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2008 Poster:

2007 PERFORMERS

Celebrate the blues this year down by the San Francisco Bay at the world's oldest blues festival, September 28-30. Held on the green at Fort Mason's Great Meadow and framed by the stunning backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay, the Festival will celebrate its 34^th year with an all-star lineup of some of the best blues performers in the world.

Tribute to Little Walter Jacobs

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Little Walter Jacobs was the most important modern blues harmonica to ever play the blues. Born in Louisiana in 1930, he moved to Chicago in 1946 and in the years that followed, his recordings with the Muddy Waters Band and under his own name became the template for all amplified harmonica playing. From 1952-1958 he recorded 14 top 10 R&B hits for Chess Records, including "Sad Hours", "Mean Old World", "Tell Me Mama", "Off the Wall", "Blues With a Feeling", "My Babe", and others. He excelled at both the diatonic and chromatic harp and created a vast field of devotees and challengers. Jacobs was also the recent subject of a biography, "The Little Walter Story: Blues With a Feeling", Routledge Books, by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks and Ward Gaines. Jacobs, who died in 1968, continues to influence harmonica players through his many recordings. Among those who are deeply indebted to his playing are harmonica players Gary Smith, Paul Durkett, Dave Barrett, and Joe Filisko. Guitarist Craig Horton performed with Little Walter in Chicago. (top)

Gary Smith, who formed his first ensemble in the early 1970s, is a nationally recognized legend of the instrument with a deep underground following for his innovation and tonal playing. Smith lived in Chicago long enough to absorb all the styles being performed in the Southside clubs of the late 1960s. He also mentored with James Cotton. He made his first records in 1974, and has subsequently appeared on numerous recordings. He has three outstanding solo CDs, including his newest, "Blues For Mr. B." He has worked with Mike Bloomfield, Robben Ford, Luther Tucker, John Lee Hooker, and Jr. Watson, among others. (top)

Paul Durkett has been playing harmonica for over 30 years and is considered one of the best harp players to ever come out of the West Coast. He is a master of the amplified Chicago school of modern blues and has led his own bands for years. His performance of "Steady" on the remarkable CD release, The Best of the West Coast Blues Harp Players "Got Harp If You Want It," is a renowned classic! (top)

Dave Barrett has been performing since age 16. He has performed with Billy Boy Arnold, James Cotton, James Harman, Charlie Musselwhite, Lee Oskar, Snooky Pryor and many others. He also founded the School of the Blues and teaches harmonica master class workshops around the country. His debut CD, "Serious Fun. Hot Chicago Blues With a West Coast Twist," is an incredible tour de force. It features guitarist John Garcia. He has published over 60 book/CD sets and videos on harmonica playing through Mel Bay Publications. He has recorded three CDs. (top)

Joe Filisko is a Chicago-based harmonica player who has performed around the world. He has appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival and at the 2006 Country Music Hall of Fame ceremonies honoring the induction of Grand Ole Opry performer-legend DeFord Bailey. He also compiled the definitive discography of Chicago blues great Big Walter Horton. His craftsmanship and knowledge of the harmonica is immense and he is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the history and techniques of the harmonica. He teaches weekly classes at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. He has also appeared in Germany, as well as the famed Port Townsend Washington Country Blues Workshop. (top)

Guitarist-vocalist Craig Horton was born in the deep south of rural Conway, Arkansas, where folks made their own instruments and listened to blues on Friday and Saturday and gospel on Sunday. His first instrument was a bailing wire guitar/side board instrument attached to the side of his family's house. This instrument, common in the Delta region well into the 1950s, was the inspiration for Horton to pursue a life as a musician in Chicago. Motivated by the Memphis records of B.B. King and the early rock 'n' roll vocals of the great Johnny Ace, Horton found plenty of work on the southside of Chicago backing the notable harmonica genius Little Walter Jacobs. His reputation as a modernist guitarist landed him jobs with some of the greatest stars in Chicago, including Dinah Washington, Chuck Berry, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, and the Texas cannonball, Freddie King. He also landed a job in the band of one of the greatest gospel ensembles to ever shake a church floor, the Highway QC's. In 1962 Horton's torrid guitar solos were immortalized on drummer Jump Jackson's 45 rpm release. "Midnight Shuffle." Horton also became a full-fledged touring member of the R&B soul vocal group The Dells, one of the greatest ensembles to come out of Chicago! (top)

After years on the road, Horton quit music and moved to the Bay Area, where he worked a series of tough jobs including a long stint on the General Motors assembly line in Fremont. He occasionally made return trips to performing including stints with the Mississippi Delta Blues Band, fronted by Jackson, Mississippi-based harmonica-vocalist Sam Myers. Fast forward to 2001, with the release of Horton's first album ever, a session produced by guitarist Rusty Zinn with backup by organist Jimmy Pugh of the Robert Cray Band. This resulted in the critically acclaimed "In My Spirit" on Bad Daddy Records. Living Blues Magazine called it the "Best Debut Album of the Year," and Critics and writers everywhere heralded it for its confident and assertive sound. Horton had been discovered! He has since returned to the road and has been hailed as one of the most original blues performers to be discovered. (top)

The Chicago All Stars

Billy Boy Arnold

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To say Chicago produced some great harmonica players is an understatement. Many, like Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jr. Wells and James Cotton, have made blues history. Billy Boy Arnold was also there during this great movement. Born in Chicago in 1935, Arnold grew up in an environment teeming with blues legends from Muddy Waters to Howlin' Wolf. Actually upon hearing the records of John Lee Williamson, Arnold decided to pursue the harmonica and by age 17 he was performing with Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie and the great Johnny Temple. It was also at the age of 17 that he recorded his first record. Chicago, in the early '50s, was a time when a blues band couldn't get work unless it featured a harmonica player. Arnold, who got his nickname "Billy Boy" from a record executive commenting on his youth, met Bo Diddley performing on a Chicago street corner in 1953 and soon teamed up with the great guitarist. Arnold's unique beat helped develop the Diddley sound and in 1955 they recorded a huge hit for Chess Records, "Bo Diddley" b/w "I'm A Man." Chess was quite taken with Arnold but a mis-communication forced Arnold to sign with Vee Jay, where he cut the hit record, "I Wish You Would." Arnold was very popular at this time, and was a main feature in such clubs as Sylvio's, Ricky's, the 708 Club and Kid Riviera's. Arnold shared billings with such notables as Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, Jr. Wells, and Howlin' Wolf. His Vee Jay release "I Wish You Would" was covered by the Yardbirds, who turned it into a hit in the 1960s. Arnold also tenured as a Chicago bus driver, as well as a parole officer for the State of Illinois. His Vee Jay recordings have since been re-issued on CD and he has released over a dozen albums, among them recent releases on Alligator Records: "El Dorado Cadillac," and "Boogie 'n' Shuffle," on Stony Plain. Rolling Stone Magazine recently lauded the Chicago harp legend for his "meaty, undiminished attack." Billy Boy Arnold is among the very last of the Chicago blues harmonica kings. (top)

