There was an amazing benefit concert Tuesday night headlined by the Steve Miller Band at the intimate Lobero Theatre for Notes for Notes, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization “dedicated to providing youth with free access to music instruments, instruction and recording studio environments ... so that they may explore, create and record music.”
Moreover, the evening was a chance to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Seymour Duncan’s guitar pickup company in Santa Barbara. For nonguitarists, a guitar pickup converts the mechanical vibrations of a string into an electrical signal that can be amplified. Duncan’s pickups give guitarists some of the finest tones in rock-‘n’-roll, and have been used by artists such as Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Slash and Joe Satriani.
The evening started with Notes for Notes participants performing the hip-hop “Notes for Notes Theme Song” and covers of “Crossroads” and “Rhiannon.” What a thrill it must have been for them to perform on the celebrated Lobero stage!
Next up was a set by the local band Flatfoot Joe, made up of employees of Duncan’s business, including Duncan himself on guitar. They played spirited covers by the likes of Buddy Holly (“Not Fade Away”), Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”), The Kinks (“All Day and All of the Night”) and The Rolling Stones (“Can’t Get No Satisfaction”). It was certainly cool to hear Duncan playing his guitar licks, knowing that his pickups have helped so many other guitarists make their own licks a reality.
Headliner Miller’s set kicked off strong with a string of favorites that are as catchy now as they were when they were released decades ago: “Jet Airliner,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Abracadabra,” “The Stake” and “Swingtown.” The band was super tight and sounded great as they performed in front of one of the cooler concert backdrops I’ve yet seen — a spiral of guitars seemingly vanishing into a cave illuminated with trippy lighting.
This was followed by a blues mini-set, reminding us that Miller started out as a hot blues guitarist before fitting into San Francisco’s psychedelic scene and then reaching super-stardom with his hits in the 1970s. (He has returned to his blues roots on his last two albums.) Much of this featured the stellar vocals of Sonny Charles, who joined Miller’s band a few years ago. Charles really nailed songs such as Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Further On Up the Road,” the slower “Texas” and especially Otis Redding’s “Tramp,” for which his moves during the phrase “I’m a lover” convincingly proved that one can still be sexy at age 70.
Miller then returned to his own catalog, with highlights including “Fly Like an Eagle,” with echoed guitar and a cool extended organ solo; “Living in the USA,” dedicated to the men and women in the armed forces; “Rock ‘N Me”; and his signature song, “The Joker.” For the latter two, plus “Winter Time,” dedicated to longtime band harmonica player Norton Buffalo, who died in 2009, Miller’s guitar playing was complemented by the tasty fretwork from the capable young hands of Dillon Brown.
Brown is a student from Kids Rock Free, an organization that Miller advocates for and that offers eight hours of free instrumental instruction for eight hours of volunteer labor by someone on the student’s behalf. Miller is helping expand the organization’s efforts, which based on Brown’s playing is definitely doing something right.
Another highlight was Miller’s amusing story about how a guy recently knocked on his tour bus door, introducing himself as being from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After thinking “at last,” Miller learned that they wanted to include his 19-string sitar guitar in an exhibit, a guitar that Miller had picked up from a “barrel of guitars” in New York City decades ago for $125. Miller turned down the offer of $362,000, saying he hadn’t “gotten my $125 worth” yet. He then used the guitar to great effect on “Wild Mountain Honey.”
Speaking of selling guitars, Miller did his part in raising the bids for a signed guitar he had played that night to $6,000, funds that will go directly to Notes for Notes. The winning bidder was the grandmother of Emily Lash, who had performed with fellow Notes for Notes kids earlier in the evening. I’d say that qualifies grandma as a “great grandma,” perhaps before it’s appropriate in the standard usage of the phrase. Many other cool items were sold in a silent auction to benefit Notes for Notes.
With organizations such as Notes for Notes and Kids Rock Free helping to provide music education for kids, and with established people such as Miller and Duncan helping them raise funds, I think we can look forward to lots of great music in the years to come.
Setlist
Jet Airliner
Take the Money and Run
Abracadabra
The Stake
Swingtown
Further On Up the Road (Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
Texas (Electric Flag cover)
All Your Love (I Miss Loving) (Otis Rush cover)
Tramp (Otis Redding cover)
Ooh Poo Pah Doo (Jessie Hill cover)
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
Fly Like an Eagle
Wild Mountain Honey
Dance, Dance, Dance
Living in the USA
Rock ‘N Me
Winter Time
The Joker
— Noozhawk contributor Jeff Moehlis is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his Web site, music-illuminati.com.
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