Howard Randall and Mickey Maguire have been hosting the Wednesday night open mic jam at Boondocks Tavern & Country Grill for several weeks now. They’ve got it down to a system of not having a system, leaving it pretty free for players to come up and jam almost at will. This made for interesting combos and a couple of large combos that played huge sounding interpretations of blues music. Players certainly waited their turn to play, but there was also a looseness to it that worked well for the informal local pub atmosphere inside the Weare, New Hampshire venue.
Keyboardist Junie Belanger was leading the house band through his rendition of “Long Gone,” singing the classic lyrics with a dry, forlorn vocal tone of an old time blues man. Belanger had a terrific rhythmic sense at the keys. He tapped out a style from an earlier time in music that made the heart of the song. Later, Belanger sang with a guttural verve while second guitarist, Sage Brekka, played an incisive melodic phrase that ran through the song like a cool, blues drenched spear.
Mr. Howard Randall, took over the vocal duties at that point and the band played a particularly thick batch of sound. Soon, Brian Ducharme got up to sing and play his guitar. Ducharme was particularly strong singing in a lower register than usual. He also picked off a melodic phrase that rang out with a little extra something. It was a good hefty dose of roots music. The rhythm section, which included a rhythm guitarist and a saxophonist, kept the sound three dimensional.
Dennis McKenney went up next to blow some Chicago blues style harp lines and to sing with his whiskey soaked voice. Ducharme, meanwhile, tackled the main melodic phrase and made it his. It was another Ducharme guitar highlight in which the notes rang out with true blues grit. An instrumental intro into the next tune proved a good workout. Then, it was time for the voice. McKenney, again, sang with earthy conviction and he blew the sweetest harp notes this side of the Mississippi.
During the break, Belanger has some fun with his keyboard. He played the Bob Segar song “Trying To Live My Life Without You.” He also tapped out a little boogie woogie piano melody. When the others came back inside from break they were all soon into “Don’t You Lie To Me.” McKenney handled the vocal well while the players made the most of the space Belanger opened up with his tasteful but unobtrusive piano line. They went to town filling it in.
For a small country jam, the players found a lot of nuances in the material they were playing to add plenty of nice touches. The second drummer of the evening had a nifty way of keeping it in the pocket. There was something clever about his technique, offering a little extra with his beats when they were playing “Driving Wheel” by Roosevelt Sykes. The guitarists here barked out some serious rhythmic phrasing. Then, Brian Ducharme took control of the microphone once more. Belanger augmented well on the keys while Brekka hit the perfect tone in his phrase. The band had a lot of fun playing Jimmy Witherspoon’s “Drinking Beer” song. Ducharme couldn’t resist to play “Tigerman,” one of his favorites to unleash at blues jams. He gave it a brisk treatment on his guitar, slapping out some feisty chords.
Keyboardist Zoltan Feledy, a man who came to the United States 20 years ago from Hungary, joined in as Randall resumed his place at the microphone. Randall’s solid vocal heft allowed him to go a bit lower down than usual and that seemed to inspire the band to play it heavy. Saxophonist Howie Fohlin, too, played like a wind storm. A nine piece combo serving up a lot of musical drama, including Belanger playing a washboard and a drummer sticking tables and chairs. Just when you thought that was the grand finale, the large combo went into an exciting take on “Going Down.”
Everyone got to shine in one place or another last night. Guitarist Aaron Botelho got into the right space during a lot of the songs last night. Whether playing rhythm or lead, he put his personal mark on it all.
Randall and Maguire had a good vibe going on at last night’s Boondocks blues jam. Once the word gets out how much fun they are having playing real vintage blues songs and authentic roots music, they’ll have people lining to get into that quaint country tavern at night.
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