Deitra Farr

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Singer Deitra Farr is one of Chicago's top blues vocalists. She has been performing regularly since the early 1980s. A regular at the Kingston Mines in Chicago, Farr, who excels at soul, blues and ballads, is a smooth and confident singer who first attained major attention as the lead vocalist in Mississippi Heat, a Chicago-based ensemble of notable fame. She appeared on several of the group's CDs. She has also recorded several solo CDs with the London-based label JSP Records. Her recent "Let It Go," has received critical acclaim. A graduate of Columbia College in journalism, Farr has written articles on blues culture, as well as poetry. Her career has included stints with Erwin Helfer, Louis Myers, Sunnyland Slim, Bobby Parker, Jody Williams, Homesick James, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Jr. Boy Jones and Dave Specter. She has toured extensively throughout Europe and has appeared at major festivals in Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Latvia and Israel. She has been nominated for numerous blues awards. (top)

Bob Stroger

Bassist Bob Stroger has been backing Chicago blues performers since the mid 1990s. His motto is "have bass will travel." Just about every blues ensemble or Southside club has had Stroger as a guest and he has backed such performers as Otis Rush, Eddie C. Campbell, Big Wheeler, Snooky Pryor, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie King, Koko Taylor and Morris Pejoe, to name a few. He has also worked as a session man appearing on many Chicago blues recordings. Stroger was a member of the Eddie King Band for over 15 years, as well as Mississippi Heat with Deitra Farr. Stroger's "Bob Is Back In Town," CD was just released on Chicago-based Airway Records, and features appearances by Steve Freund, Kenny Smith, Willie Smith and Deitra Farr. The CD also contains a DVD. (top)

Billy Flynn

Guitarist Billy Flynn is a veteran of the Chicago blues scene dating back to the 1970s. His career began in the mid-'70s as a member of the Jimmy Dawkins Band. He also worked extensively with other Chicago notables, such as Sunnyland Slim, Luther Allison, Mighty Joe Young, Otis Rush and many others. In the early '80s, he toured with blues power trio Jim Liban and the Futuramics. In the late '80s, he was a member of the famed Legendary Blues Band, which featured ex-Muddy Waters band members Pinetop Perkins, Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and Calvin Jones. He has also recorded with Willie Kent, Mississippi Heat, and James Wheeler. His mastery of the blues guitar has earned him high marks as one of the best of the current Chicago blues players. (top)

Kenny Smith

Drummer Kenny Smith is the son of drummer Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith, who was a member of the famed Muddy Waters Band for over 30 years. He learned 99% of his drumming from his father, but he also studied with such blues drumming greats as Odie Payne, Fred Below, Earl Phillips, S.P. Leary, Francis Clay, plus jazz great Art Blakey. Smith has worked with Pinetop Perkins, Homesick James, Honeyboy Edwards, Henry Townsend, Jr. Wells, Lurrie Bell, Big Jackson and Dave Myers, to name a few. Besides drumming, Smith plays harmonica and also sings. (top)

Free Waterfront Kickoff Concert / Justin Herman Plaza
THE LOST LEGENDS
Friday, September 28. Noon 1:30 p.m.

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Front: Michael Borbridge, and Harvey Mandel
Back: L-R Michael Warren, Eugene Huggins, and Freddie Roulette

The Lost Legends is an appropriate name for a band of veteran musicians who have performed for decades in various San Francisco Bay Area settings and Chicago. In the past 12 months, they have joined forces to perform in clubs and other shows and they have since become a huge sensation, with a loyal following. They consist of Freddie Roulette, Harvey Mandel, Curtis Lawson, Lisa Kindred, Eugene Huggins, Michael Warren, Chris Planas, and Michael Borbridge. They are a perfect choice to kick off this year's Blues Festival on the Waterfront. The Lost Legends! (top)

Freddie Roulette

Steel guitar wizard Freddie Roulette was recently a headliner at the prestigious annual international Steel Guitar Convention, which recognizes the best of the best lap steel guitar players in the world. Roulette's prowess with the instrument is extraordinary. He can literally make the strings of his instrument sing out words as he often creates a call and response with his unique instrument. His mastery of the steel guitar is nothing less than amazing, and he's been doing it since grammar school, where his interest in the steel guitar developed. That was near Chicago, where he was born, and where he eventually came to sit in in some of southside Chicago's most famous blues clubs. Roulette eventually came to the attention of slide guitarist Earl Hooker and the two teamed together to create some of the most exciting and unusual sounds in the history of blues. Their collaboration resulted in two classic blues albums of the late '60s era of Chicago blues on Arhoolie Records. One of those albums, "Two Bugs and a Roach," dealt with Hooker's tuberculosis, which eventually took his life, shortening a masterful guitar career. Joining up with Charlie Musselwhite and Fred Below to form the Chicago Blues Stars, Roulette was prominently featured on their Blue Thumb album debut. A tour led the group to the West Coast and Roulette settled in Berkeley, where he resides to this day, happily. In the late '60s and early '70s, he did stints with Linda Tillery and the Loading Zone, as well as with Harvey Mandel. Mandell produced Roulette's first solo album, "Sweet Funky Steel," on Janus Records, and the lap steel guitarist flashed signs of steel string genius. He eventually drew the attention of guitar virtuoso Henry Kaiser and participated in many of his projects, including performances in Germany.

