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There used to
be a bar on Saint Mark's Place in Manhattan called Finnian's Rainbow.
They had good cheap beer,
a pool table, and live blues 7 nights a week.
I was there one night when I heard a commotion coming from the stage.
I saw a crazy looking dude
blowin' harp through a Fender bassman amp with a slapback delay.
He was wailing and goin’ on about how "Mason Casey could Play them Blues!"
He ranted and raved for over
2 hours.
The set finally ended with
him having a disagreement with the bass player about what the blues was all
about.
Mason won.
I flipped a 20 in the tip bucket and left feeling good. This was my first
encounter with Mason Casey.
We met again a few weeks later
on a subway platform heading downtown.
He thanked me for the
tip and admitted he was surprised because he had heard I did not like harmonica
players.
Not true, I told him,
I just like the good ones.
And I will say Mason Casey is one of the best I have heard ever.
The man is a man of stone,
that is
to say he is stoned and hearing him sing and play is like running into a
brick wall.
Mason Casey, featuring guitarist Zach
Zunis.
These
2 remind me of a night of passion Muddy Waters and Angus Young never spent!
Pure
unfucked-with, straight ahead N.Y.C. Blues Rock. Mason reminds me of Paul
Butterfield with the finesse of Charlie Musselwhite,
and the Chicago
soul of James Cotton and Little Walter. Zach plays guitar like his balls
are on fire and ain't no one gonna live to put them out.
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