SUNCOAST BLUES FESTIVAL – 3/3/18

James Armstrong is an American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter who born to play the blues. His songs have been used in the soundtracks of three films; Speechless, Hear No Evil, and The Florentine. “Old Man in The Morning (Young Man at Night)” includes the lyric “when I look in the mirror, what do I see, grey hair and not as much as there used to be, then I put on my hat, get dressed for the show, I may be an old man but nobody’s gonna know”.  Always fun, James Armstrong has two Blues Music Award nominations.

Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones is an American Texas blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on five albums. Jones is a veteran blues bandleader who’s put in time with some of the best, including Jimmy McCracklin, Freddie King, Johnnie Taylor, and Katie Webster. Jones received a BMA nomination in 1998.

EG Kight is a critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and entertainer that has a sound that transcends musical boundaries. With a blend of blues, country, Americana, southern rock, jazz, gospel, and funk, her music appeals to the masses, no matter their taste. Also known as the Georgia Songbird, was the recipient of the 2013 Georgia Music Legend Award. Kight has also accumulated seven BMA nominations (including a 2015 nomination for “Traditional Blues Female Artist of The Year” (The Koko Taylor Award).

Thornetta Davis has been crowned “Detroit’s Queen of the Blues” in 2015. Davis a multi-talented International singer and songwriter from Detroit MI, is the Winner of over 30 Detroit Music Awards. Her voice is strong, commanding, melodic and smooth. She tells her stories with incredible delivery and leaves her audiences wanting more. “That Don’t Appease Me” contains the lyric “Well you won’t touch me again, I don’t know where your hands have been, that don’t appease me, you ain’t gonna please me”.  Davis is also the Winner of the 2017 Blues Blast Music Award for Soul Blues Album – “Honest Woman”; and recipient of two 2017 BMA nominations “Best Emerging Artist Album” and “Best Song”.

Lurrie Bell is one of the greatest living Chicago blues performers; Bell has twenty-two BMA nominations winning four times. Bell is the 2017 BMA Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year. Bell’s newest Delmark CD “Can’t Shake This Feeling” was also nominated for a Grammy.

Monster Mike Welch/Mike Ledbetter Band Welch – the beloved former child prodigy guitarist from Boston who’s been part of Sugar Ray Norcia’s Bluetones for about 25 years – and Ledbetter – the former opera singer who’s received his training in the blues as a vital part of the Nick Moss Band. Welch has won the BMA for ‘Best Instrumentalist – Guitar” in both 2016 and 2017. Together they have seven 2018 BMA nominations.

Produced by Paul Benjamin, the weather was perfect and so were the performances.

Richard Ludmerer