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Grafton blues show
Last night, Cyn and I went to a blues show. Five bands, playing in benefit of three of the bands taking a trip to Memphis, for the International Blues Challenge. It was a good show.
The first band was Sequoia and the Virgins. They did mid-tempo soulful blues. Sequoia is a seventeen-year old girl, and she had three similarly aged boys backing her up (with a guest "old lady" on vocals for "Summertime"). The organist was quite good, and really made their sound.
Jared James Nichols was a 20-year old hotshot guitarist, with a 17- and a 14-year old backing him up on bass and drums. They were competing in the youth category.
Steve Cohen is a veteran on the Milwaukee scene, and one of the best on the harp. These days he's taken up guitar, and is quite good. He's competing in the solo category.
Then Michael Ammons and the Water Street Hotshots. I'd forgotten we'd seen them before. They're an old-timey blues band. guitars, mandolin, fiddle, washboard, bass, jug, etc. Steve Cohen sat in on harmonica for half their set. They didn't really need that, since they're already five guys, and the harp is very often redundant to a fiddle anyway.
Finally, Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo finished up the night. They're a hard rockin' trio. They were quite good. Surprisingly good, considering we have their CD. I didn't even realize they were a three-piece (they have some guests play on their album). At first I thought Cohen should have been sitting in with them, to round out their sound a bit, but they didn't really need it. They have a full, clean, professional sound.
The first band was Sequoia and the Virgins. They did mid-tempo soulful blues. Sequoia is a seventeen-year old girl, and she had three similarly aged boys backing her up (with a guest "old lady" on vocals for "Summertime"). The organist was quite good, and really made their sound.
Jared James Nichols was a 20-year old hotshot guitarist, with a 17- and a 14-year old backing him up on bass and drums. They were competing in the youth category.
Steve Cohen is a veteran on the Milwaukee scene, and one of the best on the harp. These days he's taken up guitar, and is quite good. He's competing in the solo category.
Then Michael Ammons and the Water Street Hotshots. I'd forgotten we'd seen them before. They're an old-timey blues band. guitars, mandolin, fiddle, washboard, bass, jug, etc. Steve Cohen sat in on harmonica for half their set. They didn't really need that, since they're already five guys, and the harp is very often redundant to a fiddle anyway.
Finally, Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo finished up the night. They're a hard rockin' trio. They were quite good. Surprisingly good, considering we have their CD. I didn't even realize they were a three-piece (they have some guests play on their album). At first I thought Cohen should have been sitting in with them, to round out their sound a bit, but they didn't really need it. They have a full, clean, professional sound.