The Stomp in Pictures
A video preview of this year's Ponderosa Stomp, which returns in October to the Rock 'n' Bowl.
The Ponderosa Stomp took 2012 off, but it will return October 3-5 to the Rock 'n' Bowl. The Stomp Festival will once again include the Music History Conference and Record Show that accompanied it in recent years, as well as the opening night "Hip Drop" party, with vinyl collectors from around the country spinning 45s. In recent years, the Ponderosa Stomp included such greats as Roky Erickson, Ronnie Spector, Eddie Floyd and The Flamin' Groovies, but the 2013 lineup returns to its mission of presenting the unsung heroes of rock, country, R&B and blues with a heavy dose of what has come to be known as Northern Soul. Here's the lineup:
The Standells
Maxine Brown
Charles Brimmer
George Perkins
Lynn August
Gaunga Dyns
Ty Wagner
Spencer Wiggins
Sonny Green
Bobby Parker
Charlie Gracie
Eddie Daniels
Tickets to the Ponderosa Stomp are not yet on sale.
In related business, While I was in Shreveport with The Oxford American, I met Chris Brown, who gave me an excellent, home-burned CD, Shreveport, There's No Place Like This town: Our City's Songs (1934-1986). It's a Stomp-like compilation of highlights from the blog he operates, Shreveport Songs, which presents cool, crazy tracks from Shreveport's history.
And if fans of the Stomp don't already read Dan Phillips' Home of the Groove blog, they should be. Phillips, like Brown, posts mp3s of rare vinyl and follows them with liner notes-like essays, though he focuses on New Orleans R&B. I asked Dan to write a piece on The Sissy dance when I was at OffBeat, and I've found some great tracks through his site.