Duffy Bishop Band

Saturday August 20, 2:30PM
www.duffybishop.com

“She’s dangerous!” is what Bo Diddley said about Duffy Bishop when she shared the stage at his 75th birthday concert at the Crystal Ballroom in Duffy’s current home town of Portland, Oregon.

Ms. Bishop is a multiple award winner in both the Washington Blues Society (best female vocalist, best band, best album and Hall of Fame) and the Cascade Blues Society where she is in the Hall of Fame and receiver of the Lifetime Achievement Award. She won the Female Vocalist Award so many years in a row they went ahead and renamed it the Duffy Bishop Female Vocalist Award. She’s now out of the running.

Duffy continues to be a favourite wherever she performs. Whether it be an intimate club, theatre or festival setting, Duffy Bishop connects and delivers with her personal warmth, humour and booming emotional voice.

In her three plus decades of performing she has shared the stage with many legends including Ruth Brown, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Gatemouth Brown, Lou Rawls, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland and Bobby Blue Bland to name a few.

With her long time collaborator, guitarist and husband Chris Carlson, they have recorded seven CD’s, and played venues across the USA, Vancouver B.C, Norway, Japan, Hong Kong, and Austria.

When not touring with their band, Duffy and Chris join Teatro ZinZanni, a wonderful and crazy circus/cabaret/dinner show with theatres in both Seattle and San Francisco. Duffy stars as Madame ZinZanni, a role also performed by the amazing Thelma Houston, and world icon, Joan Baez. When festival producers Carrol Deen and Cam Hayden saw the Duffy Bishop Band last July at Portlands’ waterfront Blues Festival, they just knew Edmonton audiences needed to get the “Full Duffy”...so here she is.

Dave Riley and Bob Corritore

Saturday August 20, 4PM
Dave Riley and Bob Corritore

This Mississippi-meets-Chicago blues pairing has been winning fans all around the world for the last 7 years. Dave Riley and Bob Corritore met at the 2004 King Biscuit Blues Festival and play powerful downhome blues deeply rooted in the Chicago and Mississippi styles that represent their upbringing. Their zesty performances at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix and the King Biscuit Blues Festival have brought the house down, and earned them a solid reputation as masters of their game. Their first album "Travelin' The Dirt Road", was released in 2007 and received a Blues Music Award nomination for “Best Acoustic Blues Album" and a Blues Blast Music Award for "Best Traditional Blues Album"

Their second release, "Lucky To Be Living", was released in 2009. They have a natural blues chemistry, and a friendship that prompts their wild, provoking performaces. Dave's gritty Mississippi voice, articulate downhome blues guitar, and rowdy, personable, original songs combine with Bob's passionate, blues seasoned, full-toned harmonica for an engaging performance that entertains both the blues novice and the seasoned listener.

Dave Riley was born in Hattiesburg, Mississppi. He spent his early years learning Gospel. Barely a teenager he moved to Chicago and ended up living on the West Side near Maxwell Street where he became steeped in the blues. It wasn't until he was drafted to serve in Vietnam that he began to take the blues seriously. ....During the time he served in the army he was exposed to many types of music. He ended up playing in a military band which traveled from base to base entertaining the troops. Dave Riley met up with Blues legends Sam Carr, Frank Frost, and John Weston, and revitalized his career in the mid 90s and they formed a friendship and a music bond which would lead Dave back to the Delta and back into Blues full time. Dave has been playing music in the Delta and taking the Delta back to Chicago just like all those Blues men before him.

Growing up in Chicago, Bob Corritore fell in with the blues early on, taking up harmonica at age 13, and learning the harmonica style that gave the city its great blues tradition. A student of Big Walter Horton, Little Willie Anderson, Louis Myers, Big Leon Brooks, and others, Bob played around Chicago with some of the greatest of that city's bluesmen, until relocating in Phoenix in 1981. Upon landing in Arizona, Bob's blues influence immediately affected the town, recruiting his friend Louisiana Red to relocate to Phoenix for a period in the early 80's. Bob also has worked extensively with the late Chico Chism, and with Big Pete Pearson, Henry Gray, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Jimmy Rogers, Tail Dragger, Chief Schabuttie Gilliame, Janiva Magness, Tommy Dukes, and others. Bob started his own label in Chicago in the late 1970s, called Blues Over Blues, which is now part of the Earwig Records catalog. Bob hosts the weekly radio program Those Lowdown Blues on KJZZ in Phoenix, Arizona, and is the owner of the Rhythm Room in Phoenix. As a recording artist, Bob appears on 33 CDs. Bob's productions have appeared on 42 albums/CDs already released, and many more yet unreleased but forthcoming. Bob Corritore is a true impresario of Chicago Blues and his recording “Harmonica Blues” featuring performances with many legends of the blues recording with Bob at the Rhythm Room is up for a Blues Music Award as “Historical Album of the Year”. Bob himself has been nominated as “Best Harmonica Player” this year.

