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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!
Victor Wainwright & The Train On U.S./Canadian Tour
In Support of New Self-Titled Album (Ruf Records)
Perform Locally with The Train Horn Section: THE BANK &
BLUES
Thursday/Friday, March 29/30
(Record Release Party Both Nights)
(Daytona, FL) - Multiple award-winning
boogie-woogie blues pianist-vocalist Victor Wainwright kicks off his 2018 U.S./Canada
Spring/Summer Tour in support of just-released album Victor Wainwright
& the Train (Ruf Records), with a Record Release Party at The Bank & Blues,
701 Main St., two big nights, Thursday, March 29 and Friday, March 30.
Showtime: 9:00pm each night. Tickets: $48., Reserved Tickets (include new
CD); $38., (General Admission) each night. Info: (386)
252-9877 or visit https://daytonabeachmainstreet.com/venue/the-bank-blues-club/.
Also joining Wainwright and his band onstage: Star horn players, Doug
Woolverton (trumpet) and Mark Earley (alto, baritone sax).
~Victor Wainwright: What The Media Is Saying~
"Wainwright serves as an electrifying guide to a good
time-spinning tales, telling his listeners how to beat the blues, and
meticulously conjuring raw soul and energy out of his acoustic piano. He
displays a sharp sense of humor and a knack for storytelling... every
track is
brilliant."
LIVING BLUES
"Victor Wainwright is a world champion piano player,
two times over! Not only is Victor one of the greatest blues piano
players in the business, he’s also a world class-entertainer and
vocalist."
BLUES REVUE
“Savannah, GA native Victor Wainwright is all about
boogie-woogie piano, deep soul, and a voice that recalls Dr. John at his
best. He is a blues star, a tremendous player.”
CHICAGO BLUES GUIDE
"Victor Wainwright, winner of this year's Pinetop
Perkins Award at the BMA's, is a force to be reckoned with on a piano. He
IS honky-tonk and boogie, with a dose of rolling thunder. Wainwright's
playing is simply beautiful madness."
It had to be a train. The name of Victor
Wainwright's new band - and the sleeve image of their debut album - is
also the most fitting of metaphors. In music folklore, the train might
have associations with the freight-hopping bluesmen of yore, but with
this restless boogie-woogie innovator stoking the furnace, this latest
project is a charging locomotive - surging forward, crashing through
boundaries of genre, sweeping up fresh sounds and clattering headlong
past the doubters.
As the man himself hollers in the ivory-pounding
title track: "If you wanna boogie get aboard this train/Get yourself
a ticket or get out of the way..." At a sweet-spot in his career,
where most established stars would rest on their laurels, Victor
Wainwright & The Train instead rips up all that has gone before. The
twelve tracks are originals in every sense, written by Wainwright,
pricking up ears in a sterile music industry and stretching the concept
of roots in bold directions.
"I wanted to write this new music mostly on my
own," Wainwright explains, "as it was coming and speaking to
me. I believe that for roots music to grow, and reach out to new
audiences, we have to push it forward." The result is an album that
walks a tightrope between scholarly respect and anarchic irreverence.
You'll hear Wainwright twist boogie-woogie tradition on barrelhouse
thrillers like "Healing" and "Boogie Depression,"
both driven by his visceral piano style. But you'll also hear him
fearlessly explore the gamut of genre, from the Latin flavours and New
Orleans horns of "Wiltshire Grave," to the mellow
near-psychedelia of "Sunshine." It's a musical cocktail served
up by Wainwright's inimitable gravel-flecked vocal.
His words can be hilarious, as on "I'll Start
Tomorrow," on which he postpones his doctor's clean-living advice.
But they can also be heartfelt, on the gospel-tinged kiss-off of
"That's Love To Me". "I've tried to write songs that
remind us to love ourselves," explains Wainwright. "It doesn't
matter who voted for who, what your religion is, who you love..." On
this white-knuckle ride, only The Train could keep the material on the
tracks. "I ended up with a hit-squad of downright amazing musicians
that shared my curiosity for all corners of the roots genre. We wanted to
capture how we feel performing, right smack-dab on this record, and I
believe we've done that. Now I just try to keep up."
