Boston’s own Blues Music Awards winners Paul Rishell and Annie Raines are on the road touring North America this summer, followed by a trip for dates in the UK in October and November. They are presently at the Augusta Heritage Blues Workshop in Elkins, WV. From there they will drive to the Centrum Country Blues Workshop in Port Townsend, WA, with stops along the way in Cleveland, OH and Livingston, MT.
Dates in August include Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR, the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA, the Bronze, Blues and Brews Festival in Joseph, OR, BB's Lawnside Barbecue in Kansas City, MO and Blues on Grand in Des Moines, IA. Click here to see all their dates.
Paul Rishell studied the National Steel guitar, playing alongside blues masters Son House and Howlin’ Wolf. He is now considered a master player and teacher of all prewar blues guitar styles. His signature voice speaks of joy, pain and ultimately the triumph of soul and spirit. Annie Raines is said to be the world's only female blues harmonica virtuoso. She also sings, writes songs, and plays mandolin and piano. Her Blog contains entertaining revelations about life on the road.
Paul and Annie play an amazing range of acoustic and electric traditional and original music, including old-time country blues, terrifying slide guitar and harmonica moans, driving Chicago blues and haunting gospel ballads. They have appeared on A Prairie Home Companion and have recorded and performed with John Sebastian, Rory Block, Pinetop Perkins, and Susan Tedeschi.
The duo has released three critically acclaimed albums together. Moving To The Country won the 2000 W.C. Handy Award for acoustic blues album of the year; and their latest release, Goin' Home, was a 2005 nominee for acoustic blues album of the Year.
Blues Trust Productions, the nonprofit presenter of the annual Boston Blues Festival, will host past Blues Trust Lifetime Achievement Award recipients in concert at 7:30 p.m. on August 25 at the Somerville Theater, Davis Square, Somerville.
The concert will be a celebration of the Trust’s second live recording, Live At The Boston Blues Festival, Volume II, to be released August 1.
The concert will feature 92-year-old Delta blues legend David “Honeyboy” Edwards, along with Lazy Lester and Louisiana Red.
Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster (617-931-2000), online at www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Somerville Theater box office, 55 Davis Square (cash sales only.) The box office is open from 4-8 p.m. daily. Tickets cost $28 to $75 each.
Proceeds from the concert will help fund the free Boston Blues Festival, to be held Sept. 22 and 23 at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade. This is the festival’s 12th year.
The disc also features past festival performers, including Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, Duke Robillard, Darrell Nulisch, The Dwight Ritcher Band, and the Hot Tamale Brass Band.
For more information, visit www.bluestrust.com
On August 17 there will be a special screening of Hurricane on the Bayou and Q&A with Tab Benoit, a world-renowned blues musician featured in the film. The show starts at 2 p.m. at the Museum of Science Mugar Omni Theater.
Hurricane on the Bayou will be shown on a giant screen film, and there will also be an exclusive opportunity to meet Tab Benoit, who will also perform that night at Johnny D’s in Davis Square, Somerville.
Born in Baton Rouge and raised in the oil and fishing town of Houma, Louisiana, Benoit these days has been attracting attention for much more than his music. With the founding of his own non-profit organization, Voices of the Wetlands, and his appearance in Hurricane on the Bayou, Tab is spreading his blues and his message nationwide about saving the wetlands of Louisiana. Tab will speak briefly about the challenges and opportunities that still exist in Louisiana, and the city of New Orleans, as we near the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The film poignantly documents both an environmental calamity and the staggering effects of one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history. But more than the story of the catastrophic damage, Hurricane on the Bayou shows hope for new beginnings.
About Hurricane on the Bayou
Produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films, Hurricane on the Bayou began as an exploration deep into the heart of Louisiana, but became much more with the arrival of Hurricane Katrina during filming in 2005.
Originally intended to explore Louisiana’s rapidly depleting coastal wetlands, it brings viewers up close to witness one of the most devastating weather events in history. As these slowly eroding wetlands wash away each year, the protection they provided from storms erodes as well, as demonstrated while filming before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.
