With a flip of the calendars to a fresh month, April 16th might be a date worth noting for those of you in southwestern PA. That’s when the legendary Nighthawks will be stopping by Moondog’s in Blawnox in support of the band’s latest release Last Train to Bluesville (RipBang Records), recorded live at the Sirius/XM studio.
Formed by Jimmy Thackery and Mark Wenner in the early 1970s (almost a decade and a half before Thackery ventured out on his own), the DC-based Nighthawks have spent the past nearly 40 years touring with and backing the likes of Hubert Sumlin, John Lee Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, Carl Perkins, Muddy Waters, and Elvin Bishop, and making quite a name for themselves along the way. Showing a bit more of a country blues sound on the acoustic Last Train, the ‘hawks cover such classics as “Nineteen Years Old,” “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” “Can’t Be Satisfied,” James Brown and the Famous Flames’ “I’ll Go Crazy,” Big Joe Turner’s “The Chicken and the Hawk,” and Slim Harpo’s “Rainin’ in My Heart,” with Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Mighty Long Time” and Bo Diddley’s “You Don’t Love Me” as particular standouts.
Though he isn’t featured on the album, West Virginian and longtime drummer for Thackery’s Drivers Mark Stutso now bangs the drums for The Nighthawks, following the departure of their own longtime drummer (of 35 years) Pete Ragusa. We caught Stutso sitting in for a few songs during the Hubert Sumlin/Bob Margolin show at Moondog’s earlier this year and would have to imagine that he makes for a great addition to the Nighthawks. But it certainly sounds like another good reason to catch the band at their April 16 gig to me.