Dusty Bo and the Contraband will be performing Saturday at the Lab in downtown Lima.
Submitted Photo | Courtesy of Dusty Bo
LIMA — This will be Dusty Bo’s second go-round in the last several months performing in Lima.
But his show at the Lab at 8 p.m. on Saturday promises to be even better than his first performance back in July.
“Well, we’re doing a lot as far as music goes,” he said. “It’s a pretty big spread with rock and roll, blues rock and even outlaw country. What did this last run in July, I don’t know if we would do that again. We probably will just because the room was set up so proper for it but in the last run that we had a drummer that didn’t know a lot of the material and because it was a last-minute thing. So it kind of covered my singer-songwriter songs and then also the rock stuff, so I think people were really into that. It was just it was like a storytelling singer-songwriter performance and then afterward it was just kind of in-your-face rock and roll.”
But now that Bo has a new drummer, the Lima audience might see even more of the heavy grungy sound that is Bo’s trademark, even though the acoustic arrangements will still be present.
“He’s really great,” said Bo. “His name is Nic Ling. He’s a Chicago native but he currently lives in Nashville and he’s an exceptional drummer. And we just have a lot more shows under our belt now and it’s just tighter. If I do an acoustic thing it’ll be for about a half-hour or maybe even in between.”
And now the Louisville, Kentucky native Bo and his backing group, the Contraband, will be performing for more than just the music.
“We’re raising awareness and donating a portion of our proceeds to the Kentucky flood relief for the victims of the eastern Kentucky flood that happened in July,” said Bo. “We are raising awareness too. So if you go to dustybo.com, the first page that pops up is a link for that and we’ll have barcodes or QR codes at a live show wherever the merch table will be.”
Although Bo was in the western part of the state when the floods took place, killing up to 43 in July, they still struck him and reminded him of when tornadoes killed 74 Kentuckians earlier in the year.
“I’m hoping we get a decent amount,” he said. “It’s been cool. So far, there’s been a good amount of people that have been like, ‘Hey I want to buy a shirt and then how do I donate to that? What do I do to donate to the relief funds?’ That’s very awesome to see, other people coming together to help people they don’t know.”
Bo is also excited to see Lima this time, particularly something of historical interest.
“I’d like to go see more of the city,” he said. “One of my first days home from tour when I just took a few days off just to wind down a bit, when I was just having a lazy day with my brother and my dog, he put on a show about how they assembled all the army tanks in Lima. I knew nothing about the city before so I would like to be able to hang out and check out some more.”
And for those who might not know much about Bo, a fan of rock and roll of all stripes from Led Zeppelin to alternative rock, he thinks that anybody who appreciates music will enjoy his show.
“There are so many different genres now, but I’d say like anybody that’s into anything from rock and roll to roots, I think there will be a song or two in there for everybody,” he said.
Dusty Bo can be found online on most social media platforms under the handle “DustyVox,” as well as on his website, http://www.dustybo.com.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Dusty Bo and the Contraband in concert
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Legacy Arts Building, 230 N. Main St., Lima
General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/3EOu4JV.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
