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The brothers of the late Lynyrd Skynyrd icon and their cousin, Jimmie Van Zant, bring their brand of Southern rock to New Port Richey tonight.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 2, 2001
The type of music known as Southern rock probably wouldn't have happened without the legendary Ronnie Van Zant and his band, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their Sweet Home Alabama spawned a whole new music genre nearly 30 years ago, and it seems as much the rousing in-your-face anthem today as it did when it hit the charts in 1974.
Ronnie Van Zant and two other members of the band were killed in a plane crash between shows in Baton Rouge, La. and Greenville, S.C. in 1977, and the band broke up. But the tradition lives on in Ronnie's brothers Johnny and Donnie (.38 Special) and their cousin, the now-grownup Jimmie Van Zant.
For years, Jimmie and his band have done more than 200 shows a year, many of them at big biker events. It was at the giant Harley-Davidson gathering in Sturgis, S.D., in 1998 that he got his biggest break -- a recording contract with J-Bird Records.
Tonight, the band will tout that album, Southern Comfort, at Bourbon Street Concert Club in New Port Richey.
It features five of Jimmie's originals, including the defiant (and slightly politically incorrect) Here to Stay that has the most recognizable riff from Sweet Home Alabama tucked in between stanzas. The album also has the rowdy Party in the Parking Lot and Get Up and the tender Ronnie's Song, a soft and sweet recollection of the original Van Zant.
The band also will do covers of several other Southern rock hits, and more than likely also will do the lengthy Free Bird. That song started out as Lynyrd Skynyrd's tribute to Duane Allman, but eventually became a paean to Ronnie Van Zant himself.
And, of course, the song that started it all, Sweet Home Alabama.
WHAT: Jimmie Van Zant Band
WHERE: Bourbon Street Concert Club, 4331 U.S. 19, New Port Richey
WHEN: 9:30 p.m. today
TICKETS: $15