Wind chills plunged to 15 below, but people inside the Keystone Bar in Ellwood City last Monday didn't care, basking in the glow of the red-hot CodeTalkers. The Atlanta jam band didn't need much of a warm-up, ripping immediately into a loose and lively set that prompted spectators to shed their coats, scarves and ski caps. Many danced; others at least bobbed or swiveled on their bar stools, grooving to a trio that frequently spiraled off into hypnotic improvisations, ultimately returning with crackerjack precision to a familiar melody line.
Remember: This was a band that has played the massive Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee, and has jammed with members of Phish, the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. Still, as the CodeTalkers pushed on toward the three-hour mark of music Monday, singer Bobby Lee Rodgers gazed out at 70 Keystone spectators, and with a smile and sincerity in his voice, said, "We will keep coming back here and playing until we're dead." Personally, it was my first visit to the Keystone, and I was impressed by the coziness.
You know how some neighborhood bars can make strangers feel unwelcome, like that scene in "An American Werewolf in London" when the Brits give hostile glares to the two U.S. hitchhikers?
It's the exact opposite at the Keystone, where people kept coming up to me, chatting and making sure I was having fun. A lady noticed I wasn't dancing so she dragged me briefly onto the dance floor, snapping a photo with her phone. There were all sorts of cool characters, like a guy with a cane that opened up to reveal a sword.
Thanks Keystone. And thank you CodeTalkers for a fun Monday. Ellwood City, the native town of Donnie Iris, has begun reaching out to national acts like the Recipe, a Morgantown, W.
Va., roots-rock-jam band that will play the Ellwood City Moose Club on March 10. Tickets are $15.
The Recipe has developed a loyal following - the Porch People - who travel far and wide to see a band that has shared bills with Gov't Mule, Derek Trucks, Bela Fleck the Flecktones and Moe. "I am expecting to get some of their fans to show up here in Ellwood," said Moose Club trustee and show promoter Tom Nye. "The last band I had come here was Big Leg Emma from Jamestown, N.
Y.," Nye said. "That night we had a great turnout and a good time.
" Last year, another Ellwood bar, Big Dawg's, hosted an impromptu jam session by the guitarists and rhythm section of Grammy-nominated hard-rockers Buckcherry. Buckcherry lead guitarist Keith Nelson is a suburban Ellwood native (North Sewickley Township), and graciously has offered to give us an insider's view of tonight's Grammy awards. Look for that next week.
Bob Dylan-ites will be delighted by "Don't Look Back: 65 Tour Deluxe Edition," two digitally re-mastered DVDs offering a fly-on-the-wall view of the artist's legendary 1965 British tour. D.A.
Pennebaker, director of the original "Don't Look Back" film, culled through 20 additional hours of never-before-seen footage to create Disc 2 of this deluxe edition, released by a company called Docudrama. The unfettered, black-and-white footage shows Dylan at his most lucid, though you'll be grateful for the DVDs' companion book - a complete transcript with footnotes - that helps you follow along with the frenzied backstage banter. The "Don't Look Back" deluxe edition also includes a flipbook that offers a frame-by-frame look at Dylan's famed cue-card sequence during "Subterranean Homesick Blues," a cinematic moment some music historians credit with being the first music video.
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