Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage.
Hired guns can show up anywhere, even a little restaurant at Kirkwood.
Eric McFadden and Queen delphine played Dec. 3 at the 7800 Bar & Grill, which is remarkable considering the guitarist’s stature in the music world. There is no cover charge.
I met McFadden at this year’s High Sierra Music Festival. I kept running into him backstage and we eventually struck up a conversation.
The versatile guitar virtuoso hit all the stages during the four-day event in July, playing with several different bands. The music was improvised, but the appearances were not as impromptu as people may have figured.
“Oh, they pay me to sit in,” McFadden said, smiling before he went on the Grand Meadow stage to join Anders Osborne’s band. A short time later, Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars joined the fun, and the surprised audience was thrilled to witness the three guitar greats play together.
Eric McFadden’s life is like High Sierra. He’s always playing in different projects. A couple of his former bands are George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, and Eric Burdon and the Animals.
In recent weeks, he played with Tasty Face, which included singer Queen delphine, Fishbone’s Angelo Moore and Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes, and has been recording an album for his band T.E.N., which includes drummer Thomas Pridgen (Mars Volta, Suicidal Tendencies) and Fishbone’s bassist Norwood Fisher. He also recently was in Roosevelt Collier’s California Get Down, and he plays guitar and mandolin with Anders Osborne.
Before the Dec. 3 show, McFadden performed at a Kirkwood Mountain Resort event at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael with Danny Eisenberg, Dave Schools and others. The Kirkwood connection no doubt led to scheduling a show on Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 7800 Bar & Grill. Members of the Sacramento band Ideateam played an opening set at 8:30 p.m. before backing up McFadden and Queen delphine, who took the stage at 9:15 p.m..
Singer Queen delphine joined McFadden’s trio this summer. After Saturday’s show, McFadden will appear in Brooklyn, New Orleans and New Mexico.
Here’s what Tyler Blue wrote in the Crazy Horse Saloon’s blog in Nevada City after a show there in June.
“Eric McFadden’s shredding credentials are no secret. The guy really is about as close as you’re going to get to Hendrix in this day and age. He unleashes these stream-of-consciousness torrents, luring the listener into a Bermuda Triangle of sonic wonderment. Prepared as you may be, it’s still hard not to be knocked off balance.”
Related story: Review, photos of Eric McFadden’s Kirkwood show. LINK
Tahoe Onstage photos by Tim Parsons