Roulette has toured Japan and Italy with the San Francisco Blues Festival, but it was his 1997 album, "Back In Chicago," on Hi Horse Records, that has garnered him incredible attention. Recorded in Chicago with veteran blues musicians, the album has been acclaimed as one of the top blues albums of the year. It won the "Comeback Blues Album of the Year" at the National Blues Awards in Memphis. A second highly touted CD is due for release shortly, and Roulette is talked about everywhere as one of the most brilliant musicians in contemporary blues today. (top)

Harvey Mandel

Harvey Mandel was Charlie Musselwhite's original guitarist, appearing on the harmonica player's landmark debut album, "Stand Back," released on Vanguard Records in 1966. Mandel grew up in Chicago and his early guitar histrionics made him a legend on the Southside. Mandel, who would go on to work with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Albert King and Buddy Guy, quickly became known for his unique guitar technique of sustaining notes, feedback, slurring phrases and multi-string bends. Mandel's fame spread rapidly and he was especially renowned for his tasteful distortions, tone pedals and custom amplifiers that he brought to his performances. His 1968 solo album on Phillips Mercury entitled "Cristo Redentor" became an overnight sensation and huge underground FM hit! His instrumental version of "Wade In The Water," also on the same album, remains a classic to this day. The following year Mandel replaced Caned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine at a Fillmore Auditorium performance and he performed with the roots-blues group at the Woodstock Festival several weeks later. In 1970 he joined John Mayall's famed Bluesbreakers just as Mayall made the transition from England to Los Angeles, and appeared on several of the British blues guitarist's transitional albums, "USA Union" and "Back to the Roots," which featured Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor. In 1972, Mandel formed his own band, featuring Don Sugarcane Harris, and recorded three albums, "Baby Batter," "The Snake" (the guitarist's nickname), and "Shangrenade." It was at this time that he was asked to join the Rolling Stones and he appeared on the Stones' album "Black and Blue." However, the Stones decided on hiring guitarist Ron Wood and Mandel decided to tour with guitarist Jeff Beck, to whom he has often been compared.

Harvey Mandel has continued to live up to his legacy as one of the most innovative guitarists to emerge out of Chicago. His two-handed, fretboard-tapping technique was directly influential on such performers as Eddie Van Halen and Stanley Jordan. (top)

Curtis Lawson

Eugene Huggins has been playing blues harmonica in bands for several decades. He has worked with many blues greats, including Buddy Guy. He appeared with Tom Waits on the Conan O'Brien Show earlier this year. Bassist Michael Warren has been a member of Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band for over 15 years. Guitarist Chris Planas has worked in groups backing the Shirelles, Drifters, Mitch Ryder and many others. Drummer Michael Borbridge has worked with Elvin Bishop, Country Joe McDonald, Rowan Brothers, Luther Tucker, Pete Sears, Carlos Santana, Nick Gravenites and others. Singer Lisa Kindred is a veteran of the blues club scene dating back to the 1960s. Often compared to Janis Joplin, Kindred has maintained a loyal following and is often featured in North Beach clubs. (top)

Joe Louis Walker, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Jimmy McCracklin A Blues Revival!

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Joe Louis Walker continues to be one of the most exciting and most respected performers in the blues. Mixing blues, soul, gospel and roots elements, Walker has become one of the leading contemporary blues artists into the 21st Century. He has often been referred to as the future of the blues, largely for his wide-open interpretations of the idiom through original material and guitar sound. Furthermore, he has preferred to take the musical route of challenging and intimidating lyrics, giving blues a much wider definition. Born in San Francisco, Walker started playing guitar at age 14 and by his late teens he was opening for such acts as Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters and Lightnin' Hopkins at the famed Matrix Club on Fillmore. His early mentor was the brilliant guitarist and friend, Mike Bloomfield. In 1975 he joined the gospel group the Spiritual Corinthians, appearing on their album "God Will Provide" in 1980. After 10 years with the group, Walker joined the Mississippi Delta Blues Band and toured Europe with the aggregation before releasing his first solo album "Cold is the Night," in 1986 on Hightone Records. With the release of "The Gift" in 1988, Walker became one of the most in-demand blues artists in the world.

Walker has sold out large concerts in England and Europe, while winning numerous awards. He performed at the White House with Stevie Ray Vaughan and won three successive W.C. Handy Awards for Contemporary Blues Artist of he Year in 1988-89-90. Three more albums followed for Hightone, including several live releases recorded at Slim's. In 1992 he signed with Verve Records, releasing "Blues Survivor" and "JLW." He recorded a duet with B.B. King on King's famous "Blues Summit" CD release in 1993. In 1995 he performed in a tribute to King before President Clinton at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. His collaboration with James Cotton and Charlie Haden, "Deep Into The Blues," Verve, won him a Grammy in 1996. Walker's 1997 Verve release, "Great Guitars," was the fulfillment of a life-long dream, bringing together Buddy Guy, Gatemouth Brown, Taj Mahal, Robert Lockwood, Bonnie Raitt, Ike Turner, Scotty Moore and others, to "show how these influences run so deep," said Walker.

Walker has continued to push the boundaries of his oeuvre by recording a latin-jazz instrumental CD, "Pasa Tiempo," on Evidence in 2002; however, his blues output remains prodigious with such recent releases as "Guitar Brothers" and "She's My Money Maker," for the British JSP label, and "In the Morning" on Telarc. In all, he has recorded over 16 albums. His newest release, "Playin' Dirty,"on JSP, marks his third CD for the British label. He performed dat the 2006 San Francisco Jazz Festival, and spent a year in Paris, France, while touring Europe. (top)

A 1990-1991 Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award winner, Jimmy McCracklin will forever be known as one of the architects of the West Coast blues sound, and among certain audiences, one of its biggest stars. One of the most prolific R&B songwriters with over 40 albums to is credit, a fine pianist, and deeply moving vocalist, McCracklin is a consummate showman who still dazzles crowds with his huge revue band in t he great tradition of classis Rhythm 'n' Blues. Born in Helena, Arkansas in 1921, he moved to St. Louis where he learned piano from blues legend Walter Davis. In the mid '40s he fought as a professional boxer under the name "Jimmy Mackey," engaging in over 23 bouts. Moving to California, he made his record debut in 1945 and through the late '40s and early '50s, in Richmond and Oakland, he made some of his greatest recordings for Modern, Peacock and Swingtime Records. In 1957 he had a great hit for Chess called "The Walk," which became a R&B classic and crossover hit, hitting #2 on the pop and R&B charts. An appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand further propelled him to stardom. Hit after hit followed in the '50s and early '60s for McCracklin, with such titles as "Georgia Stop," "Just Get To Know," "Shame, Shame, Shame," "Every Night, Every Day," "My Answer," and "Think." He also penned "Tramp," a big hit for Lowell Fulson. He toured and shared billing with James Brown, Ray Charles, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Jimmy Reed and Aretha Franklin, to name a few. He also recorded for Stax, where he was produced by Willie Mitchell and backed by the Memphis Horns. His songs have been covered by B.B. King, Roomful of Blues, Tom Jones, Salt 'n' Pepa, Ice Cube, Otis Redding, Elvin Bishop, Rufus Thomas, Los Lobos and Elvis Presley, among others.

In the last couple of years McCracklin has recorded several contemporary blues and R&B CDs for Bullseye Records, with backing from Irma Thomas, Johnny Otis, Barbara Lynn and John Mooney. He has also shared the stage recently with such luminaries as Lyle Lovett, Dr. John, Los Lobos, Chris Isaak and Bonnie Raitt. With 50 plus years in the entertainment business, he remains active and continues to tour, doing club dates, festivals, and concerts around the country and Europe. He is also one of the remaining legends of R&B and a national treasure. (top)

Sugar Pie DeSanto has been called the Queen of West Coast Blues and a legendary figure in the history of Bay Area blues and beyond. Standing at 4'11" tall, she is known for her stage shows as a singer and a dancer. Her act is the bump and grind school of blues, which goes back to the era of her debut with Johnny Otis in 1955, who dubbed her Little Miss Sugar Pie. Her first recording was with Otis but in1959 she hit gold with a solo hit record, "I Want to Know" for Checker Records. She subsequently became an opening act for James Brown for two straight years. She also toured with Gladys Knight, The Miracles and The Temptations, wowing audiences with her stage presentation and vocal delivery. She performed at the Apollo Theatre in New York and the famed Regal in Chicago. She has several follow-up hit records, "Slip-in Mules" and "In the Basement" with Etta James. Sugar Pie has written over 100 songs and performers who have covered her sons include The Dells, The Whispers, Fontella Bass, Minnie Riperton and Billy Stewart. Interestingly, she also toured with Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon and Lightnin' Hopkins, as part of the American Folk Blues tour in 1964. She has recorded three CDs for Jasmin Records and has appeared in recent years in Europe and the House of Blues Radio Hour. (top)

Tommy Castro Band

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Tommy Castro is one of the most popular and creative musicians to emerge in recent years. Since he first started the Tommy Castro Band 16 years ago, Tommy's career has been marked by one triumph after another. He's gone from performing at a tiny San Francisco club to opening act for B.B. King. Not surprising, given his innate charisma and skills as a supremely talented guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Born in San Jose, Castro was inspired by Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield,; digging deeper, he was captivated by the guitar playing of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, as well as singers Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. He formed the Tommy Castro Band in 1991 and they quickly became one of the most popular groups in the Bay Area. In 1996 he released "Exception to the Rule" on Blind Pig Records his first major release and it garnered immense raves from the blues and mainstream publications around the world. The Gavin Report called him "the next blues rock hero." His second Blind Pig release, "Can't Keep A Good Man Down," landed him on the cover of Blues Revue Magazine. His third release, "Right As Rain," was voted one of the best 40 albums of all time by Blues Revue Magazine.

One of Castro's career highlights was to open for B.B. King on 80 concert dates in 2001 and 2002. Castro has released seven albums and several DVDs, including HDNet's "Whole Lotta Soul," recorded at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico. The DVD received national television exposure and more accolades for the soulful blues-rock performer. His newest CD, "Painkiller," was produced by John Porter, whose previous work included albums for Los Lonely Boys, Santana, Elvis Costello and Buddy Guy. Carlos Santana said of Tommy Castro, "The blues is in good hands. This is the person who has the voice, the sound, and the right intentions to touch everybody's heart." The Tommy Castro Band is an incredible show! (top)

Nick Moss and the Flip Tops

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Born in Chicago in 1969, Nick Moss is one of the most authentic of the new generation of Chicago blues guitar masters. With five CDs already released, Moss, who has been fronting his own band since the late 1990s, is no imitator. Muddy Waters' guitarist Jimmy Rogers, with whom Moss worked for three years, considered him his protégé. Even Buddy Guy jumped in, claiming how impressed he was with the guitarist who has performed regularly at his club, Legends. "Nick Moss is one of my local favorites at my club," says Guy. "I always like the way he plays." The Flip Tops are one of the only bands playing the original styles of Chicago blues of the 1950s and '60s today! Besides Rogers, Moss worked with the Jimmy Dawkins Band, plus the Legendary Blues Band with Pinetop Perkins and Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith, performing mostly Muddy Waters songs. But Moss is no imitator. Critics and musicians alike have lauded him as a master of the classic Chicago sound. His two recent CD releases, "Sadie Mae," 2005, and "Live At Chan's," 2006, have been critically acclaimed. Moss has been nominated for a number of blues awards, including Album of the Year, and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, from the National Blues Foundation. Moss lists Earl Hooker, Freddie King and Magic Slim as influences, "but my favorite stuff still was the guys that I used to go see when I came up, like Willie Kent with Johnny B. Moore and Johnny Littlejohn. I love all that '70s Chicago stuff; they're just so raw. When you listen to early Jimmy Rogers and Muddy Waters records, those guys are all playing at the same time. It almost sounds like they're playing on top of each other, but they're staying out of each other's way. It's so beautiful when it's done right. I was born in Chicago; I was taught by Chicago guys. It's the music I love the most. That's who I am."

Critics have consistently raved about Nick Moss and the Flip Tops. U.K.'s Mojo Magazine said, "Singer-guitarist Moss carries the torch of Chicago blues high and blazing." Blues Revue Magazine wrote, "Moss lives and breathes this music; you can hear it in every note." Jazz magazine, Downbeat, said, "No young blues guitarist gets it off his chest so passionately and convincingly." The future of the blues is in good hands with Nick Moss. He is the real thing! (top)

Dave Alexander

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Pianist Dave Alexander (Omar Sharriff) was a popular musician in San Francisco and Oakland in the 1960s and '70s. He appeared at many of the early San Francisco Blues Festivals in the 1970s, including the first annual in 1973. He also recorded two highly regarded albums for Arhoolie Records in the early '70s, "The Rattler," and "The Dirt On The Ground." Selections from both albums have been reissued since onto one CD, "The Raven," on Arhoolie under the name Omar Sharriff. He was also featured on a 1968 compilation "Oakland Blues," on World Pacific Records, which also included Albert Collins, George Smith and L.C. Robinson. For years Alexander was the star attraction at the famous Minnie's Can Do Club on Fillmore, where he attracted a large, loyal following, as well as media exposure for his blues and boogie-woogie piano styles.

