Sun 9/15 @ 2 pm
Jack DiAlesandro, Kevin T. Richards, and Ray Deforest are hardly strangers to the Barking Spider.
They’ve held down a regular slot at the little coachhouse club on the Case Western Reserve campus for a decade and have played with other musicians there as well. Guitarist/fiddler/mandolinist Richards, who runs the educational nonprofit Roots of American Music, and guitarist/harmonica player DiAlesandro, a math professor at Kent State, started playing traditional music together 30 years ago; bassist Deforest came on board ten years ago.
Recently, however, the threesome formalized its collaboration as eclectic American roots ensemble the Spyder Stompers. They’ll be one of three acts on hand for the Barking Spider’s 27th anniversary celebration. They’ll play at 6 pm, preceded by the Hot Jazz Seven at 6pm, and followed by the Nan O’Malley Band at 8:30 pm.
The Spyder Stompers’ debut CD Cannonball, released a few months ago, features 23 tracks of primarily tunes from country string band, blues, bluegrass, and American folk music repertoire from the first half of the 20th century.
This music is the flipside of the so-called Great American Songbook, with its sophisticated gloss. These tunes were performed in roadhouses, juke joints, and on front porches by musicians struggling with hard times, singing about their lives as a way of dealing with them. It includes songs associated with such vernacular music legends as Mance Lipscomb (“Going Down Slow”), Jimmie Rodgers (“When I Get the Mississippi Blues”), and Big Bill Broonzy (“Shuffle Rag”).
The band’s approach is straightforward and unpretentious; they don’t strain to recreate the unschooled ambience of the originals. In fact, the musicians’ well-honed chops add to the sense of offhand ease that pervades the music.
The album features contributions from other well-known area musicians: pianist/vocalist Rockin’ Robin, fiddler Bill Lestock, Mark Freeman on washboard and Joe Hunter on harmonica.
Richards says of his long-time association with the Spider,
“I met Martin Juredine [the late owner of the Spider, taken over by his daughter Jenna following his death in 2011] over 25 years ago. I heard about the Spider and discovered they had a jukebox — yes, an old-fashioned jukebox that played Hank William, Bo Diddley, Lefty Frizzell, Chuck Berry, etc. Martin and I became friends quickly, and this started my regular weekly visit to the Barking Spider, with quarters in hand for the jukebox.
“One night Martin said, ‘Would you like to come down next week and perform on a Thursday?’ One week led to another week. I invited Bill Lestock to play mando and fiddle, and the First String Band performed for a decade on the first Thursday. From that point, every Thursday was a hot night. When we retired the First String Band, the Spyder Stompers took over for the next decade.”
Come on down, one and all. There’s no cover at the Spider — they pass the hat for the bands.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Spyder-Stompers/628923003800255?fref=ts
Cleveland, OH 44106
One Response to “Barking Spider Regulars the Spyder Stompers Help Celebrate Club’s 27th Anniversary”
Kevin T.Richards
the correct times for this Sunday are:
Hot Jazz Seven 3 pm
The Spyder Stompers 6 pm
Nan O’Malley 8:30 pm