Austin “Walkin’ Cane”
“Damn Fine Blues!” Original & classic delta blues featuring slide guitar and soulful vocals. A blues gumbo repertoire that can conjure up the ghosts of highway 61 & the delta blues experience. Austin “Walkin’ Cane” is a blues singer, songwriter and slide guitarist that performs acoustic solo, duo & electric band sets. Walkin’ Cane has traveled all over the world from New Orleans, Louisiana to the Gold Coast of Australia and has acquired various blues/instrumentalist awards over the years. Austin walked for ten years with a cane due to an arterial venous malformation at birth. While performing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, a homeless man called out “Hey Walkin’ Cane got some spare change for a brother?” Austin took the jibe as his nickname. In 1996, after years of battling the inevitable, his left leg was amputated below the knee. A year after the surgery, he returned to the music scene stronger & without need of a cane. In 2002, Austin & Karen Starks were married at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and began recording his 706 Union Ave. CD at the legendary studio immediately after the ceremony. “The thought of getting married & recording in the same room where many of my heroes took their first steps was incredible.” Austin “Walkin’ Cane” is proud to be sponsored by National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Dr. Z Amplifiers & Ernie Ball Strings.
Big Blue O featuring Colin John
An accomplished, versatile musician, Colin John commands the stage with both his guitar prowess and passionate singing honed from years steeped in Memphis’ rich music community. His infectious, genre-defying style was described by the British music magazine Mojo as “ferociously entertaining funked-up R&B” and a reviewer from the Akron Beacon Journal suggested he sounds like “Albert King channeling Steve Vai.”
After graduating from Ohio University, John turned pro. Answering an ad in The Village Voice, he landed the guitar spot with the New York City band Little Mike and the Tornadoes. This stint gave Colin the chance to mingle with a number of blues notables, including one-time Muddy Waters pianist Pinetop Perkins. Eventually, John chose to hook up with friends in Memphis.
Playing lead in the house band at B.B. King’s Beale Street club, Colin would often back visiting artists such as Hank Ballard, James Cotton and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown.
John moved to London in 1993, and spent 10 years playing with some top veteran musicians there. Family matters drew him back to Ohio in 2002, where he built a solid fan, while traveling between Europe and Hawaii. Hawaii and the music of the islands stole his heart and that is now where he makes his home. Joining John in Big Blue O is Kalani Souza and Chris Shaeffer.
Blue Lunch
The late 1940′s and early 1950′s were a magical time in American musical history, when blues, rhythm & blues, swing and rock & roll were all one thing. Blue Lunch explores that era and that music and makes it their own.
Eight virtuoso musicians, performing on guitar, piano, upright bass, drums, harmonica, saxophones, trumpet, and trombone, make up the band. They’ve performed at dozens of concerts, festivals, dances, clubs and private functions throughout the mid-West.
In addition to their exciting instrumental work, Blue Lunch also boasts at least five vocalists and includes doo-wop style harmonies in their repertoire.
Blue Lunch has recorded and released six CDs, Recorded Live at Wilberts, Eyes Wide Open, Not Live at the Copa, Big Sound Blues, Sideswiped and their newest, Saxophone Shootout II. The releases have received airplay all over the world.
2011 marks the 27th anniversary of the band.
The Bluestones
Playing in Northeast Ohio for over fifteen years, The Bluestones are a four-piece band from Kent. They play a variety of music styles: oldies, classic rock, blues, and country. The Bluestones have performed at dozens of major events in Northeast Ohio, including the Blues and Brews Festival at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, the Akron Art Museum’s Downtown at Dusk Summer Concert Series, Kent Heritage Festival and The NBA All-Star post game celebration.
The Bluestones, who served at the house band for Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland for a number of years, are Donny Baker, Jim Fox, Keith Mcfarren and Ansel Weese. The Bluestones have opened for national acts such as Shamekia Copeland, Koko Taylor, and Robert Lockwood Jr. and have played more than 1,200 performances.
