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Taj Mahal & The Trio Band |
Taj Mahal & The Trio Band
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, Grammy award winner, and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music. His career celebrates over 40 years of American blues. He has broadened his artistic scope over the years to include music representing virtually every corner of the world – west Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands and so much more. What ties it all together is his insatiable interest in musical discovery. Over the years, his passion and curiosity have led him around the world, and the resulting global perspective is reflected in his music. Over the decades, Taj wanted to downsize his group so he could focus on playing guitar. That is where The Taj Mahal Trio comes in. They have played together for more than 30 years, and blend the sounds of folk, jazz, zydeco, rock, pop, blues and soul from their own distinctive brand of music. The Taj Mahal Trio includes: Taj on guitar, piano and banjo, Bill Rich on bass, and Kester Smith on drums.
Tommy Castro Band
Tommy Castro is one of the most popular and creative roots artists to emerge in recent years. The Tommy Castro Band won the Best Blues Band at the 2010 Blues Blast Music Awards. This most recent win follows four awards for TCB at the Blues Music Awards, B.B King Entertainer of the Year, Band of the Year, and Contemporary Blues Album of the year for Hard Believer. TCB is famed not only for his hard-hitting, impassioned vocals, soaring guitar work and his blues-infused, rocking R&B sound, but also for his striking, original songwriting and exhilarating stage show. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “Castro navigates seriously funky Southern soul, gritty big city blues and scorching rock…his silvery guitar licks simultaneously sound familiar and fresh.”
John Németh
John Németh is a rising blues star. A singer steeped in the tradition and reminiscent of B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, and a harmonica player of riveting intensity and virtuosity. His decade long career has found him opening for Robert Cray, Keb Mo', and Earl Thomas. Performing major music festivals around the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia has brought him critical acclaim.
John's origins are an unlikely breeding ground for such an impressive blues talent. A thirty year old native of Boise, Idaho, he grew up singing in a Catholic church and started playing in local bands as a teenager.
John recorded "Come And Get It" with the Junior Watson Band in 2004. The album received rave reviews and scored well on the independent blues radio charts. When John signed a multi-record recording agreement with Blind Pig Records in 2006, label head Jerry Del Giudice expressed "how impressed I was with John's performance the one time I got the chance to see him. In our nearly 30 years in the business we have never before offered a new artist a recording contract on the strength of one performance."
The buzz around John Németh is substantial, and his Blind Pig debut, "Magic Touch," delivers the goods in spades. From the opening track, an ambitious and fully realized reworking of Junior Wells' classic "Blues Hit Big Town," John's emotive, smooth voice and stellar harp playing introduce a virtuoso of rare depth and power. John's uncanny blend of retro-modern blues and soul music will delight purists and young hipsters alike. Produced by Anson Funderburgh and featuring Junior Watson on guitar, "Magic Touch" is destined to be one of the most remarked upon releases of 2007.
Sugar Thieves
The Sugar Thieves have a sultry blues roots foundation, and powerhouse delta sound that will take you back in time. They also come equipped with a fresh new style, high-energy showmanship, and an original song list that brings music enthusiasts, of any age, to their feet to shake that meat! In 2008 and 2009, The Sugar Thieves won the Phoenix Blues Society’s AZ. Blues Showdown and were voted best blues band in the state. They went on to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis (Feb. 2009/Jan. 2010) where they were voted one of the top ten unsigned blues bands in the world in ‘09, and won the “People’s Choice” award at the Old Daisy Theatre for 2010. The Sugar Thieves were also voted best Americana band in ‘09 by the Phoenix New Times’ “Summer of Sound Series”, and nominated for Best Local Band in Phoenix as well. The singular vision that drives this band is their plight to reintroduce what some call a dying genre, blues music, to younger generations and those that have simply forgotten. With covers from the ‘20s through the ‘40s, The Sugar Thieves keep faith with the unique qualities that founded blues music. But don’t think you’ve heard anything like it before. The Thieves put on a unique, show stopping performance that is worth writing home about. Members of “The Sugar Thieves” include: Mikel Lander (Guitar/Vocals), Meridith Moore (Lead Vocals), Dave Libman (Drums), Shea Marshall, (Sax/Keys/Harmonica), and Jeff Naylor (Bass).
