Legend Trail Golf Club has got the blues.
In fact, every other week, the north Scottsdale club features its Monday Blues program complete with nine holes of golf, prizes and a two-hour happy hour serenaded by UnderCover Acoustic.
The novel approach to what normally is the slow day on the tee sheet is the brainchild of Gigi Rock, the corporate and group events coordinator for Scottsdale Golf Group, which owns Legend Trail.
“Monday Blues has been very well-received, not just by the golfers who have participated in the event, but also by our local community, which has stopped by to enjoy a drink and the entertainment in our Trails End Grill,’’ Rock reported. “It’s just a nice way to get through Monday, as Bert and Jay already have created quite a following out here -- on and off the golf course.’’
Bert is Ahwatukee’s Bert Gillespie, better known as “the Professor.’’ Jay is Anthem’s Jay Morton, who goes by “Jammin J.’’ Together, they make up UnderCover Acoustic, a guitar-percussion duet that likes to belt out the Delta blues after they’ve played a little golf with the patrons.
“People don’t expect musicians to play golf, but we do both and it makes for a nice mixer,’’ noted Gillespie, who got his masters degree in music from the University of Oklahoma, and thus the moniker “the Professor.’’
“And by playing a little golf beforehand we get to know our audience, which makes for a more intimate experience. But most of all, it’s a lot of fun, which is the reason we play both.’’
Certainly, golf and music were on the mind of Jayson Niemoth, a graphic designer from Ahwatukee who took part in a recent Monday Blues session.
“I didn’t know the band, and I just heard about the golf event through a friend,’’ said Niemoth. “Being from Illinois, I’ve always liked the blues, and these guys are not only very good at what they do best, they’re fun to play golf with.’’
There certainly is a little “Blues Brothers’’ thing going on here. Gillespie and Morton don golf hats on the course, but switch to a red beret (Gillespie) and black “pork pie” (Morton) when they go into concert mode, much like Jake and Elmo once did.
“We both like to play the game,’’ Gillespie noted. “I’m a little bit better golfer – a 15 (handicap), but Jay can go long. And he’s a scratch (handicap) when it comes to the guitar.’’
What makes UnderCover Acousitc different from other blues groups is that they give their audience a little history lesson before they do such tunes as “Empire State,’’ “That’s All Right,’’ and “Lay My Burden Down.’’
“We’re not a bar band, and we’re not a dance band,’’ Gillespie said. “If anything, we’re story-tellers. Just picture a campfire, where you’re drinking a beer or a glass of wine, and people are telling stories about early blues and gospel all the way from Son House to Led Zeppelin.’’
As part of Monday Blues, golfers get a blues-oriented quiz about the history of that type of music on each tee box. After the round, those who know the answers win prizes.
For instance, who is known as “the King of the Slide Guitar,’’ and recorded the classic “The Sky is Crying,’’ in 1959? A) Elmore James, B) Stevie Ray Vaughn, C) Keith Richards, D) T-Bone Walker, or E) Charlie Parker? If you answered A, Elmore James, give yourself an “A.’’
According to Morton, who grew up in a gospel-singing family, and whose father, Leon Morton, founded the first Christian rock group (Earthen Vessel), Monday Blues at Legend Trail is a win-win.
“This is really different for us – playing golf with the people we play music for – but it’s turned out to be great fun, and I love it,’’ Morton said. “As we’ve discovered, golfers enjoy the blues, too.’’
That is especially true when Morton is strumming his national-resonator steel guitar and singing away in his raspy, rhythmic tones. And the Professor is the perfect complement, a percussionist who also can play the harmonica and – believe it or not – the spoons.
The next “session’’ with UnderCover Acoustic at Legend Trail is set for Monday and costs $60. For a tee time and front-row seat, call (480) 488-7434 or visit www.legendtrailgolfclub.com. For information on UnderCover Acoustic, visit www.undercoveracoustic.com.
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