Paul Borger
Guitarist Paul Borger specializes in finger style blues with roots from the 1920′s
through the 1950′s. His styles range from jazzy blues numbers to Piedmont-style
finger picking country blues, novelty tunes and originals. From Big Bill Broonzy,
Lightning Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and even James Booker, his music will bring a
smile to your face and get your feet moving.
Cleveland Fats
Mark “Cleveland Fats” Hahn is a versatile guitarist who possesses a strong reverence for the tradition of blues. As a youngster he started playing the guitar by studying the recordings of such masters as Muddy Waters, The Kings (Albert, B.B., and Freddie), Earl Hooker, and T- Bone Walker. He was particularly interested in many of the Chess recordings of the 1950s. While in high school he joined the band of Otis Trotter, who had a loyal following in Fats’ home town of Ravenna, Ohio . Playing in Trotter’s band allowed Fats the opportunity to perform and develop his craft by working first – hand with seasoned blues veterans
Shortly after finishing high school Fats met and befriended Robert Lockwood, Jr. Soon thereafter Fats was asked to join the band of Mr. Lockwood. While a member of the Lockwood band, Fats had the opportunity to continue his musical education by studying at the feet of a master. Fats performed, traveled, and recorded with Robert Lockwood, Jr. for the better part of seventeen years.
Cleveland Fats is a master blues guitarist. He plays with a rich, deep tone and is comfortable playing everything from solo Delta-style acoustic to traditional Chicago blues to uptown Memphis and West Coast blues. Cleveland Fats is a dedicated bluesman and this can be seen whether he is playing solo or fronting his hard – driving band.
Wallace Coleman
As a young man in eastern Tennessee, Wallace Coleman instead captivated by the sounds he heard late at night from Nashville’s WLAC – the blues.
The sounds haunted him by day where, he says, “I would be sitting in class and hear Howlin’ Wolf singing in my head.” It was on WLAC where Coleman first heard those who would become Blues Legends and musical influences: Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. The guitar foundation on many of those recordings was Robert Lockwood Jr. – a man who would play a major role in his musical career.
Coleman left Tennessee in 1956 to find work in Cleveland. He found steady work and, to his delight, an active blues community where Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, B.B. King and others came to perform.
A self-taught musician, Coleman played the harmonica on his breaks at work. One day a co-worker brought his cousin to the job site to hear Coleman play. That meeting sparked a year-long pairing with Cleveland’s Guitar Slim at the Cascade Lounge.
It was there that Coleman caught the ear of audience member Robert Lockwood Jr. Asked by Lockwood to join his band, Coleman expressed that he first wanted to retire from his day job. Two years later, in 1987, a newly-retired Coleman did indeed contact Lockwood. That call initiated a 10-year position in Lockwood’s band.
Lockwood said he would never hire a harmonica player; then he heard Wallace Coleman play.
Coleman was honored to take the stage with the guitarist who had created some of the classic guitar parts on the recordings of Coleman’s harmonica heroes—the same recordings he first heard over WLAC’s airwaves some 30 years earlier. An innovator himself, Coleman created harmonica parts for several Robert Johnson songs performed by Lockwood (Johnson’s step-son and student). Performing and traveling in the U.S.,
Canada and overseas with Lockwood were Coleman’s first steps onto his own professional musical path.
In 1997 Coleman left Lockwood’s band and graduated to the post of full-time bandleader. Shortly before leaving, Coleman performed on Lockwood’s Grammy-nominated CD, “I Gotta Find Me a Woman.”
Coleman is a highly regarded original who is a sought after performer at clubs and festivals.
Roger Hoover
Over the past 10 years, Akron’s Roger Hoover has been preaching the gospel of American music to a growing group of devoted fans. Heavily influenced by early blues, folk, hymns and country, Roger crafts distinct songs that compel his audience to feel the triumph, tragedy, sin, redemption and heartbreak of the characters he creates.
