CrossTown 2

Crosstown 2 - Checking on my Baby:

Crosstown 2 - Sitting on Top of the World:

Crosstown 2 is an acoustic offshoot of Tupelo Blue, designed to play the smaller, more quiet venues such as cafes and dinner clubs that do not accommodate a full band.

Bob Lesher, vocalist & harmonica player for Tupelo Blue, teamed with guitarist Ron Johnson in August of 2010 and the duo began performing around mid-November of that year at venues in North OC.

Crosstown 2 plays a rounded mixture of blues, roots country and dustbowl era music. Its list includes a selection of original material in all of these idioms.

Bob Lesher has been in Tupelo Blue, one of the OC/LA area’s most enduring blues bands, since 1995. He began playing music in 1965, playing and recording with his own groups as well as local favorites Jay Summers, Joe Houston, Russ Channing, Smoky Wilson, Steve Omalev and Curtis Griffin. In 2009, Lesher was inducted into the Victoria Music Hall of Fame in British Columbia, Canada.

Ron Johnson is the son of the famed New Orleans pianist Ronnie Barron, who worked in Paul Butterfield’s Better Days Band, Canned Heat, and recorded LPs in his own right. Ron is a finger-picker, using what he describes as “Travis-style” and is an accomplished harmonica player as well, having sat in with Tupelo Blue on numerous occasions. Ron was a member of the Mighty Mojo Prophets prior to joining up with Lesher.

The duo has played such venues as The Pint House and Max Bloom’s Café Noir in Fullerton, Bistro 400 in Santa Ana, Alta Coffee in Newport Beach, 33 Degrees in Long Beach and The Lumberyard in Laguna Beach. It is currently on rotation at most of these venues.

Crosstown 2 plans to release a CD of Tupelo Blue covers and original material in early 2012.

The gig schedule for Crosstown 2 can be found on the TupeloBlueMusic.com website calendar.

Cross Town 2