Featured Artists
Michelle Wilson
Known to blues lovers the around the world as “Evil Gal” and acknowledged by aficionados of Jazz and Blues as a passionate and gifted performer, bandleader and songwriter, Michelle Willson has recorded and released 4 critically acclaimed albums for Rounder/ Bullseye Records.
Before signing with Rounder, Michelle’s group won a prestigious W.C. Handy award for best unsigned blues act as a result of their win at the Blues Foundation’s International Blues competition and Michelle was later nominated for a (best female blues vocal) Handy alongside Etta James and Koko Taylor.
Michelle and her group have performed at countless festivals, nightclubs and juke joints in 18 countries and logged more frequent flier miles than they will ever be able to use.
They also know the location of almost every rest stop on Rt. 90 from Boston to Seattle, that it takes 22 hours to get from Kansas City to Boston, if you only stop for absolute emergencies and Norway has the most and the best Hammond B-3 organs available for rent.
Michelle’s music is regularly played on blues radio and internet programs all around the globe and her original music has been featured in the HBO series “Mind of the Married Man”, as well as on the 2008 House of Blues compilation album “Essential Women in the Blues.”
Michelle’s performances and recordings have received rave reviews from such respected sources as The
Washington Post, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Downbeat, The Japan Times, GQ, Jazz Times and Living Blues, in addition to various other publications from many different countries.
Ace organist and producer Ron Levy, who began his music career playing with BB King and Albert Collins
while still a teenager, produced Michelle’s first 2 albums, “Evil Gal Blues” and “So Emotional.”
Scott Billington, who has worked with blues legends such as Ruth Brown, Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas and James Booker, produced “Tryin’ to Make a Little Love”, which was done in New Orleans at Ultrasonic
Studios, where Michelle recorded the original version of one of the last tunes written by Dr. John and Doc Pomus, “Responsibility.”
Michelle’s 4th cd, “Wake Up Call” received a Boston Music Award for outstanding blues cd.
Currently at work on her first new recording in 8 years, Michelle is co-producing this project with Carl
Querfurth, former Roomful of Blues trombonist.
Michelle hosts 2 weekly programs on Worcester’s NPR radio station, WICN.
“Voices of Jazz”(Friday 10AM-1PM ) and “Jazz n’ Blue” ( Sat. 4-7PM. ) http://www.wicn.org/
Her amazing voice, intense, engaging style, her vast knowledge of and passion for Rhythm & Blues music combined with years of experience as a road warrior in the music business add up to a unique show!
Shirley Lewis
Bor
n Shirley Lewis February 25, 1937 to James andAlma Lewis in Sicklerville N Jersey a southern New Jersey girl 3 from the youngest of 13 children has been singing since the age of 4 under the guidance of her Hopi Indian father who wrote down words to songs for the children to sing, they sang in fairs, schools, churches, atheletic events, and at family gatherings all the while she was being groomed to become a world class entertainer not just a singer but a singer who could and would wow audiences no matter where she performed her dad once told her she was born to sing and Shirley chose the profession of singing after finishing high school and business school to take a stab and chance at singing with a group who opened for BB King in the early 60’s she was sought out by the scouts looking for someone who had the potential and the capability to open for someone like BB King it was a lot different back then, then it is now you got paid as an opener not just for exposure it covered both ends now a days the clubs want you to open just for exposure this is what they offer young blues acts today so sad/ Shirley quips.For Shirley singing is like poetry and dance all in one and making people have fun while she is on stage doing the same thing having fun.Ms Lewis has not always sang under the name of Lewis she sang under her former name Granger she went back to Lewis after divorcing her husband #2. Ms Lewis had been through 3 marriages ending because of some form of abuse, Shirley has raised to beautiful daughters singing and traveling throughout the U.S, Canada,& Mexico.
Alizon
Alizon Lissance is one of New England’s most intriguing performing and recording artists. Playing piano since the age of six, her gutsy rock n’ blues style has been honed on such local stages as the Paradise, Harper’s Ferry, the Channel and the original House of Blues. Her CD, “So What About You” showcases the exciting variety of styles that give Alizon her distinctive and unique musical identity.
Alizon sings, plays keyboards and records her original music as a solo artist and with her own group, “Alizonia”. She is a founding member of The Love Dogs, an established jump swing, rhythm ‘n blues band that has been performing on regional and national stages for the past fifteen years with recordings on the Tone-Cool and T-Ray record labels. She also freelances with other local artists in and around the Boston area.A New Yorker by birth and temperament, Alizon attended the High School of Music and Art, Hunter College and later moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music, where she is currently teaches. Throughout the years, Alizon has worked with numerous New England bands, including four years with Boston’s favorite Girls’ Night Out, six years with the original pop jazz ensemble, Myanna as well as two year stints with Laurie Sargent and Shirley Lewis.In the course of her career she has shared the stage with such acts as NRBQ, Dr. John, Leslie Gore, the Band, ‘til Tuesday (Aimee Mann), Robert Palmer, Johnny Clyde Copeland, James Cotton, Mighty Sam MacClain, James Montgomery, Roomful of Blues, Paul Rishell and Lavern Baker. As a studio player, she has recorded with many styles, including blues, rock n’ roll, jazz and acoustic music.
Alizon’s artistic generosity and spirited playing have garnered critical praise from the press and the Boston community at large:
“…punctuated by the raucous, raise-the-dead keyboard gymnastics of Alizon Lissance.” -the
“Pianist, Alizon Lissance, was especially sharp. She could hold her own in any musical situation.” -the
“As a pianist, Lissance is known for her blues chops, inventive improvisations and unbridled passion…” -Worcester Magazine
To learn more about Alizon visit her on the web:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uirjS_91fic
Big Jack Ward
Jack was born into a musical family in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1956. The son of blues singer June Ward and boogie woogie piano player Johnny Ward, he started playing drums when he was three. By the age of seven, he had played behind some of the finest musicians in the world at the almost weekly house parties at our Cambridge home. Often after a gig, his parents would bring half of the nightclub home with them for these legendary parties. Many A list musicians would stop by knowing something would be going on. It was there that his love for music was born.By the age of eleven his father bought him his first guitar. At age fifteen he was at home blasting his favorite album on the stereo (Layla-Derick and the Domino’s) Duane Allman and Eric Clapton playing Bell Bottom Blues and him playing along with my guitar on TEN. When his father walked in and gave him a dose of his wisdom “Son, It’s not what you play…it’s what you leave out!” A piece of advice that would shape his guitar style for the rest of my life.For many years Jack would play clubs around New England with such notable performers as Silas Hubbard Jr, Weepin’ Willie Robinson, Sweet Roy Jones and K D Bell just to name a few. In the late eighties, he and long time friend Bill Walsh formed the popular New England band “Five Guys Named Moe”.For the last ten years he has been extremely fortunate. As a member of the legendary West Side Chicago Bluesman Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson’s band “The Magic Rockers” he has toured the world and played behind most of the major blues artists in the world. What stuck in his mind the most is the very first thing Luther said to me as a Magic Rocker. “Don’t ever play anything like someone else plays it…EVER!!!”
Chris Stovall Brown
Chris Stovall Brown has been playing music since the age of six when his parents came home with a set of bongo drums, which he taught himself to play in a matter of days. At the age of eight, his elementary school offered him the opportunity to study drums and he grabbed it. Acquiring a drum a year for Christmas, Chris was soon playing with neighborhood bands and actually did his first gigging as a drummer at the tender age of 13. Playing in both jazz, rock and wedding bands helped him to gain a wealth of expertise in various styles of music.In the early 90’s, Chris recorded on the Boston Blues Blast-Volume 1 and did Earring George’s Whup-It CD as well as CD’s with Ron Levy and Henry Lee Spencer. During this period he also worked with the following artists : Bo Diddley, James Cotton, A.C. Reed, Martha Reeves (of the Vandellas), Buddy Guy, Roy Buchanan, Howard Armstrong, Bobby Hebb and Big Al Downing. More recently he’s played behind re-discovered R and B great HOWARD TATE as well as jazz guitar legend JAMES BLOOD ULMER. FRONT PAGE BLUES, his first CD under his name was also recently released to good reviews. For 6 years Chris was involved as a performer/consultant for the Blues Schoolhouse Band 3 mornings a week at the late, lamented Cambridge House Of Blues. The new millennium has found him in a new role as a producer, producing 2 critically acclaimed cd’s for Oklahoma bluesman WATERMELON SLIM (see discography) as well as working on a new cd with Louisiana blues and soul man-Chicago Bob Nelson. Appearances on the just released Shorty Billups cd-”SHORTY’S GOT THE BLUES” and the new live cd by SAX GORDON BEADLE-”LIVE AT THE SAX BLAST” bring us up to the current time. You can find CSB still fronting his STOVALL BROWN BAND as well as working as music director for CHICAGO BOB NELSON among others.
JB Junior
You might guess that a singer with the stage name “J. B. Jr.” would be borrowing heavily from the James Brown songbook. You might be right. A native of Richfield, NC, JB grew up idolizing and emulating his musical hero. Making his home in Boston since the mid-60’s, he has spent a lifetime on and off the road, at various times bringing his act to the stage as an opener for such legends as The Blue Notes, Wilson Pickett, Millie Jackson, Maurice Starr, Sam & Dave, and yes, the “real” James Brown. His energy is infectious, whether doing the Camel Walk across the stage, or splits in the middle of the dance floor; the whole audience will just have to “git up, git on up”!
Geoff Bartley
Geoff Bartley is a blues-, folk- and jazz-influenced acoustic guitarist, singer, songwriter and harmonica player. The folk press has called him folk music at its best, a brilliant songwriter, a world-class guitarist, a local legend and the prophet and spiritual godfather of the Boston folk scene, all of which Geoff takes with a grain of salt. Some of his songs and co-writes have been recorded by other artists in the US, Canada and Ireland and some are also included in the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings of the Fast Folk Musical Magazine collection in Washington, D.C.