In truth, Wainwright has always been an artist that
sets the pace. Born into a musical family in Savannah, Georgia, the
formative influence of his father's vocals and grandfather's rolling
boogie-woogie piano compelled him into a life of music. By 2005, he'd
announced his talent with solo debut, Piana' From Savannah, while
his central role in Southern Hospitality and partnership with Stephen
Dees in WildRoots has seen him ignite stages and stereos for over a
decade. Among his numerous accolades: In 2013 and 2014, Wainwright won
the 'Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year' at the Blues Music Awards.
Also in 2013, his collaborative album, Easy Livin' , made the Top
10 in the U.S. Billboard Top Blues Album Chart.
"Looking back on your career is a tough thing to
do," he says. "Challenges are many, and frequent, but when you
get it together, it can also be extremely rewarding." A man of many
talents, Wainwright is a composer, producer, vocalist, piano player and
award-winning entertainer. A long-standing leader of the boogie-woogie
pack, he could refer you to his BMA and Blues Blast trophies, or a
catalog that has repeatedly hijacked the Billboard Top 10. But rather
than dine out on past glories, this questing artist would rather you
joined him for the ride ahead. "Of course, I still have songs on
this album that are just about kicking ass and taking names, like The
Train," he laughs. "But if you listen to the lyrics, what I'm
really saying is, we got to get on the train and move forward
together."
Victor Wainwright & The Train - Upcoming Live
Shows & Special Events
March 29/30 (Thur./Fri.) THE BANK AND BLUES
Daytona Beach, FL
March 31
(Sat.)
BRADFORDVILLE BLUES CLUB
Tallahassee, FL
April 1/2 (Sun./Mon.)
PARADISE BAR &
GRILL
Pensacola Beach FL
April 3
(Tues.)
BLUE BAMBOO ARTS
CTR.
Winter Park, FL
April 4
(Wed.)
ENGLEWOODS ON DEARBORN Englewood, FL
April 5
(Thur.)
BUCKINGHAM BLUES
BAR
Ft. Myers, FL
April 6
(Fri.)
THE BLUE
ROOSTER
Sarasota, FL
April 7
(Sat.)
FUNKY
BISCUIT
Boca Raton, FL
April 8
(Sun.)
SPRINGING THE
BLUES
Jacksonville Bch FL
April 18
(Wed.)
CANADIAN CORPS UNIT 44 HALL Thorhold, Ontario
April 20
(Fri.)
SALLE PROMUTEL ASSURANCE Montmagny Que
April 21
(Sat.)
SALLE
SAGUENAY
Saguenay, Que
April 23
(Mon.)
ROCKLAND
PUB
Rockland, ME
April 26
(Thur.)
LA
BASOCHE
Gatineu, Que
April 27
(Fri.)
SALLE SANCTUAIRE DE ST. JAX Monteal, Que
April 28
(Sat.)
LA
BASOCHE
Gatineu, Que
May 24
(Thur.)
TRALF
Buffalo, NY
May 25
(Fri.)
RUSTY
RAIL
Mifflinburg, PA
May 26
(Sat.)
MADAMS
ORGAN
Washington, CD
May 27
(Sun.)
ROOSTER WALK MUSIC & ARTS FEST Martinsville, VA
June 9
(Sat.)
GREELEY BLUES JAM FESTIVAL Greeley, CO
June 23
(Sat.)
RIVERFRONT BLUES FESTIVAL
Ft. Smith, AR
July 2
(Mon.)
NANTUCKET
DEAMLAND
Nantucket, MA
July 4
(Wed.)
BLUES IN THE
BARN
Kingfield, ME
July 5
(Thur.)
MUSIC
SERIES
Norwich, ME
July 10/11 (Tues./Wed.) MONT-TREMBLANT
BLUES
Mont-Tremblant Que
July 13
(Fri.)
KALAMAZOO BLUES FESTIVAL Kalamazoo,
MI
July 14
(Sat.)
LIGHTHOUSE BLUES FESTIVAL
Kincardine, Ontario
Los
Angeles, CA --- Multi-Grammy Award winning band TOTO has
announced the first set of dates for their Summer U.S. tour, which will begin
on June 2nd in Lake Charles, LA. The shows are billed as
"An Evening With Toto” and their performances will feature repertoire for
their latest studio album XIV, classic hits, and both band and fan
favorites from their vast catalog in performances that will stage two hours of
music. Last summer, Toto embarked their first U.S. headline run in over a
decade.
