• The Houserockers were always good for a Stones cover somewhere in the encores.
On Saturday, three of them -- Joe Grushecky, Art Nardini and Joffo Simmons -- will be on stage at the Rex Theater for Exile on Carson Street, a tribute to the Stones classic "Exile on Main Street," which was released 40 years ago to the day, on May 12, 1972.
Mr. Grushecky says the soulful, bluesy double album, which was recorded in England, France and LA and included such classics as "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Happy" and "Sweet Virginia," "was hugely influential and musically informative among my circle of friends. I've always loved it. I saw the tour at the Arena. It was a killer show."
The Houserockers will be joined by an all-star cast, assembled by WDVE's Randy Baumann, that includes Donnie Iris, Billy Price, Rob James and Scott Blasey (Clarks), Jeff Scmutz (Good Brother Earl) and Jon Belan (Gene the Werewolf).
"We are trying to be as faithful as possible, but I doubt even the Stones could play it note for note," Mr. Grushecky says. "There are a lot of 'in the moment' songs on the record. The key is to capture the feel and the essence of the song along with the signature musical passages."
One of the tricks to covering Stones properly capturing the guitar sounds of Keith Richards, who discussed his approach at length in his recent biography, "Life." It was also one of six Stones albums to feature the brilliant Mick Taylor.
"There are a lot of tunings and capos involved," Mr. Grushecky says. "I got one of my Teles set up five strings, open G. You can't get that cool classic sound without that particular approach. It's like playing Chuck Berry. Everybody thinks it's easy and they can do it, but not many can pull it off the way it's supposed to be played."
The 8 p.m. show is sold out. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Beads of Courage at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
• Pittsburgh rapper Beedie -- fresh from a tour that has taken him to New York, Philadelphia and Detroit -- will play the Shadow Lounge on Friday as part of the Pittsburgh's Next Five Showcase with Devin Miles, Pyrex Press, Hubbs and Jon Quest.
Beedie will release the EP, "Above the Weather," on June 4 and, in advance of that, he's released a YouTube video for the song "Old Soul," directed by Ben Fredette, which features cameos by such local cats as Mac Miller, The Come Up, BZE, DJ Vex, members of the 58s, Brick and CLG.
The Shadow Lounge show is at 10:15 p.m. Cover is $5.
First Published: May 10, 2012, 4:00 a.m.
Updated: May 10, 2012, 2:42 p.m.