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1938, Alexander grew up in Marshall, Texas. His father was a pianist and his mother encouraged him to play in the church. His early exposure to Amos Milburn at a high school concert convinced him to become a professional musician. He was also aware of such piano legends as Jimmy Yancy and other boogie-woogie stylists like Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, whose records he heard on the radio. He traveled to Longview and Kilgore, Texas, and Houston and Dallas, to see and hear Ray Charles, T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown and Lowell Fulson. Back in Marshall, he also caught Ivory Joe Hunter and Floyd Dixon. Later he would also round out his listening by developing a deep affection for the music of Horace Silver. Alexander moved to Oakland in 1957, and began a long history of working with various Bay Area musicians and traveling acts like Big Mama Thornton and Jimmy Witherspoon, and local favorites like L.C. Robinson, Lafayette Thomas and Johnny Fuller. He also performed at the Ann rbor Blues and Jazz Festival in 1970. In recent years Alexander has been living and performing mostly in the Sacramento area, where he has recorded three CDs on Have Mercy Records. He has also performed in Europe. He is The Incredible Dave Alexander, one of the great piano masters! (top)

Ron Hacker and the Hacksaws

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Guitarist-vocalist Ron Hacker was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. After teaching himself to play guitar he met guitarist-mandolinist Yank Rachell, the famous musical partner of Sleepy John Estes, who both dated back to the blues scene of the late 1920s and '30s in Tennessee and St. Louis. Rachell, who died in Indianapolis in 1997 at age 87, was a significant influence on Hacker both in vocal phrasing and tone. Tennessee and Indiana had a distinctive blues sound rooted deep in the string bands and jug bands of the era, and Hacker draws much of his influences from Rachell, who became a life-long friend. Hacker and the Hacksaws Ronnie Smith on drums and A.J. on bass have performed at many festivals and extensively throughout Europe. Hacker has performed with Albert Collins, Jimmy Walker, and great St. Louis bluesman Henry Townsend. Hacker, who has recorded five albums, including the sound score CD for the 2006 film "Just Like Heaven," in which he also had a role. Shot in San Francisco, the film starred Mark Ruffolo and Reese Witherspoon. Hacker is also featured on Tom Waits' latest CD, "Orphans," in which he plays slide guitar to Waits' juke joint stomps and roadhouse primal boogies. Listen to Hacker's hypnotic slide work on "Low Down," from the Brawlers CD. Also featured is Waits' 20-year-old son, Casey, on drums.

Hacker has also authored a biography, "White Trash Bluesman," which pulls no punches in the tale of a hard life lived to its rawest extremes. It's a story that deserves a cinematic treatment and more than likely a follow-up volume. Incidentally, Hacker lives in Dashiell Hammett's old San Francisco building -- the place where he sweated over a typewriter, pounding out the classic Maltese Falcon. (top)

The Blues Farm Revue The Highway 99 Caravan Comes North!

The great California central valley is linked by Highway 99, an old blues route that musicians picked up outside Los Angeles heading north to Oakland and San Francisco. In between, they could hit Bakersfield and Fresno and many of the small towns linked to that great agricultural bastion called the San Joaquin Valley. Along the way blues guitarists, singers and pianists could find work in roadhouses and dance halls going all the way back to the late 1940s. Mercy Dee Walton, a pianist from Texas, was drawn to the region because of its similarities to Texas. Mississippi slide guitar recluse Boyd Gilmore was another who was known to perform in the small jukes around the area. These Blues Farm Revue performers have all passed along its corridors at one time or another. This is California blues history. (top)

Hosea Leavy

Guitarist-vocalist Hosea Leavy hails from a small crossroads town called Althermer, Arkansas, located out about 26 miles from Little Rock. Born in 1927, he learned how to play guitar at an early age from his father, also a blues player in the 1920s and '30s, and soon started performing at house parties and work camps in the late 1940s. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950, Leavy honed his guitar skills performing at USO shows. In 1954 he formed a blues group featuring his younger brother, Calvin Leavy, who was a notable singer. In 1968 fame came to the Leavy brothers when Calvin recorded the blues classic "Cummins Prison Farm," based on the notorious prison work camp in Arkansas, and later made into a film called "Brubaker," starring Robert Redford. The record, released on Soul Beat/Blue Fox, sold over one million copies. The group toured extensively through much of the south with the success of the song. In 1969 Hosea released solo efforts on Riceland Records, backed by Mississippi harp player Willie Cobbs. In 1977 Hosea moved to West Fresno, California and continued his blues career. He has appeared on a number of CDs, including "You Gotta Move," on the New York-based label Fedora. He has performed at blues festivals in Europe. (top)

Fillmore Slim

Fillmore Slim got his name from the years he performed in and around the clubs of the old Fillmore district in San Francisco in the late 1950s. In the late 1940s and '50s, Fillmore Street was the center of black entertainment and culture in San Francisco. The street held clothing stores, barbershops, pharmacies, record shops, grocery stores, banks, hotels and nightclubs. Many of the top entertainers made stops there and the scene flourished well into the 1960s, until it fell to redevelopment, which tore out the heart of the City's thriving black community.

Fillmore Slim (aka Clarence Sims) was born in New Orleans and spent some childhood years in the Mississippi Delta. As a young child he often sang on city sidewalks for tips. His dream of becoming an entertainer took him to Los Angeles in 1955, where he established himself as an up-and-coming singer at the famed Moore's Swing Club. Falling under the influence of Big Joe Turner, Lloyd Price and Nappy Brown, he was impressive enough to be hired on the tour with Little Willie John, Harmonica Slim (aka Elmon Mickel TV Slim), and Joe Tex, who was just starting out. Not long after he formed his first band, Eddy N and the Blues Slayers, who held down the weekends at the Hole in the Wall in south central Los Angeles. He also dated Etta James during this time.

