http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/02/11/entertainment/doc4b731eb9e40ff971837650.txt
February 11, 2010
By Don Wilcock
"Dave, it's not the '70s anymore."
Dave Malachowski laughs in retrospect about his friend Jeff Golub's
reality check when he proposed a CD, saying, "I wanna do some country
and bluegrass and blues and rock and roll, and folk."
Golub moves in the commercial rock guitar world, having done four
albums and five world tours with Rod Stewart and seven CDs and three
world tours with Billy Squire. How did his bud Malachowski think he
was going to sell a CD with all that stuff on it?
"I realized marketing-wise what I was saying was near impossible,"
says Malachowski who headlines a star-studded Haiti relief benefit
tonight at the Palace Theatre in Albany with such regional favorites
as jazz songstress Jill Hughes, hard rock's Sirsy, rockabilly razor
blades Slick Fitty and cover band The Audiostars.
Malachowski's group, The Woodstock Allstars, have enough fabled
musicians to carry the show on their own. Their name offers the key
to why they're so good and to why Malachowski can get away with
crisscrossing so many genres of music without destroying the bottom
line of making just plain good music.
The iconic title "Woodstock" alone means one thing to those who never
get beyond the image of half a million hippies on dope. But to those
who live in this community, Woodstock is an arts colony of friends
and neighbors, old guard and young turks who live for and off the music.
"We don't play music to be famous and be pop stars and make a million
dollars," says Malachowski. "We play music to play the best music we
can, and especially these days in the American Idol world and such
that seems to be lost, but you have to dig a little deeper.
(Woodstock music) is not at the top of the charts where it was in the
past when people like The Band were doing well on the charts, but it
still exists, and we're trying to keep it going, I guess."
Of the eight always changing members of the Allstars, three were the
backbone of country star Shania Twain's band in the mid-'90s: bass
player Graham Maby, drummer Gary Burke, and guitarist Malachowksi who
put a band together for Twain and her producer-husband Mutt Lange.
Seemingly, Shania Twain was about as far from the Woodstock ethos
as Hank Williams is from Led Zeppelin. "I mean, the goals were
different," says Malachowski with a chuckle. "We were playing the
songs she had done like they were on the record. So solos were four
measures as opposed to four minutes."
However, a look at the background of each of the three reveals
strong Woodstock creds. Burke played with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder
Tour in '76, Rick Danko's Band (and currently with Prof. Louie and
the Crowmatix). Maby was with Joan Baez, The Rick Danko Band and
Natalie Merchant). Malachowski with Commander Cody, Savoy Brown Blues
Band and local perennials Aged in The Hills.
Dave grew up in Rexford, went to school at Berklee in Boston and
spent four years in Kentucky. Several years ago, he returned to the
area to live in Albany, but moved to Woodstock when he fell in love
with the scenery traveling down the Hudson to tour with Garth Hudson.
"I just looked around and said, 'This is absolutely beautiful. The
mountains and snow were all around. My daughter had grown up and move
out and I said, I can do this.'"
In a press release for tonight's benefit, the Woodstock Allstars
claim they never have and never will rehearse and "just go where the
moment leads them."
Their first show was two and a half years ago at the Lake George
Blues Festival. All members have other gigs, but their performances
together have been growing geometrically in number lately with two
high profile gigs at the Iridium on Broadway, the same venue the late
Les Paul performed in every Monday night.
After the second show in one night in the Big Apple, Maby told
Malachowski. "I'm actually startin' to know this stuff."
For sale at the gig will be Malachowski's excellent first EP
entitled The Secret Life of Colonel David.
The line drawing logo on the CD itself was drawn by Dave's daughter
Lindsay. It looks a lot like John Lennon's self portraits with
equally long hair.
"So, now I can't cut my hair," he quips.
Was he thinking of it? "No, 'cause now I live in Woodstook."
--
What: Hearts for Haiti, A Benefit Concert
When: Tonight at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Palace Theatre, Albany
Tickets: $15 at the door, Ticketmaster, 518-465-4663
.
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