Bobby Long and tge Kalob Griffin Band, photo courtesy of CEA Photography
Looks like the weather can even affect music these days. The weather can be very unpredictable in the summertime in the U.S. Midwest. Blurry, angry thunderstorms, pelting hailstorms, whirling tornadoes, and tragic floods. Nashville was one city that experienced the worst flood ever in its history when flooding hit in May, submerging the city in water including downtown, Opry Mills Mall, the Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry. These landmarks have been closed for renovations and won’t reopen for several months.
The point is: our British friend/folk musician and newly transplanted New Yorker, Bobby Long, experienced our turbulent weather first-hand when he was forced to cancel two shows in June due to severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings – one in Columbus, Ohio and the other in Chicago. For a musician as passionate and talented as Bobby – who literally lives to play and perform – this was difficult. However, we’re happy he was safe from danger.
Backed by a band for the first time – the Kalob Griffin Band – Long hit the road June 15th in New York City. He met his bandmates when he was touring with Matt Pond PA earlier in the year. He stated in interviews that the guys were all about the same age and good guys. Bobby has stated in interviews that: “I’m looking at the show with a band as another chapter in this adventure. I played guitar in a band when I first started performing music, but it was before I wrote my own material. It will be an exciting experience for me to add fresh elements to my songs like I was able to do when I was recording the album.” With his band, Bobby has crisscrossed the country doing gigs – some with the band and some without.
Meanwhile, Bobby played at the Firebird in St. Louis, then continued traveling to play a show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Last night, July 7th, Bobby played at Anthology in San Diego, backed by the Kalob Griffin Band for several songs. An interesting feature of this venue is the big screen behind the stage, which projects large scale images of the performance to the crowd. Reports are that the show was well attended and the performance with the band was awesome. Bobby apparently enjoyed seeing himself on the big screen, claiming that his “backend” was the money shot!
On July 2nd, Bobby posted a new song on his MySpace page called “It’s Hard to Take.” The song is reflective of Bobby’s soulful style. It depicts Bobby’s raspy voice and weaves a tapestry of heartstrings for the listener. Beautiful.
Photo courtesy of SKPhotos
Tonight, July 8th, Bobby is playing at the Wasted Space in Las Vegas. Tomorrow night, Bobby will be performing at The Troubadour at 10:00 p.m. at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. At 9:00 p.m., Trouble Over Tokyo performs.
If you haven’t heard Bobby Long play live, then try to catch one of his shows. There aren’t many more this summer, so do it now. It’s an experience you’ll never forget. Remember what I said about heartstrings? Yes, he’ll pull you in and he’ll capture you with those.
Bobby’s remaining gigs include:
July 9, Friday: Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA, USA
July 17, Saturday: Xponential 2010 Music Festival, Wiggins Park, Camden, NJ, USA
Aug. 14, Saturday: The Mile High Festival, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO, USA
Listen to Bobby’s songs at: www.MySpace.com/musicbobbylong and visit his fan website at: www.musicbobbylong.com for more info. And, stay tuned to this column for information about Bobby and his music.
Comments
Excellent article! Thorough research.
I love Bobby Long and thank you for writing this article. Your articles are my favorites concerning the music.
I attended both the San Diego & West Hollywood shows and all I have to say is WOW! The KGB band backing Bobby won me over in San Diego and I was pretty apprehensive. Their rendition of Penance Fire Blues brought the house down! He also did his new song "That Little Place I Knew" solo, with the harmonica & it was simply amazing.
The Troubadour was incredible, one of the best music venues by far. One of the highlights for me was his newest song "It's Hard to Take" which he performed with Eric & Kalob from the band and it was powerful! Bobby solo, the duet, trio & songs with the band made for a very complete show, one of the best I've ever been too! It makes me very excited for the future...
Bobby Long is wonderful. I am so happy someone is writing a column for him!
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