Tim Sukits

Category: Music

  • 2009 Summer Guide artist #2 — Pedro Arévalo

    Apr. 27, 2009

    Pedro Arévalo & Friends Too: \”My Baby\’s Gone\” (“My Baby’s Gone”)

    PEDRO ARÉVALO

    Sounds like: blues, jazz, flamenco, latin, bluegrass

    Pedro Arévalo is a staple of the Sarasota music scene. His father, known around town as Acoustic Pete, has a number of weekly gigs that Pedro and his brother Jefe step in on. Arévalo plays many instruments, but considers himself a bassist. He’s played in bands from across the genres including Swamp Grass, The Lotus Fire, Los Mosquitoes and the Vine Street Rumba Band, to name a few. He just returned from touring with Dickey Betts & Great Southern and has been playing slide guitar with Greg Allman’s son, Devon Allman, in a band called Honey Tribe. Aside from all this he has released two independently produced albums under his own name, both of which feature a spectrum of genres. “I like variety,” says Arevalo. “I love blues, country-blues and all kind of hillbilly music like bluegrass. I love jazz, just improvisation. I consider myself an improviser. That’s my profession.”

     

  • 2009 Summer Guide artist #1 — Villanova Junction

    Apr. 27, 2009

    Villanova Junction: \”Panic\” (“Panic”)

    VILLANOVA JUNCTION

    Members: Ryan O’Neill (vocals, guitar), Erin Johnson (organ), Julian Leonard (drums)

    Sounds like: The Doors, Kings of Leon, Murder by Death

    Villanova Junction is a three-piece with some serious sound. O’Neill met Leonard at a party two years ago where they discovered their mutual love for the Misfits. Johnson joined up after he saw them play their first show on a Halloween night: “We started with some covers like The Doors and Murder City Devils and then we ventured off and did our own stuff.” They put out their self-titled album in January and are now writing material for the follow-up. “The tempo is definitely a little different,” says O’Neill, “I think we want to gear towards more energy, connecting more with the crowd and the listeners.” Johnson plays a vintage Hammond organ with all original parts from the late ’60s and he fills out the low end with a modern keyboard. The group wants to tour as soon as they get the “fundage.” “We’re not an ego-based, bastard kind of band,” says O’Neill.

     

  • Robin Rogers brings the house down at Ace’s this Saturday

    Apr. 1, 2009

    Robin Rogers bring her infectious enthusiasm to Bradenton’s Ace’s this week. She’s been nominated for Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year in the upcoming 30th Annual Blues Music Awards. She and her band also won the Blues Foundation’s Best Produced CD award in 2005 for their Crazy Cryin’ Blues album. Rogers has opened up for Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray and is currently on tour promoting her newest effort Treat Me Right.

     

  • Ray Bonneville rocks the Irish Rover Pub this Saturday

    Apr. 1, 2009

    Ray Bonneville has been touring around singing his gritty storytelling and deep grooving blues songs for more than 30 years. His 1999 album Gust of Wind won him a Juno Award (the Canadian Grammy) and his fourth release, Rough Luck, scored a nomination. He has shared the stage with some major blues legends (B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Cray) and got the music industry’s attention in 2007 with his performance at South By Southwest. He’s touring the country now in support of his 2008 record Goin’ By Feel. This show’s being presented at the Irish Rover by local radio station WSLR.

     

  • The 2009 Sarasota Folk Festival: Grant Peeples

    Grant Peeples
    Mar. 12, 2009
    Grant Peeples

    As we mentioned previously, The 6th Annual Sarasota Folk Festival will be a whole new show this year. It has expanded to a two-day event and is now being held at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey. The boogie is going down March 14 and 15 and will feature 30 acts on three stages. The theme this year is “Go Green” and all the vendors have pledged to use biodegradable consumables and recycle all their waste. We had a chat with a few of the artists who will be rocking out the crowd:

    Grant Peeples

    One of many artists making the drive to play the festival, Peeples has been described as a Leftneck – a left-wing redneck – and writes politically driven songs in a traditional country style. “I come from very southern stock,” says the seventh-generation Floridian, “but environmentally, socially and politically I’m a little left-of-center. I’m a liberal with a gun.” He says his songs are mostly social commentary: “I call it ‘finger-in-your-eye’ music. I like to challenge listeners.”

    Peeples comes from a small town outside of Tallahassee called Sopchoppy: “I tell people it has two stop signs and three recording studios.” Musically, John Prine and Hank Williams are big influences, but he finds just as much inspiration in Edgar Allan Poe, Flannery O’Connor and Tennessee Williams.

    Peeples says he started writing songs at a very young age, but didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 20. “I was writing songs and trying to get people to play them and nobody would,” he says, “so I started singing them myself.” He’s cut two albums so far — the latest is titled It’s Later Than You Think. To him, it’s all about original material. “I don’t do any covers, not a one, and I don’t make up any songs. It’s stuff that happens to me; I write about stuff I see.”

  • The 2009 Sarasota Folk Festival: Al Fuller

    Al Fuller
    Mar. 11, 2009
    Al Fuller

    As we mentioned previously, The 6th Annual Sarasota Folk Festival will be a whole new show this year. It has expanded to a two-day event and is now being held at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey. The boogie is going down March 14 and 15 and will feature 30 acts on three stages. The theme this year is “Go Green” and all the vendors have pledged to use biodegradable consumables and recycle all their waste. We had a chat with a few of the artists who will be rocking out the crowd:

    Al Fuller

    Bluesman Fuller has been playing around the area for 15 years, and this will be his fifth folk fest. “I play a lot of my own songs, but I’m kind of known for my blues stuff,” he says. “I don’t know what I’m going to play this year, but I have about 300 songs to choose from.” Fuller’s biggest influences were the great old blues guys like Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. He grew up playing piano, but at the age of 11 his parents brought home a guitar. He was hooked.

    Fuller has released five albums. His first was a solo joint, then he produced three with a full band before returning to his solo roots with his latest all-original disc, Coming Home. “I’ve had different variations of my band over the years,” he says. The current members gather together for Al Fuller’s Blues Jam at the Five O’Clock Club every Monday night. Dude is also a full-time guitar instructor at Fogt’s music store.