Who could ever have imagined that Leon Redbone would be directly involved in one of my favorite summer memories of all time?

    Not I.

    Performing Jazz, Blues and Tin Pan Alley Classics with a Vaudeville-esque flair; cracking jokes (usually involving alcohol) in his trademark Panama hat, dark sunglasses, and string bow tie,  Redbone is not necessarily a performer that my generation would flock to see. In fact, I don’t know anyone my age who even knows who Leon Redbone is.

    When I ask people, they say, “what does he sing?” And I rattle off Shine on Harvest Moon, Polly Wolly Doodle, I Ain’t Got Nobody (and here I have to correct them when they ask if I’m talking about David Lee Roth), Lazy Bones, Lulu’s Back in Town and so on. I even add, doing my best husky Redbone drawl, ‘they were all written well before his time.’

    And I get funny looks.

    If I say, ‘he was the guy who sang the All laundry detergent jingle years ago’ a small few will say, “Oh yeah! I didn’t know that was a real guy.”

    He is a real guy. I’ve been listening to his music since I was in my early teens. His voice filled the car whenever my grandfather and I were together. On road trips, (Mama’s Got a Baby Named) Tee Na Na, and Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight were turned up and belted out. On lazy Sunday drives, songs like Seduced and Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Desert Blues (Big Chief Buffalo Nickel) kept us smiling ‘round every bend.

    I was, of course, not the only person who was greeted by Redbone’s dulcet tones when driving around with my grandfather, I was just the only one who enjoyed it.

    It has been a few years since I’ve been able to go on as many of those Sunday drives. It’s been a few years now that adulthood has made those road trips further and father between. But our love of Redbone has never wavered; each moment I spend with my grandfather is always special.

    So it was with great excitement that I discovered, while putting together our High Note music calendar, that Leon would be performing at The Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley! My grandfather and I had never seen Leon perform live together and here he was playing in our backyard! I was lucky enough to have discovered this months in advance and was able to purchase two tickets at the table up front and dead center in the concert dining room. My friends may not know who Leon is but since he began performing in the ‘70s he’s amassed quite the cult following. The night of the show the room was pretty much sold out.

    After I got the tickets I called my grandfather up and told him I had bought him the perfect Father’s Day gift. He told me he still hasn’t opened gifts people gave him three Christmas’ ago and I told him it wasn’t that kind of gift. I told him I loved him ‘cause his feets too big (a song off Leon’s Any Time album) and that I had bought us tickets for dinner and a show at the Bull Run featuring Redbone himself. We’d be seeing Leon live and it was my treat.

    And it really was. The Bull Run was the perfect place for a Redbone performance. Our prime rib and haddock dinners were excellent and so was the show - I never thought I could enjoy a man whistling a classic gypsy tune with piano accompaniment more than I did that night. Or laugh at as many corny punch lines.

    Or been as happy to have my grandfather sharing these same memorable moments with me.

    My friendly suggestion this week is to check out the LONG list of Bull run concert performances at bullrunrestaurant.com or check out The High Note to see who’s up in the near future. The Bull Run features performances in almost every genre of music, from Rock and Roll to Country and books both local performers and those with worldwide fame. Duke Robillard, Jonathan Edwards and Blue Oyster Cult are just a few of the performers on October’s bill!

    Leon Redbone was my perfect concert, and my grandfather my perfect concert date. Discover who’s playing in your backyard today, and let the Bull Run make a memory for you that will last a lifetime.