Wanda Hunt Band
Since 1994, the outstanding Wanda Hunt Band has been known throughout Northeast Ohio for performing the best in old school rhythm and blues, Motown and Stax soul, Chicago blues and New Orleans funk.
One of the area’s most beloved groups, there’s nothing quite like the incredible Wanda Hunt Band. The hard driving rhythm section and blistering horn section have the pedal to the metal every night just to keep up with the soulful, powerful vocals of the amazing Wanda Hunt.
The Wanda Hunt Band plays its own unique and original arrangements of familiar songs that breathe new life into classic fare and often surprise the listener. Their playlist includes timeless selections by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Tower of Power and many older and current artists, as well as several songs composed by our own band members.
With their big band instrumentation and outstanding musicianship, the Wanda Hunt Band entertains young and old, hip and square, blue collar and white collar alike. They have performed in settings as small as a neighborhood block party or local nightclub, to huge stage shows as both the opener for famous touring bands and the headliner for many local concerts.
Wanda Hunt – Vocals
Mike Covert – Bass
Tim Coyne – Trumpet and Vocals
Jeff Curtis – Keyboards and Vocals
Larry Dickerhoff – Trombone
Mike Sampsel – Guitar and Vocals
Steve Wendelken – Saxophone
Brad Shell – Drums
Mike Lenz
Mike Lenz is based in Akron, Ohio and performs on guitar, vocals, harmonica, and amplified stompbox. Lenz is influenced by everything from Delta and Piedmont blues artists such as Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller to the Memphis blues, jug band stomps and rags of the 20′s and 30′s to classic 50′s and 60′s electric Chicago blues of Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Howlin’ Wolf to the juke joint boogies of Hound Dog Taylor and North Mississippi blues, as well as a bit of the raw rock he was raised on. His live show includes his originals, lots of blues, bit of classic 20′s-40′s country, and tastes of just about every genre of underproduced, unpretentious American music.
Memphis Cradle
Memphis Cradle, winners of the Northeast Ohio Blues Association’s 2011 Blues Challenge, 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.
Memphis Cradle is comprised of talented seasoned professionals who have a history and love for playing music. Their interpretations exemplify what the blues is all about…feeling. Their experience and spirit will demonstrate this when they represent Northeast Ohio at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis next year.
Bassist Gary Sands brings his years of experience from both on and off the road to Memphis Cradle’s live shows and his original music. With his soulful lead vocals and engaging stage performance, Sands makes showmanship a highlight of all Memphis Cradle shows.
Guitarist Joe King, a Kent native, provides the fiery heart of the band with his lightning fast leads, cascading bends, innovative arrangements and heartfelt vocals. King’s experience pulls from all corners of the blues which is evident in both his live performance and song writing abilities.
Drummer Bruce Woodring provides the driving force behind Memphis Cradle. Maintaining an unfettered style, Woodring’s drumming goes where the music needs to move, whether it is an easy shuffle or complex rhythm.
Stacy Mitchhart
Stacy Mitchhart has built a worldwide fan base thanks to phenomenal live performances, national television exposure, radio airplay, and loyal enthusiastic fans. His masterful guitar work and strong vocals have been the driving forces behind his successful career. He has won numerous top industry awards and actively tours the U.S. and abroad.
A Cincinnati native, Mitchhart’s early musical influences were his parents albums – artists such as Wes Montgomery, Al Hirt, Herb Alpert, Boots Randolph and the Mills Brothers. Mitchhart took those early musical influences and started a lifelong career.
After a few years on the East Coast, time in Los Angeles and touring top venues and festivals, Mitchhart returned to his hometown in 1991. He put together a blues show called Stacy Mitchhart & Blues-U-Can-Use that attracted rock and soul fans as well as diehard blues fans, and was able to fill clubs and venues normally reserved for rock groups.
