Take a look at the performers of the Steve Simon's favorite Blues performers:
Janiva Magness | Zac Harmon | Trampled Under Foot | Rusty Wright Blues Band
Tab Benoit | Chubby Carrier | Waylon Thibodeaux | The Sean Carney Band
Big City Blues Band | Dr John | Joey Gilmore | Shemekia Copeland
Jon Cleary | "The Prince of Beale Street" Billy Gibson | Curtis Salgado
Eden Brent | Dan Wright & The New Beat | Kim Waters | Kenny Lattimore | Daniel D.
Also featuring the following:
At The Crossroads | Amp Toppers
JANIVA MAGNESS
“A superb, powerhouse R&B singer who delivers blues and soul with show-stopping authority” –Los Angeles Daily News
The story of award-winning vocalist Janiva Magness’ rise to the top of the blues world and beyond is a testament to the redemptive power of music and the human spirit. Possessing a rich, soulful voice and absolute command over her material, Magness is an incredibly gifted performer who can lead her audience through a range of emotions, from the deepest sorrow to overwhelming joy. A survivor of an impossibly rough childhood, Magness’ life experience informs her music in a way that is brutally honest, emotionally moving and, above all, spiritually healing. Winner of the 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Female Artist Of The Year, Magness has seven solo recordings to her credit and has made guest appearances on CDs by R.L. Burnside and many others. Her presence on stage is legendary, as she performs 200 nights a year at clubs, festivals, and concert halls all over the world. And, in April 2008, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait co-headlining BLUZAPALOOZA, the first-ever blues concert tour to perform for American troops. The story continues with her Alligator Records debut CD, What Love Will Do.
In addition to her musical accomplishments, Magness is also a National Spokesperson for Casey Family Programs, promoting National Foster Care Month. Magness has reconnected with her daughter, and is now the proud grandmother of a six-year-old boy. “I have a life today I never could have imagined,” says Magness. “The tragedies of my life no longer define me.”
What defines Janiva Magness is the strength, power and passion of her deeply soulful, emotionally moving music, sung with truth and soul-shaking talent. With What Love Will Do and a major tour, and with the stars seemingly all lined up for her, Janiva Magness continues to wring the truth from every note she sings, amazing and delighting both old and new fans all over the world.
ZAC HARMON
Zac is performing at the Charleston Blues Festival in Charleston, SC. Click here to find out more!
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Zac Harmon is a disciple of the Farish Street blues sound. Farish Street is universally recognized as the home of many great blues legends including the late, great Elmore James.
During the 50’s and 60’s Zac hung out at his father’s pharmacy on Farish (first African-American pharmacy in Jackson), soaking up the aura and sounds of the musician customers while developing his skills as a guitarist, organist and vocalist and then he polished those skills while at church.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1980 to pursue a career in music, Zac quickly became a much in demand writer/producer and musician. In 1994 Zac received his first Grammy nomination.
In 2002, Zac's all Blues album, Live at Babe & Ricky's Inn, was an electrifying testimonial to the Blues, featuring eight totally original songs that truly embodies the Mississippi blues sound.
In 2004 Zac won The Blues Foundation’s 2004 International Blues Challenge. Since then there’s been no looking back with the release of the latest Northern Blues CD, “From the Root" Zac continues to appear at Blues festivals all over the world including BLUZAPALOOZA II that entertained our troops in Iraq.
Last year Zac joined Steve Simon and Shemekia Copeland in Iraq to entertain our troops with BLUZAPALOOZA II. Zac also sits on the Board of Directors of The Blues Foundation.
TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT
Trampled Under Foot is performing at the St. John Blues Festival in St. Thomas USVI. Click here to find out more!
When was the last time you saw a three-piece family blues band with two left-handed guitarists? Let alone a blues band with three strong vocals, both female and male?
Trampled Under Foot, winners of the 2008 International Blues Challenge, is like no other band you will ever see or hear. Danielle is an amazing blues singer and an excellent bassist, her brother Kris fires right in the pocket on the drums and sings as well and brother Nick is a strong singer and an accomplished guitarist, winning the 2008 Albert King Award from the IBC.
For those of you who were at the 2009 Johnnie Walker St. John Blues Festival, you experienced the incredible magic of this world class band and the amazing talent of Danielle.
As Blues producer Steve Simon says,
“Danielle is the greatest female vocalist in the Blues today.”
Visit Trampled Under Foot's Website
RUSTY WRIGHT BLUES BAND
Rusty Wright Blues Band is performing with the Bluzapalooza IV Tour. Click here to find out more!
Throughout the history of showbiz, there have been married couples who have shared the stage together. Add to that list the names of Laurie and Rusty Wright, of the Rusty Wright Blues Band (RWB) from Flint, Michigan.
Coming from a hard rock background, Rusty had always told his band mates that regardless of what may happen, when he turned forty he would go home and play the blues. So when he turned forty years of age, he did just that. However, he didn't start to play the blues in resignation, but as a goal, the culmination of his musical career, something he had worked to attain.
Laurie also came from a musical background. As with Rusty, she pursued numerous musical projects which took her all over North America and abroad. But as with so many other entertainers, she worked a day job as a journalist and freelance writer. Little did she realize that a newspaper article she was assigned to do for an entertainment paper for which she worked would be their introduction, and the beginning of their relationship.
Then, when Rusty was called upon to fill in for the guitarist for the band Laurie was playing with (so her band could honor contracts to which they were committed), Rusty and Laurie discovered they also enjoyed working together. After chasing the elusive dollar by playing the music they were playing at the time, they progressed to the musical magic that they knew they could share: they decided to play the blues.
That, you could say, was the beginning of the rest of their story. They are making beautiful music together.
Visit Rusty Wright Blues Band's Website
TAB BENOIT
With all the makings of an American music icon, Tab Benoit has become one of the premiere roots stylist of the century. Tab has paid his dues as a road troubadour playing 250 nights a year performing at venues across North America, honing his guitar chops and becoming part of Louisiana folklore and legend.
Way down in the heart of steamy South Louisiana there's a run-down shotgun-style, brick building where magic is known to happen on any given night. Many of the town's people don't venture into the area, but those who do, order from a hand written menu containing such misspelled delicacies as "hot sawsage poboys" and "fried swimps",. After a good, greasy meal, they are treated to the most authentic blues around. It's here at Tabby's Blues Box and Heritage Hall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where Tab Benoit played to gain acceptance among the true blues fans and players of the down and dirty genre, while earning the customary thirteen dollars a night.
"We weren't allowed to bring in our own equipment", Tab recalls. "We always just made do with what was there... that's the Blues Box way." Tab has fond memories of the leaky roof, the outdated PA system (a 1970's bass amplifier), and the appreciative crowd; a mixture of LSU students and neighborhood regulars. But mostly, he remembers a piece of advice from Tabby Thomas, the club's proprietor, who told him, "If you play the blues, you'll always have a job."
Tab has taken Tabby's advice to heart, maintaining his blues roots while hitting the road--hard. For the past several years he's been performing his own brand of cajun rock 'n blues, night after night, while watching the size of his audience steadily increase. This grueling tour schedule has paid off, as he now plays for standing room only crowds across the country, from major music cities to small town blues bars.
CHUBBY CARRIER
One word to describe the swampdelic sounds of Chubby Carrier and Bayou Swamp Band? Fun. Pure Louisiana zydeco fun with a hot sauce chaser. Anybody who has doubts about the accordion as an instrument will be swayed the right way with Carrier's passion and fire on the instrument.
Chubby Carrier started out as twinkle in Roy Carrier's eye (Roy looks more Chubby's older brother than his dad). The Carriers are one of the great musical families in Louisiana. There's Poppa Roy, Chubby, Chubby's brother Troy (AKA Dikki Du and The Zydeco Krewe), Roy's nephew Dwight Carrier and The Zydeco Ro Dogs. There's also Chubby's Aunt Laura Maria Doolittle (AKA Zydeco-T) who plays with Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies. Now if we can organize a basketball tournament between the Carriers, the Neals and the Nevilles to settle it once and for all. (Just kidding). A documentary about the family has been filmed (Not kidding) and will hopefully be shown at a theatre near you (Or look for in on DVD if you movie houses are documentary-challenged).
There's traditional roots in Chubby's zydeco, but expands the sound for all ages. Live and in studio he's taken songs like B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby," Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles," The Who's "Squeeze Box", War's "Cisco Kid" and the Grateful Dead's "Fire On The Mountain" and dragged them through the swamp with beautiful results. It's adding Louisiana spice to popular tunes that help Carrier build the bridge between zydeco and the rest of the world. Mardi Gras can happen 365 days a year and you don't have to flash anything to enjoy the band (Unless you REALLY want to).
Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band is one of the most energetic groups around. An evening or an afternoon with these guys will result in a full night's sleep and a bowl of Wheaties (When we gonna see Chubby on their cereal box?).
In the post-Katrina world there has been a newfound awareness of the music of Louisiana. It's awareness that shouldn't be paid to these artists out of pity over what happened. It should be paid because the music of Louisiana is one big stewpot of many flavors and it's really damn tasty. It was tasty before Katrina and it's still tasty now. Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band is the musical part in the stewpot where the gumbo meets the rice and you want to sop it up with some French bread. Prepare to be funkified, zydecofied and the pleasant victim of a Chubby party.
WAYLON THIBODEAUX
Waylon Thibodeaux is a young Cajun with an innate musical talent that can be seen in the performance of his Louisiana, Cajun and Zydeco music. His style of high-energy, toe-tapping music will certainly liven up any audience. Waylon began playing professionally at the age of thirteen. He has had the opportunity to perform with nationally and internationally renowned musicians and groups, including Tony Orlando, Jimmy C. Newman, Beau Soleil, Jo-El Sonnier, Wayne Toups, and Bruce Daigrepont.
"It's a mixture - it's Cajun, but not too traditional, it's Zydeco with a pinch of New Orleans' sound, a small pinch of South Louisiana 'Swamp Pop', a taste of Country and a little Rock n' Roll, that's sure to get you on your feet and dancing." Any way he plays it, Thibodeaux's music certainly gets one's attention. Waylon’s latest CD is Papa Thibodeaux, recently released on Rockin’ River Records. This release showcases Waylon’s depth and versatility as he performs his unique brand of progressive Cajun music, seasoned with elements of Zydeco, Rock, Country and a sprinkle of the traditional in just the right places. You’ve heard it before, but it really is true – this CD has something for everyone. Blues guitarist Tab Benoit and harmonica virtuoso Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone join Waylon on the toe-tapping cut "Be For Sure", written by Sansone. If that combination doesn’t make you get up and dance, nothing will! Waylon even adds a Spanish selection to his usual combination of French and English vocal performances. "Papa Thibodeaux" is truly a one-of-a-kind must-have for your Louisiana music collection.
Having played for years to filled-to-capacity crowds on New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street, Thibodeaux has literally entertained people from all over the world. Fiercely proud of his Acadian heritage, he keeps his home base in southeast Louisiana, always striving to perfect his style of music. A versatile entertainer, Thibodeaux can charm his audiences in French and/or English. His is always a "must see" performance.
THE SEAN CARNEY BAND
“The next big thing has already been around the block,” a Canadian newspaper reporter wrote of The Sean Carney Band’s impressive showing and subsequent victory at The 2007 International Blues Challenge, held in February in Memphis, Tennessee, explaining that Carney and his crew are no newcomers to Blues. The IBC is presented by The Blues Foundation, who also awarded 34 year-old Carney the Albert King Best Guitarist Award and Best Dressed in their 23rd annual competition, before an audience of 1,700 blues lovers from all over the world.
The Sean Carney Band has recently been recognized by such as icons of the genre as Jimmy Thackery (Sean will appear as special guest with Thackery & The Drivers in Columbus) and Johnny Winter (The Sean Carney Band will open for Winter in Greensboro, NC in March of 2009.
2009 festival bookings for The Sean Carney Band include The Bierbeck Blues Festival (Belgium), Charivari Blues Festival (Germany), Bluesnight (France), The Eslov Blues Festival (Sweden), The Blues Spring Festival (Austria) and The Berlin Blues Festival (CT).
Visit the Sean Carney Band Website
BIG CITY BLUES BAND
Big City Blues Band - Miami, Florida blues and rhythm and blues band is music entertainment at its best. This quality "show" band has been attracting a loyal following for 18 years. Big City's variety of vocalists and soloists present a danceable mix of blues, rhythm and blues and soul requiring mandatory applause and audience participation. The repertoire includes originals and the music of such artists as BB King, Otis Redding, Al Green, James Brown, Eric Clapton, etc. Available for club, corporate, festival and concert venues, they rock every event with style and stage presence.
Big City Blues Band has been honored with numerous awards. In 1991 and 1992 they were given the Jammy Award for Best Blues Band in Florida. In 1991 the South Florida Blues Society chose them as Best Blues Band. In 1991 they were also honored by the National Blues Foundation for winning their national blues competition. They received the coveted B.B. King Lucille Award at the W.C. Handy Awards in Memphis for Best Unsigned Blues Band in the United States. This award was presented by Little Milton and Willie Nelson.
Big City is often the featured artist at major festivals. Big City and it's members have opened for or played with such artists as Lloyd Price, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Little Richard, Benny Latimore, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Johnny Winter, John Mayall, The Kinsey Report, Sam and Dave, Jimmy Page, Mick Taylor, Jr. Wells, The Thunderbirds, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, James Brown, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and many more.
DR JOHN
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, his professional musical career began in New Orleans in the 1950s. He originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands included Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959.
In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost twenty-year-long collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus to create songs for Dr. John's releases "City Lights" and "Tango Palace" and for B. B. King's Stuart Levine produced "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere," which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll," the last song written with Pomus prior to Pomus' death in 1991, for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records' 1995 tribute to Pomus titled "Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus" that also included covers of Pomus penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, The Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke and Lou Reed. According to Doc Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners; Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with sing Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991 in NYC.
In January 2008, Mac Rebennack, Dr. John, was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, in February, he performed at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the NBA All-Star Weekend hosted by New Orleans.
JOEY GILMORE
Born in Ocala, Joey Gilmore came to South Florida in the ’60s and has been here ever since. Gilmore found his niche playing behind all the great soul, blues and R&B stars that passed through town, as well as leading his own successful bands and recording along the way.
His love affair with the guitar began in his teens.
“In the town that I lived in, there was a barbershop,” Gilmore reminisces. “And the barber that owned the shop was a sanctified preacher. He was a minister, and he had this little flat-bodied guitar. It was electric, no amplifier to it. And he would bring it to the shop with him, and he was trying to learn how to play. So, I would get to the barbershop early whenever I would go to get my hair cut, or even after school, I would hang around at the barbershop, because I wanted to get my hands on that guitar. I would take the guitar and they had these old wooden benches. I would lay the guitar on top of the wooden bench and when you would strum the strings, the wood, the bench, would vibrate, and the floor would, the sound would resonate, and you could hear it without the amplifier. I learned just from watching him.” Young Gilmore tried to keep his obsession with the instrument from his church going aunt, who was raising him, but word of the talented boy who played at the barbershop eventually got back to her. She finally heard him play with his group at church and was moved to tears.
“She went straight to Sears and Roebuck and bought me a brand-new guitar,” Gilmore says. “It was a Kay, I think. And from that, we started learning other songs, other music besides church music. And that didn’t sit too well with her. But when she finally accepted that we could make money, that we could make a lot on a weekend,though we weren’t old enough to be in the bars without parental supervision, she would go with us. And would sit at the door and take up the money for us.”
Decades later and established as a Florida legend, Gilmore provides a highlight at Blues Festivals and clubs proving he’s one of South Florida’s best soul-blues singers while wringing blue notes out of his guitar.
Joey Gilmore's career has spanned 40 years with performances throughout the United States and Europe. He has called South Florida home for the past twenty years. Joey is a true Blues and R & B master who incorporates new and varied styles in his music performing original compositions mixed with traditional standards in his high energy live show. His tenor/baritone vocals belt out tunes with a loss abandon reminiscent of Blues Legends from the 1940's and 1950's. This Blues man's major influences are apparent without sacrificing his unique style. Artists Joey has shared the stage with include; James Brown, Etta James, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Johnny Taylor and numerous others.
JON CLEARY
On April 22, 2008, just in time for Jazz Fest, Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen drop MO HIPPA, recorded live at the Vanguard in Sydney, Australia, on Cleary’s own FHQ label. In the hallowed ranks of New Orleans “piano professors,” Jon Cleary is on the tenure track. With his new release MO HIPPA (on FHQ Records), which will be in stores in time for Jazz Fest 2008, Cleary finally puts the sizzling energy of his live shows on wax.
“The fact is that the magic that happens in a live performance is unique and will only happen once,” Cleary says. On MO HIPPA, that magic is captured.
The Absolute Monster Gentlemen are Cleary on piano; New Orleans natives Derwin “Big D” Perkins on guitar and Cornell C. Williams on bass, both ten-year vets of the band. While Cornell’s deep grooves and funky beat anchor the grooves, Big D and Jon soar, with R&B licks that take the best from island rhythms, jazz, funk and traditional New Orleans soul.l.
Cleary, born in England, is an adopted son of the Crescent City, who’s made five soul-soaked R&B funk albums with the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. As a session man, he’s played with Taj Mahal, B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt, to name a few, and is a longstanding member of Raitt’s touring band. Musically, though, his heart and soul reside on the banks of the Mississippi.
Recorded at the Vanguard club in Sydney, Australia, MO HIPPA shows Cleary and his ace band stamping their signature, groove-laden style on New Orleans classics like Professor Longhair’s iconic “Tipitina” and the Meters’ funk masterpiece “People Say.” Originals like “C’mon Second Line,” and “Port Street Blues” show the British-born Cleary’s fluency in his adopted hometown’s idiom – as he slides from street-parade swagger into soulful blues, he funks it up like a native. The smoking original track “When U Get Back” is a singular example of Cleary’s eclectic style: killer R&B infused with Caribbean funk, Cajun sizzle and a catchy pop sensibility that infects the dance floor.
The closing track, the shack-shaking funk blues original “Mo Hippa,” is a celebration of everything New Orleans, playfully challenging the rest of the world to step to the Crescent City’s legendary and effortless groove. The infectious energy in the Vanguard that night as the song took over the room is audibly apparent on the recording.
The audience was “seated, and like many jazz club audiences they were a little polite and almost seemed to be waiting for permission to move all the chairs and tables out of the way,” Cleary remembers. “When it came time, we gave them a gentle nudge and the next minute they were all getting down and shaking it New Orleans style.”
SHEMIKIA COPELAND
Shamekia is performing at the Charleston Blues Festival in Charleston, SC. Click here to find out more!
At a young age, Shemekia Copeland is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues. While still in her 20s, she’s opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.
Copeland’s passion for singing, matched with her huge, blast-furnace voice, gives her music a timeless power and a heart-pounding urgency. Her music comes from deep within her soul and from the streets where she grew up, surrounded by the everyday sounds of the city – street performers, gospel singers, blasting radios, bands in local parks and so much more.
Born in Harlem, New York, in 1979, Copeland actually came to her singing career slowly. Her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, recognized his daughter’s talent early on. He always encouraged her to sing at home, and even brought her on stage to sing at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. At the time, Shemekia’s embarrassment outweighed her desire to sing. But when she was fifteen and her father’s health began to fail, her outlook changed. “It was like a switch went off in my head, and I wanted to sing,” she says. “It became a want and a need. I had to do it.”
At only 19, Shemekia stepped out of her father’s shadow with the Alligator release of 1998 debut recording, Turn the Heat Up!, and the critics raved. The Village Voice called her “nothing short of uncanny,” while the Boston Globe proclaimed that “she roars with a sizzling hot intensity.” A year later, she appeared in the Motion Picture Three To Tango, while her song “I Always Get My Man, was featured in the film Broken Hearts Club.
Her second album, Wicked, released in 2000, scored three Handy Awards (Song of the Year, Blues Album of the Year, Contemporary Female Artist of the Year) and a GRAMMY nomination. Two years later, New Orleans R&B legend Dr. John stepped in to produce her third recording, Talking To Strangers (2002), which Vibe called “a masterful blend of ballsy rockers and cheeky ballads.”
Copeland released The Soul Truth in 2005. The album was produced by legendary Stax guitarist Steve Cropper (who also played on the CD), and featured generous doses of blues, funk and Memphis-flavored soul.
She joined Telarc International for the February 2009 release of Never Going Back. This new chapter in the Shemekia Copeland story represents a crossroads on her ongoing artistic journey – a place where numerous new avenues are open to her. While she will always remain loyal to her blues roots, Never Going Back takes a more forward view of the blues, and in so doing points her music and her career in a new direction.
“I’ve had success in my career, and I’m happy with that,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to continue to grow. In order for an artist to grow – and for a genre to grow – you have to do new things. I’m extremely proud to say I’m a blues singer, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only thing I’m capable of singing, or that’s the only style of music I’m capable of making.”
She adds: “I want to keep growing. My main goal when I started this was that I was going to do something different with this music, so that this music could evolve and grow. I got that idea from my father. He didn’t do the typical one-four-five blues. He went to Africa and worked with musicians there. He was one of the first blues artists to do that. I want to be the same way. I want to be innovative with the blues."
And innovative she has been. Last year Shemekia headed up one of Steve Simon’s BLUZAPALOOZA concert tours to Iraq to entertain our troops. She did 8 shows in 8 days at 8 different bases in this war zone.
Visit Shemekia Copeland's Website
BILLY GIBSON "The Prince of Beale Street"
Billy is performing at the Charleston Blues Festival in Charleston, SC. Click here to find out more!
Billy, affectionately known as “The Prince of Beale Street” since he won the Beale Street Entertainer of the Year award was honored by the entire Blues world this past May when he won the coveted Blues Music Award.
Billy was also part of Steve Simon’s very first BLUZAPALOOZA tour to Iraq two years ago and recently went with Steve on BLUZAPALOOZA III “The Cairo Tour” to entertain our U.S. Embassy staff and military families in Egypt
CURTIS SALGADO
Blues Music Award Nominee
Curtis Salgado has a lot to celebrate. Two years ago he was diagnosed with liver cancer and told he had eight months to live, unless he got a liver transplant which would generate medical bills upwards of half a million dollars. With no health insurance and few funds, the man who is one of America's finest blues/soul singers needed a little help from his friends.
When your friends and admirers include the likes of Steve Miller, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal, you've got a fighting chance. Numerous benefits were held in multiple cities including a benefit concert featuring Miller, Cray, Taj Mahal, The Phantom Blues Band, Everclear and Little Charlie & The Nightcats.
Through the generosity of Curtis's friends, fellow musicians, the Legendary Blues Cruise and thousands of fans who supported Curtis by attending benefits and auctions or by making private donations, upwards of half a million dollars was raised and Curtis received his life saving transplant.
Curtis Salgado's musical journey began with his birth in Everett, Washington, in 1954. His family moved to Eugene, Oregon when he was one and he grew up there listening to jazz, and to his father, an aspiring singer of classical music. His ambitions coalesced when, at age 12, he saw Count Basie's band perform in Eugene.
Curtis became a part of the burgeoning Northwest blues scene starting in 1972 with a band called Three-Fingered Jack. Eventually he hooked up with up-and-coming guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray, and recorded the album "Who's Been Talking." In six years with Robert Cray, the higher level of visibility enabled Salgado to sit in with the likes of Muddy Waters, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt.
Aside from being a tremendous vocalist, Curtis is also one of the finest blues harmonica players in the country. In 1979, when John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House, he caught Curtis' act and liked what he heard and saw. Curtis took the actor under his wing and schooled him on blues and R & B history, which Belushi soaked up like a sponge, and used a good portion of Curtis' show as the basis for the Blues Brothers act he and Dan Akroyd put together. The first Blues Brothers album was dedicated to Curtis.
Curtis left the Cray band before it broke through nationally and from 1984 - 1986 he fronted Boston's Grammy- Winning Roomful Of Blues before returning to Portland where he formed The Stilettos, who toured nationally with such acts as Steve Miller and The Doobie Brothers. He even did a stint as lead vocalist with Santana in the 1990's.
Curtis released three albums (the first with The Stilettos, followed by one with his own band and the third, an acoustic gem, featuring guitarist Terry Robb). After three critically-acclaimed solo albums with Shanachie Entertainment, Clean Getaway may be the breakthrough that Curtis has been working toward. But the experiences of the past two years have given Curtis a new perspective.
Shortly after Curtis recovered from his life saving liver surgery, he recorded Clean Getaway, an album whose title has an obvious double meaning. Released on July 8, 2008, Clean Getaway is Curtis’s celebration of life, a sublime collaboration with the most respected session players in Los Angeles that goes to the heart of what music--and life--is all about.
Produced by Marlon McClain & Tony Braunagel, who is Steve Simon’s Music Director for his BLUZAPALOOZA concert tours, Clean Getaway is a seamless mix of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll all held together by the organic grooves of world class musicians and Curtis' superlative singing.
The title track, co-written by Curtis, reflects his love of the late, great Johnny "Guitar" Watson and effectively nails Watson's funkified mid-period Seventies style of such songs as "Ain't That A Bitch" and "A Real Mother For Ya." "Alone" is a percolating slab of Memphis R&B written by the under-rated Tommy Sims. "I Don't Want To Discuss It" is an obscure Little Richard tune, Curtis' favorite by the Georgia Peach; it has also been notably covered by Delaney & Bonnie. Curtis artfully blends the best of both versions. Another original, "20 Years Of BB King," is an impossibly clever song whose lyrics consist entirely of the titles of songs by BB King; instead of sounding like an entertaining gimmick it comes off as completely natural and effective.
Renowned Blues producer Steve Simon calls Curtis Salgado “the greatest Blues performer in the world.”
Curtis Salgado is the heir apparent to the great Blues throne.
EDEN BRENT
Two Time Blues Music Award Winner
Mississippi Number One is a tiny, two-lane state highway that meanders through blink-and-you'll-miss-'em communities like Rosedale, Benoit, Wayside, and Grace before it dead ends into Highway 61 at Onward.
In the masterful hands of blues and boogie pianist and vocalist Eden Brent, Mississippi Number One is a state of mind. The album, dedicated to her mother, the late Carole Brent, is Eden's debut for Yellow Dog Records and was released nationwide on April 15, 2008.
Both the self-penned title track and the album's leadoff song, "Mississippi Flatland Blues," which was written by Carole Brent, conjure up images of churning riverboats and prehistoric Indian mounds that rise like mysterious landmarks alongside the highway, the scent of honeysuckle at night, and the sounds that float from a raucous juke joint that stands at the end of a dirt road.
Critics laud Brent's "Bessie Smith meets Diana Krall meets Janis Joplin" attitude, compare her to jazz/pop dynamos Norah Jones and Sarah Vaughn, and wax effusively about that "whiskey-smoke" voice, which makes songs like "Darkness On The Delta" and Brent's own "All Over Me" unforgettable tunes.
Brent's supremely tasteful take on the classic "The Man I Love" makes you pause while time seemingly suspends around you, while an upbeat original, "Meet You Anywhere," encourages you to turn off your cell phone and re-engage in life.
Taken as a whole, Mississippi Number One serves as a uniquely southern correlation to the popular "slow life" movement, the aural interpretation of dictums established by food doyenne Alice Waters and Project Alabama designer Natalie Chanin.
The album fuses blues, soul, pop and jazz (after all, Greenville is located just a few hundred miles up the Mississippi river from New Orleans) into a heady roots-flavored concoction that turns lazy and lush on the bluesy "Why Don't You Do Right," heads straight to the kitchen for a rendition of fellow Greenvillian Jimmy Phillips' homespun "Fried Chicken," then veers into balladeer territory for her own "Afraid To Let Go."
Brent, who apprenticed with blues pioneer Boogaloo Ames for 16 years, actually grew up on Mississippi Number One, in a house located just north of Greenville, Miss., in the legendary Delta region that served as the birthplace for such iconoclasts as bluesman B. B. King, historian Shelby Foote, singer Mary Wilson, and puppeteer Jim Henson.
Her relationship with Ames was captured in the 1999 PBS documentary Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound and in the 2002 South African production Forty Days in the Delta.
