Bobby!

Eight-year Bon Jovi guitar player Bobby Bandiera will take the stage at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a benefit for Alternatives for Children, a pre-school for developmentally delayed children.

Bandiera’s grandson, Mateo, of East Quogue, is a student at the school’s Southampton location and has a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS).

Bandiera's son also has autism.

“I am fortunate enough to have a very talented musician for a father,” said Bandiera's daughter, Carli Bandiera Rodriguez, who added she didn’t have to do much except make a phone call to get her dad, who lives in New Jersey, to do the concert.

“My father is thrilled to be able to put on this concert to help out his grandson’s school,” she said.

Not only has Bandiera played with Bon Jovi, he has also performed with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, B.B King, and Stevie Wonder. He is also a veteran member of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

You can read the whole article here, at the West Hampton / Hampton Bays Patch.

~ Hath