BRIAN Ayers AND His BAND DAZZLE THEIR FANS!

Every once in a while the stars align and a moment of magic occurs. If you were in Quiote this past Sunday, you would have encountered such a fabulous experience when Brian Ayers and the Ayers’s Brothers Band took the stage to give a beautiful concert of Brian’s original material. This extemporaneous delivery, guided by Brian, enthralled and warmed the hearts of a full house of enthusiastic listeners for two straight hours. Brian, a crafty veteran with excellent communication skills, pulled just about everything out of his bag of tricks to create an unbelievable splendid afternoon for his old and new followers. Besides playing some of his fan’s favorite original songs, he added his latest song, “This Is the Rough Part,” honored other songwriters who appear in our series by playing their songs (Alan Whitney, “Frankie Speed, I Like Stealing Cadillacs”; John Dady, “Elaine”), and called Jeff Riales and Mike Wittek, two performers from our series, to come up and play Jeff’s great country song, “El Dorado.” Brian, a performer in the “Show for Joe,” a memorial concert honoring Joe Dady, one of our area’s treasured musicians, took a moment to pay tribute to Joe by playing “Roll Back The Clouds,” one of Joe’s favorite songs. Joe, who died of leukemia six months ago, is still fresh in the hearts of everyone around here, and Brian brought all of us one more step closer to healing with his outstanding rendition of the song. Brian’s awesome show was profoundly enhanced by the excellent musicianship of Chad Ayers, Mike Nelson, and Jim McDermott. In addition to his beautiful backup harmony, Chad’s exquisite lead playing was greeted with enthusiastic applause throughout the show. The rhythm section, Mike Nelson, standup bass, and Jim McDermott, cajon, brought a perfect fullness to Brian’s music, and they made it look easy. Nelson knew what to leave in and what to leave out, as he always does, and McDermott probably one of the best cajon players I have ever heard, always added the right touch at the right time. These four guys were having fun with the music, and their good time pervaded the room, creating a memorable afternoon for all who were in attendance.


Big thanks to Brian, Chad, Mike, and Jim for a terrific show! Big thanks to Raf, Erin, Trevor, Jasmine, Julie, and the rest of the staff at Rio for all the help you give us to make this event work! Big thanks to Scott Regan for promoting these shows on WRUR’s “Open Tunings!” Big thanks to you, the audience, for your continuous support of this venue! Without you, it would not be possible! Our next show in Quiote is on Dec. 1. Kerry Regan of Watkins and the Rapiers will be our guest. There will be music for the brunch at Rio from Noon until Kerry takes the stage at 3 PM. Stay tuned for more details about Kerry and “Sunday Music at Rio!”