THE BLACK HEN SHOW IS BACK ON THE ROAD
The third incarnation of the event will be a night of collaborations
The Black Hen Roadshow is an annual tour lead by acclaimed guitarist, producer and record label head Steve Dawson. Steve and Alice Dawson run Black Hen Music from their office in Nashville, Tenn. They also run a studio there where some of the artists involved in the label have recorded.
The third incarnation of the event features alt-country twang singer Leeroy Stagger, Steve Marriner of MoneyJunk, local vocalist and singer Ndidi Onukwulu and upright bassist Jeremy Holmes. If past events are anything to go by, it will be a night of excellent collaborations, solo and group performances.
Here are five things to expect:
1. Black Hen Music
The label has 80 releases out so far and, with the exception of Steve Dawson, none of the other acts on the bill have recorded for it. It stands to reason that any/ all of the other musicians could be looking at heading down to Nashville to drop an album with Dawson behind the boards. He’s a fantastic, multiple award-winning producer.
2. Steve Marriner
The guitarist and singer in MonkeyJunk just took home the Juno Award for blues album of the year for the album Time to Roll. The band previously won in 2012 for To Behold. Expect Marriner to drop some of his classic swampy boogie as well as head in new directions.
3. Leeroy Stagger Breaks Hearts
OK, that may or may not be true. But his song titled I Break Hearts, which opens his Tales From the Back Porch EP, is one of the least appreciated pieces of country rock writing to come out in Canada in decades. Hope he still turns it up and cranks this one out in concert. Stagger’s latest album is titled Love Versus and is a more introspective and quiet sort of session.
4. Ndidi Onukwulu
B.C.-born singer Onukwulu gained a huge amount of attention for her 2008 album the Contradictor. Produced by Steve Dawson, the record was titled the way it was to shed light on how her frequently upbeat music was seemingly at odds with her often serious themes. Having inked an European deal with Universal Jazz and Classics France, she has released two albums, the most recent of which is 2014’s Dark Swing. Her cover of the late Tom Petty’s Yer So Bad is wicked good. Her coming album, titled These Days, came out last month and represents a change towards more rock grooves.
5. Lucky number 8
Lucky Hand is title of Steve Dawson’s eighth album and it reunites him with his old partner, the incredible violinist Jesse Zubot. The album features 10 new fingerstyle and slide guitar-lead instrumentals with a backing string quartet. Zubot did the orchestration and it’s one of Dawson’s finest recordings. It’s also the 20th anniversary of Zubot and Dawson’s debut and also the 20th anniversary of Black Hen Music. That’s a lot of anniversaries for one show isn’t it?