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Ghost Town Blues Band
17
Ghost Town
Blues Band
Memphis, Tennessee
Horns, harmonies, and homegrown instruments combined with an energetic and roots-rich festival set make Ghost Town Blues Band (GTBB) one of the must-see live bands. “Not your grandpa’s blues band,” GTBB, just won the 2021 Maple Blues Award’s B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. The band’s latest release Shine debuted at #1 on the 2019 Billboard Blues Chart. Their list of honors and awards for the last few years is too long to list here! Recently headlining the blues stage at The Montreal Jazz Festival, GBBT is Beale Street’s latest success story, 5-time Blues Blast Music Award Nominee, and International Blues Challenge Runner-up. Living Blues Magazine proclaims, “This is 21st-century blues at its best. With a shoot-from-the-hip Memphis attitude and a STAX-busting explosion of modern blues vision, GTBB represents a welcome changing of the guard.”
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Shawanda, an indigenous musician from Ontario, Canadawas raised on the Wikwemikong reserve, weaned on country by her parents but leaned toward the blues albums her brother played. Her first album in 2008, Dawn of a New Day, charted on the Canadian Country Albums at #2, and the Billboard Top Country Albums at #16. She toured with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley in 2009, then scored two Juno Awards 2013 and 2015 for Aboriginal and Indigenous Album categories. She gave in when the blues came calling, saying the whole time she sang Patsy Cline on stage she was singing Etta James at home. Nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year and Recording/Producer of the Year in the 2021 Maple Blues Awards, Shawanda’s latest album Church House Blues showcases her performing power and grit laced with spirited presence and songwriting. Rock & Blues Musesays of Shawanda, “It’s a rare singer who elicits chills.”
Rex Granite Band feat. Sarah Benck
This Omaha-based, blues/rock original band battled as a 2020 finalist in The Blues Foundation, International Blues Challenge in Memphis. A regional favorite, the band won the 2017 OEA “Best Blues” award and was a 2018 nominee for the honor. The band draws its fresh, retro sound from a variety of sources. Straight-up rock and roll, blues, and gospel all play heavily in their gutsy roots-rock style. The band’s fire-power lies with the original songwriting and unique vocals of Sarah along with Sarah/Rex guitar chemistry.