In 1957 Slim moved to San Francisco and began making the rounds, performing at Tree's Pool Hall, the Blue Mirror and the Bella Plaza, where he shared the spotlight with a young Flip Wilson. During this time he came under the influence of the Texas-born guitarist L.C. 'Good Rockin' Robinson. The great San Francisco R&B impresario, Charles Sullivan, who ran things at the Fillmore Auditorium, booked him to open for B.B. King and Dinah Washington. Years later, Sullivan was murdered gangland style and the Fillmore eventually fell into the hands of Bill Graham. In 1959 Slim cut his first single for Bootie Williams' Dooto label. He followed that with a handful of other singles for Kent/RPM and Dore Records, where his release "Family Man"was in response to Ernie K. Doe's "Mother in Law." He also sat in with Roland Kirk, Groove Holmes and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Fillmore Slim even worked Alaska with the great T-Bone Walker, and at Pepper's in Chicago. He also befriended a young Rick Estrin when the harmonica player was a mere teenager. He made his first appearance at the San Francisco Blues Festival in the 1980s, while recording an album for Troyce Key's Eli Mile High label. The album has since been re-issued as a CD on Mountain Top Records. A second CD, "It's Gonna Be My Time Now," was released on Uptown. Another CD, "Other Side Of The Road," was released on Fedora and several other CDs have been released since then. Fillmore Slim is one of the few remaining figures of San Francisco's early blues legacy. Others include Sugar Pie DeSanto, Saunders King, Jimmy McCracklin, Earl Brown, Johnny Otis, Etta James and Bobby Webb. He has toured Switzerland, Germany and France, to great acclaim. (top)

Johnny 'Da Doo' Wilson

Born in Mississippi, Johnny 'Da Doo' Wilson migrated to California's central valley to work the farms and the endless cotton rows of the San Joaquin Valley. A singer, he was captivated by the music of another Mississippi-born blues singer named Chester Burnett Howlin' Wolf! Augmenting his musical abilities by playing bass in small bands in Highway 99 jukes, Wilson teamed up with the Leavy Brothers, Calvin and Hosea, who were equally recent migrants from across the Mississippi River in Arkansas. Between farming jobs and cotton harvesting, Wilson gained further musical experience by working with Lowell Fulson, Percy Mayfield and Betty Swan, and for that matter, any touring guitar players and singers passing through central California. Partnering with a late Tupelo, Mississippi harmonica player named Harmonica Slim (Richard Riggins), Wilson has performed at the prestigious Blues Estafette in Holland. He currently resides in West Fresno, and often performs in the agricultural towns along Highway 99. (top)

Carter Brothers

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The Carter Brothers are blues legends in some circles. Consisting of three brothers: Roman, Albert and Jerry Carter -- they were born in Garland, Alabama but moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1949. They began recording in 1964 for the Rexie label. Several of their singles were subsequently issued on Jewel Records, a blues and R&B label owned by Stan Lewis in Shreveport, Louisiana. Jewel Records had huge distributorship and an ear to radio stations across the south. The Carters' "Southern Country Boy," Jewel #745, hit the R&B charts in August 1965 and reached to number 21. The success of that hit single alone got the Carter Brothers all over radio and on tour shows. Headed by Roman Carter on vocals, Jerry Carter on keyboards, and Albert Carter on killer guitar, the brothers' act cut over 45 singles. However, no album was ever released until a 1997 Japanese CD album titled "Coming Back Singing The Blues." Long favorites in Europe and Japan, the Carter Brothers have long been forgotten in the U.S., but any blues fan who has heard their "Southern Country Boy" record will linger on the explosive raw sound that connected with so many radio listeners in the mid 1960s. In spite of the death of Jerry Carter, the remaining brothers have carried on their unique tradition. They have recently performed at European festivals where they were well received by loving fans of obscure American blues. (top)

John Nemeth

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John Nemeth's debut CD, "Magic Touch," on Blind Pig Records, has made a huge impact for the young singer and harmonica player. Musicians, blues audiences, radio hosts and music critics alike have all applauded his talents, as well as his debut album, which has been a sensation for the 30-year-old performer out of Boise, Idaho. He has been called a rising blues star–a singer steeped in the tradition and style of Junior Parker and Ray Charles. He earned opening spots for Keb' Mo' and Robert Cray and a featured role with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets in 2005 and 2006. Nemeth has been a crowd favorite at every performance. Former Muddy Waters' guitarist Bob Margolin stated perceptively "I remember telling friends up north in '80 that they should go see Stevie Ray Vaughan, but they weren't impressed because he wasn't famous yet. It will give me great pleasure to say 'I told you so!' about John Nemeth. You'll see." Junior Watson simply stated that, "John Nemeth's voice is a national treasure." As a harmonica player his rich harp tone has brought comparisons to Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter. On his CD he pays homage to Jr. Wells' "Blues Hit Big Town," giving the classic a modern re-working. John Nemeth is one of the most remarkable young performers in the blues today! Retro-modern blues and soul for purists and young hipsters alike. (top)

Special Anniversary Blues Fest. Bash!

Pianist Allen Toussaint's recent collaboration with Elvis Costello is a landmark album because it was the first major album recorded in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. "The River in Reverse," released on Verve Forecast, was recorded at the Piety Street Studios, the only studio to have survived the flood. Outside the studio walls the city lay in ruins and the music created spoke of the devastation and the disbelief that such a major city like New Orleans, a place of rich American diversity and a treasure of America's musical culture, could be so betrayed and left to drown. Toussaint's own home was buried under six feet of water. Gone was his prized Steinway grand piano, instruments of all sorts, books and manuscripts and a lifetime of memorabilia. Everything that spoke of one person's history. Gone. Forever.

Allen Toussaint was born in New Orleans in 1938. By age 12 he was performing in New Orleans bars; at 17 he was a stand-in for Fats Domino in the Dave Bartholomew orchestra. Influenced by every type of music he heard in the clubs and streets of New Orleans, it was Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd), a local pianist who influenced him the deepest. "I tried to learn every piece Professor Longhair ever came out with," says Toussaint. Other pianists who made an impression included Huey Smith, Fats, and of course Ray Charles. In 1958, at age 20, Toussaint released his debut album "The Wild Sounds of New Orleans." In all he has recorded around eight albums in 47 years, but his contributions to New Orleans' music have been invaluable. In the early 1960s Toussaint took on the role as the best arranger, songwriter and producer New Orleans ever saw. His productions for various record labels, including Minit, produced huge hits such as Lee Dorsey's "Working In A Coal Mine," "It's Raining," for Irma Thomas, "Land of a 100 Dances," for Chris Kenner, and the first number one hit song recorded in New Orleans, "Mother in Law," by Ernie K. Doe. Toussaint also produced hits for Betty Harris, Jessie Hill, Barbara George, Benny Spellman, and the Showmen. Through much of his sessions Toussaint used as his house band, The Meters, before they became the Neville Brothers. It was this sound and rush of hits that caught the attention of Elvis Costello in the early 1960s.

