Purple majesty, blues prodigy & kings of the Hill

I’ll admit it: I never was a huge Prince fan during my formative years, although I somehow managed to buy copies of “1999” and “Purple Rain” on vinyl during the ‘80s. MTV and Top 40 radio must’ve made an impression.

I was a rocker, the kind of kid who decorated his brown paper bag textbook covers with hand-drawn Led Zeppelin and Van Halen logos. My listening tastes trended toward hair metal and classic rock. But, like any teen-ager at the time, my idiot box was constantly tuned to MTV. Pop music by Prince, Michael Jackson, Culture Club and countless others was inevitable.

Somewhere along the line, the Purple One’s reign broke through my thick skull. I’d guess it was the epic, closing scene in “Purple Rain” and Prince’s guitar pyrotechnics. I must’ve realized that the guitar solos in “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” were worthy, too. After all, not every note needed to be hammered out like Eddie Van Halen.

Prince’s death last Thursday stunned me. No tears, just shock. How could a physically fit guy in his 50s just up and die? Prince wasn’t one of those dinosaurs clinging to his back catalog. He was still pushing the musical envelope, recording and touring with the energy of a hungry youngster.

Farmington Hill plays the El Rancho at 8 p.m. Saturday.

I guess I’ve grown calloused to musician deaths. As a DJ, you’re always prepared to play long tribute sets, and this year is no different … David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Merle Haggard, and now Prince. The list goes on. I remembered back to the pre-internet, pre-cell phone days when I was driving from campus to town for lunch and heard back-to-back-to-back Jerry Garcia Band, Grateful Dead and Old & in the Way songs on KDUR. I sensed something was wrong. I switched the dial to KSUT and the Dead were playing there, too. Then the DJ came on and said he’d be playing nothing but Jerry-related material the rest of the day in memorial. That’s how the news used to travel. Today, it’s instantaneous … Facebook, Twitter, text messages.

This past Monday, I hosted longtime Steve Miller Band keyboard player Joseph Wooten for a KSUT Session. He was in the region for a solo concert in Pagosa Springs. Joseph told a story about how a few years ago, he played a private “festival” at Paisley Park for Prince and his musician friends. Joseph was performing with his brother, Victor Wooten (of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones fame). It seems Prince was a huge fan of Wooten’s funk-infused bass playing. The soft-spoken icon sat at the foot of the stage watching and listening, gleaning what he could from Victor and his band.

Through Joseph Wooten’s story and electric piano playing, it all made sense. Prince was the latest in a long line of artists from Ray Charles to Little Richard to James Brown to George Clinton who pushed R&B to soul, funk, rock and, ultimately, pop.

Prince will be missed.

Farmington Hill hosts the CD release party for its second album, “More Rock Than Eagle Block,” at 8 p.m. Saturday at El Rancho. If you’re a fan of their debut disc, 2012’s “Bridge to Nowhere,” then hold on tight for first listen. “Eagle Block” truly features more rock than its predecessor. The three-guitar assault from Erik Nordstrom (electric), Bubba Iudice (acoustic) and Kelly Rogers (lap steel) drives the quintet with as much force as a 426 Hemi powering a ’69 Charger up the band’s curvy, steep namesake. Songs like “Thinkin’ Drinkin’” and “Welfare Line” stand out. There’s still a smidgeon of alt-country in their sound, but make no mistake: this is a rock & roll record. The 14-song disc and its subsequent release party serve as a nice transition from the original lineup to the current one. Former bassist Katie Prince and drummer Michael Mantineo are the rhythm section of record, but have since been replaced by Mary Hess and Logan Miller, respectively.

The latest in the long line of young, white, blues-rock prodigies, Eli Cook comes to Crash Music in the historic Aztec Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (he also plays Friday night at the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez). Cook began playing guitar as a teen-ager in Virginia’s Blue Ridge foothills and released a pair of albums before he turned 20. B.B. King asked him to open his East Coast tour in the middle part of last decade. Now, as he stares down his 30th birthday, Cook has five albums under his belt. The latest includes appearances by blues-rock royalty like Artimus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Leslie West (Mountain), Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio), Reese Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble) and Tinsley Ellis.

Hesperus resident Ole Bye takes the stage at the Mancos Distillery at 8 p.m. Saturday. Bye, who occasionally performs as his alter ego, Vera Chrome, and sometimes onstage with the Lindells, is also the moving force behind Mancos’ farm co-op.

Music in the Mountains hosts its latest Bite of Jazz friendraiser at 6:15 p.m. tonight (Thurs., April 28) at St. Mark’s Church. This time around, classic blues and jazz will be performed by the quartet of Mike Morris (percussion), Ryan McCurry (piano), Evan Suiter (acoustic guitar) and Terry Wells (vocals). The $30 ticket includes dinner, beer, wine and the 7:30 p.m. concert.

Music in the Mountains also just announced its 18-hole golf tournament and BBQ to benefit its music education program. The tournament will be held on Fri., May 27, at the Glacier Club, and includes a 10 a.m. registration and Bloody Mary bar, a 5:30 p.m. happy hour and BBQ, and a silent auction. Dinner-only and hole sponsorships are also available. For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Cassie Robel at crobel@musicinthemountains.com or 385-6820.

The final broadcast of “The Met: Live in HD” takes place at 10:55 a.m. Saturday in FLC’s Vallecito Room.  Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” – a relatively short opera at just 1 hour, 45 minutes – will be screened.  The opera is an intense and still-startling work that unites the commanding impact of Greek tragedy with the unsettling insights of early-20th-century Freudian psychology. The drama unfolds in a single act of rare vocal and orchestral power.

This week’s Top Shelf list is a one-word remembrance to Prince: Thanks.

This is what it sounds like? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.