Armstrong Bearcat Band
Once you experience the searing brand of hard-driving, in-your-face blues and rock and roll of Armstrong Bearcat, you will understand their demand.
BC Hudson & Daryl Rowland
Daryl Rowland has had the good fortune to play with many great blues musicians in New York (Johnny Winter, B.B. King Johnny Copeland) & LA ( Ray Bailey, Louisiana Red, Mickey Champion and more) and brings his unique guitar style to NE Ohio. BC Hudson (performing locally with the Skip Werke Band and Sight-N-Sound) joined Daryl in 2013 to form “Goodfellas”, and “9 Volt Hot Rod” in 2014, bringing his rock-solid bass lines to the mix. They bring their ”blues you can’t refuse” energy to their duo performances of great blues standards and tasty blues originals.
Blue Lunch
The late 1940s and early 1950s were a magical time in American musical history, when blues, rhythm & blues, swing and rock & roll were all one thing. Blue Lunch explores the era and makes it their own.
The Bluestones
Inspired by a dream, the Bluestones were founded over twenty years ago by Jim Fox. Jim continues to manage and lead the band as a vocalist and guitarist. The coining of the name ‘Bluestones’ came from the combined influences of the Blues Brothers and the Rolling Stones. The band is serious about the music, but themselves, not so much. After twenty years of entertaining audiences every week, they’ve learned a thing or two about having fun!
Brett Davis
Thoreau Hawk is a stage name Davis coined after living in Thoreau, New Mexico. He also performs in bands such as The Muskrats, The Progressives, Ricky Frets and The Cowboys, and High Class Carnival.
Cody Martin
Cody J. Martin writes songs that rest where folk, blues and country music intersect. The Massillon, Ohio native has been performing his aggressive, fingerpicked tunes for nearly 5 years in both his home state and across the country. He is currently recording the follow up to his debut album, 2014’s “Somewhere You’d Rather Be.”
Dale Galgozy
Galgozy will play Americana and country blues. He teaches guitar, too, so if you pay attention, you might learn a thing or two
Evolution
Through the years, Clapton has been a major influence and icon who inspired artist, Christopher Wintrip, founder of EVOLUTION. “We want to do justice to rock music’s most legendary performer, Mr. Eric Clapton.” We cover Clapton’s musical career performing hit songs from The Yard Birds, Blues Breakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominos and Clapton’s solo career and hits for an incredible journey through time and the full Eric Clapton experience.
Gaetano Letizia and the Underworld Blues Band
Gaetano Letizia & the Underworld Blues Band was formed in 2010 by guitarist/composer Gaetano Letizia to play a style of progressive blues that combines it with funk, rock, jazz and soul. Desiring to stand on the shoulders of the blues greats, the band strives to produce creative, new blues music that honors and expands their great tradition. The group has a core of three veterans (Gaetano Letizia, Larry Keller, Mike D’Elia) and an extended family of feature artists that join in when needed.
Guy Pernetti
Guy Pernetti’s musical experience began at the age of eight when he was given his first guitar. At fourteen he was composing original flamenco and classical styled pieces. He began playing publicly in coffee houses and restaurants, and then on radio programs, colleges, and concert venues.
In competitions, Pernetti won a spot to perform on Art Linkletter Productions, Disney Channel program, UP AND COMING, and later, after a first place win in the talent competition at the Kent State Folk Festival 2004, he opened for Maura O’Connell.
For three and a half years he served as Musician in Residence through University Circle Inc.’s joint effort with the Cleveland Veterans Administration Hospitals, and National Endowment for the Arts.
On stage, he has opened for such acts as, Leon Russell, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Graham Nash, The Ohio Ballet, David Allen Coe, Brian Auger and The Oblivion Band, David Lindley, Greg Brown, and Chris Thomas King.
Guy Pernetti has earned a reputation for clean and beautiful guitar work, along with unique vocal interpretation. With three CD’s published, he sings and plays with various styling and special tunings that express an intimacy and feeling for the music. Performing on a wide variety of styles and guitars, including Dobro and Hawaiian slide guitars, he also plays and writes for the electric, steel six string and classical guitars as well. Guy Pernetti appears from coast to coast and maintains an active schedule.
Hot Potatoes
The Hot Potatoes play a wild mix of blues, swing and originals, with a touch of New Orleans for spice. Instrumentation consists of guitars, fiddle, harmonica, upright bass and a drummer who plays a light kit, mostly with brushes. The Hot Potatoes can go from Chicago blues to a Cajun fiddle tune, from a field shout to a sophisticated swing tune in less time than it takes to say it. Beyond the high level of musicianship, the one constant in their performances is the constant sense of enjoyment – these guys love playing music and they have a lot of fun doing it!
