Review and photos by Jamie Kastriches 
The Ringers are back!
After being forced to cancel a show in Charleston, SC due to icy slick roads, Jimmy and his crew headed to Charlotte, NC. The 8th stop on their 15 stop January-February tour. Opening for the jam band legends, MOE!
Guitar guru, Jimmy Herring and his all-star band looked fresh, well rested, and ready to jam.
This is the second time they’ve visited Charlotte, and since to the 2013 winter tour, they’ve only gotten better and bringing in a crowd 2-3 times bigger than last tour switching venues from the intimate “Neighborhood Theatre”, to the roomy Fillmore of Charlotte.
The only notable change to the band was the drumming position, Keith Carlock. He wrote:“I will not be able to join my band mates on this January/February tour. My wife and I are expecting our second child to arrive during that time. So I will be staying home for that. I look forward to joining Jimmy, Wayne, Mike, and Etienne again, as soon as possible”
So he temporarily passed down his role in the band, with confidence, to the great Gary Novak. Who did an equally stellar job filling in the big shoes nicely.
With the Fillmore filled to the brim, the band hit the stage and opened up with one of their most well-known songs “Pungee,” setting a great mood for the night that lie ahead of us.
After some lengthy solos, they slowed things down a bit with their second song “Africa,” a bluesy/jazzy tune. Jimmy and Wayne Krantz took turns trading licks with each other as Gary Novak provided us with some smooth and steady percussion.
Up next was the song “Annik,” a song that I wasn’t familiar with, but turned out to be one of my favorites of
the night! It starts out with some skillful bass picking from Etienne Mbappe, the song then took on an Allman Brothers Band sound, with a tiny hint of reggae vibes to it. Michael Landau shined brightly on this song with a few noteworthy solos.
“Worries life blues” was next in line, this is a song that has become one of the most recorded blues songs of all time. Originally recorded by Major “Big Maceo” Merriweather in 1941, it’s been covered by Dylan,
Clapton, B.B King, Keith Richards and beyond. And the Ringers did it justice with Michael Landau on vocals. He also showed us what he was all about on the guitar, as he took us on a blues filled journey, note for note.
“Long way home” was one of the more slow-paced, quiet songs out of their set heavily featuring Jimmy and Wayne bending and sliding notes.
Judging from the crowds reaction, the next song “Lord of the Ringers” was most definitely the favorite. It’s a 12 minute drum filled, upbeat song. Jimmy knows exactly what to do to pick us up and keep us dancing.
“Foots” was then played, followed by the closer “Slopes,”a perfect choice to close out the jam heavy night. The band seemed to really enjoy playing this one, smiling big as they all took turns pushing their instruments to the limits. It looked like they wanted to play all night, but, all things come to an end.
And as they came to that end, Jimmy waived to us with a big grin, and without saying anything at all, we all knew we were going to see him again, shortly sitting in for a song or two with MOE!
Jimmy Herring (lead guitar)
Wayne Krantz (guitar)
Michael Landau (guitar)
Gary Novak (drums) **Filling in for Keith Carlock**
Etienne Mbappe (bass)
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