Sunday, June 24, was a special day for this writer as The Atlanta Blues Society brought Tullie Brae back to Atlanta for the first time in several years. The occasion was the monthly gathering and jam, which always features a “host band” who perform for about an hour to kick the meeting off. I admit I was overjoyed! It was 2 1/2 years ago that i last saw Tullie in Memphis and i had been campaigning to get her back here ever since.

And Tullie and her band were incredible, even better than I remembered. Tall, beautiful with distinctive style and such an expressive voice, Tullie was in constant motion, whether at the keyboard or moving through the crowd and stopping to sing directly to random people, chopping the air with her arms. She understands that the work of a performer is to perform to not only sing the song but to sell it. The capacity crowd responded enthusiastically. A lot more people in Atlanta understand now what I have known and preached for the last three years. Tullie Brae is spectacular and she needs to be as well-known in Atlanta as she is in Tennessee. With an excellent band, including a fantastic lead guitar player, she delivered a soul-satisfying hour of music,.

After a short bit of business, mostly about The Georgia Roots and Blues Festival coming up in September, the gathering concluded with an amazing jam session, featuring local musicians and some guest from Tennessee and Mississippi.

This meeting illustrated why every blues lover in Atlanta should be a member of the Atlanta Blues Society.

Tullie Brae returns to Darwin’s in September with the marvelous (and also tall) Mick Kolassa, They sing together on mick’s album Double Standards, along with a lot of other people familiar to fans of the blues, Get it and don’t miss it when Tullie returns with Mick for a full evening of music!