Blues On Grand - LIVE BLUES Tuesday through Saturday

Thursday

Sep 2

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Sep 3

9:30PM

Deacon IV

Bella Soul
website >>
$6

From the fertile grounds of Des Moines, Iowa comes bella soul. This collective of amazing talent is turning heads with unforgettable performances. bella soul has created a "kaleidoscopic" approach of emotion and sound that fuses rock, funk and blues with jam, jazz, and gospel.

Saturday

Sep 4

9:30PM

The Grand Marquis
website >>
$10

The Grand Marquis are guardians of a musical portal, weaving catchy originals with classy covers. Music meteorologists, if you will, concocting their own brand of weathered styles. It's old-school jump blues, rockabilly and fiery jazz balled up into one big hit of red hot Rhythm 'n' Roll. Once injected, don't be alarmed; you might see through blurry eyes and nicotine haze the ghosts of America's musical past, conjuring delusions of 30s KC, 50s Memphis, Village hangouts, or the jazz jungle of Harlem. Yet these are merely roots from which their music grows; twisting and blending, melding until you catch a glimpse of things to come. Awaken from the intoxicating fog while their songs linger on your ear, echoing the chant of the Blue Devil, and you're sure of one thing: you gotta go back for more.

tuesday

Sep 7

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Sep 8

8:00PM

J.P.Soars
website >>
$10

2009 International Blues Challenge Winner!

Fiery guitarist J.P. Soars and his swinging band the Red Hots took first place in the 25th annual International Blues Challenge, held in Memphis in January 2009, beating out over 160 other contestants from around the world. Soars also individually won the event's Albert King Award, which established him as the best guitar player in the competition. They've recently released their own self-produced album, Back Of My Mind, which features plenty of Soars' incendiary fretwork on a mix of original tunes and inspired covers. Until they secure a label deal, J.P. Soars & the Red Hots remain the best unsigned band in the blues.

Soars is clearly a talented young bluesman with a feel for a variety of blues styles, and has put together an album that showcases many skills -- songwriting, arranging, guitar playing (he also won the Albert King Award for best guitarist, and that shows off nicely here).The CD is "Back of My Mind," and it's a fine showcase for Soars' multiple skills. "Call My Baby." It's original, but could just as easily have been written by Willie Dixon. I like this guy a lot. His vocals have a gritty feel, and both his covers and originals show a strong sense of where the blues have been, and maybe where they're going. As the Albert King Award indicates, he's a strong, tough guitar player with great chops. Give him a listen. I think you'll like what you hear. - By Jim White Pittsburg Gazzette

"The band had a long 90-minute set and it was obvious this guy (JP Soars) is a monster guitar and slide player. Usually when a great player does a long set like that it all starts to sound like the same licks about an hour in the set. Not with this guy. He spent many years touring the world with heavy metal guitars bands before he realized his love for the blues was pulling him toward a new kind of music career. He can play it all, rock, metal, jazz, swing and the blues. Catch this guy as soon as you can before he decides to venture off into another genre of music!" - Bob Keiser, Blues Blast Magazine

Thursday

Sep 9

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Sep 10

9:30PM

Ronnie Baker Brooks
website >>
$15

From Chicago - Ronnie Baker Brooks is the son of legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks and is living proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. After establishing his reputation as a bluesman in Louisiana in the ‘50s, his father Lonnie embraced the sounds of rock & roll and can rightly be considered one of the first blues-rockers; Ronnie was absorbing this new hybrid literally from the cradle and joined his dad’s touring and recording band while still in his teens. Ronnie has gone on to establish himself as one of the most exciting and forward-thinking bluesmen of current generation, pleasing purists with his blues roots while bringing in younger listeners with his blistering guitar work and dynamic stage presence.

"A smokin' band that delivers a funky blues/rock hybrid with load of soul. Here is a new, exceptional blues star who is ready, willing and able to carry the torch into the next century." - Andy Grigg, Real Blues Magazine

Saturday

Sep 11

9:30PM

Lil Ed & the
Blues Imperials
website >>
$10

Alligator Recording Artist - “The music goes through me and it brings out the happiness in me,” says guitarist, vocalist, songwriter Lil’ Ed Williams. “Once I feel it, I’m gone – wild and crazy!” From smoking slide guitar runs to raw-boned Chicago shuffles to the deepest blues, the five-foot one-inch Lil’ Ed and his blistering, road-tested band, the Blues Imperials, get wild and crazy every time they hit the stage.

“Ed plays slide guitar like a back-alley shiv… high-decibal, gutbucket blues at its most brutally honest.” – Chicago Sun Times

“The meanest bottle neck boogie blues around. This rough-housin’ stage spitfire will ignite any crowd… Rollicking good fun and raw intensity.” – Austin Chronicle.

tuesday

Sep 14

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Sep 15

8:00PM

Nick Curran
website >>
$10

Nick Curran describes his music as a cocktail consisting of the sounds of no less than seventeen widely differing musicians blended together with a cup of broken glass. That only begins to characterize the wallop packed by the 98-proof elixir of this singer, songwriter and monster guitarist who effortlessly carries the past with him as he blazes across the musical landscape in perpetual forward motion... MORE on that here>>

Thursday

Sep 16

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Sep 17

9:30PM

Stacy Mitchart
website >>
$10

Stacy Mitchhart has built a worldwide fan base thanks to phenomenal live performances, national television exposure, radio airplay, loyal enthusiastic fans and aggressive marketing and merchandising campaigns. His masterful guitar work and strong vocals have been the driving forces behind his successful career. He has won numerous industry awards, released 9 CD's and 1 DVD/CD and 1 Documentary, and holds 13 major endorsements. Stacy Mitchhart actively tours the US and abroad.

