Eureka Springs, AR (Top40 Charts/ Eureka Springs Blues) - The 2010 Eureka Springs Blues Weekend, set for June 3-6, features a lineup that reads like a "Who's Who of the Blues." Performers include multiple Blues
Music Award (BMA) nominees and winners, multiple Grammy nominees and winners, and two Blues Hall of Fame members. The 4-day musical event benefits both the HART Fund, which aids blues musicians with expenses, and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, the world's largest sanctuary for neglected or abused 'Big Cats.'
Headlining this year are John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite with The Table Rockers, and Magic Slim & The Teardrops. Featured artists include Bob Margolin, Shaun Murphy, Kelley Hunt, Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks, Otis Taylor, Shawn "Lil' Slim" Holt, Marquise Knox, Albert Castiglia, and Fast Johnny Ricker. Continuing its support of the International Blues Challenge, Blues Weekend will also feature performances by Ozark Blues Society Solo Winner, Buddy Shute, and Isayah's All Stars, Ozark Blues Society Band of the Year.
Clubs around town will also feature national and regional blues acts, and there will be free blues shows in Basin Spring Park throughout the weekend. Scheduled acts include Doghouse Daddies, Earl & Them, Eef & The Groovy Blues Express, Levee Town, Mark Montgomery, Patrick Sweany, Penelope and The Unusual Suspects, Rich Berry, The Americans, and The Jug Band. A full listing of venues and acts, as they become available, is available online at www.EurekaSpringsBlues.com.
Bob Margolin and John Hammond open Eureka Springs Blues Weekend 2010 with their concert in The Auditorium June 3. A 2008 Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Hammond has performed thousands of shows around the world, playing with superstars from Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton. And Hammond's band once included the legendary Jimi Hendrix (before he struck out on his own.)
Hammond will feature material from his 2010 Grammy nominated album Rough & Tough, as well as hits from his 32 other albums. He is also featured on the album Things About Comin' My Way- A Tribute to the Mississippi Sheiks, nominated for 2010 Acoustic Blues Album of the Year. Hammond has won seven previous Blues Music Awards (BMAs.)
Bob Margolin was Muddy Water's long-time guitarist, and he's also earned his own spotlight through the years. His performances with legends like Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Bob Stroger and Hubert Sumlin have helped introduce classic blues to a whole new generation. Margolin has been nominated for seven BMAs, and has twice been honored as Guitarist of the Year.
On June 4 in the Auditorium, piano player/guitarist/singer/songwriter Kelley Hunt opens for Charlie Musselwhite and The Table Rockers, with special guest Shawn "Lil' Slim" Holt. Hunt has long been a Midwest favorite, and her latest release, Mercy, has received international praise. Elmore Magazine says Hunt is "a superb live performer, immediately drawing you to the power of her music and her voice."
When 2010 Blues Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Musselwhite takes the stage that evening, he plans a very special show - a blues family reunion of sorts. He'll be joined by his old friend, Larry Boehmer of The Table Rockers, and Shawn "Lil' Slim" Holt. Shawn is the godson of Musselwhite and Boehmer and he's also Magic Slim's son. Rumor has it that Magic Slim will arrive Eureka Springs early (he performs here the following day) just to see his son play The Auditorium with the iconic Musselwhite.
Charlie Musselwhite was born in Mississippi, learned to play the blues growing up in Memphis, and then moved to Chicago. There he played blues harp with major artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. Charlie embarked on a solo career in 1967, has recorded 24 hit albums, and has collected 23 BMAs thus far.
Marquise Knox opens the show at the 1905 Basin Park Hotel's Barefoot Ballroom June 4, and guitarist Albert Castiglia is the headliner.
Knox, from St. Louis, Missouri, is nominated for a BMA for Best Debut Artist. He plays to packed houses at Beale on Broadway in St. Louis, and he made quite a stir at last year's Eureka Springs Blues Weekend when he sat in with David "Honeyboy" Edwards during his performance.
BMA nominee Albert Castiglia got his start in The Miami Blues Authority and moved into the big leagues when Junior Wells asked him to become his guitarist. After Junior's passing, Albert played with Sandra Hall and then recorded his first solo album in 2002, appropriately named Burn, given Albert's incendiary slide work. His shows are filled with high-energy, get up and dance blues, as is his latest album, These Are the Days.
Afternoon shows at the Auditorium begin June 5 with the Ozark Blues Society's Blues Challenge winners, Buddy Shute and Isayah's All Stars. Next, 17- time BMA nominee and two-time BMA winner Otis Taylor and his band will give their original take on the blues, sometimes called "Trance Blues". Guitar Player magazine calls Taylor "arguably the most relevant blues artist of our time," and Billboard said he is "one of the most innovative, thought-provoking blues artists to emerge in the last 20 years." Taylor is touring to support his new CD, Clovis People.
