THE BANDS OF NEW YORK
by ACE PRESTON
For the last year I have been observing this new growing underground Rock&Roll scene emerging on the New York circuit with the likes I haven't seen since the late 1970's.
The other day I was checking out some bands when my attention was taken away by this left handed guitarist who approached the stage. In the history of Rock and Roll there have only been two left handed guitarists. This musician, JOff "Lightning" Wilson was different. This was a Bowery Boy. The Bowerie (actual spelling) Boys have a long colorful New York history dating back over a century. One of the first "Gangs of New York" trading in their battle axes for guitars and drums. After listening to the first set I stated to Lou Bova that this was what music was about back in the seventies. This was a real New York band. The past eventually repeats itself especially after a 27 year hiatus but this time without the drugs, without the violence, and without the attitude.
I told JOff Wilson that left handed guitarists have a special quality about them. I spoke to him of those lefty guitarists who came before us such as Jimi Hendrix and those who came after like Kurt Cobain. I told him we must set a positive example for the youth unlike Seattle's Jimi Hendrix & Kurt Cobain whose deaths based on drugs and suicide are controversial. I told JOff that often the courage is not to die but to live.
New York has JOff "Lightning" Wilson,
"The Bowery Boys".
These are The Bands of New York.
Everything else will follow.