Sat 3/18 @ 8PM
Austin “Walkin’ Cane” Charanghat has been a fixture in the local music scene for decades, singing and playing his delta-style blues on slide guitar. He got his nickname from a congenital leg deformity that caused him to walk with a cane; after the leg was amputated in 1996, he no longer needed the cane but the nickname stuck. And nothing has slowed him down. He’s performed solo, with bands and in collaboration with various other musicians, and he’s traveled extensively, playing his music as far away as Australia, Colombia and Nepal, as well as across the U.S.
He’s also released several albums including Murder of a Blues Singer (2008), A World of Blues (2011) and One Heart Walkin’ (2014) featuring songs co-written with another noted area singer/songwriter (and Charanghat’s childhood friend) Chris Allen.
It’s about time for something new and he’s delivering this week, celebrating his new album Muscle Shoals on the German Hoboville label with a show at the Beachland Ballroom. It’s a solo effort, with help from noted producer Don Dixon.
“The album was inspired by the legendary FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,” says the promotion for it. “Legends such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett & Otis Redding recorded hits in Studio A. The Allman Brothers had their first jam in Studio B.”
Charanghat says “I was leaving to perform at a Memphis house party when a friend mentioned that Muscle Shoals was only three hours away. I immediately booked a session at FAME.” He recorded 15 songs in one afternoon with his National Resonator Guitar; the simple voice-and-guitar recordings were finished off by noted producer Don Dixon.
For the release show, he’ll be joined by another northeast Ohio music legendary with an even longer history: folksinger Alex Bevan whose roots go back to the northeast Ohio music scene of the late 60s & who has never sounded in better voice, played more skillful guitar or cranked out powerful, moving and/or humorous songs at such a dizzying rate.
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