Their motto: “Cogito ergo spud” (I think therefore I yam)
Ian Penter
Ian Pinter has spent the last 20 years pursuing his passion for the Delta Blues.
He sums up his sound in two words: “’Lectrified Grit,” raw and soulful, seething with power and emotion.
Jake Friel and the Brighterside Band
Jake Friel and The Brighter Side create an eclectic mix of sound that is both retro and modern. These young men bring an old style of music with a unique sound, one that is both raw and refined. Some deep fried, smokestack lightnin’, juke joint burnin’ blues.
Jarred Goldweber and The Park Brothers
Harmonica phenom Jarred Goldweber has been playing professionally since the age of fourteen, and has been capturing audiences ever since with his smoking style. Supported by his band, The Park Brothers–Bobby Laverty (Guitar), Gene Klaus (percussion) and Mark Langworthy (Bass)–an energetic and fresh indie-blues band, all hailing from Cleveland Ohio.
Jess Collins
American Australian singer songwriter Jess Collins was born in 1985 to her American mother and Aussie father in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Collins has been singing since she was old enough to hum a tune. Relocated to Kent, Ohio in 1995, Collins began to dabble with the acoustic guitar and songwriting from the age of 13. She developed a love for folk rock and blues while attending Kent State University, which was made infamous in 1970 when the US National Guard opened fire on a group of protestors, killing four students and wounding 9. Collins spent her early twenties singing and playing guitar in Kent and the surrounding areas at open mic nights, which she found inspiring, but never quite payed the bills. In 2009, she flew to Australia for a month long visit, which turned into a life long adventure. Apart from a quick visit back to the USA in 2013, Collins has spent the last five years of her time on the East coast of Australia. After a stint in Sydney “working for the man in a job that made the rich richer, and me poor as hell”, Collins decided to give up the big city and relocate to Albury to focus on her music full time. “It has been scary at times, but, I know there’s nothing else I can do with this life except follow this dream from here on out.” Most recently Collins has spent her time playing alongside local the local talent in the pubs and busking in the streets of Albury and the surrounding areas. She has been featured with the Highway 31 Blues Club, a long standing blues organization which scouted her from an open mic night in Albury in early 2014.
Joey Beltram
Not one to stay put for long, prolific Ohio songwriter Joey Beltram has earned fans and friends through repeated solo motorcycle tours across the states, and his songs describe the mix of exhilaration and longing that accompany these nomadic departures.
Beltram’s long-running project Goodmorning Valentine is eclectic Americana that embraces the upbeat rhythms of Motown and ’60s rock & pop, while paying tribute to the timeless songcraft that extends from Cole Porter to Johnny Cash, and to the world-weary musings of later decades’ artists like Jeff Tweedy and Tom Waits.
Beltram’s unforgettable melodies and powerful, plaintive vocals carry spare lyrics against a sophisticated chamber-pop backdrop.
Of Goodmorning Valentine, The Big Takeover said, “The sense of wide-open space meeting the expanse of time that is at the heart of American roots music pervades, rich and dewy.”
Beltram’s succinct and tuneful vignettes raise a toast to our collective heartache, mourn the turn of seasons and love’s unraveling, and rejoice in music’s redemptive promise.
”Less-is-more lyrical tales of revelation and resignation . . . this is music for late nights in the dark holding on to the one you love.” —AMERICANA UK
John Patrick and The Outside Voices
John Patrick & The Outside Voices is a five-piece outfit fronted by singer-songwriter John Patrick Halling.
2017 brings the release of the band’s full-length debut “Hound Dogs” – recorded at Amish Electric Chair Studios in Athens, OH. The 10 song album is both evocative and hook-filled, with winding ’70s-inspired riffs and “… a pinch of the Ryan Adams / Whiskeytown influence that touches the heart of this new generation of troubadours (Cleveland.com).”
Johnny G
Singer, songwriter, guitar player and story-teller Johnny G grew up in a Cleveland ghetto listening to Motown, jazz and gospel on the radio. Most see him as a mysterious cat who writes about his checkered past in songs with solid vocals and arrangements. His original music combines great storytelling with funk, Americana and jazzy blues, with an occasional horn influenced scat, to deliver his distinctive Johnny G sound. He also has one CD to his credit, “Road Worn Man.”
At the Kent Blues Fest, he will be joined by his long-time bass player, Brant Novak, who currently plays with Taylor Carano, Shattered Sticks and Woovs.
Jon Finley
Baseball fan Jon Finley is one of the coolest guys ever and a little known artist in Northeast Ohio’s music scene which has been on life support for over a decade. Jon’s dedication to this decaying and decrepit Ohio subculture is at the same time admirable and pointless. Jon regularly plays shows to less than a dozen people at area venues that pay him less than 10 dollars.
