The Bull Run is a long-standing (mostly) blues club way out in small-town Massachusetts. Have to go there or New Hampshire as the city of Boston – which is actually a fairly cosmopolitan city – has largely abandoned it. They have a House of Blues there which NEVER HAS BLUES BANDS.  

Popa Chubby pops up on the B.B. King blues channel with some regularity. I think some of you may have posted about him as well. My friend Gary – drummer turned bass player – and I were looking to see a show together.

He had seen the Chubmeister a number of times, highly recommended him and so we decided to go for it.

This show was originally scheduled for 3 or 4 weeks ago. However, we drove out to the place and found out that the show had been canceled due to Chubaroni’s 3^rd (!) bout with COVID. He’s a big guy and perhaps not in the greatest overall health.

The proprietor felt bad that we had driven for like, an hour and had not gotten the message. So she treated us to a few drinks on the house. I didn’t bother telling her that I checked my voice mail later and sure enough they had told us in plenty of time. Hey, a couple of free beers won’t kill anybody and the way I look at it, nobody got hurt.

From his website: “Popa Chubby, born Ted Horowitz, has been hard rocking the blues in his fierce and soulful way for more than 30 years. Over the course of a career that dates back to 1994, he has been a force of to be reckoned with on the guitar, and his tempestuous, soulful playing has never been more powerful.

An imposing figure with a shaven head, tattooed arms, a goatee and a performance style he describes as “the Stooges meets Buddy Guy, Motörhead meets Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson,” Popa Chubby is an endearing character who is one of the genre’s most popular figures.”

Popa is a bluesman to the max and he has a crackerjack four-piece band. Chubby’s current band lineup includes Stefano Giudici (drums), Max Barrett (bass), Dave Keyes (keyboards), as well as a recurring cast of musicians.He plays sitting down because, well, he’s big. Somebody offered him pizza, but he’s not allowed to eat it. He is a tremendous and very versatile guitarist but it’s clear his meat and potatoes are the blooze.

RANT – While I love the fact that guys like Chubby connect well with the audience, I’ve noticed this trend in performers lately to stop after every song, tell us how much they love the audience and how music is so wonderful and what’s so funny about peace love and understanding. I don’t know if it’s because these guys are older or because they’re so happy to not be stuck in the house. Say it once guys, then move on.

Here’s “Hey Joe.” Note that I didn’t feel like filming anything, so I found representative clips online.

What I like about Chubby’s playing is not only his virtuosity but his variety. A 10-minute solo can get boring. But he keeps things interesting throughout his solos by using single-notes, chords, arpeggios, wah-wah. Even if you don’t know what half that shit is, it doesn’t matter as he’s holding your interest.

Here’s a cool tune he played as a popular request. It’s called “I Can’t See the Light of Day.:

I mentioned in a previous post that I had recently seen an act that mentioned the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. It was Popa. He said that Leon Russell and Joe Cocker “hated” each other but that wasn’t exactly the case.

He also said that Gregg Allman was one of the greatest singers we’ve ever had prior to singing “Going Down Slow.” (It’s on the Duane Allman anthology).  I applauded heartily when I heard that. Amen, y’all.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that tune “live” so I’ll go with something else. Here’s “Caffeine and Nicotine.” (After women, there’s nothing blues guys like to sing about more than booze, drugs and cigs).

Lastly, Chubby mentioned Jeff Beck’s untimely passing and said what everybody else says which is that he is a guitarist’s guitarist. Again, I all but stood up on the table and applauded as did maybe half the people there. C’mon, folks! You’re old like me. You know who the fuck Jeff Beck is. Give it up!

Anyway, for his last tune, El Popa McChubinsky did his owntake on Jeff’s version of “Over the Rainbow” which you should go find at some point. He confessed that he didn’t have Jeff’s touch on this but then, who does.

This was a great way to end the show. Popa is such a great guitarist that I realized what a fool I’ve been and immediately nuked all my guitars, amps and everything. C’est la vie!