Dan River Region Blues Festival
at the
Carrington Pavilion
Danville, Va
Saturday
September 20
2003
4:00 p.m.
Gates open at 3:30 p.m.
Rain or Shine
1200 + seats under cover and room for 5000 more on the grass.
For the main Blues Society site click here
Featured artists
Thackery became widely known as the innovative guitarist with the Nighthawks, one of the hardest-working and most popular blues bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Beginning in 1974, the Nighthawks recorded more than 20 albums and constantly toured the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan. Jimmy was the heart, soul and adrenalin of the Nighthawks’ sound during his 14-year tenure with the D.C.-based band, creating a distinctively raw, powerful guitar style and establishing a reputation as a spectacular soloist. Thackery learned his chops from some of the best possible sources. Besides Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix, he cites Chicago axemaster Otis Rush as a primary influence. Moreover, he learned more than a few licks from playing onstage alongside other blues legends like Muddy Waters, James Cotton and Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson. Thackery left the Nighthawks in 1987, needing a break from a grueling 300-night-a-year touring schedule. He also felt the need to try something new musically, so he assembled a six-piece R&B crew called the Assassins. The popular and critically-acclaimed group recorded three albums before disbanding in 1991. His next project was a lean, three-piece unit known as Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers. Their first album, Empty Arms Motel, released on Blind Pig in 1992, won over legions of critics and new fans, and became one of the best-selling blues titles of the year. CD Review declared, "Jimmy Thackery has the tonal control, musical thought, expressive sincerity, velocity, and discipline to rank near the top of the blues-rock heavyweight division." This summer Thackery releases his second Telarc cd "True Stoies". Look for shades of R&B and soul in the mix, but always with the rock-solid blues underpinnings that have made Thackery a blues guitar powerhouse for more than two decades. |
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Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin is a Blues guitar player and
vocalist carrying on the deep Chicago Blues style, and creating his
original music today. From 1973-1980, Bob played guitar in the
band of Chicago Blues legend Muddy Waters, touring worldwide and
recording, and learning to play Muddy's powerful music directly from
him. In 1980, Bob started his own band. As a leader, Bob has recorded two albums for Powerhouse Records, three for Alligator, and his latest is "Hold Me To It" on Blind Pig Records. Bob has also appeared as a guest or sideman on dozens of Blues records. Bob's next recording will be "The Bob Margolin All-Star Blues Jam" which will be released on Telarc Records in May '03. It features Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carey Bell, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Mookie Brill. He is also producing re-issues of Muddy Waters' late-'70s Blue Sky albums for Sony/Legacy. Bob played guitar on those albums. Touring full-time today, Bob tours with flexible groups of fine Blues musicians, including The Bob Margolin Blues Band, The Bob Margolin All-Star Blues Jam, and The Muddy Waters Tribute Band Bob Margolin is a senior writer for Blues Revue magazine and is currently on the Board of Directors of both The Blues Foundation and the Blues Music Association. |
Bob's band will be
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Willie
"Big Eyes" Smith
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, the legendary Chicago Blues drummer
who has won another W.C. Handy Award as Best Blues Drummer in 2002.
Willie worked in Muddy Waters' band on-and-off from the '50s to the
'80s. In the '70s, we were in Muddy's Band together and Willie's deep
grooves are a part of my musical foundation. Since then, Willie worked
with The Legendary Blues Band and then with his own
Willie Smith Blues Band, recording and touring. We both work with The
Muddy Waters Tribute Band when they tour. Willie's great drumming and
blues singing have lately been augmented by his fine harp playing.
Willie
steps out from behind the drums and nails his audiences with the depth
of the Chicago Blues Legend that he is.
Bob Margolin
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and
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Mookie
Brill
Bob Margolin Tom "Mookie" Brill was raised in Brooklyn
and
has lived in Charlotte, North Carolina since 1977. He worked in Blues
and
Rock'n'Roll bands in Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina through the
'80s.
