Slappin' Da Bass: John Inghram Drags Led Zeppelin Down to the Kanawha
You know his hands even if you don't know his name. For twenty-some years, John Inghram has been the low end holding up a remarkable share of West Virginia's best music — and this Friday, July 17, Charleston's most valuable sideman steps to the front of the Schoenbaum Stage to conduct something gloriously oversized: John Inghram Presents: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin, headlining Live on the Levee.
Inghram was born and raised in Kanawha County, picked up a trumpet at twelve, and switched to bass a year or two later — a decision the rest of us have benefited from ever since. His résumé reads like a syllabus of West Virginia music: the Bob Thompson Band, 600 lbs of Sin, Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys. These days he fronts the horn-loaded jam outfit John Inghram's Slugfest, working with jazz-schooled players who can turn on a dime. "To make people groove, to look out into the crowd and see people dance," Inghram has said, "that's the ultimate compliment."
Zeppelin is the perfect vehicle for that philosophy, because Zeppelin was, underneath the wizardry, a rhythm section that made stadiums move. For the Levee show, Inghram has assembled a cast that includes vocalist Abby Bryant and Brian Henderson, "and more," with Natalie Brooke opening the night. Opening acts at 6:30, the main event at 8, free as always, at Haddad Riverfront Park — with a 50/50 drawing benefiting a local nonprofit.
Why does this matter beyond a fun Friday? Because it's a small act of local pride made loud. Tribute nights are easy to sneer at, but there's a difference between a cover band chasing a paycheck and a career musician using a beloved catalog to show a hometown crowd what he and his friends can actually do. Bryant's voice against Inghram's arrangements is the sort of thing that only happens because these players live here, know each other, and would rather build a spectacle on the Kanawha than phone one in somewhere else.
The valley is full of Inghrams — players you've heard a hundred times without ever catching the name on the marquee. Once, one of them gets to be the marquee. Go watch a sideman have his night. Bring your dancing shoes; he's counting on the crowd to move, and it would be rude to disappoint the man.
Sources: WVPB — Slappin' Da Bass with Charleston's John Inghram; City of Charleston — Live on the Levee, John Inghram Led Zeppelin tribute