Last Friday night a good friend of the JSJBF, Mikey Junior, made the trip up the Turnpike from Bucks County PA, with his band to play Joseph Vincent Riggio’s Blue Collar Blues at the Chubby Pickle. Joining him were long time bandmates Matt Daniels on guitar, Delaware native Jimmy Prichard on bass, Scott Stump on drums and the newest member, young phenom, Zach Lees on guitar.
Normally, I wouldn’t venture out on the Friday night before the Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival, but Mikey has been a good friend for many years, and this is no ordinary band, plus they had the whole night to themselves. They’re nearly two-hour opening set contained a nice mix of originals and covers, and they all had Mikey’s imprint. From the opening instrumental workout, which featured snippets of Johnny Otis “Willie and the Hand Jive,” and the self-named “Hey! Bo Diddley,” you could sense the band was going to bring it this night, and they surely did. Mikey is also a fun story teller and when he told us that his wife woke him up one morning to tell him his latest CD was a “million seller,” he said “really,” and she said,” yeah, you got a million of them in the cellar!” They then tore into the Little Charlie & the Nightcats appropriately titled tune, “Got to Have a Job.” With one of the tightest rhythm sections you will find anywhere, Jimmy on electric bass and Scott on drums, and that twin guitar attack of Matt and Zach, they made for a winning combination.
Mikey wielded that that chromatic harp like it was a toy in his hands and made it sound as vibrant as one of his major influences, Alec “Rice” Miller, who is known to most of us in the blues community as Sonny Boy Williamson. To his right Matt Daniels sure could coax out some gritty, as well as some sweet sounds, from that old beat-up Harmony guitar, and on his left Zach was playing some great fills and leads on his Les Paul gold top. Mikey would start to play and the band instinctively knew where to go. Whether it was the classic“One Way Out,” which appears on his latest release, “Tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson,” or the terrific original “Brown Derby Liquors,” from the “Travelling North” collection, this band puts their collective heart and soul into every song. One of their most interesting interpretations was of Bruce Springsteen’s “Cover Me,” which they did, but in a slower tempo which gave it a more bluesy feel with an emphasis on Bruce’s lyrics, which Mikey sang with great effect.
Even though the Incinerators weren’t playing on this date, several members were in the audience and Mikey called up fellow harp player from the band and JSJBF board member, Gary Neuwirth, for the first two of three Muddy Waters tunes, “Baby, You Don’t Have to Go,” and “Hoochie Coochie Man.” The band did excellent versions of both, with Mikey and Gary trading some electrifying harp solos. After “Mojo,” Mikey stepped off the stage, and Matt Daniels released his inner Dick Dale with a fifteen-minute bonanza of Surf Rock including non-stop versions “Misirlou,” The Chantays “Pipeline,” and The Surfaris “Wipe Out,” including something my dentist doesn’t recommend, playing with his teeth! The audience, which by this time included younger folks who were there to see the late act, were loving it, and it was a great way to end the show.
If you haven’t seen the Mikey Junior Band, you owe it to yourself to check them out. http://mikeyjunior.com.