My start time at Baker's on June 17th and July 15th is 8:00pm.

I will be given an award along with The Funk Brothers by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in Philadelphia on September 9th.

New CD Done. I recorded my live CD at Baker's on May 20th. The place was packed and everything went great! I am finished with my CD. Stay tuned on how to purchase it.

SXSW Report - 2007

"Your performance at South by Southwest was dazzling. I could take almost any other dozen guitarists playing that night and all put together they couldn't play nearly as well as you!" - Michael A.

"Next up was Motown session ace Dennis Coffey, whose appearance caused the person next to me to ask, who's the college professor? But once Coffey launched into a searing rendition of Scorpio, the snide quips turned to slack-jawed awe." - Toronto Now Magazine

"Coffey was a Motown house-band guitar player who played on many of the later-era Motown classics produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD (“Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion”, “Smiling Faces Sometimes”, among others). Moreover, he had solo hits in the early ‘70s whose breaks became some of the most notable beds in hip hop music. Coffey played with the house band which included STANLEY “BUCKWHEAT” DORAL, forsaking his BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO guise as an accordion player for his first instrument, the Hammond organ, and BUCK SENNECAL, who played with SLIM HARPO and CLIFTON CHENIER. Coffey and the band played some classics like “It’s Your Thing” and “Just My Imagination” (which Coffey played on originally), and smoked Coffey’s classic hit “Scorpio.” Coffey is a dazzling player—I would bet that 95% of all guitar players playing the conference would be slack jawed at what he can do—and it’s nice to see that age has not diminished his skills one bit. A brilliant performance." - SXSW Blog by Michael B. Ackerman

"Smith said he was most impressed by Dennis Coffey. Absolutely the king of Detroit psychedelic, freeform guitar. The numero uno Detroit guitarist in my mind." - The Record

Ponderosa Stomp Report - 2006

"Dennis blew the house away at the Ponderosa Stomp. Quite a few people mentioned that he was one of the highlights of the weekend" - Noah

I just got back from playing guitar at the Ponderosa Stomp musician benefit for hurricane Katrina in Memphis at the Gibson Guitar Factory Showcase.  The band that backed me up included some of the greatest musicians from New Orleans. The band leader was guitarist Lil Buck Senegal with Buckwheat Zydeco on B3 Hammond organ. This band was smokin’! We played It’s Your Thing, Way Back Home, Scorpio, Just my Imagination, and Dink’s Blues. The crowd yelled for more after our last song so I gave them an encore of Jumpin’ Blues. Blues and funk are alive and well in Memphis. The people from Memphis and New Orleans really know how to party. I’ve always felt a connection and musical kinship with Memphis, and have always wanted to play there. That night I got my wish and we rocked! Most of the artists stayed at the same hotel as Millie and me so we had the opportunity to trade stories with Archie Bell, Tammy Lynn, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Roy Head.

Dennis playing at Ponderosa Stomp with Lil Buck Sinegal Band, Buckwheat Zydeco is on B3 Organ - May 8th, 2006.

Lil Buck Sinegal Band

Blues singer Tammy Lynn

Tammy Lynn and guitarist Lil Buck Sinegal and Band

The first day Millie and I went to Graceland for a tour. It sits on 14 acres overlooking one of the major highways in Memphis. Elvis added on many buildings to the complex and it is impressive. Elvis received 140 gold records worldwide and they are all visible in different areas of the house. At Ponderosa Stomp I had the chance to talk to both Scotty Moore, who was Elvis' first guitarist, and James Burton, who played guitar with Ricky Nelson and then Elvis.

Graceland

Dennis and Ira Padnos the sponsor of Ponderosa Stomp.

The following day Millie and I went to the Stax Records Soul Museum. What a great tour that was! They showed us a video on Soul Music and Stax and then we walked through the exhibitions. In one exhibit they had all of the singles released by Stax. It covered one entire wall. All of the Stax musicians donated their instruments which are on display in the studio. After Stax closed, the studio burned down so they recreated it with some of the original pieces of the building. They also displayed three gold Stax records I played on for producer Don Davis - What you See is What you Get and In the Rain by The Dramatics and Who’s Makin’ Love by Johnny Taylor (This track was recorded in Memphis and I overdubbed a low guitar part in Detroit at United Sound Studios). The video mentioned the impact of Motown on soul music. They also mentioned Wilson Pickett, who I played with on Don’t Knock my Love at Muscle Shoals Sound for Atlantic. A lot of Stax records were also recorded in Muscle Shoals when they had too many sessions going on in Memphis.  

On the second night we rode to the concert in a shuttle with DJ Fontana, who was Elvis’ first drummer and Sonny Burgess, one of the first artists signed to Sun Records. They were telling a lot of stories during the ride. When these guys played the second night with a few original members of the first Sun rhythm section, you could still hear that gritty Memphis country rock and roll sound. These guys still had it going on and played a powerful one hour set. 

Millie and fan from London at Ponderosa Stomp.

Finally, talk about Memphis ribs … nothing else tastes like ‘em. They were fantastic! We had a rib dinner at the Blues City Café on Beale Street across from B.B King’s club.  There may be another concert in the fall. And if there is, we’ve been invited back and we are looking forward to it!  Just like Detroit, Memphis has taken some hits, but the music is still alive in both cities even though what’s left of Stax and Motown are now just museums and great musical memories.