For the first performance in Edmonton by either of these bluesmen, Dave Riley and Bob Corritore will be joined by a rhythm section that will take us all to a juke in Mississippi and then north to the West Side of Chicago on a Saturday afternoon in Edmonton.

Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band

Saturday August 20, 5:30PM
www.ChubbyCarrier.com

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. That fire won Chubby and band a Grammy this year and this summer they bring the post-Grammy party to us at Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival. It’s the third appearance for Chubby at the festival because we just can’t get enough of that “Chubby Party”.

Chubby Carrier is undeniably "The World's Premier Zydeco Showman." Born on July 1, 1967 in Churchpoint, Louisiana, Chubby is the third generation of zydeco artists with such famous relatives as his father Roy Carrier, grandfather Warren Carrier and cousins Bebe and Calvin Carrier who are presently considered legends in zydeco history. Chubby began his musical career at the age of 12 by playing drums with his father's band. He began playing the accordion at the age of 15. By age 17, Chubby had begun to play with Terrance Siemien and toured the world for 2 1/2 years, before forming his own band in 1989.

Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band have recorded five CDs over the past ten years. His band has traveled all over the world, performing to audiences in all parts of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, Canada. North Africa and Europe. Chubby and the band travel 150-175 days a year, taking his act to big festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Chicago Blues Fest, Memphis in May, and several festivals in Europe.

Rubboard player Earl Sally is a whirling ball of live-wire energy onstage. Formerly with Terrence Simien for eight years, {Simien recorded with Paul Simion during this time}. In 1990 he moved to Canada, and then to California in 1992. In 1994, Earl started his own band and then relocated to Seattle, Washington, where he remained until 1997. A move to Louisiana in 1998 found him performing with Roy Carrier and the Night Rockers. In May of 2000, Earl became a vital part of Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.

Guitarist Randy Ellis is originally from Thibodaux, Louisiana, Randy had an interest for music at an early age. When he was 5 years old his grandmother found him and his brother using tennis rackets as guitars while "playing along" to Ray Stevens song "Guitarzan". She then asked them both if they wanted to play guitar and being typical 4 and 5 year olds they replied "yes". Well Randy hasn't put his guitar down since! After teaching the music class through High School Randy then attended Guitar Institute of Technology where he graduated with honors. After graduation he went on to study music under the Ellis Marsalis Jazz Program in New Orleans. There he was exposed to Rock, Soul, R & B, Zydeco, Country and Blues-and he fell in love with the Blues. Mixing and melting together everything he'd learned, Randy created his distinct sound and style. In 1995 Randy toured with Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band and later with Roddy Romero throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

Dave “Papa” Nezat was born in Eunice Louisiana...... Has played with great National acts such as the Jerry Garcia Band, John Magnie of the Subdudes, Doug Kershaw, Dirty Dozen Brass band, CC Addcock and many, many more... He has also shared the stage through the years with Little Feat, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Earth Wind and Fire, Earl Scruggs, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Taj Mahal, Robert Randolph, Bruce Hornsby, Ozomatli...After 20 years of being a studio and live drummer in Colorado, "Papa" has returned to Louisiana to drum for Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp band.

Bassist Mark M. Metoyer was born in San Francisco and raised in Redwood City, California. But his family are descendants of Louisiana. In 1988, Mark started his professional career touring with Al Rapone & the Zydeco Express. Within that first 10 years, he also worked with Rockin Sidney and Allen Fontenot & the Country Cajuns. After that, he worked with Queen Ida and also her son, Myrick "Freeze" Gillory. Then he joined the band Gator Beat. In 2003, Mark moved to Louisiana to join Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners. After hurricane Rita, he returned to California. Then in 2010, he came back to Louisiana to join Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.

John Nemeth Soul Revue

Saturday August 20, 7PM
www.JohnNemethBlues.com

John Németh is a rising blues star; a singer steeped in the tradition and reminiscent of B.B. King, Ray Charles and Junior Parker, and a harmonica player of riveting intensity and virtuosity. His decade long career has found him opening for Robert Cray, Keb Mo', and Earl Thomas. Performing major music festivals around the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia has brought him critical acclaim. For his Alberta debut at Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival he brings his 8 piece “Soul Revue” that will deliver a big band dose of scintillating R&B, energy and raw talent that will light up the stage. John has been nominated for 2 Blues Music Awards this year, “Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year”, and “Contemporary Blues Album” for his Blind Pig recording “Name The Day”.

