Off the Train, Right Back on the Bus for Heather Gillis
Heather Gillis just got off the train (Butch Trucks’ Freight Train Band) than she’s jumped right back on the (tour) bus. The young guitarist from Tampa (and Tallahassee) has been on a tear ever since Trucks convinced her to go on the road with his new band.
Fans up and down the East Coast now know about Gillis, playing with that great band featuring three great guitar slingers ( Heather along with Chris Vitarello and Damon Fowler). In between those shows, her band and she have been knocking out Florida and Georgia audiences whenever she plays.
This Friday, September 16, Gillis plays Ka’Tiki in Treasure Island (St. Petersburg) before heading Sarasota for a date at The Blue Rooster the next evening. In October, she travels to Missouri as an artist at large at the Foothills Fest in Marshall. Her band is also slated for Suwannee Hulaween at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak FL.
The Heather Gillis Band will also do a South Florida run with superb fusion funksters Electric Kif in November, and Butch is in the process of scheduling more Freight Train Band shows in November and December.
Heather Gillis is also a fine singer, and she plays lap steel as well as guitar (a fact that surprised Butch when he saw our MusicFestNews review about her at Orange Blossom Jamboree!). Kyle Chervanik does a great job holding down the bottom end on bass guitar, with Marlon Williams (the band’s original drummer, just returned) driving the beat. Nyan Feder adds a great dimension to the band on tenor saxophone.
