Scott Tady: Jambridge ruled; Beaver Falls gets Taylor gang Xmas show

Buy a 2023 calendar right now, and circle the date of Sept. 23.

You don't want to miss next year's Jambridge, the sequel to last weekend's thoroughly amazing local music and beer festival in Ambridge.

I've covered musical events in the Beaver Valley for 25 years, and never saw one as well-run as Jambridge, a rookie festival that delivered 10 hours of nonstop music via two side-by-side stages in the spacious parking lot next to Merchant Coffee Co.

From the cosmic soul of Mean Blue Planets to the virtuosic funk jazz of the Abby Gross Sextet; and the tight, accomplished pop-punk of Shy Birds to the deep grooved acoustic duo Too Hearted, the music sounded fantastic. Tasty mood enhancement came from a corner of the parking lot where Ambridge craft breweries Fermata and Altered Genius, alongside friends from Lincoln Brewing of Bellevue, Allegheny City Brewery of Pittsburgh and Union Brothers of Harmony, poured seasonal suds in commemorative Jambridge plastic cups.

Concertgoers strolled both sides of the street visiting vendors such as InnerGroove Records with sweet stacks of vinyl records, and Ambridge author J.R. Mason giving out pastries and selling her new book "Soulmate Setbacks: Confessions II" a humorous and cautionary look at dating in Pittsburgh during a pandemic. She says it's rough out there.

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Jambridge's attention to details — I'll credit the female touch of Merchant Coffee owner/festival co-creator Kim Fabrizio — made the festival a standout. Little but important things mattered, like having plenty of tables and chairs, an efficient check-in for beer imbibers, and convenient portable potties close by but out of view in the adjacent alley.

Jambridge peacefully complemented an equally large festival run by Ambridge churches a few blocks away at P.J. Caul Park. Jambridge had food trucks, though I know I wasn't the only attendee who also paid a visit to the church festival to nosh on pirogi from St. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Church.

The music-loving owners of Fermata spearheaded the Jambridge concert lineup that also included The High Level, hard-edged rockers impressing with originals and a fun cover of Bob Dylan's "Mighty Quinn." Sorry I missed indie-funk/neo-psychedelic band Different Places in Space, and funk-rock headliners Nash.V.Ill, which I caught a night earlier blowing away an outdoor crowd at Beaver Station Cultural & Events Center.

The Jambridge performance that had everybody talking was Beaver County blues-rock masters Bobby Thompson & The Groove joined their entire 100-minute set by guest guitar ace, Johnny Baab of Ghost Hounds. The large but not unwieldy crowd loved the thrill of watching lefty six-stringer Thompson trading fiery guitar licks with Baab, fresh off Ghost Hounds' European tour opening for the Rolling Stones. Thompson and Baab unleashed guitar greatness on songs like "Crossroads," Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle" and a few Thompson & The Groove originals like "Hurricane." With the deft rhythm section of Rob Sinchack and Cody Fritzley, and the soulful keys and vocals of Rich Mannion, the band sounded smooth, and you'd never have known Baab hadn't rehearsed with them. It was special.

Wonder how anyone will top that in the already announced 2023 Jambridge date.

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Taylor made for Xmas

Bailey Taylor will release a 10-track Christmas CD, "Christmas Love," with seven original songs, all recorded in Nashville.

The Moon High graduate also will perform in a Christmas concert Dec. 15 at Beaver Falls Middle School, patterned after the popular Yuletide shows her uncle, the late B.E. Taylor, played for many years.

Joining Bailey on stage will be a rocking band including most of the regulars from those B.E. Taylor Christmas concerts: Hermie Granati, Rick Witkowski, Jeff Jimerson, Jamie Peck, plus B.E. Taylor's son, professional drummer BC Taylor, and brother, Dan Taylor.

Tickets for the Beaver Falls show cost $35 to $45. The same lineup also performs holiday shows Dec. 16-17 at Moon High School with tickets $30 to $60. Get tickets at feeltheloveofchristmas.com

"The demand for the show to return has been strong over the last couple of years," Dan Taylor, father of Bailey, said. "We are all very excited to see everyone and feel the love together again."

B.C. Taylor, and North Hills raised rocker Anthony Rankin back Bailey Taylor on the CD that's rooted in pop and includes a piano-driven ballad "Christmas With You Again," she wrote with her late uncle in mind. It's a song that will resonate with anyone bereft by loss. whose Christmas dinner table has an empty chair.

Bailey's merch table will sell CDs when she performs at the Christmas In The Woods festival in Columbiana, Ohio, at noon and 2 p.m. on Oct. 8-9 and 15-16.

Digital copies come out Nov. 25.

Blues in the open air

There's not much time left to catch an outdoor concert this season, so consider the drive to Coopers Lake Campground in Butler County next weekend to see the Home Brews 'n Blues Festival.

The Oct. 7 opening night stars Beaver County talent Charlie Barath Band & Friends and Blues Attack, along with the venerable Bubs McKeg. The Oct. 8 lineup, beginning at 1 p.m., offers The Grubbs, The Blues Drivers, The Stevee Wellons Band, The Gordon James Band, Lori Russo & the Uppercuts, The Jeff Fetterman Band and Bail Jumpers.

Regional craft breweries will pour beer.

And if the weather doesn't cooperate, organizers will be ready to put up large tents.

More details at cooperslake.com

Mourning Coolio

Rap star Coolio, a Monessen native, died Wednesday at the age of 59. A cause wasn't immediately announced.

Coolio had found international fame and acclaim after his family had moved to Southern California and he became a recording artist. His song "Gangsta's Paradise," became an iconic hit,, with a popular MTV video, and appeared in the 1995 film "Dangerous Minds". That song, from his sophomore album, won a Grammy Award.

In the song "I Remember," on his1994 debut, Coolio addressed his Mon Valley upbringing with the verse:

"Well I remember yesteryear like it was yesterdayRunnin' through the streets of Monessen, P-AI take you through my childhood step by stepDaddy always told me to maintain my rep thoughDaddy was a dawg he ain't raise no punksIn the midst of the trees we learned how to thumpAt the tender age of nine momma put us on a planeNext stop -- the land of the insaneCompton California where the killers growForced to live a life that I didn't know."

Coolio was part of the "I Love The '90s'" tour with Vanilla Ice that played Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh on Nov. 27, 2021.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Jambridge ruled; Beaver Falls gets Taylor gang Christmas show