Andy Aledort Rocks The North Star

If you enjoy rock or blues music, then the North Star Restaurant in Pound Ridge on a Thursday night is the place to be.

Every week the restaurant features live rock and blues musical acts. It's not often that a legendary guitarist comes to perform in Pound Ridge, but for the past couple of years musician Andy Aledort and his band The Groove Kings have been rocking the boots off of patrons at the North Star.

Aledort, a 30-year veteran of the international music scene, served as the senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazine, Guitar World, and has made a name for himself as a master guitar player, instructional columnist and music journalist.

I was able to catch one of his North Star gigs on Thursday.  As a rock and blues fan, I was more than pleased with the performance. As I approached the restaurant, I found myself walking next to a man with a guitar strapped to his back. After a closer look I realized it was Aledort himself.  I wasted no time in saying hello and quickly learned that he's not only talented, he's humble, and friendly--he even took me inside and introduced me to the band.

Aledort has played with a such high-profile artists as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, The Allman Brothers and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. But on Thursday night he played with his own band. The Groove Kings consist of Andy on lead vocals and lead guitar, Dennis Metzler on bass, Mike DiMeo on the keys and Richard Rosch on percussion. Together they released a well-received 12-track album in 1999 entitled Put A Sock In It, a collection of rock and blues originals, and covers.

Aledort is involved in the music scene on many different levels.  In addition to his renown as a guitar instructor, he's authored more than 200 music education books and instructional videos that have worldwide distribution. He's also created a niche series of instructional videos that specialize in learning the styles of Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King and Eric Clapton.

The band took the stage at about 9 p.m. Aledort was armed with his 1961 Fender Stratocaster, a guitar he told me he bought when he was a kid for $275. After a little research I found that the '61 Stratocaster now could be worth up around $30,000 dollars depending on the condition of the instrument. Andy's looked weathered, but sounded divine.

Ray Cantina, who is a professional guitarist and has been an Aledort fan for over 10 years, said that he thought Aledort was a musicl genius.

"I saw him play with Dickey Betts and Andy stole the show. He is an amazing guitarist--look at his fingers working, if you get a chance to get close to him," said Cantina.  "The guy is talented enough to be playing alongside Clapton."

The set lasted about three hours, with a short intermission. The Groove Kings put on quite a show, with Aledort really showing his talent for the electric guitar through some tight riffs, killer tones and solos that would make any Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan fan pay close attention.

For more information about Andy Aledort and The Groove Kings, visit the artist's Web site at andyaledort.com.