Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, September 26, 2008

This week: Dusty 45s get to the roots of rock

The band plays in Edmonds. And Jackson Browne, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss come to Seattle.

By Sharon Wootton
Special to The Herald

 Bummed that the summer-that-really-wasn't is officially over? Unprepared for the coming rains? Feeling a touch of premature seasonal affected disorder?

The antidote will be handed out tonight when the Dusty 45s take the stage at Edmonds Center for the Arts.

For more than a decade, the roots rockers have turned the elements of honky-tonk, rock 'n' roll, gospel, R&B, country and western, and jump blues into a sound of their own, led by Billy Joel Huels, who once portrayed Buddy Holly at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre. Harmonic vocals and a mariachi trumpet have helped stamp that signature into every show.

This is the sound of the dance-happy 1950s and 1960s.



Jackson Browne: Known for combining the personal with the political, Browne has a timeless quality about him that crosses generations. He earned his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with high-energy performances and songs such as "The Pretender," "Doctor My Eyes," "Running on Empty," "The Load-Out/Stay" and "I'm Alive." He received the Courage of Conscience Awards from The Peace Abbey for promoting peace and justice and his support of nonviolent solutions.



Hot Buttered Rum: The string musicians met on a backpacking trip, were named after a drink, drive a bus that runs on vegetable oil, and deliver high-energy, dance-party shows. HBR has been described as a rock-band playing bluegrass instruments. The group can deliver a beat without drums and stray across genre lines, an acoustic set that can color a song with a reggae beat, cover Grateful Dead's "Cumberland Blues" or add a touch of Celtic with the band's signature "Whiskey Creek."



Robert Plant, Alison Krauss: Plant, rock singer-songwriter and ex-lead vocalist for Led Zeppelin, has been recording ("Raising Sand") and performing with bluegrass-country singer and fiddler Krauss since 2007. The song "Gone Gone Gone" earned a 2008 Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. The two have been performing music from the album, American roots music and refurbished Led Zeppelin songs on tour this year. Krauss has won more than 20 Grammy Awards.



Meg Hutchinson, Richard Shindell: Singer-songwriter Hutchinson joins folk icon Shindell. Hutchinson's "Come Up Full" is a collection of introspective, lyrically driven songs. She's won several songwriting awards in the U.S., Ireland and Great Britain. Joan Baez has recorded several of Shindell's songs. He collaborated with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky to form the excellent trio of Cry Cry Cry.



Out and about: The one-man folk-rock band Liam Finn arrives in Seattle (tonight, High Dive) … Salsa band Grupo Niche from Colombia has been popular for almost three decades (Saturday, Showbox SoDo) … Power pop legend Sloan has a new rock album, "Parallel Play" (Sunday, Chop Suey) … Zimbabwe's popular music star Chiwoniso tours with her new CD, "Rebel Woman," an all-star band and an emphasis on the mbira, a metal keyed instrument (Monday, Jazz Alley) …

Guitar master Larry Coryell's B-3 Hammond Organ Trio is led by a pioneer of rock-jazz fusion. He played pop music with the Fifth Dimension, rock with Cream bassist Jack Bruce and jazz with Charles Mingus (Tuesday through Oct. 1, Jazz Alley) … On the neo-folk leading edge, The Duhks are out with the band's fourth album, "Fast Paced World" (Monday, Tractor Tavern) …

Danceable funk superstars Average White Band ("Person to Person," "Schoolboy Crush," "Queen of My Soul") offers a four-night stand in support of this year's "Soul & the City" (Thursday through Oct. 5, Jazz Alley) … Four of the top autoharp players, Autoharp Times Four, bring virtuosity and stories to the stage (Saturday, Phinney Neighborhood Center, Seattle) … Ex-Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart's Global Drum Project celebrates the 15th anniversary of the album "Planet Drum," which won the first Grammy in the World Music category (Wednesday, Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall) …

Indie-rock group Tea for Julie performs with music from "The Sense of Tying Knots" (Saturday, High Dive, Seattle) … My Morning Jacket brings its reverb-laden rock, funk and psychedelic sounds (Sunday, McCaw Hall) … Todd Rundgren (The New Cars), who has composed music for the TV series "Pee-wee's Playhouse" and the movie "Dumb and Dumber," has a new rock album set for release this month (Wednesday, Triple Door).
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA