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The Benicia Herald
Benicia's best news source, now as always
Troubadours tune up
 HOUSTON JONES brings its high-octane Americana to Benicia on July 16.Courtesy Red Dragonfly Productions ❒ Summer music series, boasting eclectic lineup, to begin this weekend
By David Ryan Palmer
Assistant Editor
It's summertime, and that means warm days, warm nights and lots of time spent in the great outdoors.
It also means that the third year of the Spenger Garden music series is about to commence.
Coordinator and publicist Rhonda Lucile Hicks said she is excited about this year's lineup of musical acts, which will perform at the garden on the grounds of the Benicia Historical Museum starting with Johnny Smith on Saturday and continuing through October.
"It's really great that it's starting to feel like summer, instead of January," Hicks said Wednesday.
After Smith (see story at beniciaherald.wordpress.com), the next act in the series is Houston Jones, a self-styled "high-octane Americana band that blends rock, blues, jazz, and other American music. They have a five member band: two guitars, a bass cello, drums, and an acordian/keyboard player, and frequently rip up the stage with their music.
The band is named for lead vocalists Glenn Houston and Travis Jones, who also play the lead and rhythm guitar, respectively. Houston has been nominated for "Best Lead Guitar" by the California Country Music Association - according to the band's website he plays his guitar left-handed and upside-down.
STEVE FREUND.
SN Jacobson photo
His compadre, Jones, said Houston's "musical background and history reads like a William Faulkner novel," according to a biography on the band's website.
Houston Jones plays Benicia on July 16.
On Aug. 20, crooner Russ Lorenson brings the Great American Songbook to Benicia for the third act in the Spenger series.
"He's someone who believes that this era didn't die in the '40s, and (that) some songs are still being written today," Hicks said.
Lorenson's reputation is difficult to ignore: he's been featured in Jazz Review, which said he "is not just a crooner covering the traditional Sinatra style, or trying to be the next Harry Connick Jr; he is his own man."
He's also been written up in the New York Times and the San Francisco Examiner and featured in the Austin Chronicle.
The Steve Freund Trio arrives Sept. 17, boasting a frontman who Hicks said will have every audience member feeling the music.
"He plays this absolutely pristine, classic Chicago style blues," she said.
Freund is originally from New York, but moved to Chicago as a youngster. During that time, he moved up in the music world, eventually being the favorite guitarist for blues legend Sunnyland Slim.
When Slim died, Freund moved to the Bay Area, and has been belting out blues ever since.
He will be joined by blues singer Jan Fanucchi, a 25-year veteran of the Bay Area blues scene.
To get tickets for any concert in the Spenger Garden Music Series, contact the Benicia Historical Museum, 2024 Camel Road in the Arsenal, at 707-745-5435. Tickets are $20.
Find Out More
Houston Jones' website
Russ Lorenson's website
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