Sarasota Blues Fest headliner Delbert McClinton on teaching harmonica to John Lennon: interview

Delbert McClinton has released four CDs that have reached No. 1 on the blues albums chart, has been inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Award.

And that's just since 2001.

Go back a couple more decades, and there's the Top 10 single "Giving It Up For Your Love," the popular country duet with Tanya Tucker "Tell Me About It," and another Grammy Award for his duet with Bonnie Raitt, "Good Man, Good Woman."

McClinton also wrote the Emmylou Harris No. 1 hit "Two More Bottles of Wine."

And gave harmonica lessons to John Lennon.

Yes, THAT John Lennon.

McClinton, a Texas roots music hero who first tasted international fame in the early 1960s, has finally started to slow down a little.

He scheduled just a handful of shows this month including his headlining spot at the Sarasota Blues and Music Festival on Saturday.

"I just don't care anymore about being out there eight days a week," McClinton said by phone while vacationing in Mexico earlier his month. "I work just enough to satisfy the jones."

Read more.

Sarasota Blues and Music Festival schedule  

—Delbert McClinton publicity photo provided.

WATCH: The Applebutter Express perform 'Eleanor Rigby' at Bonnaroo; band returning to Bradenton

The Applebutter Express performing The Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby at Bonnaroo on June 7, 2012.

Less than a week after playing McCabe’s Irish Pub in downtown Bradenton last month, The Applebutter Express performed at Bonnaroo.

Yep, the same mega-fest in Tennessee that featured everyone from Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Alice Cooper and the Beach Boys this year.

The Applebutter Express, whose singer Shannon Biss graduated from Southeast High, played an early set that included a cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”

An estimated audience of 1,500 or so soaked up the sounds (and sun).

A jam-bluegrass band with strong Bradenton ties, The Applebutter Express is the first act from the greater Tampa Bay region to play the world-famous music festival.

The group will be back at McCabe’s, playing again for free, on Saturday (July 7).

Expect fans, friends and family to be present for another packed show at the Old Main Street establishment.

Biss, nee Moore, graduated from Southeast in 2005.

She married singer, songwriter and ukulele player Kyle Biss and the couple formed The Applebutter Express.

The band also features Bradenton resident Matt DeSear on bass and Joe Trivette, of Lakeland, on fiddle.

Details: 8 p.m. July 7, McCabe’s Irish Pub, 302 Old Main St., Bradenton. Admission: Free. Information: 941-896-3126 or mccabespub.com.

Bradenton's Rick Derringer on playing with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (with video)

Manatee County resident Rick Derringer, the guitar hero most famous for the self-penned hit "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" and "Hang on Sloopy," will be performing with Jeff Cook (Alabama) and Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane) on May 4 at the Bradenton Municipal Auditorium to raise funds for the Palmetto-based Del Couch Music Education Foundation.

Derringer told me today, for an upcoming feature story to advance the local show, that in addition to jamming with the other musicians he plans to perform a solo set and tell some stories.

Perhaps one of those tales will include the one about touring with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band in 2010 and performing the Beatles' "White Album" cut "Birthday" with Paul McCartney, who made a surprise appearance at Radio City Music Hall.

The show in New York City took place on Starr's 70th birthday.

Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Steve Van Zandt, Sarasota resident Brian Johnson, Jeff Lynne, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg and Foreigner's Mick Jones had just left the stage following a massive singalong rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends," according to RollingStone.com. Then McCartney came out to play "Birthday" with Starr on drums and Derringer nailing those signature lead guitar licks.

"Joe Walsh arranged for the surprise appearance," Derringer said. "It was just a cool, cool experience. Paul McCartney jumped on stage to do 'Birthday' and Yoko Ono came up on stage and there was Ringo and his son Zak (Starkey). It was just fabulous."

—Photo of Rick Derringer with Brian Johnson and Paul McCartney from Derringer's Facebook page.

Jeff Cook (Alabama), Rick Derringer and Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane) will join forces in Bradenton for Del Couch Music Education Foundation fundraiser

Derringer: Our Beatles connection

WATCH: 'The Beatles: The Lost Concert' trailer

Fresh concert footage of The Beatles has been found.

Recorded at Washington Coliseum in February of 1964, the Fab Four's first full-length concert in the United States is the subject of the new documentary "The Beatles: The Lost Concert."

The film covers the band's historic arrival in America and includes new interviews with Steven Tyler, Chuck Berry, Mark Ronson, The Strokes and Duffy.

The documentary's world premiere is in New York's Ziegfield Theatre on May 6, and will be in 450 theaters nationwide on May 17 and 22.

Stay tuned for information on local screenings.

Read more.



http://www.lostbeatlesconcert.com