- The results are being filtered by the department: Blues
George Aschmann
Violin
Among other musical endeavors, George plays violin and sings with the collective Frog and Henry, who’ve played the streets of New Orleans since 2013. They revive the music first made popular in the 1920’s and 1930’s in New Orleans, Chicago, and across the U.S., a mixture of jazz, jugband, stringband, blues, and popular songs. Most of the instruments are from the same time period.
Andrew Alli
Harmonica
This Richmond, Virginia native was always passionate about music and stumbled upon the blues while taking up his first instrument, the harmonica. He instantly fell in love with the blues and the history that comes with the harp.
Sunpie Barnes
Accordion
Bruce Sunpie Barnes is a veteran New Orleans musician, former Park Ranger with the National Park Service for 30 years, actor, photographer, book author, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American, and former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs). Sunpie Barnes’ many careers have taken him far and wide. He has traveled to over 50 countries playing his own style of what he calls Afro-Louisiana music incorporating Blues, Zydeco, Gospel, Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies.…
Eden Brent
Piano
Blues lady Eden Brent is a modern-day piano-pounding, juke-joint hollering powerhouse of American roots music. A legendary performer and southern songwriter, she spent the first two decades of her career under the tutelage of Abie “Boogaloo” Ames, before winning The Blues Foundation’s Challenge and bouncing onto the international scene. Since then she lands steady honors, three Blues Music Awards among them.…
Lloyd Buchanan
Gospel Choir
Lloyd Buchanan is rooted in Gospel and the Blues. His connection to the Hammond organ began at a very early age in church accompanying his mother.
Clinton Davis
Banjo
Clinton Davis is an old-time folk musician based in Southern California. A fifth-generation Kentuckian, Davis grew up in rural Carroll County. His repertoire spans fiddle and banjo music native to his family home, the exuberant ragtime piano and guitar of early 20th-century New Orleans, and ballad songs and dance music of the Southwest.
Davis’ prowess across instruments and traditional American styles has gained notice from the standard-bearers of previous generations and earned him a place amongst a new generation of American folk musicians.…
Cody Dickinson
Percussion
Cody Dickinson is a multifaceted artist whose journey through American roots music is deeply grounded in family heritage and a collaborative spirit. As a member of North Mississippi Allstars, which he co-founded with his brother Luther Dickinson in 1996, Cody has established himself as a Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter, producer, and filmmaker. His musical lineage traces back to his father, Jim Dickinson, a Memphis musical icon who worked with legendary artists like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, providing Cody with an extraordinary musical foundation from an early age.…
Eleanor Ellis
Guitar
Eleanor Ellis, a native of Louisiana, has performed at clubs, festivals and concerts in the United States, Canada and Europe. She has also traveled and played with the late gospel street singer Flora Molton and bluesman Archie Edwards, and sometimes accompanied Delta Blues great Eugene Powell. She is a founding member of the DC Blues Society and the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation, has written about the blues for several publications, and is producer and editor of the video documentary Blues Houseparty, which features well-known Piedmont blues musicians such as John Jackson, John Cephas, and Archie Edwards.…
Mary Flower
Guitar
Mary Flower’s immense finger picking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and meter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple honey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompaniment to each song’s story.
Justin Golden
Faculty
With roots in the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, and the Piedmont of Virginia, Richmond-based guitarist and songwriter Justin Golden’s origins are deeply vested in the blues.
