The Mainstay is observing the flavor and excitement of Mardi Gras with a special Fat Tuesday (February 21st) concert. The featured artists are the Philadelphia-based band James Day and the Fish Fry.
James Day is originally from the Mississippi Gulf Coast town of Biloxi. He spent his twenties living in New Orleans sucking up all the real New Orleans music he could. His day jobs included being a fish fry man, which is the name of the classic New Orleans band he put together after moving to Philadelphia. They perform all styles of New Orleans music: A gumbo mix of Street Parade music, Cuban Rumbas, Swamp Pop, and Zydeco. The material covers all the familiar idioms of that style: backbeat drumming, slapping upright bass, fat tone guitar, squeezing accordion, scratchy frottoir, Cajun fiddle and ripping harmonica. The players include Ron Howard on piano, organ, and accordions, Greg Snyder on “all manner of guitars”, Willie James on upright bass, Stephan Tolnay on drums, Alan “Gator” Yandziak on baritone and tenor saxophones, and James Day on “hollerin’ and harmonicas.”
Showtime for this special concert event is 7 pm. Tickets are $20 in advance of the show and can be purchased online at mainstayrockhall.org. Phone reservations are accepted by calling (410) 639-9133 (tickets reserved by phone are $25 when paid at the door). The Mainstay is located at 5753 N Main Street in Rock Hall, Maryland. Its regular calendar of local, regional, and nationally touring artists features a live performance every week of the year (February through December) in a variety of music genres.
The programs of the Mainstay are also supported in part with funding from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Kent Cultural Alliance.
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