GA-20 at Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, KY 15-JAN-23

January 22, 2023 Michael Deinlein Concert Reviews, US Comments Off

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A spectacular evening of Blues with GA-20 along with the Tyrone Cotton Trio and Oliver Sayani.

There is a relatively common saying that goes “If you know you know”. It’s usually used when indicating a reference to something only a select group of people know and understand. On a cold, Sunday evening in January in the great commonwealth of Kentucky those who “know” were at Headliners Music Hall for an evening of traditional blues with GA-20. The band, consisting of guitarist Matt Stubbs along with guitarist/vocalist Pat Faherty, and drummer Tim Carman are touring in support of their latest studio album Crackdown on Karma Chief Records / Colemine Records which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and the title song debuted #1 on the ITUNES top 40 U.S. blues albums chart. 2023 has started out fast and furious for the guys with several Co-Headline shows with Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown mixed in with several headline shows. Late January sees GA-20 performing on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise #38 and in Mid-March will be opening for the legendary Mavis Staples at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT.

All faces were directed toward the stage as the house lights dropped and Matt, Pat & Tim took their places on stage. Wasting no time, they started the evening off with the raw & heavy “No No” followed by a couple from the Crackdown album “Just Because” and “Double Getting’” that had the room movin’ and dancing. The guys were not much for onstage banter, rather preferring to let the music do the talking this evening but Matt did take a few minutes to answer a few common questions including how the band’s name. GA-20 came to be. They are named after the guitar amplifier manufactured by Gibson from 1950 to 1961 which was used to record their first album.

A rousing rendition of one of Matt’s favorite artists, Bo Diddley, was next on the setlist as “Crackin’ Up”came rolling off the stage along with “Lonely Soul,” “I Let Someone In,” ”Fair Weathered Friend,” and “By My Lonesome”. The evening had a little bit of everything including Pat’s impromptu foray into the crowd and ultimately on the Headliners bar while playing “Easy On The Eyes”.

GA-20 closed the evening in a special way with crazy good tribute to Chicago blues legend Hound Dog Taylor and “Let’s Get Funky” leaving everyone in attendance a buzz as the house lights came up for the evening. It was great to see Matt, Pat and Tim head straight to the merch booth after their set, interacting with fans, signing albums and taking quick selfies with anyone who asked. Now you are in the “know” too, you don’t want to miss GA-20 when they come by a city near you!

Providing main support this evening was Louisville Music Awards Blues Artist of the Year, Tyrone Cotton and the Tyrone Cotton Trio. Along with Tyrone Cotton this evening was drummer Mike Hyman, bassist Danny Kiely and Stephen Couch on guitar who proved to be a perfect complement to GA-20 with an outstanding 45 minute set of music.

Opening the evening was singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Oliver Sayani with a short set of original songs.