Who the heck is Larry Crane, and why did I steal this picture from his website at http://larrycrane.com?Glad I asked. There was a moment during one of the early Farm Aid concerts when fans may have been asking the same question after Steve Earle called out "We'd like to get Larry Crane out here!"
Someone then magically appeared on stage, lending a guitar to the cause as Earle belted out "The Rain Came Down."
OK, Crane was a sideman for Steve Earle, although he wasn't one of the Dukes.
But there's more. Back before anybody heard of John Mellencamp, back in the days of "Chestnut Street Incident" a fellow by the name of Larry Crane was influencing the "heartland sound" coming out of Seymour, Indiana.
And I wouldn't know any of this except for a night a few years back at Aces Lounge in Bradenton, Florida. That night I saw Larry Crane in the flesh, on the stage performing his songs, hawking his Wire and Wood CD and delighting a healthy crowd that quite possibly knew what Steve Earle knew on that stage in Lincoln, Nebraska, and John Mellencamp surely knew back in the day.
There are so many good artists out there, how do we discover them all? We don't, of course. But we do place great value in the ones that come to us, for whatever reason. So I'm a big fan of Larry Crane. I have Wire and Wood, and now that I see he has a new one out, Tropical Depression, I'm bound to snag that one as well. We should support these artists any way we can.
And you know what's really cool about Larry Crane, besides his music? His touring schedule. I honestly don't know how he's doing professionally, if he has another job or if music is his only means of existence. But take a look at his upcoming schedule:
December 16: Coconuts, Key Largo, FL
December 18: Buzzards Roost, Key Largo, FL
December 21: Snapper's, Key Largo, FL
December 22: Snapper's, Key Largo, FL
December 23: Snapper's, Key Largo, FL
December 24: Aces Lounge, Bradenton, FL
Now Larry Crane may not know where his next meal is coming from, but I say he's doing just fine.
I gotta say, I really like Larry Crane.
ReplyDeleteBut a Christmas Eve show at Aces? What's up with that?
The Ace's show was a private party. Not open to the public from what I understand. Larry was Mellencamp. Once he and Kenny left the band, Mellencamps sound took a drastic hit.
ReplyDeletecouldn't agree more
DeleteI have been a Larry Crane fan since 1985, if it wasn't for Larry Crane, John Mellencamp would have just been another Hoosier bar singer, a good one, but without Larry Ctane's songwriting and influence, he would NOT be where he is today.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he would agree.......NAH, but who cares what Johnny Cougar thinks anyway?
Larry is a great guy and one-hell-of-a singer/songwriter!
Amen Chris Juda! I'm flying down to Key Largo next week from Indy just to see him play. Larry's awesome!
ReplyDeletewe miss you around indiana.larry. first chance you get send back some florida sunshine please.its cold up here. and keep righting your songs we love them.
ReplyDeleteKathy and I have been a big fan of Larry from his days with JCM and when he had the backbone to go out on his own. We witnessed many GREAT concerts in B-town nearly 20 years ago. We had the pleasure to see him play in B-town last week for his Tropical Depression album release concert. That has to be the BEST $24.00 we've ever spent for a concert! A true professional. Take care of yourself Larry! We look forward to seeing you again in Indiana.
ReplyDeleteI have Larry Crane's 2 Gibson SG guitars that he played while on tour with John Mellencamp 1976-1989 and they're FOR SALE. Please visit 66gibsonsg.blogspot.com to see them. Gary 317 508 6566
ReplyDelete