The
core Toto members, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams
will be joined by Lenny Castro (percussion), Shannon Forest (drums), Shem von
Schroeck (bass), Warren Ham (saxophone, vocals). Guitarist Steve Lukather
shares, “We had such a great time last summer that we wanted to regroup and hit
some cities we didn’t get to last time. Always a thrill to bring our full
show around the country.”
Few
ensembles in the history of recorded music have individually or collectively
had a larger imprint on pop culture than the members of Toto.
As individuals, the band members can be heard on an astonishing 5000 albums
that together amass a sales history of a half a billion albums. Amongst
these recordings, NARAS applauded the performances with more than 200 Grammy
nominations and were inducted in to the Musicians Hall Of Fame in 2009.
With
close to 40 years together and literally thousands of credits, including the
biggest selling album of all time: Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and
accolades to their names, TOTO remains one of the top selling
touring and recording acts in the world. They are the benchmark by which many
artists base their sound and production, and they continue to transcend the
standards set by the entire music community, being simply synonymous with
musical credibility. Their repertoire continues to be current via high
profile usage on broadcast television. They are pop culture, and are one
of the few 70’s bands that have endured the changing trends and styles to a
career enjoy a multi-generational fan base.
In
2015, Toto released their first new studio album in ten years – TOTO XIV.
The album exhibited world-class musicianship, masterful arrangements, topical
lyrical commentary, and melodies that the collective talents of Lukather,
Paich, Porcaro, Williams and their assembled band-mates brought to life.
It debuted Top 10 in nine countries around the world and became their most
successful album since 1988 in the U.S. and UK.
In
2016 they released the Blu-Ray/DVD title Live At Montreux which
quickly charted Top Five or better around the globe as well. With the band’s 40th
Anniversary coming up in 2018, TOTO has major plans in the
works to celebrate their enduring career.
TOTO
2017 SUMMER TOUR
6/2/17
Lake Charles,
LA
Golden
Nugget Lake Charles-Grand Event Center
6/3/17
Biloxi,
MS
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino-Hard Rock Live
6/4/17
Chattanooga,
TN
Tivoli Theatre
6/6/17
Durham, NC
The Carolina Theatre
6/7/17
Charlotte, NC
Knight Theater
6/10/17
Rama, ON
Casino Rama-Entertainment Centre
6/13/17
Greensburg, PA
Palace
Theatre
6/14/17
Annapolis, MD
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
6/16/17
Easton, PA
State Theatre Center for the Arts
6/17/17
Lincoln, RI
Twin River Casino
6/18/17
Wilkes-Barre, PA
The F.M.
Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
6/20/17
Torrington,
CT
Warner Theatre
6/21/17
Morristown,
NJ
Mayo
Performing Arts Center
6/23/17
Peekskill, NY
Paramount Hudson Valley
6/24/17
Waterloo, NY
Del Lago Resort and Casino-The Vine
6/25/17
Derry, NH
Tupelo Music Hall
6/28/17
Saint Charles, IL
The Arcada
Theatre
7/1/17
Salina,
KS
Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts
And, additional screenings for the documentary film
Revenge of The Mekons
--
“The Mekons are
the most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll”
– legendary rock critic
Lester Bangs
--
Celebrated British musical miscreants The Mekons (https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/artist/mekons)
announced they will tour select U.S. cities in July as a full band. The group
will make stops in Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and more
during the two-plus-weeks stretch.
The genre-defying collective
Mekons emerged from the 1977 British punk scene, and progressed from socialist
art students with no musical skills to prolific, raucous progeny of Hank
Williams. Theirs is an improbable history: a surprising and influential embrace
of folk and country music, with occasional forays into the art world. The
current lineup has remained intact since the mid ‘80s marked by defining
releases The Mekons Rock ‘n’ Roll, Fear and Whiskey, I Love
Mekons,and their most recent Ancient & Modern in
2011.
For those who can’t make any of
the shows, Revenge of the Mekons, a documentary about the band, is being
screened at select theaters across the U.S. For more information and to watch
the theatrical trailer, click here: http://www.mekonsmovie.com/Revenge_of_the_Mekons/HOME.html
Performing
Locally: Sue's Tavern in Frazier Park - Saturday, February
7
“I’m out on
the streets again/I’ve been sleeping in my car/I got these worn-out shoes/ Just
smoked my last cigar,” drawls the St. Augustine, FL, native known simply as Bo,
front-man of Bo and the Bluesdrivers, buttressed by a stinging guitar
and a sturdy rhythm section held down by longtime musical partners, Bluesdrivers
bassist Brian “Chewy” James and drummer, J. J. Garcia.
