Blues Underground Network
Prince George Chapter
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Blues Underground Network Prince George Chapter |
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Press Room Full article below...
Wayne makes you feel like dancin’
By Teresa Mallam Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne sure knows how to put on a good show. Wow. More than that, the Vancouver-based boogie woogie piano player singer songwriter knows how to get music fans up on their feet dancing. Friday night at the Treasure Cove Show Lounge, the Blues Boss was his usual flamboyant self in a fushia (he corrected me when I referred to it as red) dinner jacket and gold colored lame shirt. From old tunes to new songs, the artist delighted the audience with solid piano playing (he’s known for his legendary pounding of the 88s) a brief history of the blues and his own career anecdotes. Influenced by blues artists Fats Domino and Amos Milburn, Wayne took the crowd on a musical journey to New Orleans with a soulful Going Down South and kicked things up a bit with Joogie to the Boogie. My favourite song of the night was Blackberry Wine, a bluesy original tune off his 2006 Juno award winning CD (Best Blues Album.) Wayne followed that up with a slowly simmering version of the great blues classic Blueberry Hill. The blues artist born in Washington, raised in San Francisco and now living in Vancouver, has a big fan base in Prince George and he makes our city one of his regular stops every year. Last year, he was here with The Twisters for a gig arranged by Blues Underground Network. With his musical roots planted firmly in New Orleans Jazz and Blues, music critics have called Wayne the true “missing link” between past and modern day blues piano players. An evening with Kenny Wayne shows why. He’s a class act. Rave reviews and prestigious awards aside (he’s won numerous Maple Blues Awards and Juno nominations,) Wayne plays for people not praise and prizes. He has fun with the crowd and his sense of humour comes through with stories like the one about his wife waiting at the alter while he first played a wedding tribute on the piano before joining here. His serious side shows with tributes to hurricane-torn New Orleans. A word about the local Rae King Blues Band who warmed up the audience for Kenny Wayne (with great vocals by Mark and Brenda Roland) and stayed on stage to play back-up. Even though they played together for the first time Friday night, the blues band sounded as if they were tuned into Wayne’s every musical move – and if you’ve ever watched Kenny Wayne’s hands flying across the ivories, as if by magic, you know keeping pace with the Blues Boss ain’t easy. Performing live at the Montreal Jazz Festival |
Upcoming performers..
David Gogo and His Band
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