An article in the Washington Post on Toussaint in 2006 addressed this very idea of his unique approach to a New Orleans sound. "Toussaint's production style has been joyfully rhythmic dance tracks built on tight horns, exact snare drums, clicking guitars and his own funky piano the prototype for modern New Orleans funk." With all of his credentials and influences, Toussaint himself never had a top 40 hit. He never toured much, certainly not since 1957. He has remained self-effacing. His life has been in the studio, whether working with Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Bonnie Raitt and others. He was elected into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. This is a rare opportunity to see one of the true greats in the history of New Orleans music. (top)

John Hammond

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John Hammond began his blues playing days far back into the early 1960s, when the planet was inhabited by such legends as Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Son House, Reverend Gary Davis, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. The deep, deep blues, the music of the lowlands and the great river, and smokestacks of America's northern cities. Hammond emerged out of this era of the blues renaissance of the early 1960s: the Newport Folk Festival, the coffee houses and the colleges and town halls. Hammond played the blues he heard around him, with a metal body guitar and harmonica rack and the driving pulse of Robert Johnson in his veins. Born in New York City in 1942, the son of Columbia Records producer John Hammond Sr., the man responsible for introducing Billie Holliday to a larger audience, and his discovery of Bob Dylan, and later another prophet by the name of Bruce Springsteen, young Hammond was also destined for greater things. His early recordings for Vanguard Records, for example, are studies in history and interpretation of the blues. These recordings have included Newport Folk Festival 1964, with John Lee Hooker, Dave Van Ronk, Gary Davis, Sonny and Brownie, John Hurt; 1967 with the Band, Bloomfield, and Charlie Musselwhite. He also recorded the1971 soundtrack of all the music for "Little Big Man;" the Grammy-nominated "Blues Explosion in 1984 with Stevie Ray Vaughan; the 1992 Grammy-nominated "Got Love If You Want It," produced by J.J. Cale; the 2001 "Wicked Grin," CD, produced by Tom Waits, and his newest "Push Comes to Shove."

Since his debut on Vanguard in 1962, Hammond has recorded 31 albums. With a career spanning five decades, Hammond has continued his dedication to the art of the blues. As Tom Waits put it, "John is one of those birds that picks up a song here and carries it to another town and like the wind, like the water, like the birds, he carries them with him and sings them from Hattiesburg, Winona, San Berdu, Sulphur Springs, Cleveland, Rochester, Buffalo, Ann Arbor and Detroit. John Hammond with his guitar and a slide, a harmonica and a voice that can make a sound like a whole train going by at night." Seeing John Hammond perform live is to see a seasoned master loaded with the history of American folk traditions whether it be the blues, country, R&B, folk-rock, the great singer-songwriters, and most certain of all, that of an originator who brings new meaning to our collective history. John Hammond is arguably authentic and one of the most charismatic performers to take to the stage. (top)

Charlie Musselwhite

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Charlie Musselwhite is the reigning king of the blues harmonica! He is a master of the instrument and technique of the modern harp that has no boundaries. He has recorded over 21 albums, received six Grammy nominations and 18 W.C. Handy Awards. Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Musselwhite began performing at an early age on Memphis' Beale Street, sitting in and absorbing the blues from such regional legends as Furry Lewis, Will Shade, the Memphis Jug Band and Earl Bell, from whom he learned guitar and harmonica. He moved to Chicago in 1962 at age 18, and discovered the blues scene around Pepper's Lounge and sitting in with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jr. Wells and Jimmy Reed. Charlie developed into a first-rate harmonica player in Chicago, working with Johnny Young, J.B. Hutto, Robert Nighthawk and Sam Lay. In 1965 he formed his first band and in 1966 recorded his first album,"Stand Back," on Vanguard. It became one of the first blues albums to be marketed to a white audience. In 1967 he was booked into the Fillmore Auditorium, opening for Cream, and he decided to settle in the Bay Area, where he has lived since 1969. Charlie, who grew up knowing Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, has in recent years included elements of country, jazz, Latin and world music into his repertoire. His newest album, "Delta Hardware," was voted Album of the Year at this year's National Blues Awards, as well as Traditional Album of the Year. Musselwhite was also given honors for Song of the Year with "Church Is Out." The album was recorded in Charlie's home state of Mississippi. He has recorded with Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, the Blind Boys, Ben Harper, Marty Stuart, and many others. The Charlie Musselwhite Band consists of Kid Andersen on guitar, Randy Bermudes on bass, and June Core on drums. (top)

James Hunter

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"James Hunter is one of the best voices and best-kept secrets in British R&B and soul," says Van Morrison. With a voice that is smooth and brilliantly controlled, Hunter, who has toured with Morrison, conveys a style suited to the classic 1950s and early 1960s R&B "I feel this music is as relevant for people today as it would've been 40 years ago," he explains. "It has a groove that makes people feel good it makes girls want to dance. What's retro or old-sounding about that?" Born in Colchester, England, Hunter has performed the club and concert circuit in England and Europe. In 1996 he debuted with an album release on the British Ace label which featured a guest appearance by Van Morrison. Hunter has since appeared on two Van Morrison CDs, "A Night in San Francisco," and "Days Like This." Hunter also released a second solo CD on Ruf Records, "Kick It Around", in 2001. In 2006 he released his breakthrough album, "People Gonna Talk" on Rounder. Recorded in East London, the album was nominated for a Grammy this year. USA Today called it the #5 best album of the year. Mojo Magazine gave it the #8 best album of the year, and the accolades just poured in. Rolling Stone "A treat not to miss;" People Magazine "Hunter channels Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson." L.. Times "Extraordinary soul voice." N.Y. Times "A tight, slithery soul groove." The Grammys' nomination "Best traditional blues Album of the year," was icing on the cake. Hunter has already worked 133 shows this year, across the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has opened for Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Boz Scaggs, Los Lonely Boys, Susan Tedeschi and Van Morrison. Hunter has a huge fan base in the Bay Area, where his record sales have been phenomenal. He has appeared on the Jay Leno Show and Conan O'Brien. (top)