He moved to Nashville in 1996 and took up residency as the house band for the hugely popular Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar in historic Printer’s Alley, and was instrumental in the club being awarded “The Best Blues Club of the Year 2000″ by the Blues Foundation.
Mitchhart, who now plays a number of popular venues in the city, is widely recognized as the best show in Nashville. Whether playing Nashville or on the road, the thing that Mitchhart likes most about his audience is its wide mix of music fans.
Mitchhart and his red-hot band have built a strong following in Northeast Ohio through regular appearances at The Savannah in Westlake.
“Decked in a pristine dark blue pinstriped suit and vest, over a yellow/gold dress shirt, topped by matching blue hat with black band, Stacy looked the epitome of a Southern gentleman,” said Dianna Raye of Music City Blues.
Jon Mosey
Northeast Ohio’s Jon Mosey has toured the country as a solo bluesman/guitarist/singer-songwriter playing his own unique brand of original new roots music. In his three and a half decades as a full time musician, he’s played “every seedy little dive in the world, everyplace from the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame to a street corner somewhere in downtown New Haven”.
Entirely self-taught, for the past 38 years Mosey has made his living as a performer. He is a distinctive musician coming from a background rooted firmly in pre-war American traditional music. Based on the traditions of the 1920′s and 30′s, Mosey’s unconventional take on songwriting is innovative and familiar, grounded in those traditions but still distinctly contemporary. Binding it all together are
Jon’s unique finger-picked guitar improvisations, incorporating an extraordinary mixture of styles. With five solo recordings and a sixth due out soon, he has a lot of material to draw from. His performances have brought rave reviews from sources as diverse as Sing Out!, The Plain Dealer, Dirty Linen, The Akron Beacon Journal and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Mosey keeps up a heavy schedule of performing, touring and recording. In addition to his work as a soloist, Jon currently plays in a Brazilian Choro quartet, a ragtime/blues string band, an Italian trio, an all-original roots-rock trio and most recently he’s teamed with long-time friend, Ohio blues master Mike Lenz for some rootsy, guitar-driven originals. He also works as a sideman, recording and
performing with many artists and teaches traditional styles on a variety of instruments.
Bob Niederriter Trio
Bob Niederriter is a musician firmly rooted in jazz but with a deep appreciation of blues, classical and other genres. He is a composer, guitarist and arranger who has studied and performed with great artists in jazz and modern classical music and has doggedly pursued excellence in the field, immersing himself in the music while seeking inspiration and instruction from the masters.
Bob Niederriter was born in Cleveland and was exposed to music at an early age. Both of his grandmothers played piano, and he began to find his way around the instrument as soon as he could climb aboard. He began to actually play piano under his great grandmother’s tutelage, but soon graduated to a home-made guitar which his father helped to fashion from a cigar box and fishing line. Reflecting back on this first
guitar, Niederriter notes that without any instruction he tuned the instrument in 4ths. He also studied the violin, and while he found the lessons too constrictive he did maintain interest long enough to learn to read music.
Niederriter’s approach to music is based upon an embrace of a fundamental modern jazz tradition. As a guitarist he cites the dominant influence of Wes Montgomery on his thumb technique, his tone and his compositional style. He also points to the seminal recordings of Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel as having had an important impact on his playing.
As a guitar stylist, Niederriter shuns the temptations of gratuitous speed and technique for a more considered and mature approach, particularly with respect to soloing . His lines are thoughtfully conceived and cleanly executed statements which are more reflective of melodic acuity than empty dexterity.
The Numbers Band
The Numbers Band has been praised by almost every national music publication and several international publications since the beginning of their 40 years of live performances and recordings.
Robert Kidney picked up a guitar and began teaching himself to play when he 16. At 17, he played solo in coffee houses and also opened for several acts at La Cave in Cleveland such as Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponys and Janis Ian. After a short stint in the service in Chicago, he moved back to Northeast Ohio in the spring of 1969. He was invited to play with local group Pig Iron, and wound up replacing their front man. Kidney also changed the name of the band to 15 60 75. Over the years the group has become know simply as The Numbers Band. In the ‘70s, the group’s performances at local Kent establishments such as the Kove became somewhat legendary, attracting a wild mix of students, townies, hippies, musicians, and music fans of every stripe.
