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A decade before Jimi Hendrix began plucking magical, otherworldly sounds from his Fender Stratocaster, Link Wray and Dick Dale were wailing away as the true pioneers of psychedelia with innovative genres known as “psycho billy” and “surf guitar,” respectively. While Wray would go on to leave his mark in rock history as the first musician to have an instrumental song so trashy (“Rumble”) that it was banned from the airwaves, Dick Dale was conferring with electric guitar innovator Leo Fender to invent a sound effect known as “reverb,” an electronically produced echo effect. Dale said that the reason he sought to create such an effect was to augment his vocals with some form of sustain, as his voice has no natural vibrato whatsoever.
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Aside from Dale’s role in increasing the popularity of the electric guitar, there is nothing remotely intellectual or scientific about experiencing Dale in the flesh. His animalistic attack on his Stratocaster is an ear-grabbing, eye-popping event. His explosive guitar style creates rolling tones eerily reminiscent of waves crashing on a beach. He has a primordial virtuosity. In other words, he rocks like a motherfucker. And if his three-year-old son, who has an endorsement deal with Zildjian cymbals, shows up to play drums with the old man, you may find yourself speaking in tongues the next day. (Thursday, November 20, The Nick, $10 adv.)
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| Birmingham’s Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink, a.k.a. Azure Ray (also once known as Little Red Rocket), will perform with Crooked Fingers (Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf) at Zydeco on Monday, November 24. | ||
Moonlight Over the Mountain
The latest addition to live music “listening rooms” in the area is the Moonlight Music Cafe in Vestavia. Smoke-free and charming with a soothing lavender decor and acoustic shows that usually end by 10 p.m., the Moonlight Music Cafe is the perfect night on the town for the middle-aged, former rock ‘n’ roll animal who has decided to forgo the hearing loss due to loud guitars and has grown weary of smelling like stale cigarettes the morning after.
Local guitar hero Don Tinsley played the Moonlight Music Cafe a couple of weeks after it opened, and the usual glitches that crop up with a new joint were nowhere to be found. “It’s a good sounding room, sort of a neat crowd that comes to it, and it’s non-smoking, which is real good for me, because I don’t smoke.” Tinsley brags about how cozy the room is not only for patrons but also to performers as well, making their job that much more pleasant. “It’s new and clean, and it sounds great from the stage.”
The Moonlight Music Cafe is as easy to find as it is comfortable; it’s on Highway 31 in the old part of the Vestavia City Center near SteinMart. For more information call 822-1400 or go to www.moonlightmusiccafe.com for details. &