Next on stage at the Auditorium is "The First Lady of Little Feat", Shaun Murphy. Her credits include tours with Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Meatloaf, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and The Moody Blues, studio work with Phil Collins, John Hiatt, Leon Russell, Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent, and a stint in the band Little Feat. After she left the Feat, Murphy released her debut solo album, Livin' The Blues.
The Auditorium show climaxes June 5 with a special performance by Magic Slim & The Teardrops. They are the subjects of a documentary currently being filmed, and since Slim's son will be able to join him that night, the producers have decided to shoot this show as the film's grand finale. Magic Slim has been nominated for an amazing 40 BMAs, and has been awarded six coveted "Handys" over the years.
There may be more than a few bare feet in the Barefoot Ballroom that same evening, as folks will likely be dancing to a blues-rock double-header: Fast Johnny Ricker and Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks.
Fast Johnny Ricker has long wowed audiences across the Midwest with his innovative slide playing that Lonnie Brooks describes as "wild and mean". Fast Johnny's playing has been favorably compared to that of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, though his unique style is completely original.
Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks may come from the crossroads of the blues, Clarksdale, Mississippi, but don't let that fool you. Super Chikan is really an international super-hero in the blues world, having performed in over two dozen countries. He's played for presidents, premiers, prime ministers and ambassadors around the world.
Super Chikan makes his own guitars from everything from 5-gallon jerry cans to ceiling fans, and decorates them in beautiful folk art. His "Chiktars" are owned by presidents, actors, rock stars and blues fans, and are often auctioned for thousands of dollars. He's nominated for four BMAs this year, including BB King Entertainer of the Year, Traditional Male Blues Artist, Traditional Blues Album of the Year for Chikadelic, and Song of the Year for Fred's Dollar Store. Expect some special guests at this show, as Chikan always seems to draw all the blues players in the area to his encore jams.
Blues Weekend is produced by an all-volunteer team; 100% of all profits go to the Blues Foundation's Handy Artist Relief Trust and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, internationally acclaimed 501(c)3 organizations.
The HART Fund provides assistance to musicians in need, including acute, chronic & preventive medical & dental care, as well as funeral expenses. For more information visit www.Blues.org. Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is located seven miles south of Eureka Springs on Highway 23. It provides lifetime refuge to over 140 abandoned, abused, and neglected "Big Cats", with emphasis on tigers, lions, leopards, and cougars. Natural habitats have been built over the past decade to allow the Big Cats to live in more natural surroundings. Visit www.TurpentineCreek.org for more information.
For tickets or information visit www.EurekaSpringsBlues.com. Lodging and ticket packages will be available at many Eureka Springs area hotels, and tickets are on sale at www.EurekaSpringsBlues.com.
Eureka Springs Blues Weekend 2010 Schedule
Thursday June 3
The Auditorium
Doors At 6:00 PM
Show Starts At 7:00 PM
John Hammond
Bob Margolin
Basin Spring Park: FREE
3:00 to 5:00 PM
Arkansas Red
Friday June 4
The Auditorium
Doors At 6:00 PM
Show Starts At 7:00 PM
Charlie Musselwhite with The Tablerockers & Special Guest Shawn "Lil' Slim" Holt Kelley Hunt
Basin Park Hotel Ballroom
7:00 PM
Marquise Knox
(Replacing Grady Champion, Who
Will Instead Perform At The AUD on Saturday) 9:00 PM Albert Castiglia
Basin Park Hotel, Ozark Room
7:00 PM
OBS Band Winner Isayah's All Stars
Basin Spring Park: FREE
Noon- Rich Berry
1:00 PM- TBA
2:00 PM- Doghouse Daddies
4:00 PM- Penelope & The Unusual Suspects
Saturday June 5
The Auditorium
Doors At 2:00 PM
Show Starts At 3 PM
Magic Slim & The Teardrops
Shaun Murphy
Otis Taylor
IBC Winner Grady Champion
OBS Solo/Duo Winner Buddy Shute
Basin Park Hotel Ballroom
7:00 PM
Fast Johnny Ricker
9:00 PM
Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks
Basin Spring Park: FREE
Noon - 1 TBA
1:00 PM- Marquise Knox
2:00 PM- TBA
4:00 PM- Derral Gleason Trio
Sunday June 6
Basin Spring Park: FREE
Gospel Blues Brunch
Noon- John Walter Morrison
