www.austin.com - Red White and Blues Festival (review)

Red White and Blues Festival (review)

Written by James Paine

What a perfect day for the Fourth of July celebration: mild weather and overcast skies. Although attendance was low, music lovers came from all age groups to get blue. Several luminaries made this venue all the worth it. G.E. Smith of ?Saturday Night Live? fame, rocked the crowd with the assistance of Blues Legend ?Hubert Sumlin?, who played the guitar as good as anyone I know; very authentic. For the grand finale, G.E.,invited Charlie Sexton and Jake Andrews to join him on the stage. Several blistering solos concluded a much too short set.

?Gooding?, a power trio from Wichita, Kansas, started off the five o?clock hour with a musical ?slap in the face? or ?boot in the ?..?. While most other bands expect the crowd to start their engines, ?Gooding? set the stage ?on fire? from song one. Even though there wasn?t more than 50 people stage front, the level of energy and sound coming from Gooding, made me feel like I was at the Irwin Center. Unrelenting musical assault to the senses in a ?gooding? way, in spite of sound system difficulties. ?Jesus comin (and He knows the mess you made)?, featured Gooding, the single named lead singer on acoustic slide guitar, WD-40ing all over the neck of his guitar like a madman under the influence of god only knows what; probably his rhythm section. Drummer Jesse Reichenberger and bassist Billy Driver provided the type of rhythm section most guitarists only dream of. Their incessant driving, pounding rhythms, held the crowd captive, as they stood there with jaws agape. Never have three guys, in my recent memory, put out such a sound.They tour heavily up and down the I-35 corridor and are planning to be in Austin again the 18,19th of October 2006. Don?t miss these guys!

Contact info at: my space.com/goodingband, also at: Goodingband.com Great job guys! The high point of the festival for this reviewer, by far.
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