David Grisman and Del McCoury 2/25/16 College St. Music Hall

Bluegrass pioneers Del and Dawg graced the Hall with history and chops. At 79, Del got his start on banjo and then rhythm guitar for Bill Monroe in the 40s. Grisman on mandolin played with Jerry Garcia. With one microphone, Del and Dawg played some staples: Dark Hollow, Toy Heart, Shenandoah Breakdown. Between songs, mainly Grisman taught a master's class on the history of bluegrass. The audience offered the pair a church-like reverence, realizing that these two are in the waning moments of their touring careers. Show highlight was Man of Constant Sorrow.

Dan Baird and the Homemade Sin 2/23/16 Cafe 9

DB and the HS took their brand of "swamp-ass" rock to C9. DB wore a top hat, and reminded me of a cross between John Hiatt and Todd Snider. Snarky southern humor and rock and roll chops, you could tell this band had a toe in arena rock. Then it appeared, "don't tell me no lies, and keep your hands to yourself". Yes, DB was the voice of the Georgia Satellites, early 80s on hit wonders. With help from young bassist and veteran drummer, and lead guitarist with a BonJovi complex, DB seems to have plodded along with the initial push from the GS hit. It was a rainy February night, and I bumped into DB on the way in. He said the weather was a bit much to which I responded that he could do anything with a tophat. Good thing I didn't make a Smartass Lincoln joke, DB is keenly aware of the Mason-Dixon or should I say Macon-Dixon line. Highlight was a tune about finding some CCR on the radio, even veering into a little Proud Mary for good measure.

Joe Russo's Almost Dead 2/11/16 College Street Music Hall

Joe Russo and Marco Benevento called themselves The Duo in the early aughts. They plugged in to the Phish-ey blossom of new jam and were tour warriors. Befriending the likes of MMW and showing an appetite for versatility, The Duo were positioned to be called up to the majors. Russo on drums and Benevento on a variety of keyboards, they needed to be familiar with the Grateful Dead catalog. Russo even got tapped to play in various post-Jerry incarnations while Marco carved out some quirky critically acclaimed solo offerings. Fast forward to 2016, the duo with the help of some other jammy pals, rock the area as JRAD.
People latch on to the Dead for a variety of reasons: country rock of Uncle John's Band, jazzy improv of Dark Star, expansive segue- rock of Scarlet/Fire or China/Rider, and of course the drug barter parking lot scene. JRAD focused on the Jazz segue notions of the Dead, delivering ambitious versions of Cumberland Blues, Bertha, and Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad. The evening highlight was Benevento's melding of Tear's For Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World with the iconic GD anthem Eyes of the World.

Moon Hooch w/ Balkun Bros. Bar 2/3/16

Just caught the last tune of local blues outfit Balkun Bros. The back room at Bar was packed for an indoor-hippie-freak out for area buskers Moon Hooch. Legend has it that this trio of drums, sax, and sax hooned their chops in a NYC subway stop. I missed them at the 2015 Vibes because they were dealt a miserable time slot. I couldn't see the drummer from my vantage point, but his propulsive fills created the palate for sax. One saxman played alto exclusively and sang and rapped a bit. The other saxman started out on baritone and moved to some homemade sax contraption that looked like a mutant handrail and gave off a Bassnectar-like EDM leg hair shaking synth sound. The second sax-er also played a small keyboard laptop thing. The trio had a lot of energy which kept the the packed house in a perpetual pogo. The second saxer even strapped on a sawed off traffic cone to the sax bell for extra effect. Like many dance offerings, the songs didn't vary in structure, and the sparse vocals seemed like blurry add-ons . This music pivots on crescendo, not song structure. At many points, the dueling saxes fired their sound at each other like some rock-em sax-em robots. "Stand clear the closing" indeed.