That’s
right, Bo & the Bluesdrivers play it like they’ve lived it, paying those
hard-living dues, forming from a chance meeting after joining forces at an open
jam hosted a decade ago by Chewy and J.J. Ten years after, they’re still
together and tighter than ever.
“From the streets of New York/To the
streets of L.A./It seems all the same/Day to day/I’ve been through the
darkness/I’ve walked through the light/The streets are all the same/Night after
night.”
The band have performed on special occasions in the L.A. area
over the years at clubs and parties of friends, but more recently have started
to develop a strong following that has seen them with consistent bookings all
over Southern California (full itinerary below). “The band came
together both naturally and organically, with no stress or drama…Just making
music that we dig," says drummer JJ Garcia.
Says Bo:
“We’re a band of brothers with mutual respect for each other and our abilities.
Always striving to be the best at what we do.”
A veteran of the
Florida club scene, Bo’s travels have seen him sitting in with legendary
drummers Buddy Miles (Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, Delfonics, Bootsy Collins)
and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Artimus Pyle, before moving from Florida to L.A. fourteen
years ago. A world-class guitarist, you can hear his affinity for a variety of
genres - from jazz, funk and soul to rock & roll, coming through loud and
clear on such originals as “Out In The Streets”; audience favorite “Walkin’ In
The Park”; and tasty instrumentals like “Sea Song” (and) “Chillin’”, along with
well-chosen covers of classics by Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pink Floyd and ZZ
Top, among others.
Bo’s Bluesdrivers backbeat is provided by the
stalwart team of J.J. and Chewy, who have worked together for close to two
decades - previously performing in renowned SoCal-based band Stone as well as
also currently with the steadily-growing rock group, Judge Jackson. The longtime
rhythm section have several national tours under their belts and a resume that
includes collaborations with famed horror director John Carpenter, both
on-screen and as part of the soundtracks for his films, including
Vampires and Ghost of Mars. Judge Jackson has performed and
recorded music that has appeared on a variety of TV, movies and sporting events,
including Fox Sports and Super Bowl XLV.
Bo & the Bluesdrivers have
just finished recording a new album at Pawnshop Studios, which is slated for
release later this year.
"Out On The Streets" - Bo and the Bluesdrivers
BO AND THE BLUESDRIVERS - UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS/SPECIAL
EVENTS
Feb. 5
(Thur.) BERGIES Santa Clarita,
CA
Feb. 7 (Sat.)
SUE'S TAVERN Frazier Park,
CA
Feb. 13
(Fri.) KX93.5 FM LAGUNA BLUES* Laguna Beach,
CA
Feb. 17
(Tues.)HOUSE OF
BLUES West Hollywood, CA
Feb. 20
(Fri.) ARCADIA BLUES CLUB Arcadia, CA
Feb. 21
(Sat.) LAKESIDE SPORTS BAR Helendale,
CA
Feb. 28
(Sat.) MADD BAILEY'S PUB Pine Mtn. Club,
CA
March 1
(Sun.) MADD BAILEY'S PUB Pine Mtn. Club,
CA
March 5
(Thur.) BERGIES Santa Clarita,
CA
March 7
(Sat.) HARRY'S NIGHT CLUB Pismo Beach,
CA
April 2
(Thur.) BERGIES Santa Clarita,
CA
May 22
(Fri.) RUN-A-MUCCA RALLY Winnemucca, NV
May 23
(Sat.) RUN-A-MUCCA RALLY Winnemucca, NV
May 24
(Sun.) RUN-A-MUCCA RALLY Winnemucca, NV
May 30
(Sat.) INDIAN HILL MUSIC FEST Tehachapi, CA
May 30
(Sat.) DOGHOUSE SALOON Tehachapi, CA
July 3
(Fri.) WINDY MESA Page,
AZ
July 4
(Sat.) WINDY MESA Page,
AZ
Aug. 8
(Sat.) FIESTA DAYS FESTIVAL Frazier Park,
CA
