March is flying by. I hope you enjoyed the St. Paddy’s festivities and the early spring like weather. This week is full of big shows. Do not miss out. Check it.
Wednesday
By the time Duane Betts began working on Wild & Precious Life — his triumphant debut solo album — he’d already spent two decades creating his own version of guitar-slinging, story-driven American rock & roll.
“It felt like the right time to make something that was entirely my own vision,” he says. “This is a record that guitar players will love, but at its core, it’s really a song record. It’s an album about who I am, where I come from, and what I believe in.”
The years leading up to Wild & Precious Life’s creation were a whirlwind. Duane cut his teeth with the bands Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then spent the better part of ten years playing guitar alongside his father — legendary Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts — as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. He’d also travel the world as a touring member of Dawes before releasing an EP of his own songs, Sketches of American Music, in 2018. As the decade drew to a close, Duane co-founded The Allman Betts Band, releasing two records in 2019 and 2020.
Even so, the need to create a full-length solo album — one that nodded to his musical roots while simultaneously pushing ahead into new territory — continued to gnaw at him. “I wanted to make a record which would really capture that old school Florida vibe,” says the Sarasota native. Following his instincts, Duane assembled his dream team of musicians — including guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Berry Duane Oakley, keyboardist John Ginty, and drummer Tyler Greenwell — and took up his old friends Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks on an offer to record at their own Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville. Wild & Precious Life was recorded to two-inch analog tape during a series of live-in-the-recording-studio performances in 2022.
“We set up as a band, tracked everything live, and kept whichever takes had the magic,” says Duane, who co-produced the album with Stachela and Ginty. The band welcomed a number of guests into the fold too, finding room for Marcus King (who swaps guitar solos with Duane on “Cold Dark World”), Nicki Bluhm (whose haunting harmonies run throughout the country-flavored “Colors Fade”), and Derek Trucks (who contributes searing guitar leads to the album highlight “Stare at the Sun”). Bobby Tis handled the album’s engineering duties, while seven-time Grammy winner Jim Scott mixed.
Thursday
Jam band fans unite! Dopapod w/s/g Chalk Dinosaur are coming to the Westcott Theatre for an all ages show. Doors 7 pm, music 8 pm.
Friday
Rock out with Seattle Sons at our Sharkey’s debut and relive the soundtrack of the early 1990s grunge:
Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Presidents of the United States of America, Hum and more…
6pm-9pm
$5 admission
Saturday
Catch two SAMMY Brian Bourke New Artist Award Winners in one night.
Stephen Phillips is Pop/Funk artist from Syracuse, New York with a sound like no other. His sound is Pop leaning with influence from multiple styles including Gospel, R&B, and Funk. With sounds ranging from acoustic campfire-y music to upbeat, dance tunes chock full of 80’s synths, slap bass lines and rich vintage vocals, Stephen continues to push his own bounds of creativity, writing music that is meant to inspire others and create a unique experience for everyone who tunes in to listen.
Tyjhier is a 23 year old upcoming singer/songwriting born and raised in Syracuse, NY. Her unique blend of RNB and Neo Soul gives her music a quality that resembles a breath of fresh air, which is showcased beautifully in her debut project “The In-Betweens.” The project has garnered 20k streams across all platforms since coming out in June of 2023. Several songs have been noticed by many curators and have been playlisted on playlists including Freshly Squeezed, Ear Candy, Spilled, and The Sweets. Tyjhier’s sophomore single “Moods” was featured in Syracuse.com’s very own playlist by Geoff Herbert. Tyjhier has been featured on Syracuse.com before for being a new artist to look out for. Along with her own music you can get a taste of Tyjhier’s lyricism and ethereal vocals on her features. “Shoot For Something” by Gil Genesis and Tyjhier has over 39k streams a-crossed all platforms and has been described as ” a hopeful and heartwarming story of a love that that almost never was” by Trending Raps. She also features on two songs, “In Need” and “31 Days” with artist/producer Since2008. Last summer she was invited to her first performance in the city by MajorStage at DROM.
Sunday
Stop out Sunday to Funk ‘n Waffles at 6 pm for KMase Productions Storytellers Series. Chit, Chat, Sing with Muhammad, Caity Gallagher and Harmonic Dirt Duo.