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

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Robert Randolph started playing steel guitar at age 16. Born in Irvington, New Jersey in 1978, Randolph grew up in the Black Pentecostal House of God church. His mother is a minister and his father a deacon. Considered an artistic descendent of such sacred steel elders as Ted Beard, Calvin Cooke and Aubrey Ghent, he was also deeply influenced by the guitar playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose attack on the guitar taught Randolph to pick the strings at a faster pace. Steel guitars in some Pentecostal churches were used to augment the organ, which many churches could not afford. Randolph was open to musical ideas and from one of his mentors, Calvin Cooke, he learned how to write spiritual songs with a rock 'n' roll edge. Since then, Randolph has been able to define the sonic possibilities of the steel guitar with jaw-dropping pyrotechnics on the pedal steel and has leaped from playing in churches to headlining rock festivals. He has therefore become sacred steel's emissary to pop culture and has been embraced by the blues, jam-band and rock scene. He has also been rejected by his church for bringing its inspirational music to a secular audience.

Randolph's fans include Dave Matthews, Steven Tyler, John Mayer, Ozzy Osbourne, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton. "I'm trying to create a new field and a new style that'll influence some kids to go 'Wow, I can be Black and be from the inner city, and I don't have to be a rapper'," he says. "I look a Sly Stone, how he came in and just ripped the music industry apart. I think music fans are ready for that again," he says. Randolph's music has remained secular and rock audiences appreciate his youthful energy and the attention rock icons are paying him. His 2002 CD release "Live At the Wetlands," on Warners, projects a bluesy, southern-rock sound that got him incredible notices. His 2003 release, "Unclassified," was a chart buster and last year's "Colorblind" CD featured Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton and John Mayer, with Steve Tyler of Aerosmith adding studio input. Besides Randolph on guitar and vocals, the Family Band consists of Danyel Morgan on bass, Marcus Randolph on drums, and Jason Crosby on organ and piano. (top)

Calvin Cooke

Special guest with Robert Randolph and the Family Band. A sacred steel jam band extravaganza!

Aubrey Ghent

Special guest with Robert Randolph and the Family Band. A sacred steel jam band extravaganza!

Eric Bibb

Guitarist and singer Eric Bibb launched his career at the London Blues Festival. Born and raised in New York City, he is the son of Leon Bibb, a folksinger of the 1950s and '60s who performed at the very first Newport Folk Festival and has recorded over a dozen albums beginning in 1959. He was of the era that saw Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, Odetta, and a young Bob Dylan. At the birth of his son, Eric, Paul Robeson served as his godfather. In 2006 father and son recorded an homage to Robeson, the great singer, actor, activist and scholar, titled "Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson," on Stony Plain Records. Young Bibb, who was born in 1951, grew up in a tradition of political awareness and a passion for the roots of the American songbook of blues, folk, country, gospel and soul. In fact, Bibb blurs the line between blues and these other traditions. Elwood Blues, AKA Dan Aykroyd, on the House of Blues Radio Hour said of Bibb, "You are what the blues in the new century should be about."

With a poetic flair and a feeling for humanistic concerns, Eric Bibb has taken to addressing the war in Iraq, famine in Africa, and poverty at home. His Telarc CD release, "Friends," features Taj Mahal, Guy Davis, Charlie Musselwhite, Odetta, Mamadou Diabate, Ruthie Foster and numerous others. He draws material from a diverse well of history: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sam Cooke and Woody Guthrie, but mostly his own experiences of the world. He is a prolific songwriter. His father took him out of school at an early age, and schooled him in the world of people and music, coffee houses, concert halls and Broadway stages. Eric Bibb as a child saw the great poets and folk singers of those years and today continues that great tradition of story telling and finger picking guitar around the world from Dublin to Cambridge, Canada to New York City. He resides in Sweden. (top)

Blues Guitar Women Showdown

Featuring, left to right: Pat Wilder, Carmen Getit, Laura Chavez, Rene Solis.

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Rene Solis presents a one-of-a-kind show featuring three of the Bay Area's most talented and exciting female blues guitar players. Now in its fifth impressive year, the Blues Guitar Women Showdown continues to amaze and entertain audiences, as creative leader Rene not only gets to show off his own exceptional talent, but also the opportunity to share the spotlight with these gifted ladies. An inimitable performer, Rene Solis is an exceptional guitarist with a raw and powerful style, and a noteworthy singer/songwriter as well, reaching new heights of showmanship and finesse, whether as bandleader of his two wildly popular bands: Nitecry and Lucky 13, or as a solo artist. Over the years, Rene has been featured at countless festivals and in numerous nightclubs, while sharing the stage with such giants as Albert King, Luther Tucker, Joe Louis Walker, Davey Pattison, Sonny Rhodes, and many more.

One of the most aspiring blues guitarists on the scene today is Laura Chavez, who plays with emotion and technical ability beyond her years. Her rendition of a Buddy Guy recording was included last year in a two-disc CD entitled "Blues Guitar Women," which includes songs by Bonnie Raitt, Memphis Minnie, Debbie Davies, and Ana Popovic. She is currently the lead guitarist in the Lara Price Band.

Carmen Getit is the guitarist in the internationally renowned retro-swing band, Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, and has toured the United States and Europe on countless occasions. It's no surprise that legendary blues/boogie pianist Pinetop Perkins calls Miss Getit his "favorite guitarist" and asked her to appear on his 2005 Grammy nominated CD "Ladies Man." "Carmen Getit wrings a mean, meaty moan from a Gibson," Adam Levy, Guitar Player Magazine.

Patricia Wilder lives in San Francisco and is described as "one of the most exciting blues guitarist/vocalists to come out of the Bay Area in a long time," by Lee Hildebrand in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Wilder has not only shared her talent with many musicians, such as Linda Tillery, John Lee Hooker Jr. and Taj Mahal, but she also leads her own hard-hitting band. She has also toured Europe to critical acclaim.

The featured house band for this event will consist of drummer Michael L. Jiggetts, Keyboardist Dave Gorges, and bassist Paul Logan. The grand finale of their show will feature all three women guitarists in a blues showdown!

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