Michael Doherty's Music Log: Rick Shea & The Losin' End at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon, 2-18-26 Concert Review

Once a month Rick Shea & The Losin' End go to Maui Sugar Mill Saloon in Tarzana for the Swingin' Doors music series. It's a night you can count on to deliver the goods, and certainly we are in need of things we can count on these days. Rick Shea plays two sets, and in between has a special guest perform. Last night that guest was Lightnin' Willie & The Poorboys. Last night was also special because Rick Shea was celebrating the release of his new album, Smoke Tree Road, which comes out tomorrow. Sitting in on guitar with The Losin' End was Danny Ott. Two great bands delivered several hours of excellent music. I only wish more people had made it out to the show.

Rick Shea & The Losin' End

Rick Shea & The Losin' End started the first set just after 8:30, easing in with "The Town Where I Live," which had a rather beautifully sad vibe, Rick singing, "You could waste your whole life in this ragged ol' town." And check out these lines: "Sometimes I wonder why I hang around here/If you ain't got much choice, man, your choice is real clear." That was followed by "Mexicali Train." This song always takes me on a ride to another place, another time, traveling with ghosts, of "Kerouac and Cassady," traveling with the past. "For now I'll try to lose myself somewhere inside this Mexicali train." And isn't that key? Losing ourselves in the music, in the rhythm. After that song, Rick mentioned his new album, and then played a couple of songs from it. The first was "Guardian Angel." After a false start, Rick explained, "We've only played this a couple of times." I hope it will become a regular part of the band's sets, because it's a sweet number that I've quickly come to love. The second was "A Week In Winnemucca." This is one that has popped up occasionally in sets for close to a year, a song about music, a song that mentions Johnny Cash. The line that always makes me smile is "The locals kept their distance, yeah, but not for very long."

Before "Big Rain Is Comin' Mama," Rick mentioned how Los Angeles got rain this week, though not as much as expected, and that some more was on the way. It was a particularly fun rendition, featuring some nice leads by Danny on guitar. That was followed by "Shelter Valley Blues," which has become one of my favorites, popping into my head with some frequency. It's such a cool song. "They say this ain't no place for fools or dreamers/But a foolish dream is all I've ever known." Then we got "Blues At Midnight," a different kind of cool, that delicious slow blues kind of cool, you understand. There was a great ache in Rick's voice, and he took the guitar lead on this one. Like blood dripping out of an opened vein. "Blues at midnight ever since you've been gone." Jeff Turmes then took over lead vocals on "Don't The Moon Look Real." Yeah, this set was just one kind of cool after another. This song had a nice jazzy vibe, Rick and then Danny delivering delicious guitar leads. Jeff's cap said, "Trouble Maker," by the way. That was followed by a cover of "Mathilda," the line "You gave me love when there was none" standing out in these twisted times. The band wrapped up the first set with "Down At The Bar At Gypsy Sally's." Ah yes, demons peer at us through the smoke, and we know everything is okay, more or less.

Lightnin' Willie & The Poorboys

At 9:42 p.m., Lightnin' Willie & The Poorboys took the stage, a five-piece band made up of Lightnin' Willie on lead vocals and guitar, Billy Burke on guitar and backing vocals, Patrick Lynch on bass and backing vocals, Tommy Gunn on drums and backing vocals, and Michael Murphy on keyboard. Lightnin' Willie introduced the band before kicking off the set, just in case we were curious who it was we were seeing. Then they got into the music, the magic, the blues, opening the set with "Satisfied," which was great fun, followed by "Sweet Marie." "This one's about cheating," Lightnin' Willie said in introducing "Eyes In The Back Of My Head," adding, "Don't cheat." That led straight into "Heart That Burns," which featured a very cool lead by Billy on guitar. Later in the song, Lightnin' Willie also delivered a strong guitar lead. Lightnin' Willie mentioned that lots of stuff got him worried, then said, "I shouldn't be worried, though; I'm playing music." I feel that way listening to music. "I'm so sad and blue," he sang, and yet this music was shaking all the blues away from me. That song, "Sad 'N' Blue," featured a delicious lead on keys. Then "I'm Walkin'" was a total delight. "Treat Her Right" featured a good, mean groove. "Sorry If I got a little loud there," Lightnin' Willie said afterward.

"Here's a song everyone can sing along to," Lightnin' Willie said in introducing "Don't Let Go." That song, as Willie mentioned, was a hit for Roy Hamilton. But I got turned onto it in the late 1980s when I saw Jerry Garcia Band cover it, and I've loved it ever since. Lightnin' Willie & The Poorboys delivered a good, fast rendition, and, yeah, they jammed on it, making it one of the set's highlights. And, yes, people sang along. They then slowed things down with "Tears Falling Down," a pretty song. "Don't Bite The Hand" began with a delicious rhythm on the floor tom. The set concluded with "Shake My Snake," which Lightnin' Willie introduced as a Britney Spears song, to which the audience responded with laughter. The song was a good blues boogie. And though the crowd could have been bigger (should have been bigger), the folks there made it clear they wanted more from Lightnin' Willie. And Lightnin' Willie is certainly not one to disappoint. He joked about how he and Rick Shea are independently wealthy, each owning some oil wells, and introduced the first song of his encore as "Alone I Count My Money." In truth, it's a new song, "Alone I Cry," which featured some beautiful guitar work. So, yeah, there is a new album in the works, something to look forward to. The crowd wanted more, and Lightnin' Willie & The Poorboys wrapped things up with "Couldn't Do Nothin'." The set ended at 10:56 p.m.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Rick Shea & The Losin' End were back on stage, opening their second set with "The Starkville Blues." "I knew a girl in Starkville/She was tough, she was mean." Oh yes, we can hear it from his delivery. And the line about the folks in Starkville just getting bad news stands out, because these days people everywhere get bad news. Rick followed that with "Hold On Jake," delivering a good lead on guitar. "Hold onto whiskey if it gets the job done." Ah, this music gets the job done, and the band rocked out at the end of this one. That was followed by a excellent rendition of "Sweet Bernadine," one of my favorites. There was some wonderful stuff by Rick on guitar just before the end, which made me want it to go on a little longer. The band then played another song from the new album, "An Irishman's A Laborer At Heart." "We've only done this a handful of times," Rick said at the beginning. That was a song that got me thinking of my dad, and wishing he could hear it.

Rick Shea & The Losin' End delivered a good cover of The Rolling Stones' "No Expectations," and then Jeff took another turn at lead vocals on "Things I'm Not Gonna Think About." That was a song that stood out to me the first time I heard it last summer, and it sounded even better last night. That was followed by "Blues Stop Knockin' At My Door" and a wonderful rendition of "Honky Tonk Blues." Danny was given the chance to sing a song, but chose not to, and instead Jeff did another of his songs, "Early Train," a seriously cool, slow number. "It's early in the morning, and they're dreaming still." Rick Shea then played another song from the new album. This one, "Georgia Bride," was a highlight of the set, a wonderful song. A video for this song was just released, so keep an eye out for that. The band wrapped up the set with an energetic rendition of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days," the audience singing along, and at one point Rick and Danny traded riffs on guitar. The show ended at 12:07 a.m.

Set I