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“He’s the youngest person to ever headline the Stone Pony,” says Kyle Brindle, longtime manager of the legendary venue, talking about Jimmy Lawroski, lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter for Little Jimmy & Midnight Son. “Little Jimmy is a guitar prodigy and has been playing since he was five years old. There’s no musical background in his family; he started up all on his own, partly inspired by the classic rock and jam bands his parents listened too. Little Jimmy is an amazing and gifted performer, the real deal. He shines on stage.”
That’s right, Little Jimmy is all of 11 years old, and has already accomplished what many others who are three or four times his age have never done. When he started playing at the tender age of five, and immediately showed promise, his father encouraged and nurtured it. In fact, he cites his father and the Grateful Dead as his two main influences.
The band that performs with Little Jimmy, Midnight Son, includes some notable musicians and special guests. “The band was formed by the band’s producer and keyboardist, Waynard, after being asked by my Dad to put together a kickass band to join up with me, and help take me to the top,” Jimmy says. The group includes the aforementioned Wayne “Maynard” Scheller on Hammond organ and vocals, Jim Farkas on rhythm guitar, Joe Chirco on drums and Klyph Back on bass. The band members have performed with groups such as Splintered Sunlight, Borealis, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band and the Zen Tricksters.
Their recently released debut CD also features a guest appearance from Donna Jean, who was a backup vocalist for the Grateful Dead for many years, as well as Jerry Garcia’s solo group, and who now leads her own band. Other guests include Lizzy Friel, Sudie Brattli and Colleen Connelly.
Little Jimmy and the band are based at the shore, and have graced all the major shore club venues, including the Stone Pony, the Wonder Bar and The Saint. He has also sat in at the Paramount Theatre, and with prominent artists such as Juggling Suns and Matt O’Ree. He regularly joins in with Splintered Sunlight and Donna Jean’s band when they come through the area.
Little Jimmy’s playing belies his young age, and has elements of Jerry Garcia, as you might expect, but you can also hear Dicky Betts, the Black Crowes, and even old blues masters like Buddy Guy and Albert King. The songs mix some harder edged rock with blues, improvisational jams and psychedelic music. In fact, in addition to Jerry, he cites as influences Luther Dickinson of and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks of the Allman Brothers, and he also likes both Led Zeppelin and the Beatles.
“My favorite Midnight Son song is ‘Life is Good,’” Jimmy says. “My favorite Grateful Dead song is ‘China Cat Sunflower’ and ‘I Know You Rider.’“ Fans seem to respond to Jimmy’s live renditions of the Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain.”
His own music is a combination of all his influences, brought together with help from Waynard. “Me and Waynard co-wrote seven out of the 10 songs on the CD, and Waynard wrote the other three for me to record and perform,” explains Jimmy. “Sometimes the songs just came to us and other times we had to work a little harder. For example on ‘Open your Eyes,’ I wrote three chords and a lyric line, and then me and Waynard got together and he added the rest of the chords around it to make the verse, then we wrote the chorus and the bridge together. Waynard says that I have this knack for coming up with chord hooks. Another example is I came up with the hook on ‘Life is Good,’ and Waynard wrote the chords on the chorus and the outro jam that goes with it. As far as lyrics, on some songs Waynard wrote more of the lyrics than me, probably about two-thirds, but then you have a song like ‘Open Your Eyes,’ where it was like half and half. Me and Waynard have some kind of strange chemistry that someone once referred to as a Lennon/McCartney type thing.”
The name of the band stems from an idea Waynard had. “It refers to the time of the year at the north pole when its light out 24 hours a day, and the sun is literally out at midnight,” Jimmy exclaims. “It is also a lyric in the song ‘China Cat Sunflower’ written by Jerry Garcia, and also in a Zeppelin song.”
You can get more information about Little Jimmy & Midnight Son at midnightson.net. You can also catch Little Jimmy and the band at River Rock (formerly the Marina Grill) in Brick, NJ, on Saturday, July 30.
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