SecretLegend and I went down to Rhythm & Brews last night to check out the North Mississippi All-Stars. The group really rocked in that bluesy way that they do so well. Their effortless jams and gut-wrenching rhythm really let me know that the blues is not dead.

I was a little disappointed that they descended into some neo-hippie guitar noodling during some of the extended jams. Over all though, they are a tight band that has a great rhythm section lead by Chris Chew’s airtight bass and Cody Dickinson’s non-stop freight train drumming. Add to that potent combo Cody’s brother, Luther, on lead guitar and I thought for a minute that Stevie Ray Vaughan’s spirit was in the room. These guys don’t really look the part, but they play some of the best blues-rock that I have heard in a while. Luther’s guitar playing in particular was absolutely stellar. The guy has more licks than a Tootsie Pop. The beauty of it is that in his youth he has the vitality and verve, yet his maturity level seems to allow him to be quite professional and understand what a crowd needs and wants. A blues show has a lot more intimacy than your normal rock show and understanding the crowd can go a long way toward winning them over.

Opening for them was James Mathus’ Knockdown Society. SecretLegend was unimpressed to the point that he decided to keep checking the score of the Maryland-GT game. However, I found the former Squirrel Nut Zippers front man to have an intoxicating charisma mostly due to his constant smiling which I hope meant he was having as much fun as I was. I love it when it looks like a band is having fun and not just going through the motions. I thought that James Mathus really has a touch for music that is forgotten or ignored and his love of these lost treasures comes through in his performance.

The drummer for the Knockdown Society absolutely knocked me out with what sounded like a thousand stampeding mustangs. His beat was relentless and provided great stability for Mathus’ occasionally self-serving turns on the slide guitar.

It was a good night of music and a definite change from the bands we normally get here.

On the National Mall in Washington, DC, a new space display is being installed. It demonstrates the Solar System in one ten-billionth scale. In other words, it shows the Sun as the size of a grapefruit with Pluto the size of a poppy seed 650 yards away. Following that scale, the nearest start would be the size of a cherry, and would be located in California. Jupiter is the size of a marble, and mercury is the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The exhibit is expected to open on October 17th.