From '89 to '92 Mookie worked in my band, traveling around the world
and
recording on my second Powerhouse Records album, "Chicago Blues," and
on
a song with Chicago Blues legend John Brim on my first Alligator
Records
album, "Down In The Alley." He played upright bass and some harp on an
album
we did together with John Brim, "Ice Cream Man," which was released on
the
then-new Tone-Cool Records in '93. Mookie is a full-service,
sextuple-threat
band member, playing upright and electric bass, harp, guitar, drums,
and
vocals. In the '90s, Mookie worked with Carey Bell, Hubert Sumlin, and
Louisiana
Red and with the Extraordinaires and the Rockabilly band, The Belmont
Playboys,
in North Carolina. He's been fronting various bands locally and has
already
proved to be a versatile, powerful, and entertaining featured performer
in
our band now that he's back again
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Bob's Special guest will be
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Nappy
Brown
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1929, Nappy Brown's
earliest musical influences were blues and gospel. As a youngster he
performed in several gospel groups, including the Heavenly Lights.
Nappy's singing eventually brought him in touch with the Savoy label,
which signed him in the early 1950s to compete with shouters like Roy
Brown, Wynonie Harris and Big Joe Turner.  A big man with an incredible amount of energy, Nappy soon became famous for his wild stage antics. Touring with the likes of Little Richard and Jackie Wilson, Nappy always got the crowds involved in his performances, often getting in the audience down on his knees and singing or dancing with the ladies. |
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Big Bill Morganfield
"The Rising Son of The Blues"  Born in the Windy City.....Chicago
It is the dream of many fathers for their sons to follow in their footsteps. McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, always lamented the fact that younger black people did not seem interested in his music. If he were alive today, he would be very proud of his son Big Bill Morganfield. Possessing more than just his musical pedigree, Bill has the voice, talent, song writing skills and stage presence to become a major talent in his own right. An avalanche of praise followed the release of Bill's recording debut, 1999's "Rising Son." From Billboard to People to National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition", critics across the land were quick to extol the emergence of this impressive new talent. Guitar Player magazine summed it up by declaring, "Big Bill is a singer/songwriter who surely would have made Muddy smile." The New York Post touted Rising Son by saying, "This is one of the most impressive debuts to break in a number years." And the Boston Herald announced, "Morganfield brings plenty of originality to the party - in the high quality of his original tunes, his blunt yet effective guitar style and the way he casually rises to the first-rank level of his accompaniment." Perhaps the most gratifying acknowledgment of all came with Bill winning the year 2000, W.C. Handy Award for "Best New Blues Artist", the equivalent of a Grammy Award in the blues world. Bill returned to Chicago recently to make his sophomore recording with special guest Taj Mahal and producer Dick Shurman. Ramblin' Mind features Bill's distinctive, window rattling baritone voice and scintillating slide guitar on a wide variety of material, including ten originals. "Working with Bill has been a dream. He's a great combination of talent, dedication & heredity," says Shurman. "On this session we went way beyond every expectation." One highlight of the recording experience was having Big Bill team up with Taj Mahal and harmonica ace Billy Branch on two tracks: an original song that Taj wrote exclusively for the project entitled "Strong Man Holler" and a song first recorded by Bill's father, "You're Gonna Miss Me". Both men trade impressive vocal and guitar licks on these cuts. Bill stated, "Taj has a lot of styles down. He's able to jump into the Delta mode with ease, which happens to be my favorite type of blues. "Strong Man Holler" is indeed a very magical song; it grabs your mind and keeps it right there." Born in Chicago in 1956, Bill Morganfield was raised by his grandmother in southern Florida and now resides in the Atlanta area. His father's legacy lives on in the tools of his art. Big Bill has both Muddy's touring amp and the guitars on which he composed some of his earliest works. More importantly, Bill carries Muddy's spirit and love for the blues, and says he feels a spiritual bond with his father when he's on stage. "My dad had a reputation for being a very dignified person, a very proud man. He gave us all a certain inner strength to go out and do whatever we needed to do." Musically, his father's influence came somewhat later. "Whenever I got the chance to hear him, it struck me strongly". But Bill didn't start off with the idea of being a professional musician until years later. It wasn't until