The film, which shows humanity and hope in the midst of disaster, stars New Orleans music producer, songwriter and Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Allen Toussaint, blues singer/guitarist and longtime wetlands activist Tab Benoit; 14-year-old fiddling prodigy Amanda Shaw; and zydeco’s accordion master Chubby Carrier. It is narrated by Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep.
Mugar Omni Theater Admission: $9 for adults, $8 for seniors (60+), and $7 for children (3-11). For more information or to purchase tickets in advance, call 617-723-2500 or visit www.mos.org.
GRAMMY Nominated Blues axe-man Tab Benoit unleashes intense passion for his New Orleans homeland and its music in the new Telarc International recording, Power of the Pontchartrain.
Sample Benoit’s powerful lineup, featuring Louisiana’s LeRoux, live at Johnny D’s Friday, August 17th. Benoit and LeRoux take the stage at 9:45pm.
Johnny D’s is at 17 Holland Street, Davis Square, in Somerville. For more information, or tickets, call 617-776-7450 or visit johnnyds.com.
Co-produced with veteran producer David Z (Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Prince), Power of the Pontchartrain features 11 tracks with Louisiana-based LeRoux, the enduring blues/rock/pop collective that has been a regional mainstay since the late ‘70s.
The set opens with the swampy “Don’t Make No Sense,” a track that wastes no time showcasing Benoit’s richly layered, but always straightforward, guitar chops. Nelson Blanchard’s subtle keyboard lines work in perfect tandem with the guitarist’s gritty fretwork. This same guitar-keyboard counterpoint is evident again in the title track. “Power of the Pontchartrain” is an eerie, shimmering ode to the mystical power and dark legends of the massive lake just north of New Orleans.
Power of the Pontchartrain is the latest chapter in an eventful career trajectory for Benoit. In 2006, he received the Blues Music Association Award for contemporary blues album of the year (Fever for the Bayou), a Grammy nomination for best traditional blues album (Brother to the Blues), and Blues Music Association awards in 2007 for contemporary blues artist of the year and B.B. King entertainer of the year.
In addition, he has also fulfilled his duties as president of Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental organization that he founded in 2003; and played a prominent musical role in Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary by filmmaker McGillivray Freeman that chronicles life in Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina. The film is being shown in IMAX theaters throughout the U.S.
B Street Blues, a powerhouse local New England Blues Band will perform at Dante's (at Firefly’s) Blues Club in Marlborough on Friday, July 27th.
B Street Blues takes the stage at 9:30pm at the club where the "music sticks to your ribs." The club is part of the award-winning Firefly's Bodacious Bar-B-Que & Beyond restaurant, at 350 East Main Street, Marlborough.
B Street Blues was voted one of the top five Boston blues bands in 2005 by the Boston Blues Society. Their live performance exudes excitement and energy, and is a must see experience. The sizzling guitar work, solid bottom end, and cutting edge vocals blend to form a cohesive unit of electrifying classic and modern blues
B Street Blues is fronted by the talented Norm T on vocals and guitar. He has been playing music for more than 40 years. He has played in bands that have performed at such venues as the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Foxwoods Resort and Casino, and the Convention Center in Atlantic City, to name a few.
On drums and vocals is Dave Schaefer, a graduate of Berklee College of Music. Dave pursued his passion in music by becoming musical director of the show band, East Coast Muscle, and also went on the road, touring with pop stars Gloria Gaynor and Edwin Starr.
Chris "Chez" Chesna, a staple in the Boston music scene, plays bass. He has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Iggy Pop, Chuck Berry, and the Blue Man Group.
B Street Blues was voted one of the best blues bands in Boston at the Boston Blues Challenge. Songs from their CD Live have been played internationally, and the first track from the disc has been in the indie top 40 in Australia several times and continues to receive frequent airplay in that country.
For more information on the band and upcoming shows, check out: www.BStreetBlues.com
Advance tickets for this show, for only $6, are recommended, and can be purchased through Dante's at 508-229-BLUES.
Come check out the talented, rockin' B Street Blues Band at Dante's!