Carnival of Soul

The big news for this column is out of Memphis. Patricia Wilson Aden was named the new president and CEO of The Blues Foundation. More information to follow.

Best Video Film & Cultural Center, making the best of the situation, has restarted its music programming on the new outdoor deck, weather permitting. The Best Video cafe will expand its curbside hours to 4-8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. “We will try to schedule acoustic music on the deck for as many of those evenings as possible,” the cafe said. Saturday, singer-songwriter, Shawn Taylor is on at 5 p.m.

Saturday, Riders Smokehouse Bar and Grill hosts Vitamin B-3. Get ready for rockin’ blues and smokin’ classic rock, featuring the rafter shaking sound of the mighty Hammond B-3 organ on the outdoor pavilion stage at Riders Smokehouse Bar and Grill LLC.

The Brass Horse Cafe keeps up its Sunday shows. This week it is with Carl Ricci at 3 pm. Also on Sunday, The Center Line Duo is at the Little Red Barn Brewers, at 2 pm.

Some online events of interest continue to keep the music scene alive. Every day at various times, Elle Sera performs on Facebook. Everyday Get Live Memphis: A virtual Music Festival continues with various performances nightly from 8-10 p.m. Watch on Facebook Live.

Every Saturday, you can submit your live performance video to a Virtual Open-Mic on Facebook.

For Jammers every Thursday at 7:30 pm, it is A Jam hosted by Ed Train. It can be seen on Facebook, on Ed Train’s page, or on YouTube.

Also on Thursday, at 8 pm FTC presents Swamp Family TV with Tedeschi Trucks Band, also on Facebook.

The John Lamb Show Live takes call in requests and chat Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Facebook.

The Note is keeping a full schedule of music. Saturday, The Thin Men celebrate the music of Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead. Sunday, Ol’ Moose will be entertaining at the Brunch on the Patio from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. Tuesday, The Note has an Acoustic Open Mic from 6 to 9 pm on the Patio.

Shaded Soul Band will be performing at the 2020 Beehive Bridge Celebration at the Beehive Bridge in New Britain on Friday at 5 p.m. This is a special day at the Beehive Bridge and city officials are “buzzing” around to make sure safety plans are in place to hold the event.

The celebration will have plenty of music. Tickets are required in advance. For more infoemation, visit www.NBParksNRec.org or call New Britain Parks and Recreation office at 860-826-3360.

This is being held in place of the city’s annual Main Street USA event that had to be canceled because of the pandemic. The smaller Beehive Bridge Festival will take its place. The difference between this festival and a typical festival is this will be table sales only.

The city is working closely with the Public Health Department and the New Britain Police Department to make sure safety guidelines are met, including traffic and logistics. There will be monitors to make sure people are complying with the rules and hand washing/hand sanitizing stations will be available for people to use.

In the pre-COVID era, Roy Rogers would appear on stage with his band, the Delta Rhythm Kings, and perhaps a special guest or two. And, with an option to hanging out at home in Nevada City, blues guitarist Roy Rogers delivers a solo, live-streamed performance Sunday at the Center for Performing Arts in Grass Valley, California. Proceeds from the show go to MusiCares, a charity that has provided more than $60 million in health, financial, and rehabilitation resources to music people in times of need.

“Just me and some of my favorite guitars,” Rogers said, acknowledging that it’s rare to not look around and see fellow musicians during a gig.

“I have had the idea of performing a solo show for awhile, some songs and maybe some stories from my travels as well,” the Vallejo native said.

Planet Entertainment & Blue Note Napa had a special zoom conference to support the restart act and the save our stages act. This was t to draw attention to the two active bipartisan proposals in Congress: The RESTART Act, S 3814 / HR 7481 and The Save Our Stages Act, S 4258 / HR 7806, which address the existential crisis that independent performing arts stages face and save Independent Music and Performing Arts Stages across the country. Participants included Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA 5th District) and Bob Weir (Grateful Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company).

Any questions or comments should be sent to Domenic Forcella at TWBlus@aol.com.