Late Night Pick: Gregg Allman, RIP Donald "Duck" Dunn

Tonight on Conan, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman will be on to shill his biography, "My Cross to Bear" filled with stories of the blues, drug use and sex with groupies and Cher. Good stuff. Not sure if he'll perform or just tell us cool stories about 70's rock hedonism. Either way, we win. Conan is on TBS at 11 PM and 1 AM.

You may know him as the bass player for the Blues Brothers. You may know him from Booker T & The MGs or as one of the creators of the Stax/Volt sound in the 60s and 70s. You may have seen him play with Eric Clapton, Neil Young or Bob Dylan. Any way you know him, he was one of the greatest, yet most understated, bass players ever. Donald "Duck" Dunn passed away Sunday morning at 70. HERE is the obit. And here is with Booker T and the MGs doing the classic "Green Onions":

Late Night Pick of the Night: Silversun Pickups

Tonight, check out alt-rockers Silversun Pickups on Jimmy Kimmel on ABC at 12:05 AM. Spin Magazine said that their new album, "Neck of the Woods", was one of the "25 Spring Albums That You Gotta Hear".

Carolina Chocolate Drops, Diamond Center, Black Girls, Southern Belles, Jonathan Vassar & Speckled Bird

Looks like all the musical action is tonight this week. I guess no one wants to go out on Saturday night and get too plastered and be all hungover for Mom on Sunday.

Friday Cheers tonight has Carolina Chocolate Drops. Tix are $5 and kids under 12 are free. Show starts at 6:30 with opener The Inflatables. Show ends around 9:30 so you can still get some sleep. Here's some info on the Drops that I cribbed from the Cheers email: "Their concerts, The New York Times declared, were "an end-to-end display of excellence... They dip into styles of Southern black music from the 1920s and '30s-string-band music, jug-band music, fife and drum, early jazz--and beam their curiosity outward. They make short work of their instructive mission and spend their energy on things that require it: flatfoot dancing, jug playing, shouting." Some "WOW" facts about the group:

•             Their song, "Daughters Lament" is on the Hunger Games movie soundtrack.

•             They won a Grammy Award in 2010 for the Best Traditional Folk Album

•             They played as the group "Stankofa Strings" at the 2005 National Folk Festival in RVA.

•             They have opened for both Bob Dylan and the Dave Matthews Band this year"

Here's Carolina Chocolate Drops doing the title cut from their new album, "Leaving Eden" live in an old church in New Orleans.

At Gallery 5 tonight, a showcase of local bands featuring Diamond Center (acoustic-ish), Jonathan Vassar & The Speckled Bird, David Shultz (solo), and Hope for Agoldensummer (from Athens GA). Doors are at 7:30, show starts at 8 and it's $7 to get in. If you need more info on the show, go to the Facebook event page HERE. Here's Diamond Center playing electrically and psychedelically at Lamplighter Lounge in Memphis:



Southern Belles will bring their cover, jam band groovified honky-tonk selves to Cary St. Cafe tonight. Show starts at 10 and cover is $5. Here's the Belles doing "Fried Fish" at Cary St. Cafe in January:

Black Girls will be at Balliceaux with Harrison Colby and The Zenith Mountain Band opening. Show will start at 10:30 and it's $5 to get in. This will be Black Girls last show in Richmond until June.

For all you winos, oh sorry, oenophile, the Central VA Wine Fest takes place on Saturday from noon to 6 out at Innsbrook. It should be a beautiful day to get drunk, oh sorry, let your palate sample the fine wines of Virginia. Go and get a good bottle of wine for your mama. Some good wine, not that box of Franzia you got her last year. Tix are $20 online and $25 at the gate.

If you want something a little more kid oriented, Henrico County has KidFest going on at Deep Run Park on Saturday from 1 - 4 and that's free. There will be games, arts & crafts, and music from local teen bands (OK, that may not sell you on going).

That's it. Have a great weekend and to all you moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Late Night Pick of the Night: AWOLNation, NO BS! Brass Band, Jackson Browne

Get a sneak preview of alternative pop rockers AWOLNation, who will be at The National on Sunday night, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. Will Farrell will also be on so that should be a fun time.

NO BS! Brass Band will be at Balliceaux tonight at 10. That'll be FREE to get in, too.

Jackson Browne will be coming to the Carpenter Theatre on July 20 at 8 PM. Tix go on sale Friday May 11 at 10 AM. This will be Jackson Browne acoustic but he's good, plugged or unplugged. Sara Watkins will open. Tix are $70.

Willie Nelson show postponed, Late Night Pick: Mick Taylor

Tonight's Willie Nelson show at Innsbrook has been postponed until May 20th. Here is the word on the Innsbrook site: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Wednesday May 9 Willie Nelson concert has been postponed.  The new concert date is  Sunday May 20th, gates at 6pm. All tickets purchased for May 9th will be honored for the new date.  Refunds for ticket value can be obtained at the point of your ticket purchase." Probably better off because it's pouring rain right now and that may continue into the evening.