after his father's death in 1983 that Bill decided to explore his musical heritage. "Daddy always wished that one of his kids would follow him and play music," says Bill. "A few years after he died, I bought myself a guitar and started playing a bit. In my mind, I said I want to do a tribute to him. But it was years before I got a chance to do anything. It all started from there. I kind of locked myself away for about six years and taught myself." He became stagestruck after performing with Lonnie Mack on Atlanta's Center Stage before a crowd of a thousand people. "I sang and played and the people went crazy. I was dancing around like a jumping bean. I realized I've got a love for this. I got such a feeling." He first formed a band that played contemporary blues but that lasted only three months. He was unhappy with the sound of the music, "so I dedicated myself to playing at a higher level." He retreated to his room to devote his energy to perfecting his guitar playing and sharpening his raw but undeniable talent. In the meantime, he used his bachelor's degrees in English from Tuskegee University and Communications from Auburn University to make a living as a teacher while he learned to play traditional blues. He spent countless hours methodically studying, ripping apart, and reconstructing songs. Immersing himself in this work, Bill learned the art of song writing. Big Bill's debut recording, Rising Son was cut in Chicago where his father recorded so many classic sides. The album was produced by Muddy's long time guitarist, and a close friend of Bill's, Bob Margolin, who also played on the record. Three other former members of the Muddy Waters Blues Band also joined Bill in the studio: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums, Paul Oscher on harmonica and Pinetop Perkins on piano. The combo was completed with the legendary Chicago blues master and former Sunnyland Slim band member Robert Stroger on bass. Bill said of the sessions, "It was so inspiring playing with these musicians. Working with them in the studio was a special experience. They really brought out the best in me; those sessions left me with memories I'll never forget." Now, Ramblin' Mind fulfills Rising Son's promise of greatness and documents the maturation of a major blues star. Big Bill's story is simply a great one, and as the son of one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century, Bill has proven himself up to the challenge of meeting many of the burdensome expectations placed upon him. Big Bill's continuing success in presenting a new Morganfield's music into the next century would certainly make his father proud. Copyright © 2003 2003 Big Bill Morganfield.net |
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Rev. Billy
C. Wirtz
  Back in 1982, in Virginia, Rev. Billy C.Wirtz, director of The First House Of Polyester Worship And Horizontal Throbbing Teenage Desire, set off on a one man crusade to combine authentic roots piano styles with more contemporary and skewed themes, and over the course of sixteen years with such classics as "Mennonite Surf Party", "Roberta", and "Inbred", he's done just that. His electrifying piano and onstage antics have amused, confused and amazed audiences from The Greek Theater in Berkeley to The Bottom Line in New York, from the Ultimate Rhythm and Blues Cruise to countless comedy and music clubs and one-nighters across the country. Along the way, he also became semi-respectable as a journalist . A chance meeting with Bob Doerschuk, (then editor of Keyboard magazine) in 1993, led to a regular column entitled,"Road Stories". Doerschuk left to become senior editor at Musician magazine in 1995 and took the Rev. with him. Until the magazine's demise in 1999, Billy wrote regular installments for the magazine 's "Backside" section. He is now freelancing, making regular contributions to Allmusic.com, and a book project, Don't Eat At Joe's, is being considered by a major publisher. The clerical title Rev. Billy C. Wirtz received via the mail; the accolades he's earned after nearly two decades on the road. The critics often describe him as "a twisted, musical genius" and his shows as "total anarchy!" Wirtz describes himself as James Brown meets Porter Wagoner or better still...Jerry Lee Lewis discovers his inner child, buys it a sex change, and then marries it. As The Rev. says, "Call it strange, call it genius, call it stupid, call it anything you like; just don't call it 'wacky' and compare it to Weird Al!" |
Ladies Auxiliary
Phat Katz
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The stage
will be full of some of the
best blues artists performing
today.
The Festival will take place Rain or Shine! There are over 1200 seats under cover |
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Need info about the Blues Festival?
You can contact the Danville, Va Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism at 434-793-INFO or Tony Turner at LiveMusic@DanRiverRegion.com |
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LIVE IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN MEMOREX!