"A young woman made of less stern stuff would not have braved such an apprenticeship," writes author/journalist Julia Reed in the liner notes for Mississippi Number One. "Boogaloo was notoriously unreliable, often drunk, and never stayed in one place for long… but theirs is a phenomenal story of mutual admiration and need, of an unlikely but very real friendship that went well beyond that of student and teacher."
"Music school taught me to think, but Boogaloo taught me to boogie-woogie," says Brent, who achieved a Bachelor of Music while studying jazz at the University of North Texas, swept the Blues Foundation's 2006 International Blues Challenge, and was a 2004 inductee on the Greenville, Miss., Blues Walk.
Her unshakable talent and carefree demeanor have taken her across the country and around the world, with appearances at the Kennedy Center, the 2000 Republican National Convention, the venerable Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and tours of South Africa and Norway under her belt. Sharing a bill with B.B. King, Brent performed at the 2005 presidential inauguration, and solo, she's appeared at the British Embassy and at the My South celebration in New York. She's also burnished her reputation via appearances on radio shows like the syndicated Beale Street Caravan and XM's Live in the Studio at Bluesville, and at festivals like the Waterfront Blues Festival, Edmonton Blues Festival and the annual B.B. King Homecoming, and aboard the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.
With the release of Mississippi Number One, Brent is now ready to take her place as one of the fresh voices propelling this vital American music forward. As Chip Eagle, publisher of Blues Revue, BluesWax, and Dirty Linen says, "in Eden's huge playing and singing you can hear the ghosts of Mississippi in duet with the future of the blues."
In late March, Eden toured Cairo,Egypt with Steve Simon on his BLUZAPALOOZA celebrity concert tour for the State Department and then in May, Eden won the Blues Music Awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year.
Dan Wright & The New Beat
Dan Wright and the New Beat have become the hottest sound in Charleston. This hard hitting Blues trio has been selling out every venue they have performed at this year so it is no wonder that they won the 1st Annual Low Country Blues Challenge and will be on their way in January to the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dan Wright started paying his dues when he was just 16 back in the smoke filled rough and tumble Blues clubs of East Detroit. By the time he was 19 Dan Wright had already earned a nomination for a Detroit Music Award for ‘Best Blues Instrumentalist’. From the Motor City to the heart of the Low Country, 
Dan Wright has become one of the most sought after and versatile guitarists in South Carolina.
Part of the rich foundation of this amazing band is bassist Landon Moore. A Memphis native and Beale Street regular, Landon developed his soulful style as a young recording session bassist at Memphis’s legendary Ardent Studios. Sharing the stage with the likes of Tinsley Ellis, the North Mississippi Allstars and the Gamble Brothers, Landon Moore has found his groove in Charleston.
And then there is 18 year old Charleston native prodigy Quentin Ravenel. With a mix of tight New Orleans funk, intense improvisational jams and classic Memphis soul, this gospel inspired drummer is just poetry in motion. Having already shared the stage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bryan Wilson, Durance Pace and La’June Thompson and endorsed by Saluda Cymbals and the Loscabos Drum Stick Company, Quentin Ravenel is a one man revival meeting.
Kim Waters
As 2010 unfolds, saxophonist, composer, producer and consummate hitmaker, Kim Waters, is sure to have a banner year. The model handsome, soft-spoken and charismatic saxman shares, “My resolution for this year is to continue having a strong family relationship, make great music, and keep my fans always wanting more.” Waters has built a solid career giving his fans what they want, along the way garnering praise from critics and fans alike and becoming one of the top five best-selling instrumentalists in jazz. Kim Waters’ winning combination of sensitivity and brawn, intellect and emotion, coupled with his technique and soulfulness have made him one of the premier architects of Urban Smooth Jazz and a mainstay on Quiet Storm and contemporary jazz radio. The prolific saxman, who recently celebrated his 20th anniversary in the business, maintains a hectic schedule juggling such diverse projects as The Sax Pack (with fellow saxophonists Jeff Kashiwa and Steve Cole) and his Streetwize and Tha’ Hot Club CDs that are known for their clever reworkings of the hottest hip hop, R&B and reggae hits on the radio. On January 26, 2010 Kim Waters returns with his finest CD yet, Love Stories, a sublime collection of love inspired anthems that explore the deep range of emotions love can evoke.
Inspired by such jazz luminaries as Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, George Benson, Cannonball and Grover Washington, saxophonist Kim Waters was born into a musical family. The Maryland native picked up his first instrument, the violin, at the age of eight. "That didn't go over well with the fellas," says Waters, who later found his calling on the alto and soprano saxophones at 13. Shortly afterwards he began playing in a band with his brothers, James (who he still performs with) and Eric, and his old friend, pianist Cyrus Chestnut. Over the years, Kim Waters has been called on to perform with or open shows for the best including Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Phyllis Hyman, Teddy Riley and Guy, and Gerald Albright to name a few. Waters recently relocated to Sacramento, California from his longtime home in Aberdeen, Maryland.
