At the Davis Odd Fellows Lodge, The Honey Badgers will headline the May 2nd Thursday Live! Opening the evening will be West of Next. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall located at 415 Second Street.
The Honey Badgers are a group of musicians who are all associated with Watermelon Music. They play a mix of Blues based music, including Rhythm & Blues.
The band members are:
- Jeff Simons , co-owner Watermelon Music is on bass and vocals. Jeff has played with Anton Barbeau, Bill Scholer, !Akimbo, Linda Book and various bands over the past 2 decades.
- Ron Cowden – co-owner of Watermelon Music is on guitar and vocals. Ron grew up in Davis, and has played in various bands locally since the late 1970’s. A few of these bands are; Roommates, Weird Harold, Bill Scholer and Biscuits and Honey
- Leo Adamian – drums and drum department manager at Watermelon Music. He is from New York where he played and recorded professionally. Leo has played with many, many wonderful musicians over the decades and is fun to Google. Remember the “Pina Colada” song? That’s Leo on drums.
- Scott Morris – guitar and vocals , is a guitar instructor at Watermelon Music. Scott was raised in Sacramento and has played with various bands from the Sacramento and Bay areas.
West of Next will have their debut performance at Thursday Live!
The Sacramento Bee says, “West of Next is highly recommended to the discriminating listener. No gimmicks. A surf bop journey through the musical heart of the United States”. They play a wide variety of musical genres including Western Swing, Blues, Zydeco, Honky Tonk and Appalachian ballads. All presented in arrangements from a jazz musician’s point of view.
David Shapireau & West of Next offer fresh songs and instrumentals that honor the genres of the U.S. that reflect the different lifestyles in the regions that gave birth to classic American music, while pushing boundaries. Cut with diamond-like precision”
Shapireau first made his mark as arranger and guitarist for the Norton Buffalo Stampede. He also worked with Jerry Garcia and Merle Saunders on music for the ’80s revival of the classic TV series “The Twilight Zone.” Shapireau arranged for and recorded with many iconic artists, including Maria Muldaur; David Grisman, David Nelson, acoustic-guitar legend Tony Rice. He played in one of Bela Fleck’s earliest bands Tasty Licks while in Boston.
Drummer Tony Dey played with legendary blues guitarist Michael Bloomfield, Van Morrison and Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies. Paul Knutsen is on bass. Steve Randall, voted Best Guitarist in the Sacramento News and Review rounds out the “twin” guitar sound.
Thursday Live! is a continuing series of concerts held the first Thursday of each month at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall in downtown Davis, CA