Hard-rocking, blues playing George Thorogood says he's looking forward to playing in Hogansburg for the first time.
"I'm ready to go," he said. "We play a lot of Native American establishments and they're all a gas. They're very good to us, real good."
The musician and his band, the Destroyers, will perform at the Akwesasne Music Grounds in Hogansburg on July 31. Tickets can be purchased for $25 at AK Gas and Tobacco in Hogansburg or by calling 358-9335.
Mr. Thorogood and the band, which started their tour this month, are kicking off another year for the group that came out of Delaware in the 1970s. It's highlighted by Mr. Thorogood's raucous, slide guitar-stoked, blues-rock style. The band became popular with cover versions of songs by Chuck Berry, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and others. Popular songs include Mr. Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" and "Bad to the Bone," written by Mr. Thorogood, but which uses popular blues guitar and blues-style vocal riffs.
Despite being in the music business for four decades, Mr. Thorogood said, he does not plan to slow down soon.
"The business never gets old because the business constantly changes, and you have to change with it or you're not going to survive," he said. "One thing that does survive is that people never get tired of good material and great performances. That was a code we stuck with from the moment we started."
Last July, George Thorogood and the Destroyers released a new album, "The Dirty Dozen," which features six new studio recordings along with six original favorites.The album can be purchased digitally or on CD and is also available on vinyl LP at www.georgethorogood.com and at concerts.
"Coming up with new material for anybody is tough because after a while you're in competition with yourself, especially when people have heard the songs for so long on rock/classic radio and have grown up with them. It's really, really tough to penetrate that," he said.
Mr. Thorogood said he still enjoys doing what he does and particularly enjoys having seen the progress the band made from where it started years ago.
"I think I enjoy the fact of where we've arrived at this point, that we've evolved where we are," he said. "It's taken a long time to painstakingly build our catalog ... whatever legacy we may have. It's taken us a long time to get to that spot. It's much more enjoyable now."
Mr. Thorogood said he always knew he had a knack for performing and knew something in comedy or music would be his calling. When he started playing around with a slide guitar, friends started listening and telling him he had something. That is when, he said, he knew he had the gift.
"My job is to show up at a quality entertainment venue and entertain the people," he said. "You don't really realize you have a career until it's over or almost over. I think our career is really starting. We've done the groundwork, we've done the work, we got the material, we've honed the show down. Now it's time to say, 'This is what I'm all about. This is when the career is going to start.'"
What keeps George Thorogood and the Destroyers still going after nearly 35 years? Mr. Thorogood said it is simply because promoters are still willing to hire them and fans are still willing to pay to see them.
"We're lucky to have the 'back by popular demand,' for lack of other descriptions," he said.
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Opening for George Thorogood and the Destroyers will be the Fabulous Thunderbirds, known for such hits as "Tuff Enough" and "Wrap It Up." The band, led by Kim Wilson, the sole original member, started as a straight blues band but now incorporates other styles.