Kenny Lattimore
Growing up in a musical family in Washington, D.C. area, Kenny Lattimore began singing early in life, winning junior-high talent shows and singing everything from R&B to classical, during his high school years. After studying architecture and city planning at Howard University, he became lead singer of the R&B group Maniquin, which released an album on the Epic label. After leaving that act, he concentrated on developing his songwriting skills, resulting in his compositions being recorded by Glenn Jones and Jon Lucien.
After moving to New York, Lattimore was awarded a solo recording deal with Columbia Records and released his self-titled 1996 debut. That album went Gold and spawned the hit single "Never Too Busy" and the perennial wedding song "For You," winning Lattimore a reputation as a dynamic and charismatic performer, with an image as a strong but sensitive romantic. The 
album's success earned Lattimore an NAACP Image Award as Best New Artist. 1998's From the Soul of Man documented the maturation of Lattimore's songwriting talent, and yielded the hits "Days Like This" and "If I Lose My Woman," as well as Lattimore's visionary reworking of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." He moved to Arista for 2001's Weekend, and in 2003 released Things That Lovers Do, a well-received album of duets with his wife and fellow R&B star Chante Moore. The couple released a second duets album, Uncovered/Covered, in 2006.
Despite his past successes, Timeless demonstrates that Kenny Lattimore is more interested in making expressive, enduring music than pandering to momentary musical trends. "I like that Verve is a label that cares about music," he asserts, adding, "They gave me the freedom to be myself and trusted me to follow my heart. I've been in so many situations where I'd finish an album and the record company comes back and says, "We need a radio hit", and they ask you to come up with a song that sounds exactly like what everyone else is doing. With this project, I felt like the label was more interested in getting the artistry right, and then presenting it to people and allowing them to decide if they like it."
Visit Kenny Lattimore's Website
Daniel D.
Talent is a gift, and Daniel D. discovered his early in life. Since he first drew a bow across the strings of a violin at 12 years old. He has newly released his first Album 'Play For Me'. A 2009 Apollo Winner, Charlotte Music Award Recipient, and a highlighted performer on B.E.T. 106 & Park, he’s performed for Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, T.V. host Larry King, Michael Jackson at Jessie Jackson’s birthday party, and as one of the opening violinist for Jamie Fox and Kanye West on BET 106 & Park.
That notable audience is no accident. Davis makes his violin sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Upon first seeing him live, your jaw will drop. High fives and awed, wide-eyed looks to the people around you will follow. Then you start to groove — fully captivated until the moment he lowers his instrument and takes a bow. Raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Davis graduated from that city’s esteemed School of the Arts in 2007, immediately setting off on a nationwide tour with T-Bone Ministries.
Davis’ faith lies at the core of his music, and his melodic improvisations accompany a soaring gospel arrangement as exquisitely as in his covers of “Billie Jean” or Kanye West’s “Stronger.” A seasoned entertainer at just 20 years old, Davis is equally comfortable performing for an audience of 50,000 at the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium as he is playing at his family’s church on Sunday. He’s studied at New York’s Juillard School of Music, won the U.S. Air Force’s Wide Talent Search competition, and his fiddle-laden remix of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has contributed to regular invitations to perform throughout the country at special events.
At home in Charleston, he’s been a featured artist at the Spoleto USA festival each of the last two years. Despite his successes, Davis remains a humble young man. Daniel is the first to tell you that the pure joy of playing music far surpasses prestige or recognition. “Every opportunity to play offers new enlightenment and a chance to learn,” says Davis. “I love performing and I love playing — period.
AT THE CROSSROADS
At the Crossroads – the radio show – is a weekly 60-minute syndicated program that focuses upon blues music and its various genres – Soul, R&B, Swing, Delta, Zydeco and many other styles – that fit under the umbrella of the blues.
After almost 25 years as a broadcaster, in both commercial and campus radio, I have become quite aware that a growing number of listeners
are very interested in special-interest forms of music and that live and recorded blues, in particular, is gaining in popularity.
A recent study by Statistics Canada indicates that, in terms of CD sales, jazz and blues comprises the fastest-growing category in the industry, with the number of units sold increasing by more than 45 percent between 1998 and 2000. After 2003 was officially designated as the Year of the Blues, celebrated with a TV documentary series and multi-disc CD set, the blues now has a higher profile and a greater number of dedicated fans than ever before.
Visit At The Crossroads Website
AMP TOPPERS
AMPTOPPERS solve the hassle of where to set up your gear!
It's a great tray that slides under the handle of your amp and holds your picks, harps, slide, modeler, set list, or anything else you can imagine.
This cool tray has a non-skid surface and a recessed area that keeps your gear where you want it... even at Rumble Settings!