The 2010 Ponderosa Stomp music festival officially begins tonight with the Hip Drop party at d.b.a. Curated by DJs Soul Sister and Brice Nice, the night features 10 top-of-the-line DJs and record collectors playing all (rarer than rare) 45s. Brice Nice is the only New Orleans DJ—the rest range from Portland, Oregon to New York City, Memphis, Texas, and back to the West Coast to San Francisco. DJ Jim Dandy will even be coming from Australia to share the gems of his record collection from down under. The party’s more than just a record collector nerd fest—think of a Mod Dance Party night with more B-sides. Want an example? Here’s where Hip Drop’s name comes from, a rare funk classic recorded by New Orleans girl group The Explosions that was written and produced by Eddie Bo (and features the great James Black on drums). If you want to get your hands on some of these records yourself, there’s also a Stomp-associated vinyl record fair taking place Friday and Saturday afternoons, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Cabildo, with many sellers (and rival buyers) from across the country.
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The unofficial stomping kicks off even earlier though, first at the new Euclid Records with a Ponderosa in-store concert by Sammy Ridgley and Eddie Gabriel & the Lonely Knights, both of whom will be performing at the Stomp. The show is free, and will go from 5 – 7 p.m. At 6 p.m., blues pianist Henry Gray plays the weekly Ogden After Hours at the Ogden Museum, including an interview with Ponderosa Stomp founder and organizer Dr. Ike Padnos. And if the 10 DJs at the Hip Drop aren’t enough for you, DJs Matty and Pasta and their guests will be hosting a Thursday night edition of Alligator Chomp, their bi-weekly party at Mimi’s in the Marigny, playing all 45s of Louisiana R&B, rockabilly and swamp pop.
On Friday morning, the Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios will be honored by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at 10 a.m., followed by the start of the Clandestine Celluloid Film Series—screenings of Ponderosa Stomp-related documentaries—and the Stomp’s third annual Music History Conference, featuring interviews with many of this year’s performers and other figures instrumental in the early years of rock n roll. OffBeat editor Alex Rawls will be participating Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. for an interview with record store owner and early New Orleans DJ (and coiner of the phrase “Sock Hop”) Jim Russell, who will discuss his 50+ years in the New Orleans music business.
Of course, the centerpiece of the weekend is the Ponderosa Stomp concert itself, spread over Friday and Saturday nights at House of Blues. Check out the full schedule, but we recommend not to miss Chicano rockers Thee Midniters, gospel funk group the Relatives and swamp popper Johnnie Allan on Friday night, and legendary rocker Duane Eddy, trucker songwriter Red Simpson, soul/funk singers Sugar Pie Desanto, Wendy Rene and Barbara Lynn, and rock/country/funk artist Roy Head on Saturday night. To get more familiar, we put together this sampler below, with highlights from most of the Stomp performers.
