Written by Jeff Spevak – 20120126 — There was a point, about 20 years ago, when we nearly lost Southside Johnny. “I was sick of the music business, I had personal problems, my mother was dying,” he says.“I needed to get away. I found this little house, kind of a lodge with a four-burner stove, two of which worked, and a fireplace. Every now and then I’d go into town and buy some groceries… talk to the perky little checkout girl. But mostly, it was just a pile of books and listening to classical music — and whiskey. Piles of books and whiskey bottles, and that was it.”
Southside Johnny returns to his American music roots
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Southside Johnny began a new performance project late last year, dubbed Southside Johnny and The Poor Fools. They’ve played ten shows now; more are scheduled in between Jukes gigs. The new venture delves into the sort of acoustic-electric roots rock / Americana that one might associate with The Band, Bob Dylan, latter-day Hot Tuna, and various Brothers acts (Wood Brothers, Felice Brothers). It’s both a departure from Jukes music and a natural extension of Johnny’s catalog.
There are dozens of songs out there with the word “fool” in the lyrics … one of which we Jukes fans know pretty well. But, when sitting down to write my thoughts about the recent Southside Johnny and the Poor Fools shows, that old tune by Ricky Nelson kept coming to mind — the one with the lines “fools rush in where angels fear to tread … fools rush in where wise men never, never go.” It just seemed to fit this project perfectly. 
