What has been billed as the Golden State – Lone Star Revue consists of bay area based vocalist/harmonica player Mark Hummell who has teamed with fellow Northern Californian guitarist Little Charlie Baty and over the past of couple of years they have joined forces with Texans guitarist Anson Funderburgh, bassist R.W. Grigsby and drummer Wes Starr. Grigsby and Starr had been longtime members of Funderbugh’s Rockets. These road warriors and experienced studio cats brought a tight, tight, tight ensemble sound that allowed Funderburgh and Baty to engage in some fiery fret work that shot sparks all over Malarkey’s Bar and Grill in Long Beach, California, on Sunday September 21^st.

Thanks to the long time president of the Southern California Blues Society, Cadillac Zack, who turns this embibatorium on a bay into a blues bar on Sunday afternoons. What made this show rise above the pedestrian offerings we all have to endure from time to time is the Starr/Grigsby rhythm section.

Starr, in particular, is the fuse that has ignited a fire under the Rockets for parts of four decades now. On this evening the guitar players seemed to have a blast as they thrilled fans with their formidable prowess. Little Charlie and Anson are two players who are a study in contrast. Baty can be an explosive presence on the stage as he demonstrated on this evening. He engaged in some very creative and exciting playing as he continued to reach into his seemingly bottomless bag of riffs.

Anson, on the other hand played like well...Anson. He performs with an understated elegance. His solos are built on a sturdy rhythmic base that is buried deep into the hallowed ground of the blues. From there he is able to build a musical statement with the materials that sit at the core of blues played the right way, with timing, taste and that legendary, jaw dropping Anson tone. If Anson doesn’t feel it, he doesn’t play it and he felt it on this warm California evening. It was the essence of blues guitar playing in its purest form.  

More than a third of the 24 songs in the two sets of music offered up on this evening came from Mark Hummel’s brand new Electro-Fi release entitled The Hustle Is Really On. They opened with a tune from the album, John Brim’s You Got Me. Before the opening set was over they performed Jimmy Reed’s I’m Going to Ruin You and T-Bone Walker’s The Hustle is On from the new record. It is on this number that Little Charlie got to dust off some of his T-Bone inspired, jazz flavored licks while Anson played a Texas shuffle behind his more flamboyant counterpart.  

After a brief intermission, the band returned to the stage with the rollicking opening track off the new record, Lazy Lester’s infectious rave up Blues Stop Knocking. A second set highlight came via Frank Frost’s My Backscratcher. This tune is the Shreveport, Louisiana, based Jewell Records’ answer to the Excello sound. Wes Starr found that elusive Sam Carr rhythm and it was off to the races for Hummel and the band. The guitar tandem meshed perfectly and then stayed right in the swamp for the duration of the number.  

After Anson explored some T-Bone Walker territory of his own via a slow guitar instramental in G, Junior Watson joined Little Charlie for the show closer. It was another instrumental that sounded like Tiny Grimes on steroids. Both guitarists acted like kids on the come and not seasoned pros as they kept firing one salvo and then the next to one another while the crowd went crazy and Anson sat with a broad smile in the front row taking pictures.

It was a show that had blues fans buzzing for days and my very informal polling had folks declaring it the Southern California blues show of the year. I don’t know about that, but I don’t think I could mount a compelling argument to the contrary. It was wonderful to see discerning blues fans from all over the state of California as far away as Santa Cruz and San Diego. I was in the company of a couple of musicians who flew in from Colorado to hear something very special. Nobody, no matter how far they traveled, went home disappointed.

Enjoy some great photography from Alex Gardner who helped capture some of the excitement of this evening of music.

- David Mac

Mark Hummel

Anson Funderburgh

Little Charlie Baty & Anson Funderburgh

Little Charlie Baty

Wes Starr

R.W. Grigsby

Little Charlie Baty pleasing the fans

Wes Starr, Junior Watson & R. W. Grigsby

Little Charlie Baty & Junior Watson