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 The
story of award-winning vocalist and
2009 Blues Blast Headliner
Janiva Magness’
rise to the top of the blues world and beyond is
a testament to the redemptive power of music and the human spirit.
Possessing a rich, soulful voice and absolute command over her material,
Magness is an incredibly gifted performer who can lead her audience through
a range of emotions, from the deepest sorrow to overwhelming joy. A survivor
of an impossibly rough childhood, Magness’ life experience informs her music
in a way that is brutally honest, emotionally moving and, above all,
spiritually healing. Winner of the
2006 and 2007 Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Female Artist Of The
Year, Magness has seven solo
recordings to her credit and has made guest appearances on CDs by R.L.
Burnside and many others. Her presence on stage is legendary, as she
performs 200 nights a year at clubs, festivals, and concert halls all over
the world. And, in April 2008, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait co-headlining
Bluzapalooza, the first-ever blues concert tour to perform for
American troops. The story continues with her latest CD, an Alligator
Records debut, “What Love Will Do.”
Of special importance, Janiva
has a unique connection with Phoenix and will celebrate her homecoming with
PBS’s 2009 Blues Blast! In the 1980s, she lived in Phoenix and befriended
Bob Tate, the musical director for the great Sam Cooke. With Tate’s
mentoring, she formed her first band, Janiva Magness and the Mojomatics, and
within the year the influential Phoenix New Times named her group the city’s
Best Blues Band !!
www.janivamagness.com
Performing before Janiva Magness
will be a “Local Blues Artist
Retrospective and Showcase,”
featuring 20+ local Phoenix-area Blues artists that represent the
foundation of the local Blues Scene in a Grand Celebration of the PBS
20-Year Anniversary !!
Emceed by
long time Valley Blues promoter Bill Chesser and former Phoenix Blues
Society president Bill Mitchell, the Retrospective will feature Brian Fahey
on drums, Terry Davis on bass and guitarists Scotty Spenner and Jim Glass,
supporting legendary Phoenix musicians Hans Olson, Small Paul Hamilton, Big
Pete Pearson, Margo Reed, George Bowman, Chuck Hall, the Chief, Nancy
Delassandro, Rochelle Roya, Bob Corritore, Jim Dorholt, Mario Moreno, Jimmy
Peyton, Johnny Rapp, Paul Thomas, Bill & Susie Tarsha and Matt Roe.
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 Austin,
TX, besides being the Texas state capital, is home to much of the best in
American roots music. And that’s where
Kent “Omar” Dykes and The Howlers
hold court too. Kent “Omar” Dykes was born in
1950, in McComb, MS, the same town from which Bo Diddley hails. It’s well
established that Omar started playing guitar at seven, took to hanging out
in edge-of-town juke joints at 12 and joined his first band at 13. By the
time he hit 20 he had hooked up with a crazy party band, called The
Howlers. But Kent Dykes mostly just wanted to play blues. And by then
the other Howlers had taken to calling him “Omar Overtone” because he
tended to let his guitar feed back on stage while he dropped to the floor to
spin on his back! By the early '80s, the band had gained a solid reputation
for their invigorating live shows.
Dykes has honed a band capable of the sort of raw, rowdy,
rambunctious blues that made Howlin’ Wolf and Hound Dog Taylor legends
earning them consecutive Austin “Band-of-the-Year” awards in 1985-1986
and an international following, prestigious awards and induction into
the Texas musicians’ Hall of Fame. Since 1980, Omar and the Howlers have
released an amazing total of 19 albums, all of them featuring Omar’s
guitar and baritone voice, which reviewers describe as a cross between
Howlin’ Wolf in his prime and the warning growl of a large primate. Omar is
a veteran at working a crowd in a blues club or a festival. As Omar states
“I still do 150-160 shows a year, and with travel days that adds up to a lot
of time away from home. It always seems like we’re on a plane headed
somewhere!”
In 2008, Omar and his good friend Jimmy Vaughan
grabbed 3 Blues Music Awards nominations for their recording “On the
Jimmy Reed Highway.”
www.omarandthehowlers.com
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 The
JUKE JOINT DUO, aka CEDRIC BURNSIDE and LIGHTNIN' MALCOLM, is
a potent machine driven by Burnside's commanding drumming and Malcolm's
ragged guitar virtuosity.
CEDRIC BURNSIDE, grandson of the legendary R.L.
Burnside, and son of drummer great
Calvin Jackson,
is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in the world. Cedric began
touring at age 13, playing drums for "Big Daddy" on stages around the globe.
