THE KNICKERBOCKER MUSIC CENTER
35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891 (Misquamicut) | (401) 315-5070
Open Today: Open
The club thrived as one of the leading entertainment centers in southern New England, hosting regional and national bands with an emphasis on the blues. Some of the greats that played on the Knickerbocker stage included, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Johnny Nicholas, Leon Russell, Eric Burdon and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1967, Roomful of Blues was born in Westerly, when guitarist Duke Robillard and pianist Al Copley started a band that played tough, no-holds barred Chicago blues. Making the Knickerbocker Café their home club, it did not take long before they started exploring swinging, jumping blues and added a horn section. Roomful would pack the house every Sunday and still plays their great brand of blues today.
Fast forward and the Café has become the Knickerbocker Music Center, a non-profit organization formed in partnership with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. The mission of the Knickerbocker Music Center is to preserve, cultivate and grow the “Knick’s” unique brand of blues, as well as expanding access to music of all genres, by transforming the Knick into both an exciting performance venue and an exceptional center for music education.
John Speziale Friends & Squeezebox Stompers
7:30pm
Friday, November 9, 2018 at 7:30pm
The Knickerbocker Music Center. 35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891
knickmusic.com/events/2018/11/9/john-speziale-squeezebox-stompers
Live Music
John Speziale and the Friends
Original songs and handpicked covers performed in an Americana vein that keeps dancers and listeners happy and hopping. John Speziale is an important star in the constellation of Gulf of Connecticut singer-songwriters that make Southwestern Rhode Island and Southeastern Connecticut the most fetile ground for trending music in New England. John is surrounded by great musical talent including Westerly’s fabulous Jimmy Tarbox leading the guitar charge and multiinstrumentalist Sandy Allen adding his understated flourish on mandolin and lap steel that convert a rocking blues trio into something altogether more musically intriguing. And Dave Allen anchors the rhythm section and adds to the vocal mix. This is a rhythmic and melodic stew.
Squeezebox Stompers
Returning from Boston to the Knickerbocker this krewe draws on Louisiana music, bringing Gulf of Mexico stylings from Bayou Cajun and Donwtown Zydeco to New Orleans brass, a big sound and a big dance party. The Stompers take traditional instrumentation of squeezebox and fiddle and add the jazzy blues of sax and the plaintie call of the penny whistle for a musical gumbo that would be at home in Lafayette but comes from the other hub city, Boston.
"Listening to the Squeezebox Stompers is like taking a walk through the streets of the French Quarter. The Stompers keep the dance floor busy with their trademark Louisiana sound injected into every genre from Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, to country. They are a refreshing change of pace in New England, a long way from the warm Bourbon Street vibe they lovingly conjure with every performance.”
Brett Cromwell, Lowell Sun
Show: 7:30p | Doors: 6:30p
Tickets: $10 advance / $12 door ($2 Service Charge Included With Online Tickets. All sales are final, no ticket refunds or exchanges. Seats are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and seats are not guaranteed with ticket purchase.)
