Aug 14 Wednesday
Stacy Mitchhart’s musical journey began in his native Cincinnati, Ohio, in a home where jazz guitar masters like Wes Montgomery and Johnny Smith were played on the stereo. Therefore, it was natural that he gravitated to the six-string. As a child he saw the outrageous Little Richard on a TV show and was captivated by his showmanship. Little Richard looked and acted differently than anybody he had ever been exposed to. Today, Mitchhart has created his own brand of showmanship that brings audiences back again and again.
Mitchhart has always been a bandleader. He developed his sound and stagecraft at the helm of four groups in Cincinnati — climbing the pinnacle of the city’s blues scene. He also began his recording career there, with his 1993 debut album, Blues Transfusion. Since then, he’s made a dozen more albums, culminating until now in 2009’s critically heralded Grown Ass Man and 2010’s Live From B.B. King’s. By the early ’90s he was the top blues act in Cincinnati. But when he played his first gigs in Nashville 18 years ago, he knew he’d found his musical home
Nearly two decades later, Mitchhart’s name is still synonymous with “blues” in the most rapidly growing city along the Cumberland River and he’s still playing 200 of his annual dates without leaving home.
Nov 29 Friday
With a collection of 21 albums it’s no wonder Gary Hoey is listed as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time. The world renowned rock guitarist’s first break came in 1987 when Ozzy Osbourne liked Hoey’s tape enough to fly him to LA for an audition and encouraging him to move to the West Coast. In 1990 Hoey was signed to Reprise Records with a short lived band called Heavy Bones, but followed up in 1993 with a solo album, and Gary’s cover of “Hocus Pocus” rocketed into the Billboard’s Top 5 Rock Tracks. He went on to score the successful Endless Summer II soundtrack for New Line Cinema and in 1995 started a trilogy of Ho!Ho!Hoey, a collection of instrumental Christmas classics that continues each year in his Rockin’ Holiday shows. And in 2013’s release, Deja Blues, he came home to the blues. Gary’s release in 2016, Dust & Bones, displayed an exuberant fusion of blues and rock. But whatever style he plays, one thing is certain, Gary Hoey is a fiery, charismatic player who connects with the crowd.
Whether he’s playing scorching originals or classic rock covers, his solos are thrilling and reminiscent of Clapton or Stevie Ray in their fiery youth. One thing that remains consistent is Hoey’s impassioned command of the guitar. He can attack his instrument with feral intensity and then play something very soft and achingly beautiful. This ability to mix feeling, phrasing, technique and tone is the true mark of a master guitarist.