Weekend Picks: Bobby Long, Big Mama Shakes, No BS! Brass Band, Life On Mars

The weekend starts on Thursday with Big Mama Shakes at The Broadberry. I've been very impressed with the band, having seen them a couple times last month. They play good, loud, fun classic/blues rock n' roll with a mix of mostly originals and a few choice covers. It's only $7 to get in and it's a big show. Doors open at 8, and the show starts at 8:30 so they can fit in all the openers: Manatree, Basement Club and Bencoolen. Here's Big Mama Shakes on the wonderful local music show, Radio Rubber Room, last month:

Bobby Long is at Ashland Coffee & Tea Friday. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 day of show. Show starts at 8, no opener. I'll let the press blurb speak about Bobby:

British singer-songwriter Bobby Long emerged from London’s club scene with a reputation for creating memorable songs inhabited by hauntingly poetic lyrics. He relocated to New York in 2009 and has since released three CDs inhabited by powerful original material: A Winter Tale (2011)—an homage to his acoustic roots; Wishbone (2013)—a gritty opus that showcases his sorrow-filled voice and stellar guitar playing; and the latest, Ode to Thinking, which applies his varied musical influences to a new collection of compelling songs. The vinyl version called Ode, comprising six tracks from the CD and three previously unreleased tracks, is also now available from Compass Records. Long has also published a volume of poetry—Losing My Brotherhood—with a second collection coming later this year.

 Here's Bobby performing in OKC in May:



No BS! Brass Band is at The Broadberry Friday night. Tix are $10 advance, $15 day of show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Clair Morgan will open the show so get there early. No BS! got their Scottish on at The Vagabond last week. Can't tell if they are wearing kilts or not in this video but it's a great mash-up of music.

Sunday, it's the next show in the monthly summer/fall series Music in the Park at Forest Hill Park. They are doing tribute bands all summer. This time they've got the David Bowie tribute, Life On Mars. Show starts at 6 and it's FREE and family friendly. Here's a couple minutes of the band doing "Heroes" at The Broadberry in February:



That's it! Have a great weekend. I'll see you at the Live On Mars show.

I'll leave you with this one from The Head and the Heart for no particular reason other than it's a good song:



Tony Jordan