John's origins are an unlikely breeding ground for such an impressive blues talent. A thirty year old native of Boise, Idaho, he grew up singing in a Catholic church and started playing in local bands as a teenager.

Németh was a featured artist with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets in 2005 and 2006 as well as a featured artist with The Junior Watson Band in 2002. The Cascade Blues Association selected Németh as a crowd favourite at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival in 2002, and the Washington Blues Society called him the show stealer at the Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival in 2003.

John recorded "Come And Get It" with the Junior Watson Band in 2004. The album received rave reviews and scored well on the independent blues radio charts. When John signed a multi-record recording agreement with Blind Pig Records in 2006, label head Jerry Del Giudice expressed "how impressed I was with John's performance the one time I got the chance to see him. In our nearly 30 years in the business we have never before offered a new artist a recording contract on the strength of one performance."

And, as Bob Margolin put it, “John Németh is a natural-born Bluesman, and he proves it with every note he sings, shaping each one with emotion, taste and inspiration. John's expressive Blues harp playing answers his voice and fulfills his songs when he solos. John Németh makes it sound easy.”

Find out what all the buzz is about, Saturday evening at Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival.

Nick Moss and the Flip Tops with Special Guest Guitar Shorty

Saturday August 20, 8:30PM
www.NickMoss.com

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade...sometimes you have the good fortune make an incredible lemon meringue pie that melts in your mouth and delivers just the taste you’re looking for. That’s what happened last month, when we found out that Guitar Shorty’s band would not be able to make it to Canada. We started looking around for a group to back Guitar Shorty...a group that knew him, knew the music, and could deliver at a level expected at our festival. We were fortunate to land Nick Moss and The Flip Tops, (who played our festival in 2007 to rave reviews) an incredible band out of Chicago, steeped in the tradition, with a leader who spent his formative blues years learning from the old guard, of which Guitar Shorty is certainly a member in good standing. So, Blueshounds, an unexpected “twofer” is coming your way Saturday night as we present the incredible combination of Nick Moss and the Flip Tops with special guest Guitar Shorty.

 

Nick Moss is what you might call a “Renaissance Man” of the blues. He had the passion, confidence, and drive, to start his own label, Blue Bella Records, in order to pursue his dream and artistic vision. Before Nick forged his own direction, he spent time learning the life of a musician by playing with some of the greatest bluesmen of all time. He first got the call to play bass with the great Chicago guitarist Jimmy Dawkins. Shortly thereafter, he hooked up with the Legendary Blues Band, featuring Muddy Waters Blues Band alumnus Willie “Big Eyes” Smith on drums. “That was one of my favourite bands,” he recalls. “I still love Willie. He is like my second father.” The next deep-blues learning period for Nick, who’d switched over from bass to a six-string, was in the band of Chicago blues legend Jimmy Rogers for three years in the mid-’90s. From Rogers, he learned all about the special ensemble sound of authentic Chicago blues, coming to understand the importance of listening closely to and reacting to his fellow players on the bandstand. “Listen to early Muddy Waters stuff with Jimmy and Otis Spann and Little Walter,” says Nick of the original model. “It almost sounds as if they’re playing on top of each other, but they’re staying out of each other’s way. It almost sounds like they’re all soloing at the same time.” With his blues graduate studies completed by the late ’90s, Moss launched his band, The Flip Tops, and his label, Blue Bella Records. The album, First Offense, was followed by Got a New Plan in 2001 and two years later a third album, Count Your Blessings. The latter two received W. C. Handy award nominations. June 2007 saw the release of his fourth album, Sadie Mae, named after his beautiful baby daughter. Sadie Mae was nominated at the 2006 Blues Music Awards as “Album of the Year” and “Traditional Blues Album of the Year.” Those first four studio albums and relentless touring helped Moss build a devoted audience that was so excited about the music they were hearing in clubs across the country that they not only encouraged Nick to release a live album, they helped make arrangements for it. Live at Chan’s, released in 2006, was nominated for “Album of The Year,” “Traditional Blues Album of the Year,” and saw Moss nominated as “Guitarist of the Year” at the 2007 BMAs. What made the album so successful? Nick made certain the night they rolled tape was just like any other night when he and his band took the stage. “I wanted to make sure that the CD reflected the spontaneity of our live performances. I’ve been blessed with an extremely talented band; each one of us is a multi-instrumentalist and has no problem switching it up during our shows! We have had nothing but compliments from our audiences after they see how the guys and I take turns on different instruments as we did on this particular night.”

