Blues trio featured during Nov. 16 Blenders concert
ith winter settling in on the prairies, Swift Current will be a hotbed of red hot blues on Sunday when the Black Hen Traveling Roadshow Revue performs at the Lyric Theatre.
As the fourth show in
Wthe 2014-2015 edition of the Blenders Concert Series, the Black Hen Traveling Roadshow Revue features the talents of Canadian blues guitar standouts Steve Dawson, Jim Byrnes and Big Dave McLean. The trio kicked off an 11 day tour on Tuesday in Winnipeg where they per- formed the first of 10 concerts on the prairie provinces. They will be on stage at the Lyric Theatre on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. during one of just two Saskatchewan concert dates.
It will be the first time the trio has appeared on stage together, and Dawson admits he is excited to be on stage with his talented fellow musicians.
"Anyone that's a fan of roots or blues or folk music is going to really dig what we're going to be presenting," Dawson said during a phone interview from his home in Nashville.
"It'll be a really nice mix of really sparse intimate stuff, and then mixed in with some big crazy jams and things like that."
Dawson has received seven Juno Awards as an artist and producer, but this past year he relocated to Nashville to pursue his latest musical chapter. His latest recording "Rattlesnake Cage" is his seventh acclaimed solo album, and brings a return to a pure blues sound.
"What I wanted to capture with my album was just simplicity, and honesty, and just good sounds. I just kept things really simple. And the whole album is just about the sound of the guitar and nothing else. There's just one microphone in a room and that's it," Dawson said.
He noted the recording was inspired by blues people he has heard, especially finger picking guitar players like Leo Kottke and John Fahey.
Jim Byrnes boasts nearly 50 years of blues performing and stands out as one of Canada's best-loved blues musicians. He has been recognized with numerous Juno Awards, Maple Blues Awards and Canadian Music Awards, and earlier this year he released St. Louis Times over three decades after his debut release.
Big Dave McLean is a masterful blues guitarist and singer who has inspired numerous Canadian performers. Earlier this year he released the album Faded But Not Gone.
Dawson admits that the blues sound still resonates in 2014 because of the way artists have blended the new with the old.
"It's as viable a music form as any really. I think the trick with something like that is to keep trying to do something fresh and interesting and not just rehashing the same kind of sounds that have been done already."
"In the case of blues, a lot of the best recorded material was done back in the early days, the 30s, 40s and 50s, and they kind of set the bar really high," he said. "I think you have to honour that tradition, but also look forward and try and do something interesting and exciting. That's why I like working with people like Big Dave McLean and Jim (Byrnes). They've got that classic quality and they've been doing it for so long, and they've got the soul and the experience to go with it."
Dawson added that fans of blues and roots music will enjoy Sunday's performance.
"They're going to hear a wide range of music. A lot of it is going to tip its hat in the blues direction. There's going to be solo stuff from all three of us, and then we're going to be all collaborating together and getting into some pretty deep stuff I hope with all three of us being on the stage at the same time."
Advance tickets for the Black Hen Traveling Roadshow Revue are available at the Pharmasave Ticket Centre or by contacting Shann Gowan at srgowan@yourlink.ca or 306-778-2686.