Some Rock and Roll Fun
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting an artist who brought the sound of the 50s music into present times.
Landon Lane and the Ivories filmed their first music video “Dig that Boogie” in Memphis, TN. He is well known for covering Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis music at Jerry Lee Lewis Bar on Beale Street. Lane said he has been performing professionally for 10 years.
“We performed last summer for five months straight,” Landon Lane said of his band’s performance at the bar. We also [perform at] the Redbird’s [game]… three to four [times] a year. We have performed all over the country. We do what we do.”
Lane stated that Rockabilly is the genre of his music. He stated that the genre is gospel and bluegrass with a hyped up beat.
Rockabilly was introduced in the early 1950s by Jimmie Rogers, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Curtis Gordon and Memphis blues musician Junior Parker to name a few. During the 50s, Carl Perkins with The Perkins Brothers Band emerged with a more profound mixture of sound that influenced acts such as The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.
“Carl Perkins merged the sounds,” Lane said, referring to a faster tempo of western swing music.
Perkins was the first to record “Blue Suede Shoes,” in which was later made famous on a national scale by Elvis Presley. Fast forward to 2014 and you hear the new age rockabilly of Landon Lane. The question is do we have a new King of Rockabilly?
I have never seen someone so electrifying on the piano in my lifespan. The unsigned rocker’s career is definitely talent to watch. Cheers to a blossoming career.
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