Moss followed his first live release up with a double album Play It ’Til Tomorrow. By expanding with a second disc, the band was able to present another serving of live, loud, raucous electric blues as well as showcase their ability to strip their sound down to the bare, acoustic essentials. This impressive double release went on to be named among the “Decade’s Best Blues: 25 Great Albums That Defined the Past 10 Years” in Blues Revue Magazine in 2010. The acclaim Live at Chan's garnered convinced everyone that a sequel was definitely in order—and the sooner, the better. That led to Live At Chan’s: Combo Platter No. 2, with special guest Lurrie Bell.

The set once again captures what this uncommonly hard-hitting, endlessly versatile crew does best: live and lively Chicago blues, deeply rooted in postwar tradition with a heady infusion of contemporary energy. Nick’s most recent recording, Priviledged, builds on all his previous success and experience to deliver “songs that burn like white phosphorous with passionate performances and gifted musicianship” according to reviewer Keith Gordon. No matter how far he travels, be it geographically or stylistically, the pull of Chicago and his roots there are never far from Nick’s mind.

Joining Nick and the Flip Tops is Guitarist, vocalist and blues legend Guitar Shorty. With the ability to pack clubs and festivals as one of the blues’ most celebrated live performers (even before he had any nationally available recordings) and now among the top-selling recording artists in the blues world, he is clearly the people’s choice. Between his blistering, rocked-out guitar work and his fierce, soulful vocals, the power of his music is unmatched, and his perceptive and meaningful lyrics unique among modern bluesmen. Credited with influencing both Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, Shorty has been electrifying audiences for five decades with his supercharged live shows and his incendiary recordings.

Guitar Shorty was born David William Kearney on September 8, 1939 in Houston, Texas and raised in Kissimmee, Florida by his grandmother. He began playing guitar as a young boy, excited by the sounds of B.B. King, Guitar Slim, T-Bone Walker and Earl Hooker. His first lessons came from his uncle, but when it became clear that the youngster was serious about his music, his grandmother hired a tutor for him. “I learned so fast I was always two or three pages ahead of my teacher,” he recalls. After a move to Tampa when he was 17, Kearney won a slot as a featured guitarist and vocalist in Walter Johnson’s 18-piece orchestra. Being younger—and shorter—than the rest of the band, the club owner bestowed the name Guitar Shorty on him, and it stuck. After a particularly strong performance in Florida, the great Willie Dixon, who was in the audience, approached Shorty and said, “I like what you’re doing. You’ve got something different. I gotta get you in the studio.” A few weeks later Shorty was in Chicago and, backed by Otis Rush on second guitar, he cut his first single, Irma Lee b/w You Don’t Treat Me Right, for Chicago’s famed Cobra Records in 1957. “Willie Dixon was a huge influence on me and my singing,” Shorty remembers. “If it hadn’t been for him, I never would have recorded.” He gigged steadily through the late 1950s and 1960s, working with Little Milton, B.B. King, Lowell Fulson, Sam Cooke, Otis Rush, Johnny Copeland and T-Bone Walker. Settling down in Seattle, he married Marsha Hendrix, Jimi’s stepsister. Hendrix loved his guitar-playing brother-in-law, and confessed that in 1961 and 1962 he would go AWOL from his Army base in order to catch Shorty’s area performances, picking up licks and ideas. “I’d see Jimi at the clubs,” Shorty recalls. “He’d stay in the shadows, watching me. I hear my licks in Purple Haze and Hey Joe. He told me the reason he started setting his guitar on fire was because he couldn’t do the back flips like I did.”

Although he had recorded a handful of singles for a variety of labels, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the wider world opened its collective ears to one of the blues’ most exciting performers. His albums since then all received massive critical acclaim, and his legendary live performances have kept him constantly in demand all over the world. His 2004 Alligator Records debut, Watch Your Back”, became the best received, best-selling album of his career. Guitar One magazine said, “Guitar Shorty is a superb bluesman who can scorch your ears off with lethal licks and heavyweight blues-rock grooves.” With his new CD “Bare Knuckle”, he’s prepared to continue what he’s started, taking his music, and his fans, to deeper places and even greater heights. “Please Mr. President” from the new recording was nominated as “Song of the Year” at this year’s Blues Music Awards. Living Blues Magazine recently awarded Guitar Shorty with the “Entertainer of the Year” and “Guitarist of the Year” awards for 2011.

See why when Guitar Shorty makes his Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival debut as part of a very special “Twofer” Saturday night!