The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Music festival season has now begun
Each week is offering blues shows you can really enjoy. Festivals have started and will continue through the summer. Connecticut has some highly anticipated events on the horizon. And with more and more venues bringing in solo/duo acts, fans get a chance to sit back, many times at breweries or other non-traditional entertainment spots.
Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk has Robben Ford on Saturday. Called one of the “100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time,” Ford is indeed, a phenomenal singer/ songwriter/musician. He presents an exciting new show each time he comes around. If you’ve seen and heard him before, you know what he can do at a show. And if you’ve yet to experience this guy and his band, now is the time to do so. He has a blend of blistering blues, rock and funky jazz and is a one-ofa-kind talent.
While Ford is particularly known for his blues playing, he is one of the premier electric guitarists today. And he has ability in a variety of musical contexts. A five-time Grammy nominee, he has played with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Bonnie Raitt and many others.
The musically talented Ford began to teach himself guitar at age 13, upon hearing the two guitarists from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. In the late 1960s, Ford frequented the Fillmore and Winterland auditoriums in San Francisco to see many blues acts.
After high school, he and his brothers Patrick (drums) and Mark (harmonica), formed The Charles Ford Band, named after their father and recorded for the Arhoolie label. Today, he continues to tour.
Peter Karp brings his multiple talents to BlackEyed Sally’s on Friday. As a songwriter, guitarist, singer, pianist, and bandleader, his musical ability is evident throughout his work. He operates within the fiery brand of American roots/blues music that Karp calls “soul-influenced Americana blues rock.”
Karp provides gorgeous, rough-hewn vocals and soaring guitar and piano work. But most of all he touches the audience with his heartfelt, critically acclaimed songwriting.
On Saturday, Black-Eyed Sally’s will celebrate Cinco de Mayo with The Mighty Soul Drivers. They deliver a night full of rockin’ soul dance numbers, down-inthe-alley testifying and some funky blues.
Wednesday, Danielle Nicole comes to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. Founding member, lead singer, and bass player of Kansas City blues-rock band, Trampled Under Foot, Danielle Nicole and her brothers won the International Blues Challenge. She stepped out on her own in 2015. She grew up playing the blues, and the blues is still a big part of what she does. Now, Danielle Nicole is reaching out more and trying different things. It still sounds like her, but stretching out a lot more than in the past.
Her distinctive, inventive bass work resulted in her becoming the first woman to win the Blues Foundation’s 2014 Blues Music Award for Best Instrumentalist. She is the product of years of intensive roadwork. Although she had no experience with the instrument when she became Trampled Under Foot’s bassist, now there is no life without it.
Rounding out her band are longtime member, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Brandon Miller, and drummer Rodd Bland, son of blues legend Bobby “Blue” Bland, who earned his chops playing in his dad’s band and later with BB King.
Two notes of interest for blues fans. The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center on Monday has Anything Goes hosted by Terri and Rob Duo. The Kerouac Café in New Hartford on Saturday has Shawn Taylor at 3:30 p.m., part of the National Beat Poetry Festival.
Friday has The Coffee Grinders at Smokin’ With Chris in Southington and Jake Kulak is playing solo at Park and Oak.
Saturday, Eran Troy Danner is playing solo acoustic (6 p.m.) at Main Street Pint & Plate in Bristol. Wilson’s Pub has the Kosher Kid & The Incredible Amplifires, and Silver Backs Bar & Grill is hosting Blues Alley.
The Connecticut Blues Society has completed three preliminary rounds as part of the 23rd Annual Blues Band Challenge. The next prelim is May 20. Winners of each round and a wild card will participate in the finals for the trip to Memphis. The Finals will be held June 23 at the Black-Eyed and Blues Festival in Bushnell Park. The D Smith Blues Band were winners of round three.
Blues fans are getting ready for a blues-infused downtown New London experience. The New London Blues and Brews Fest will take place this year on Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3. Along with the main stage at Hygienic Art Park, participating venues along Bank Street will also have live bands and brews specials at their locations.
Coming soon is The New England Blues Summit. This is a three-day indoor blues festival featuring national and regional blues artists at the Sturbridge Host Resort. The Summit runs from Friday, May 18 at 3 p.m. until Sunday, May 20, at 4 p.m.
From the Blues Foundation, the 39th Annual Blues Music Awards will be emceed by Little Stevie Van Zandt on May 10 in Memphis. Presenters include Steve Miller, Joe Louis Walker, Janiva Magness, Tito Jackson, Candi Staton, and Tony Joe White. Check out the schedule of events and fun scheduled for a Blues Music Week like no other.