Geoff has released five CDs, most of which are available from the independent songwriter label Waterbug Records in Chicago. Several other of his recordings are no longer in print. Geoff hosts two nights of acoustic music each week at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts and lives in a suburb of Boston.Since his first professional gig in 1969, Geoff has played in thirty-two states and Canada and has opened for or shared venue or festival stages with Dave Van Ronk, Guy Van Duser, Leo Kottke, John Sebastian, Barry Crimmins, John Martyn, the Persuasions, Leon Redbone, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Taj Mahal, Jorma Kaukonen, Al Kooper, Dr. John, Martin Mull, John Hammond, Livingston Taylor, Richie Havens, Suzanne Vega, Michael Manring, Richard Thompson, Tom Rush, Doc Watson, Tim O’Brien, Norman & Nancy Blake, David Bromberg, David Mallett, Jonathan Edwards, Gamble Rogers, John Jackson, Odetta and others.In the 1980s, Geoff won four guitars at the National Fingerpicking Championships hosted by the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Geoff says, “Winning the guitars was a big thrill for me and it was wonderful to get that kind of recognition. The competition was fierce… there were some killer players out there. I still play the herringbone Martin they gave me in September 1984. I wanted to weld the trophies to the hood of my Datsun, but some friends talked me out of it.”In addition to his own shows in southern New England, Geoff plays guitar and sings harmony for topical songwriter and folk icon Tom Paxton (www.tompaxton.com). Most of their shows together are at venues and festivals in the northeast, but Geoff has also accompanied Tom at the Bottom Line in New York, the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia and at a show for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in July 2000. About that gig, Geoff says, “Nice folks out there. They gave both of us a Rock Hall tour jacket at the gig. Tom and I tell everybody they wanted our old ones for an exhibit.” Geoff was also instrumental in bringing the Tom Paxton Signature Model Martin guitar into production in 2004 (www.martinguitar.com).Acoustic guitar instrumentals and songs Geoff has written have been used on the History Channel, Animal Planet, A&E, the Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Nature on PBS and in other commercial and non-commercial television programs on other stations, and in documentary films and in private and commercial advertising in the US and other countries.
Sweet Willie D…Deacon of the Blues
As a Deacon who got into the house rockin’ business about ten years ago, Sweet Willie D is living proof that the art of blues shouting (which requires wailing, rapping, testifying, and bleeding charisma) is still alive and still very hip.All great bluesmen have a story. Whether it’s Robert Johnson’s deal with the devil or Stevie Ray Vaughn’s tragic helicopter crash, history has shown that the blues builds it’s legends on equal parts music and mythology. If that’s true Sweet Willie D is already halfway to immortality.He’s been a Baptist Deacon, a farmer, a martial arts instructor, a barbeque gourmet, a military man and a special education instructor, and that’s all before his career in the blues began just ten years ago. In that short time Sweet Willie D has brought the old-fashioned art of blues shouting to New England and led his own band, The Continental Walk to rave reviews throughout the region.
Phillip Pemberton
Philip has taken his bands from the grittiest bars New England has to offer, to the most upscale…with detours through the Bleeker Street in NYC, the Alley & Landsdowne Street in Boston, to Chicago’s Kingston Mines & Buddy Guys Legends, down to the dirty South in Atlanta’s Georgia Tech, to the sun drenched Beach Bars of Venice Beach and Santa Monica. He has had the opportunity, as well, to play throughout England and France.
In 2000, Philip took his band to Beijing and Xi’an China, where they performed 2 concerts for 10,000+ people, broadcast live throughout China, and Asia to an estimated 350 million viewers.
He was the former House band for 2 years @ Johnny D’s in Somerville, hosting the areas most successful blues jam, as well as filling in frequently for Ricky King Russell as guest host @ the Original House of Blues in Cambridge.
He was awarded the 1st ever Touring Grant from NEFA (New England Foundation for the Arts), with co-winner Reggie Gibson, to teach his craft through a series of classes and performances at 4 New England colleges.
Music so much in his blood, he even found out about his wife’s pregnancy while singing onstage in London at Nothing But the Blues. (via text of course).
Philip has shared the stage with such greats as Leon Russell, Alligator recording artist William Clark, Grammy winning blues harpist Sugar Blue, Grammy winner David Maxwell, and Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi. He has also enjoyed success sharing the stage with regional acts as diverse as James Montgomery, Earring George, Weepin Willie Robinson, Bellevue Cadillac, Roomful of Blues, Peter Malick, Dub Station, Entrain, Ricky “King” Russell, the Rockett Band, Bloodlines, and Kevin So.
His first solo CD, dreamers, aside from garnering favorable press and air play, contributed 3 songs to the soundtrack of the film Bluff.
He also collaborates on shows with High Priestess of Performance Poetry, and Pulitzer Prize nominated writer Patricia Smith, as singer for their band Bop Thunderous.
“…a voice that can ache with tenderness, or rattle the rafters with it’s power…”
— Patricia Smith (former writer Boston Globe)
“…This man could sing his way out of jail…”
— Bill Smith former WBOS, WZLX, WTKK
“…you are absolutely incredible…I am completely speechless…” — Amalia after a live in-studio(host of WERS’ the Gyroscope)
