Jon Shain and FJ Ventre w/ Dean Driver
Durham, NC’s Jon Shain is the 2019 International Blues Challenge winner in the solo duo category. Shain had the good fortune to learn directly from a number of NC’s older blues players, and became a member of Big Boy Henry’s backing band. He got his start playing his own music with NC roots rockers Flyin’ Mice. Jon was a finalist (along with FJ) in the 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis and the 2008 and 2018 winner of the Triangle Blues Society’s Blues Challenge and 2006 winner of NC’s Indy award for Best Folk Act. He has shared stages with the likes of Keb’ Mo’, John Hiatt, and Jackson Browne. Shain’s newest album, Never Found A Way to Tame the Blues, recorded along with long-time collaborator FJ Ventre was released 2021. FJ Ventre and Jon began playing music together in 1982 when they met in high school. FJ went on to University of Massachusetts-Lowell, earning a B.A. in Music Performance and Sound Recording. He remained in the Boston area, performing in the city’s vibrant music scene. Since relocating to Chapel Hill, NC in 2000, Ventre has performed with his own group The Swang Brothers, as well as most of the Triangle’s roots acts. In addition to performing as a sought-after sideman, he spends his time behind the mixing board, engineering at his own Good Luck Studio. With Jon, they have become sought-after producers in the folk/Americana genre, producing several charting Folk and Blues albums in the last few years.
The Kelli Baker Band w/ Melissa McKinney
Kelli Baker brings a sound unlike any other. With a powerhouse voice dripping with a haunting sensuality that slips easily into growling old school blues-tones, Kelli speaks her heart like a beat poet in a late night dive. The kind you only know if you’re in the know. Her music is an amalgamation of authentic blues/rock and heart-on-her-sleeve singer/songwriter pop with folk/gospel roots. Known in some circles as “The Phoenix”, Kelli was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She moved to New York in 2012. Now performing with The Kelli Baker Band, she appears regularly at iconic music houses such as NYC’s The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, and more. The Kelli Baker Band kicked off their East Coast tour in July of 2022. Kelli has swiftly moved through the ranks of New York’s bristling music scene to become a known name. . She has been featured on Guitar Girl Mag, Brooklyn Vegan, Broadway World, NYC.Com, Better Lemons, and Faces of Long Island, as well as many other international and national outlets. Kelli delivers a commanding performance and has been compared to Bonnie Raitt, Chris Cornell, Susan Tedeschi, and Aretha Franklin. Her dynamic blues tones and gospel nods have been called a kind of ethereal blues. Her major influences are The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, The Black Crowes, Bonnie Raitt, and The Tedeschi Trucks Band.**Melissa is the lead singer of Mama & The Ruckus, a resident artist with LEAF Global Arts, the co-founder of Women to the Front Music Festival, a board member of AVLFest, the director of The One Voice Project, and a small business owner. Recently she advanced to the finals of the International Blues competition in Memphis and was rewarded the opportunity to sing at the historic Orpheum Theatre.
Cedric Burnside w/ Drew Foust
The blues is music for all time—past, present, and future—and few artists simultaneously exemplify those multiple temporal moments of the genre like North Mississippi’s CEDRIC BURNSIDE. The Mississippi Hill Country blues guitarist and singer/songwriter contains within him the legacy and future of the region’s prescient sound stories. At once African and American and southern and […]
Bob Margolin with Justin Fedor
Bob Margolin with special guest Justin Fedor.A concert to benefit the Greensboro Urban Ministry. This will be a limited seated show. Make sure you get here early to grab the best seat!
Jon Shain And FJ Ventre
Durham, NC’s Jon Shain is the 2019 International Blues Challenge winner in the solo duo category. Shain had the good fortune to learn directly from a number of NC’s older blues players, and became a member of Big Boy Henry’s backing band. He got his start playing his own music with NC roots rockers Flyin’ Mice. Jon was a finalist (along with FJ) in the 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis and the 2008 and 2018 winner of the Triangle Blues Society’s Blues Challenge and 2006 winner of NC’s Indy award for Best Folk Act. He has shared stages with the likes of Keb’ Mo’, John Hiatt, and Jackson Browne. Shain’s newest album, Never Found A Way to Tame the Blues, recorded along with long-time collaborator FJ Ventre was released in July. FJ Ventre and Jon began playing music together in 1982 when they met in high school. FJ went on to University of Massachusetts-Lowell, earning a B.A. in Music Performance and Sound Recording. He remained in the Boston area, performing in the city’s vibrant music scene. Since relocating to Chapel Hill, NC in 2000, Ventre has performed with his own group The Swang Brothers, as well as most of the Triangle’s roots acts. In addition to performing as a sought-after sideman, he spends his time behind the mixing board, engineering at his own Good Luck Studio. With Jon, they have become sought-after producers in the folk/Americana genre, producing several charting Folk albums in the last few years.
Jimmy Murray & The Walnut Circle Band FREE SHOW
FREE SHOW w/ Jimmy Murray and the Walnut Circle Band!!Tuesday, July 25, 20237pmLive at Flat Iron221 Summit AveGreensboro, NC 27401
Jimmy Murray And The Walnut Circle Band
Kara Grainger
Some people just have music running through their veins. Kara’s music journey has taken her all around the globe. From her inner city beginnings in the town of Balmain, Sydney Australia, she’s since performed and toured in Japan, Indonesia, India, Switzerland, Europe and the USHer soulful vocals and unique style of slide guitar has led her to open the show for renowned artists such as Peter Frampton, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, Taj Mahal, MarcCohen and Eric Johnson to name a few.Kara really shines at her live shows where she always gives everything to her performance. With powerful soulful vocals and soaring electric guitar, she always leaves the audience uplifted and inspired.”Living With your Ghost”, released in 2018 through Station House Records reached number # 3 on the American Billboard blues charts.Her latest recording is set to be released September 2023 and is set to be her most honest andpassionate to date. The songs themselves range from swampy slide guitar grooves incorporating universal themes to heartfelt personal ballads, and as always showcasing Kara’s unique fresh approachto blues, Americana, and roots music .After finishing high school in 1994, Kara took to the road together with her brother Mitch in the band “Papa Lips”, the band toured consistently, released 3 albums, the last of which was produced by the legendary Harry Vanda, producer of ACDC and guitarist of The Easybeats.In 2008 Kara relocated to the US where she began working on a solo career. It’s there she co produced her first solo recording “Grand and Green River” . The album remained for 33 weeks on the Americana music charts.The song “Secret Soul” received 1st place at the Independent Acoustic music awards.Since that time kara has recorded and released three further solo albums. LA Blues Blues” in 2010 and “Shiver and Sigh” in 2013 and “Living with Your Ghost” in 2018 ,In 2012 she toured Japan with “The Swampers and Donnie Fritts”, the infamous house Rhythm section from Muscle Shoals…She has performed at festivals all throughout the world from “Lucerne Blues” to “Beautiful swamp and roots” in Calais France, “Maverick Festival” in the UK and many more. One of Kara’s most memorable moments was performing at the International Blues Festival in Jakarta, where she collaborated with an all female band of Indonesian musiciansIn 2022 Kara perfomed to several sold out shows in the UK and was also was invited to perform at the Chateu Annecy in FranceShe’s very excited to return to the UK and Europe once again this year, this time with her bran new album .The new album is set for release in July 2023But the highlight was Aussie soul slinger Kara Grainger, her groove-rooted sound, mean slide guitar and sultry vocals melting hearts and minds, a true delight to see”. – Zaki Zufri, Timbre Rock & Roots Fest (Singapore)
Eric Johanson
Eric Johanson is a multiple Top 10 Billboard-charting guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose original music stretches beyond traditional genre lines of blues, rock, and progressive Americana, all while feeding off the groove and history of his home in New Orleans. His four most recent solo releases – Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg, Covered Tracks: Vol. 1, Covered Tracks: Vol. 2, and Below Sea Level – all reached top-ten positions on the Billboard blues charts, and Guitar Player Magazine recently listed him as one of 25 Top New Blues Guitarists (Jan 2023 issue). As a touring performer, Johanson’s solo festival appearances include the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Las Vegas Big Blues Bender, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Crescent City Blues Fest, and others. He and his band have appeared in more than 100 cities across the United States. As a guitarist, Johanson has been a special guest to artists such as Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, the Neville Brothers, Samantha Fish, Tab Benoit, JJ Grey, Eric Lindell, and a host of other torch bearers of modern roots music.
Roosevelt Collier
Soft spoken by nature, South Florida-bred ROOSEVELT COLLIER does his hollering on the pedal steel guitar. Brought up in the “sacred steel” tradition of the House of God Church, Roosevelt built his reputation alongside his uncles and cousins in The Lee Boys, known for their spirited, soul-shaking live performances. Seated front and center, “The Dr.” leaves an indelible mark on listeners, flooring audiences with his lightning-fast slide work on the pedal steel. At festivals, he is a regular “Artist at Large,” performing alongside many of music’s most prestigious acts, from the Allman Brothers, Tedeschi-Trucks, Los Lobos , the Del McCoury Band and countless others. In 2017, Roosevelt debuted his new project Bokanté – a “World Music All-Star Band” created by Snarky Puppy founder Michael League and featuring the vocals of Malika Tirolien. As a bandleader, Roosevelt leads his world famous “get-downs” featuring a mixture of “superstars and church folk”, his own “Jimi Hendrix Experiment”-style all-star trio, and in 2018 has released the long-awaited Roosevelt Collier debut record, featuring an incredible mixture of blues, gospel, rock, and funk all rolled up by producer and bandmate Michael League.
