you Fabio, the drummer) and doubly thrilled that the baton is being passed, and that my son is now discovering all the influences which set the band going in the first place. A big shout out to all you Smokers, see
you at the next gig! -Martin Baxter
Rickey Medlocke jamming with Smoke on the Cruise. (Photo by Julia LaRue)
“I'm a Brit living in the south of Italy, and be- came a big fan back in 2013 when the drum- mer I play with sent me a link to the Backyard Sessions, which I immediately liked, but I had the band down as a woody, acoustic 5-piece (fine by me). The turning point came when I found the Georgia Theatre concert on You Tube. Bang! I couldn't believe it. All my favourite musical influences (Dead, Zep, Allmans, Skynyrd) whipped up into a fantastic mix of styles and sounds. I was hooked. The following year I travelled up to Germany in March and London in October, bagging a set list both times, meeting Paul and Brandon in the street in Munich and going VIP in London to meet the full band line-up. All the while my son was begging to come but I told him only when they come to Italy. Lo and behold, they did in March 2017 so I took him to Milan to see his first rock n roll gig (aged 9), which lit his musical fire! Went VIP again, Junior met the band and left that night starry-eyed. Next stop will be back to London in No-
vember (with Junior, of course) on the back of this stunning new album which is sound- tracking our summer. I’m thrilled I found the band (thank
19
Martin Baxter and son with Blackberry Smoke.
“Several years ago, the Marshall Tucker Band came to El Paso (about 42 miles south of where I live) to play. You know I love the MTB; in fact, I have seen that band more than any other musical artists. Opening for the MTB was this quartet of guys I had never heard of - Blackberry Smoke. I thought, "I hope this is not one of those opening acts that is so bad that you have more people at the concession stands or using the restrooms than listening to the band. It turns out that I had nothing to worry
about. Absolutely nothing. Blackberry Smoke came out... well...
smokin' hot. At the time, their CD Bad Luck Ain't No Crime was out so they did a lot of songs off that great CD, including a blistering version of "Freeborn Man" (one of my all time favorite Outlaws songs). I was so im- pressed that I bought the Bad Luck album at the show and a few years later, added The Whippoorwill,another tremendous album. We don't get a heck of a lot of great
shows in the El Paso/southern New Mexico
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