Trey Hensley
Guitar
Trey Hensley is a GRAMMY®-nominated musician and singer/songwriter who was voted the 2023 Guitar Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. He has been referred to as “Nashville’s hottest young player” by Acoustic Guitar magazine. In addition to a storied solo career and a duo career with award-winning resophonic guitarist Rob Ickes (NPR has called them “two musical phenoms”), Trey has worked with a diverse list of artists including Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, Dolly Parton, Taj Mahal, Tommy Emmanuel, Rodney Crowell, Old Crow Medicine Show, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Little Feat, Leftover Salmon and REO Speedwagon.…
Stephen Hull
Support Guitar
Born in 1999, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, Stephen Hull started playing blues at age 14 and never stopped, taking cues from Albert King and B.B. King as he developed his sweet, soulful guitar sound. Balancing that with his absolutely stellar lead vocals and infectiously buoyant personality, Stephen has been rising fast in the blues clubs of Chicago and venues across southeastern Wisconsin.…
Benjamin Hunter
Mandolin
Benjamin Hunter is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, community activist, social entrepreneur, and educator. Benjamin’s work explores the intersections of music & art, community, policy, and culture.
Lakota John
Slide Guitar
Lakota John is a musician, producer and songwriter from Southeastern, North Carolina. Influenced by his dads music collection, he picked up the guitar at 7 years old and learned to play left-handed as well as slide guitar in standard tuning. Lakota John blends styles of Folk, Blues, Rock & Jazz with various instruments while mixing in part of his Indigenous heritage with sounds of the Native American flute.…
Chaz Leary
Washboard
Though comfortable in all forms of our diverse American musical heritage, Washboard Chaz Leary has achieved dominance and international recognition in acoustic country blues.
Corey Ledet
Faculty
Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers in Parks, Louisiana immersed at all times in the Creole culture. He learned everything he could so he could incorporate the culture in all areas of his life – the traditions, the food, and most importantly, the music. His love for the Creole/Zydeco music was instant and hard for him to ignore.…
Lightnin Malcolm
Guitar
Cutting edge Mississippi Bluesman Lightnin’ Malcolm, a charismatic and energetic guitarslinger with a deep soulful voice, has taken his irresistible dance grooves from Juke Joint teen years to World Stages with mainstream artists such as Robert Plant, Jimmy Buffett, Robert Cray, The Black Keys, Widespread Panic, Big Head Todd, North Mississippi Allstars, Lucero and Gary Clark Jr.…
Rodrigo Mantovani
Bass
Born and raised in Brazil, Rodrigo has always had a deep love for American blues and roots music from a very young age. Rodrigo has been a member of some of the first ground breaking Blues bands in Brazil and because of his deep knowledge regarding the Traditional Blues, expertise and feel for the Blues, he has also been a first call bassist for many of the premier American Blues acts touring and recording with heavy weights of the Blues scene
Dean Mueller
Band Lab
Dean’s journey from bass player to front man was an unexpected but powerful transformation. After years of performing with renowned bands and blues legends, he stepped into the spotlight with his debut solo album, Life Ain’t All Roses (2023). The album showcased his storytelling abilities and the rich blend of his blues roots with folk-inspired melodies. Based in Oregon since 1998, Dean has become a key figure in the state’s music scene, both as a performer and a promoter.…
Johnny Nicholas
Blues Songs
Time is a river and you can never step in the same river twice. It’s all gonna change, but what came before shapes what comes after. There are certain people who seem to be in both places at once. Johnny Nicholas has played music and rambled with some of the most original and artistically powerful individuals of the American 20th century.
Ricky Nye
Piano
Traditional blues, boogie woogie, and classic New Orleans jazz and R&B all come flying from the fingers of Cincinnati, OH pianist and vocalist Ricky Nye. The driving force behind the annual BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO SUMMIT held in Greater Cincinnati from 1999 to 2017, Ricky has been inducted into the International Boogie Woogie Hall Of Fame in 2013, voted “Blues Artist Of The Year 2019” in Cincinnati’s CEA Awards, and “Best Local Musician” by CityBeat Magazine’s “Best Of Cincinnati 2018” reader’s poll.…
Mark Puryear
Improv, Blues Talks
Mark Puryear is a musician, ethnomusicologist, and curator. For the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, he curated the 2011 Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is program as well as the Freedom Sounds event that celebrated the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Jason Ricci
Harmonica
Jason Ricci born in Portland Maine USA is an award winning and decorated american singer and harmonica player. In his youth, Jason’s mother brought him to many live Blues shows in his early teens to witness performances of James Cotton, Charlie Musslewhite, Eddie Clearwater, Rod Piazza, Buckwheat Zydeco, Marcia Ball and many more.