Robert, along with his brother Jack (harmonica, keyboards, sax) and Terry Hynde (sax) have been the core of the band since its inception. The band now includes Frank Casamento on drums and Bill Watson on bass. The Numbers Band is now celebrating its 39th year of performing its unique brand of blues and jazz.
Ian Penter
Ian Penter has been making a name for himself as a first-rate blues guitarist through his exciting live performances at Northeast Ohio venues such as the Beachland Ballroom, The Kent Stage, and the Zephyr in Kent.
Monica Robins & The Whiskey Kings
Monica Robins & The Whiskey Kings has been rocking Cleveland since 1998, and features the blues, soul, and rock hits of the last four decades and much more.
The band has opened for legendary acts such as Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Temptations, Eddie Money and Hall and Oates.
Band members feature Monica Robins on lead vocals, the heart-pounding shredding of lead guitarist Ken Cali, the smooth bass of Dan Bowman, the rock steady rhythm of drummer Deke Kumler and the sultry lead and backup vocals of Luther Smith.
The Whiskey Kings appeal to audiences of all ages with their hard-charging blues, rock and soul.
The band has played many major venues throughout the region including Tower City Amphitheater, House of Blues, Nautica Stage, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ohio Derby/Thistledown and the Beachland Ballroom. However, the band can usually be fond in one of several of Northeast Ohio’s smaller club venues that cater to great local music.
Steelheaders
Bluesy and soulful with notes of funk and folk, The Steelheaders’ original sound is a reflection of the players’ diverse musical backgrounds. The Steelheaders is a new band with a boatload of combined experience. Inspired, original music by seasoned artists, each bringing their own flavor to the mix:
Michael Grady – Songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist. Originally from Kalamazoo, Mich., Grady has been performing his folk-inspired blues for over 20 years. A bundle of talent who shines brightest on guitar, Michael plays the instrument like it’s a natural extension of himself. Winner of the 2010 Kent State Folk Festival talent competition.
John Gouskos- Singer, songwriter, guitar player and percussionist. Gouskos grew up in the rough “Bloody Corners” neighborhood of Cleveland, but survived with the soul of an artist. John tells wonderful stories through his songs and really nails it down with his vocals. When Johnny’s in the groove, his performance is transcendent.
Brant Novak- Upright Bass. Novak’s musical obsession started when he picked up the saxophone in grade school. Since then, he has taken on a slew of different instruments and musical projects. After 19 years gigging around the country, Novak is now back in Northeast Ohio where his preferred weapon is the upright bass.
Ed Wheeler- Drums. Wheeler was just 15-years-old when he first performed with adult rock bands in the late 60′s. He’s been keeping the beat ever since. He works full-time as a studio/session musician and plays with several groups in various styles from 60′s rock to Brazilian.
Tim Quine- Harmonica. A talented writer and guitarist, Quine’s faculty on the blues harp gives The Steelheaders’ music an edge. Bright and bluesy, his playing communicates a deep knowledge and a deadly humor.
Zydeco Kings
The Zydeco Kings are a hot-sauced mixture of old school rhythm & blues infused with the spirit of New Orleans. The group is Steeped in gumbo boogie woogie, a dash of Caribbean soul, rollicking piano, accordion, guitar, saxophone, bass, drums and of course, some rub board. The Zydeco Kings have been celebrating the music of Louisiana for over twelve years, and include these veteran musicians: Bob Corlett -
accordion, keys & vocals, Brad Bolton – guitar, Chris Koppleberger – bass & vocals, Doug Smith aka “Gumbo Smitty” – drums and Keith McFerrin – percussion