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It’s time for music at Boom Days

By Mark Harrison
The Times-Journal

Published September 8, 2009

Boom Days will get off to a bluesy start Saturday when vocalist and famed blues drummer Sam Lay takes the stage.

Lay, born in 1935 in Birmingham, started his musical career in 1957 when he signed on as the drummer with the original Thunderbirds. He stayed with the group until 1959 when he went to Chicago to work with Little Walter. He would later work with the Paul Butterfield Band and Muddy Waters. In 1965, Lay backed Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival when Dylan introduced electric-rock into the mix. Lay also backed Dylan on “Highway 61 Revisited,” fourth on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the Greatest Rock and Roll albums of all time.

Lay has recorded several solo albums and has two recent recordings with his own band on Appaloosa and Evidence Records respectively and a recording with the Siegel-Schwall Band with Alligator Records.

He was nominated for a Grammy for his performances on the “Howlin’ Wolf Tribute” CD and honored in 2002 by the Recording Academy with the “Legends and Hero’s Award” for his significant musical contributions.

Lay was prominently featured in the PBS documentary, “History of the Blues,” produced by Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese.

Lay is the headline act for the WoodMasters Blues Show, scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. at the DeKalb Theatre.

Alabama blues artist Debbie Bond will open the show. Bond is co-founder and executive director of the Alabama Blues Project. Since coming to Alabama, Bond has worked closely with many well-known blues artists, including the late Johnny Shines, who served as her mentor.

Bonds made her performing debut in West Africa, where she lived as a child with her anthropologist mother. She formed her first band in Brighton, England where she attended college and lived until moving to Alabama in 1979.

The Boom Days related festivities continue on Sunday with the Joe Underwood Gospel Concert at the Forest Avenue Auditorium at 3:30 p.m., with a gospel show featuring The New Wings of Glory and The Birmingham Sunlights.

The following week, other prominent performers will be featured in separate concerts. Charlie Louvin will head the First Federal Keynote concert on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at the DeKalb Theatre. The Sullivan Family will open the show. As one half of the Louvin Brothers, Charlie – a Henagar native – is considered among the most influential musicians of the ’40s and ’50s. The duo started out singing gospel, and then segued into country. He began a solo career in 1963.

Louvin recorded for Capital Records until 1972 and, during that time he had two top 10 hits, “I Don’t Love You Anymore” and “See the Big Man Cry.”

The Fort Payne Cinemas Rock & Roll Show will follow on Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. at the DeKalb Theatre, featuring Leon Russell.

Russell has played on pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, standards, gospel, and surf records. As a session musician, arranger, producer, singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, record company owner, bandleader, and touring musician, he has collaborated with hundreds of artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, The Rolling Stones, and a host of others.

Russell has also found success as a songwriter and performer in his own right and has built an impressive catalog of songs. He continues to write songs and record on his non-stop tour across the U.S.

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