Rob Ickes and Jim Hurst play at the Little River Inn

Award winning dobro player Rob Ickes (Founding member of the bluegrass masters Blue Highway) and award winning guitarist Jim Hurst (who has played with Claire Lynch's Grammy-nominated band) joined forces for a concert at the Little River Inn last night, and the results were a fiery evening of jazz tinged bluegrass---or was it country tinged blues? The enthusiastic crowd didn't seemed to care, as it was a solid concert of awesome music from these two greats.





The contrast in these two gentlemen's appearances doesn't hint at the complimentary nature of their musical styles. Ickes dobro playing is fiercely bold and yet richly melodic, and Hurst's fretboard work can go from lightning fast to subtly delicate.



Hurst also sang in a clear tenor/baritone voice that could wrap itself around ballads as easily as blues. He sang a smokin',  soulful version of "Mustang Sally", showing his Detroit roots.



Ickes dobro sounds as pretty as it looks. He definitely can make this instrument sing. In a chat at intermission he spoke of his debt to Mike Auldridge, the former dobro player for "new grass" pioneers The Seldom Scene. He proudly showed me a picture of Auldridge on his cell phone from a visit they had a week or so ago, and said they will be recording together at some point in the future. THAT will be a treat to hear!



Rob's brother, Patrick, who lives over the hill in Lake County, joined the duo with his banjo for some family style pickin'. The concert series at the Little River Inn is a real blessing for us music aficionados, and this was but one of the gems this venue yields up for us. The North Coast definitely was rocking this night!