Rock & Blues Benefit Concert for Former Diamond Reo Drummer Rob Johns

Area musicians will gather for a concert benefiting the family of the late Robbie Johns from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25 at Moon Dogs in Blawnox. Admission is $10.

Johns, 56, of Swissvale, passed away on Jan. 9. Proceeds from the concert will go toward his funeral expenses.

A cast of more than 20 local musicians including Norman Nardini, Warren King, Bob McKeag and Larry Siefers will take the stage to represent the best of Pittsburgh rock ‘n’ roll for the last 30 years. The show promises to be a cut above a blues fest or a blues jam, according to Nardini.

"It’s going to be a musical memorial to a guy who hung in rock and blues circles all of his life," said Nardini, a former band mate of Johns in Diamond Reo, later known as the Diamonds, a Pittsburgh band that scored a top 40 hit with "Ain’t That Peculiar" in 1975.

Johns was the original drummer for Diamond Reo, a Pittsburgh band that released several albums and appeared on Dave Clark’s American Bandstand. The group toured with Ted Nugent and opened shows for classic ‘70s artists such as Aerosmith, Kiss, Kansas, Rush and others.

As a teen-ager, Johns played drums for the Yardleys. He went on to play drums for the Silencers, replacing legendary drummer Bird Foster. Johns, also a guitarist and vocalist, played with Rocket 88 and the band, R.J. and the Blues Welders in the 1990s.

-Written by Mary Anne Thomas