "Georgia Ave.":

Saturday night at The Camel, it's aggressive acoustic with Tim Barry, lead singer for Avail out on his own. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 7 and be sure to get in to see openers Northcote and Allison Weiss who are both excellent. Let's do one from each. Here's Tim Barry doing "Solid Gone" filmed right here in RVA:



Here's Northcote performing "Find Our Own Way":



And here's Allison Weiss' "Wait For Me":



Sunday night at The Beacon Theatre in Hopewell, country singer Lee Ann Womack is in town for a show. Doors open at 6 and Bethany Gates will open the show. Tix range from $25 - $45 in advance and $30 - $50 at the door. Lee Ann will be performing at AmericanaFest Sept. 15 - 20 in Nashville along with Ricky Skaggs, Ry Cooder, Buddy Miller, The Mavericks and more. Here's Lee Ann's "Last Call" from 2008:



Wednesday, one of the greatest blues guitarists ever, Buddy Guy, comes to Innsbrook. This show actually has me thinking about braving the money pit that is Innsbrook to see him. Quinn Sullivan and Skip Castro Band will open the show. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6. GA lawn is $15, Gold Circle Reserved $35, Gold Circle Preferred $45, and Gold Circle Platinum $99. Buddy's got a brand new studio album coming out on July 31 called "Born to Play Guitar" so expect to hear some tracks from that. Buddy joined the Rolling Stones last night (6/23) in Milwaukee to play "Champagne & Reefer". Sound quality isn't great on this one, but check it out. Buddy can still bring it.



That's it. I'll definitely see you at Cheers and maybe some other shows this weekend. I'll leave you with Alabama Shakes performance at the 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest:



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan