DP and the AlleyCats make it personal – Sunday 9/12 CJ Arthurs - 6.30PM
By J.T. MORAND Staff Writer, Pioneer Press - September 9, 2010
Cats, children and falling in love are not the typical subjects of blues songs.
Maybe they are for bluegrass, which is a blend of folk and country music with a touch of jazz, though.
Judy Jones-Pasqualini and Don Pasqualini perform as DP and the AlleyCats at CJ Arthur's Bar and Grill in
Wilmette, where they play blues, bluegrass and country songs once a month.
Since DP and the AlleyCats play music that's a combination of those genres, they're able to pull off original songs
such as "Cats in the Pantry," "Erin in the Morning" and "Red Painted Bench."
The Evanston-based band -- made up of Don Pasqualini (acoustic and electric guitars, dobro), wife Judy Jones-
Pasqualini (acoustic guitar and mandolin), and sometimes Craig Lo (electric and upright bass) and Kurt Loeffler
(drums) -- will play a set at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at CJ Arthur's Bar & Grill in Wilmette.
CJ Arthur's is the band's home base, where they play once a month.
Pasqualini started playing guitar around the time he got into the British rock sound of the 1960s while growing up in
Detroit. It was the blues foundation to which he was attracted, and he went on to play with some of the Motor City's
blues greats, such as Bobo Jenkins and Boogie Woogie Red. When he came to Chicago, he played with more blues
greats, such as Little Arthur, Son Seals and Shirley King, B.B. King's daughter.
Jones-Pasqualini grew up a fan of country music in Elgin, where she learned piano and later took up the guitar. She
took up the mandolin about two and half years ago, when she and Don Pasqualini met. They married in 2008.
Marrying the blues with country and bluegrass was, therefore, natural. "There's a lot of drinking over broken hearts
either way," Pasqualini said. Many of the chord progressions are the same, added Jones-Pasqualini.
DP and the AlleyCats, a name derived from Don Pasqualini and the 12 cats the couple owns, plays original and cover
songs.
Pasqualini enjoys dipping into the collection of 25 originals and playing "Home of the Blues," a country song about
him coming to Chicago, and "Red Painted Bench," a song about how good his life is, which includes meeting his
future wife. "It really is all about you," he said to her. "It's sweet," she said, adding she also enjoys performing the
originals.
Some of the blues covers the band perform include "Rolling and Tumbling" by Muddy Waters, "I'm a Red Rooster" by
Howlin' Wolf and "Good Times Bad Times" by Rolling Stones. Some of the country songs they cover include "Sing
Me Back Home" by Merle Haggard, "Lord Won't You Help Me" by Norman Blake and "Crying Time" by Buck Owens.
Special guests will perform with DP and the AlleyCats on Sept. 12 because it's a special day -- Judy Jones-
Pasqualini's birthday.
"We like to make our shows a personal experience, presenting our music like the audience is in our living room,"
Pasqualini said. "We laugh it off when we make mistakes and joke with the audience about them. It's just roots music
for a good time. All the originals are songs about our lives and I usually tell the audience what inspired the song."