He was born in 1978 and raised around Holly Springs, Miss., and has been
playing music all his life, developing a relentless, highly rhythmic charged
style with strong hip-hop and funk influences. In addition to "Big Daddy,"
Cedric has also played with, among countless others, Junior Kimbrough, Kenny
Brown, North Mississippi Allstars, Burnside Exploration, Bobby Rush and
Widespread Panic. In 2006 he was featured in the critically acclaimed
feature film, Black Snake Moan, playing drums alongside Samuel L.
Jackson. Cedric is a special talent that has brought new life and energy to
the blues, and is loved by fans around the world.
LIGHTNIN' MALCOLM is one of the leading, younger
generation artists on the scene today. Born in rural Missouri, Malcolm
enjoyed the freedom of country life, quickly learning to entertain himself
and others. Growing up in a little village called Burgess in a country house
next to the KCS Railroad that ran from Kansas City to New Orleans, the train
has always been a theme in Malcolm's music, as well as the inspiration for
the steady, insistent bass rhythms of rural dance music. Malcolm — a
reckless live performer — has lived and breathed music his whole life,
traveling and playing in a slashing, rhythmic style, with deep soulful
vocals. Malcolm has played over the years with many of the best Mississippi
blues artists, such as Cedell Davis, R.L. Burnside, Hubert Sumlin, Jessie
Mae Hemphill, T Model Ford, Jr. Kimbrough, Robert Belfour, Big Jack Johnson,
Sam Carr and Otha Turner. Skilled on guitar, bass, and drums, Malcolm is an
in demand session player with a telepathic sense of how to follow the older
archaic styles, and is especially noted for his old-fashioned, church
"shout" style on drums. After releasing its incredible, self-titled debut, “Juke
Joint Duo,” in 2007, the band was quick to get back in
the studio — this time in Austin, TX. Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm's
newest record “2 Man Wrecking Crew” is a blazing testament to
where it's been — and where it's going.
www.myspace.com/jukejointduo
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 The
Mikel Lander and Meridith Moore Band came together through a simple
twist of fate, a love for good music, and a passion that these five
musicians share to take their music to the next level. They proved this to
be true when they won the 2008 Arizona
State Blues Competition, the PBS BLUES SHOWDOWN.
The band is headed to Memphis in February 2009 to compete with bands from
around the world and to represent Arizona in the 25th Annual
International Blues Challenge. They’ve also shared a stage with Robert
Randolph, Blues Traveler, Warren Haynes, and The Wailers at the 2008
McDowell Mountain Music Festival in Scottsdale. In May of 2008, they
released their first album, “The
Soulo Sessions.”
And they haven’t left behind social
responsibility, this band has contributed their time and musical energy to
many benefits and fundraisers throughout the valley.
www.myspace.com/meridithmoorefunktrunk
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 Influenced
by her mother who played piano, guitar, and just about any stringed
instrument, KATHY MABRY taught herself to play guitar at age 12. She
grew up listening to blues and folk with her mother, gospel with her
grandmother, and rock with her brother. Active in the local Phoenix-area
acoustic music community her influences, are Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin,
Tracey Chapman, Neville Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Buddy and Julie Miller,
Emmylou Harris, Tift Merritt, Lyle Lovett, and John Hiatt to name a few.
Kathy will release her first CD in December 2008.
www.myspace.com/kathymabry
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 Kevin
“KC Blues” Casenhiser was born in
1992, in Mesa Arizona. He has been playing the guitar since he was six years
old and has been playing live since he was 11. Now 16 years old, some of his
musical influences include Stevie-Ray Vaughan, Walter Becker, Billy Gibbons,
Freddie King, and personal favorite, Eric Clapton. Kevin describes his music
as a "Bluesy-Jazzy Funk-Rock that goes to "11"! Kevin performs solo or with
his five-member band, KC Blues Band. As a solo artist, and with his
band, Kevin has performed over 100 shows and festivals throughout Arizona,
Minnesota, Florida and Colorado, and has done numerous benefits. In January
of 2006, 13-year-old Kevin won 2nd
place in the “Chandler Center for the Arts Teen Competition.”
In November of 2006, Kevin made it to the finals with the KC Blues Band in
the “Arizona Blues Showdown.” In 2006, Kevin won Alice
Cooper's annual "Proof is in the Pudding" solo contest, and was
invited to do a solo performance at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ in
front of 6,000 people. The KC Blues Band was named
“Performer of the Year” for 2008
at the Phoenix Music Awards.
www.kcbluesband.com
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