Tonight's Late Night Pick is once and possibly future (he may join the Stones for their 50th Anniversary tour) guitarist for the Rolling Stones, Mick Taylor. He is doing some gigs at a jazz club in NYC and will be stopping by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Of Monsters and Men

Spent some time on the road for work the last few days so no blog. Spent some time while driving on the road yesterday listening to the Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears' CD "Scandalous". It pretty much rocks in an old school R&B with bluesy grunge on top and killer horn section riffs kind of way, just like the show at Friday Cheers last week. I recommend it.

Tonight, check out Icelandic folkie pop band Of Monsters & Men on Late Night on Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, RVA Beer Fest, Papadosio, Spindrift, Willie Nelson, Megadeth, New Orleans Jazz Fest webcast

Lots going on this weekend so let's jump right in with the beginning of the Friday Cheers season and it starts in a groovalicious way with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. These guys hail from Austin TX and bring the old school with a new twist blues, soul and R&B. Think Howlin' Wolf, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and you're in the right ballpark. Their last album, "Scandalous" got rave reviews. Friday Cheers is, of course, on Brown's Island. It's $5 to get in, kids under 12 are free and it's a family friendly scene (I'll be bringing my 4 and 7 year old boys who love Friday Cheers, more for throwing rocks in the canal and watching the geese but they dig the music when I can get them to sit still for a few minutes), gates open at 6, show starts at 6:30 with openers, The Preservation.  Here's BJL & The HBs doing "Mustang Ranch". Listen to this song and tell me this ain't gonna be a fun show, cause if you do, you'll be lyin'. Hope you get your ham glazed tomorrow.



After Cheers, you can head on over to The Camel and keep your groove goin' with Black Girls and The New Belgians. Doors open at 9 and show starts shortly thereafter. It's $6 to get in.

The RVA Beer Fest will go down indoors and outdoors at Gallery 5 Friday evening and all day Saturday with really good beers and really good bands. It's free on Friday night and $5 to get in on Saturday then you pay for tastings or full beers. Bands on Saturday include Black Girls, New Belgians, People's Blues of Richmond and more.

If you are at home at all this weekend, check out the New Orleans Jazz Fest on YouTube HERE.  They'll have highlights from last weekend and live performances from this weekend including Marcia Ball, Bruce Hornsby, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Glen Hansard, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bon Iver, Trombone Shorty, Allen Toussaint, Anders Osborne, Irma Thomas, My Morning Jacket, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Gomez, Janelle Monae, Galactic, Funky Meters, Bonnie Raitt, Neville Brothers, and acoustic Jimmy Buffett all in HD video and audio. It'll kick off at 3 PM ET Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's a preview:



Saturday night at The National, you've got jamtronica band Papadosio in town. It's $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Biodiesel. Here's Papadosio playing "Oracle Theme" live with some footage from their recent tour:



Monday night at Strange Matter, there will be an all-ages early psychedelic show to start your week in a trippy way. Spindrift (from LA), Strangers Family Band (from Orlando) and Peace Beast (offshoots of Richmond band Diamond Center) will play with doors opening at 5, show starting at 6 and it'll wrap up by 9 so you get home and come down before work the next day. It's $8 to get in. Here's a cool creepy video for Spindrift's "Drifter's Pass". The song kicks ass.:



Next Wednesday night, the reigning patriarch of Americana Country Music, Willie Nelson will be at Innsbrook. General Admission tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and Gold Circle tix can be had in advance for $45. Gates will open at 6 and the opener is Drake White.  Willie just turned 79 years old on May 1 so you can still wish him a Happy Birthday. In honor of his birthday, Pacific Biodiesel named a brand of biodiesel fuel after Willie, called "BioWillie Biodiesel". And you know you've made the big time when they name fuel after you. Here's Willie with Leon Russell doing "One For My Baby and One for the Road":



On the flip side of the music coin on Wednesday night, Megadeth with the insufferable Dave Mustaine will be at the National. Tix are $35 in advance, $40 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Scavenger's Daughter.

I'm outta here. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick of the Night: Roger Daltrey

Who frontman Roger Daltrey will be on Jimmy Kimmel tonight on ABC at 12:05 AM. As an added bonus, for me anyway, my dream girl, Scarlett Johansson will also be on. Rrrroowww! Roger is in LA to do some good deeds. He'll be visiting UCLA Hospital, where he launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program last November. He'll talk about that tonight on the show and will hopefully sing too.

Pontiak, Diamond Center, Late Night: Daryl Hall, Norah Jones webcast

It's a full-on neo-psychedelia show tonight at Strange Matter with Pontiak, Guardian Alien, Richmond's own Diamond Center and Caves Caverns. Doors open at 9, show starts at 10. It's $8 to get in.

Your late night pick is to watch Conan on TBS at 11 PM to see Daryl Hall.

Norah Jones will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight and you can also catch her on a webcast from Dave's studio. The webcast starts at 8 PM and you can see it HERE.

Late Night Pick of the Night: Father John Misty

Tonight, check out new Americana singer-songwriter Father John Misty (real name J. Tillman, who was formerly with Fleet Foxes). He'll be on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35 PM on CBS. If you like Nick Drake, Ryan Adams, Harry Nilsson or Gram Parsons, you might dig this guy.