His mixture of New Age music and New Age music is complimented nicely by his sub-par keyboard skill and strict blues box mediocrity. Some call Jon a diamond in the rough while others see him as tumbleweed hurtling throughout the endless void of misery that is indie music. Be sure to catch him at a busted ass club near you…..most likely on a Wednesday nite!
Jon Mosey Trio
An all-original roots-rock/blues band, the Trio performs original old-school blues and New Roots Music written by guitarist/vocalist Jon Mosey. The Trio consists of three full-time professional musicians, each a highly-respected performer in their own right. With diverse musical backgrounds, the members of the Trio craft a powerful and instantly recognizable sound around Mosey’s gritty, rootsy originals.
Steeped in the traditions Piedmont blues, Zydeco, and Brazilian Choro, Jon Mosey has become one of the region’s most unique and unmistakable composers. Bassist Toussaint English, one of the most in-demand bassists in the region, received his Masters degree in Music Composition from The University Of Akron and is currently completing a Masters in Music History. Percussionist Jason Edwards has been performing professionally for over twenty years. Alternately serving on drums are the esteemed Erik Diaz and Dylan Roth.
The Juke Hounds
The Juke Hounds play the ”blues with a feeling” all right. But that feeling is not the familiar woe-is-me nobody-loves-me pose, but one of defiance and swagger that says “you can’t keep me down.” The music, the lyrics and even the bands aggressive stage presence, announce they are a force to be reckoned with.
Lazarus
Austin via Ohio singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lazarus has been writing and playing music for over two decades. While his musical path has veered in various directions including Folk, Punk, Rock, and Country, they all converged on his debut release, Rock N Roll Heart, which embodies the Americana sound. Recorded at King Electric Studios in Austin with producer Kris Brown and guests that included, Warren Hood, Denis Ludiker, Libby Koch, and others, the album features songs like the country-tinged, “Makin’ Good Time”, those with a folk lean “Rise” and “Come Again in Glory”, and still others, “Gonna Be Okay,” with a welcome slice of New Orleans flair.
Memphis Cradle
Memphis Cradle has always been about the blues. Whether you like your blues hard and hot or soft and cool, Memphis Cradle’s versatility allows the listeners to enjoy all aspects of the genre with both their original compositions and covers.
15-60-75 (The Numbers Band)
“We are not interested in making hits; we are interested in making history.” Robert Kidney, Creem Magazine
15 60 75 The Numbers Band has been praised by almost every national music publication and several international publications since the beginning of their 30 years of live performances and recordings. Many fans are under the impression that the band remains obscure by choice. In fact, they have never been offered a contract from any recording company in the industry, ever.
Raw Sugar
You’ve heard Raw Sugar play The Kent Beatlefest, but now they will play the blues. Evidently, there is nothing this powerhouse trio of Chris Edwards ,Eric Oswald & Jackson Bolling can’t do.
Prepare to be entertained!
Ray Flanagan
In a climate of singers, songwriters, and guitar players, Ray Flanagan is an artist. Balancing a soul of thoughtfulness and gut intuition, he weaves together images of love, justice, and depth perception. Or the absence of these things. From valley lows to the top of the world, Flanagan’s songs show a range and a commitment to the history of craft that is, daily, being muddled by illusionists and proprietors of strict aesthetics, void of weight and meaning. His music is reflective of his own observations off of the world, set in, around, or completely outside of his own life. A firm believer in the philosophy of his friend and teacher Roger Hoover’s New Song Movement, Ray Flanagan is cause for a next, uncharted step ahead in the narrative of American music.
Roger Hoover & The Western Reserve
Roger Hoover is a Southern-born, Ohio-raised singer songwriter whose plaintive brand of songs seem to come from some unknown time and place. These are timeless laments and rambles of a guitarist and banjo player who performs with equal parts impassioned vocals and honest, heartfelt lyricism.
Joining Roger as The Western Reserve are Ray Flanagan, Russell Flanagan, and Kevin Martinez.
Sausalito Blues Project
Sausalito is a dynamic jazz band coming together for the Kent Blues Fest to put their unique spin on some classic blues songs from Ray Charles to B.B. King. Band Members: Dorianne Denard, vocals; Kyle Magilavy, keyboard & vocals; John Kokoczka, bass; Ali Boyd, drums will not disappoint.
Sharon T & Mary Rose
You may know them from Bit O’Honey or Mojo Honey, but no matter how you know them, they’re still Sharon Telecky and Mary Rose Durdak. These honeys will bring you some soul shaking blues.