In 1995 Ricci moved to Memphis Tennessee to be near and informally study with Johnny Winter sideman, harmonica player and singer Pat Ramsey.…
Lauren Sheehan
Band Lab
Lauren Sheehan brings her down-home music uptown, mixing old blues, early jazz and roots of country for a bluesbilly-good-time sound. Dubbed “Portland String Queen” by The Oregonian for her multi-instrumental prowess, Lauren is also known for her unforgettable voice and sings like “an angel with horns”, (Charlie Rowley, fan). She tours, teaches at Pacific University, and has recorded 5 CDs played on radio world-wide, including BBC, NPR, and BB King’s Bluesville.…
Damon Stone
Blues Dance
Damon has been dancing his entire life, starting with vernacular Jazz/Blues first taught to him at the tender age of six by his grandmother. After nearly a decade of learning at the heels of his elders, he went on and eventually studied numerous dance forms until coming full circle in 1995 to focus primarily on the history and styles of partner dances as his family danced them with a special focus on the Southern Blues styles from the Mississippi Delta region.…
Kelsy Lynn Stone
Blues Dance
Kelsy brings her lifetime of dance training, a passion for vernacular dance, and a sharp eye for technique to the Blues dance world. She has brought her joy and knowledge of Blues idiom dances to some of the most important and high-profile events in the USA and across five continents, including but not limited to: bluesSHOUT!, The Experiment, Muse, Hearken the Blues, and Seoul Blues Dance Festival-serving as faculty, mentor, competition coordinator, and judge.…
Teeny Tucker
Voice
Although Teeny was born into blues royalty, (daughter of Tommy “Hi-Heel Sneakers” Tucker), one need only to hear Teeny to know that she has cultivated and developed her “gifts” into her very own uniquely compelling world-class package. As a child, this Dayton Ohio native began singing in the church choir. This experience, like so many other soulful success stories, undoubtedly began to chart the course of Teeny’s music career.…
Chris Wallace
Gospel Choir
Chris Wallace, hailing from the small town of West Point, Georgia, has been immersed in music for as long as he can remember. Starting out at just 11 years old, Chris began playing music for churches, and it’s been his passion ever since. Currently, he serves as the Minister of Music at The Friendship Baptist Church in Columbus, GA, with past roles at Spirit Filled Ministries, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Asbury United Methodist Church, and Sightseeing Road Chapel at Fort Benning.…
Ian B Walters
Faculty
Ian B. Walters plays spirited, updated blues and standards as well as contemporary tunes. Known for his unique piano sound, dripping with soul vocals, and all-around good vibes, Ian’s inventive interpretations of great old songs make them new again.
Phil Wiggins
Faculty
Phil Wiggins is a versatile traditional harmonica player, continuing the Piedmont blues tradition, a gentle and melodic blues style of the mid-Atlantic region. He plays the diatonic ten-hole harmonica in the country blues style, cupping both hands around the instrument and playing acoustically.
Jontavious Willis
Artistic Director, Traditional Blues
Blues musician and multi-instrumentalist, Jontavious Willis, from Georgia, has been named Centrum’s Artistic Director for Acoustic Blues beginning in 2020.
Alvin Youngblood Hart
Guitar
The cosmic American love child of Howlin’ Wolf and Link Wray… Known as a “musician’s musician,” Alvin Youngblood Hart’s praises have been sung by everyone from Bob Dylan to guitar gods Gary Moore & Mick Taylor. “Alvin Youngblood Hart is as good as you’ll ever hear ” – Bob Dylan 2022 from his book The Philosophy of Modern Song.…