Live Review
The Bel Airs
Whiskey Junction
June 17, 2000
by Rebecca West
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1999 KBA Award Winner Achievement for Blues on the Internet Presented by the Blues Foundation
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The Bel Airs have played around town - mostly at the Blues Saloon- but this is the first time I've caught them. Their wirey frames and craggy faces are straight out of the Dust Bowl or Fonda in Grapes of Wrath but their music is powerful and energizing. This Missouri-based band has a local following and the dance floor was packed all night - without the omnipresent 'Mustang Sally' required to get the crowd movin'. The Bel Airs are a trio comprised of two guitar-wielding brothers and a drummer who have played together for most of twenty years. The bass player works on the worst looking guitar I've ever seen, and sometimes stops playing altogether, leaving one guitar and drums to fill the room. The band has done well in Europe and is promoting their latest CD: 'HooDoo Party" on Blueberry Hill Records. My favorites are the ones written by the band and are more blues-oriented than their live performance, which they describe as being more the jazz and country ends of the blues spectrum. This band is a good time - catch em next time.
This review is copyright © 2000 by Rebecca West, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.

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