A
new idea in the works for the Boogie Kings is a dance club. Again, you can go to the website to learn all
about it (www.boogiekings.com). The band is big, and it has a big sound, so
having a big place in which to play for a whole mess of folks is simply
the best. And that is what the dance club
hopes to achieve.
Because
Ned manages the band and it is his phone number on the website, not a
day goes by that he doesn’t get a call. It
is typically from a fan who just wants to chat a little about when they
last saw the band, how cool it was to hear all those old songs. And Ned, instead of blowing them off, chats
with them. He remembers with them the
city, the best song they played that night, the crowd.
It’s like he told me at the beginning of the interview when I
asked him to tell me the type of music the Boogie Kings play. He said, “It’s what used to be called
blue-eyed soul, sometimes rhythm and blues, but it’s really just those
songs that people want to hear one more time.”
And
it’s true. As I put the CD in my car, and
those old songs began to play, it was that “coming home” feeling. These guys play the songs that swim in our
souls, recharging themselves every time we hear them again. Appropriately, we had talked in the Waffle
House, an icon of American culture, and we had talked about a band,
that believe it or not, is an icon as well. Like the Waffle House, it
stands as a reminder of what is satisfyingly good. I’ve never heard of anyone having a bad meal
at a Waffle House nor will I ever hear of anyone having a bad time with
the Boogie Kings.
Bert Miller adding vocals to the rich tones of the
legendary band.
For
more information go to www.boogiekings.com or
call (337) 367-6248. When you do visit the
website, or buy a CD, or go out to hear them play, you will hear “Never
Go Away” a song written by Gregg Martinez. The
song is really the story of the band as I have tried to relate it here. Listen for this line if you will, “Many waved
the banner, but all of them are gone, there is only one left now, whose
work is still not done…” That’s Ned, still
working, along with the Fabulous Boogie Kings to give your soul that
same feeling I had leaving the Waffle House last night, that somehow I
had been in a very special place.
