Penny Road Pub Is On The Money With Friday Night Blues Show
Words: Robin Zimmerman | Photos: Howard Greenblatt
Who knew that the well-heeled suburb of Barrington was such a hot bed for great Chicago blues? On Friday, July 29th, Barrington’s own Penny Road Pub was the place to be. That’s when this landmark local bar played host to Jeff Dale and the South Woodlawners—along with Jeff Stone and special guest, Tomiko Dixon.
Like his band’s name implies. Dale was born and raised on the South Side. He hung out with Honeyboy Edwards. He’s met up with Muddy, Mavis and many more.
And, although Dale has lived on the left coast for the past three decades, he remains true to his Chicago blues roots.
Many of Dale’s songs reflect his Chi-Town sensibilities as he has penned titles ranging from Third Rail to Town Line Road.
Harp player, Jeff Stone joined Dale on stage for the duration of the evening. As these two grammar school chums played together, it was obvious that they were having fun performing for old classmates while gaining many new fans.
Stone boasts his own brand of blues cred as he won a WC Handy Award in 2004. That was during his tenure with Zac Harmon and the Mid-South Blues Revue. Since then he’s performed with everyone from Reverend KM Williams in Texas to Charlie Love here in Chicago.
Dave Gordon on keyboards, Mark Mack on drums and Andre Howard on bass joined this dynamic duo. The stoic Howard is another musician with a strong blues background as he has played with Magic Slim, Lonnie Brooks and many others.
After the proverbial “pause for a cause” special guest Tomiko Dixon, grand-daughter of the Blues, came on to belt out many of Willie’s standards. This rising star has a style and stage presence to go along with her blues pedigree. (Tomiko photo: Angela Annoreno).
Stone said Dixon, “has a powerhouse voice and knows the stage."
He added, “Her performance last Friday was stellar. Not just reliving her grandfather’s songs, but presenting them in a way that infuses her own personal stamp, is the make-up of what is becoming Tomiko’s stage. Her rendering of 'It Doesn’t Make Sense' is as poignant and relevant for today, as when Willie Dixon wrote and presented it years ago.”
