Oh, What a Feeling, What a Rush!!

A big thank you to The Friends Of Richard Committee who once again put on a really fantastic show at the Leander Boat Club on Saturday, June 2.!
Committee members, Paul Cronkwright, Rob Platsko, Larry Feudo. Gary Curtis, Paul Panchezak, Neil Nickafor, and Myself, worked especially hard this year, having lost our leader, Mr. Tom Basciano, who died much too young a few months ago.
The Leander is a great blues venue and was one of King Biscuit Boy's favorite places to play. It was a sold out evening and the talent was absolutely outstanding!! Steve Strongman and his band kicked off the show in high gear with a stunning set, followed by Mark LaForme, who's brilliant vocal styling's went extremely well with the eclectic selection of blues tunes that he chose to perform. Headliner Kelly Jay took the stage at about 10:30 with an eleven piece band featuring King Biscuit Boy's # 1 back-up unit Trickbag, who were joined by Hamilton piano virtuoso, Jesse O'Brien, Ray (Rabbit) Harrison with that big Hammond B-3 sound, John (ghetto) Gibbard, original Crowbar guitarist who did that famous solo on Oh, What a Feeling, or as Kelly likes to call it "bop-ba-da-ba" and in the novelty instruments section, on tenor sax Sonny Del-Rio and Darcy Hepner.
Kelly entertained the standing room only crowd with his humorous antidotes, poignant stories and Rockin' Blues, for almost 2 hours and ended his set with Oh, What a Feeling,What a Rush, for which he received a standing ovation!!
And what a treat to close the show! Zark and The Sharks, from Buffalo New York were joined on stage by 3 of the finest guitar players this area has ever produced, John Lewis, Mike Eastman and Jack DeKeyzer.
It was a beautiful evening and I was honored to be a part of it! Thanks also to our many volunteers, The Hamilton Spectator, Y-108, View Magazine, and Chedoke Flowers and Gifts. We could not have done it without your help! See you next year!
Speaking of Trickbag, harp player/guitarist Les Smith recently put out a solo cd titled "Piece By Piece". I can't stop listening to it in my car stereo. I love it! And you will too! Try and get yourself a copy. Jack Pedler is soon to release yet another outrageous cd. This one is called "Clown School" but belive me it is not for kids to listen to.
peace, love and music Sonny
sonnydelrio.com