Saturday

Sep 18

9:30PM

Shawn Pittman
website >>
$10

"Shawn plays with the energy of a rebel rock n' roller, and the depth and soulfulness of a seasoned bluesman.” -Blues Bytes

“ This guy makes heads turn, ears perk up and bodies move.” -Southwest Blues

“ Pittman commands his guitar to speak the string slingin' language of the Lone Star State.” -Art Tipaldi (Blue Revue)

“ Chops plus soul equals dynamite!” -Jazz Times

“ Watch out for this guy, he's no flash in the pan!” -Northeast Blues Society (BLUES Print)

“ Pittman takes no back seat to anyone on the road today.” -John Myers (Duluth News-Tribue)

tuesday

Sep 21

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Sep 22

9:00PM

Matt Woods & the Thunderbolts
website >>
$3

Down-home, juke house blues... From the Delta to the Hills the Thunderbolts thumping rhythm and stomping slide workouts will remind you what real party music is meant to be. Guaranteed to make you shake your ass! LISTEN>>

Thursday

Sep 23

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Sep 24

9:30PM

Davina & the Vagabonds
website >>
$10

Sowers is a classically trained pianist, originally from Florida, who now calls Minnesota her home. With years of experience in piano performance, she can belt it out with the grit of Joplin or bring down the house with melodic phrasing that reminds one of Bonnie Raitt. Sowers says she grew up listening to jazz standards on her father’s old Victrola record player. “The rasp and the tonal quality put a twisted edge on those standards,” she says. She earned her music degree in music composition and has since shared the stage with Little Feat, Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, The Lamont Cranston Band, and The Blues Brothers, among others. Check out Davina's MySpace here>>

photo by Jeff Peabody

Saturday

Sep 25

9:30PM

Trampled Under Foot
website >>
$10

When was the last time you saw a three-piece family blues band with two left-handed guitarists? Let alone a blues band with two strong vocals both female and male?

Trampled Under Foot, winners of the 2008 International Blues Challenge, is like no other band you will ever see. Danielle is an amazing blues singer and an excellent bassist. Kris fires right in the pocket on the drums and sings as well. Nick is a strong singer and an accomplished guitarist, winning the 2008 Albert King Award from the IBC.

Trampled Under Foot has been playing music for most of their lives. The product of a musical household, their parents, Lisa Swedlund and the late Robert Schnebelen, were part of a highly noted blues band called "Little Eva & The Works", in Kansas City during the early 1990's. Originally from Kansas City, "TUF" has been touring the Mid-West and the East Coast for the last several years, playing such notable clubs as "The Stone Pony" in New Jersey; "The Bitter End" in New York; and "The Grape Street Pub" in Philadelphia, as well as many notable national blues summer concert events. Trampled Under Foot has been described as a "Rockin' Blues family, spreading their blues experience."

Sunday

Sep 26

7:00PM

W.C. Clark
website >>
$10

“If the blues is played right,” says Austin, Texas native W.C. Clark, “it makes your soul feel clean.” Indeed, master guitarist/vocalist Clark – known as “The Godfather of Austin Blues” – has been playing the blues right and cleansing souls from the east side of Austin to stages around the world for over 40 years. He's been mentoring countless young blues and soul players in the finer points of the music for almost as long. Blues stars from Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan to Angela Strehli to Lou Ann Barton to Marcia Ball have all perfected their craft under Clark's tutelage. Clark's mix of modern Texas blues, searing guitar and heartfelt, Memphis-style soul vocals have made him a favorite of blues and R&B fans alike.

“Modern Texas blues at its best…impeccable, soothing soul and flashy, jumped-up roadhouse blues…heartfelt emotion and sweet as molasses soul delivery…as a vocalist, he's untouchable.” -Blues Revue

“W.C. Clark has it all…everything from good old rock 'n 'roll and gritty roadhouse R&B to strutting Memphis soul, second-line funk and contemporary blues.” - Living Blues

tuesday

Sep 28

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Sep 29

8:00PM

Tab Benoit
website >>
$15

With tone as thick as gumbo and licks as fiery as a tablespoon of cayenne pepper, singer/guitarist Tab Benoit may be the hottest thing to come out of Louisiana since Chef Paul Prudhomme...Influenced by Buddy Guy's intensity and Albert King's gutsy punch...Benoit's mellow Big Easy personality contradicts the tear-your-head-off intensity of his performance. - GUITAR PLAYER

Thursday

Sep 30

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Oct 1

9:30PM

The Bel Airs
website >>
$10

Living on the road and playing clubs from "Austin to Boston", the Bel Airs are carrying on the tradition of American Rhythm and Blues. Their signature "big guitar" sound and howling vocals over soulful rhythm playing make this trio a powerhouse.

Fronted by brothers Dick and Dave Pruitt on bass and electric guitars, with Michael Cherry on drums, the Bel Airs play a danceable mix with an authentic but eclectic bluesy-country-soul-and-rock-n-roll sound influenced by the likes of Wilson Picket, Slim Harpo, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Cash. Performing together for more than 20 years, the Pruitt brothers' harmony vocal style sets them apart in the contemporary music scene--leading one reviewer to refer to them as the "Everly Brothers of Blues". David's "big guitar" and Dick's howling vocals over soulful, right-on rhythm playing make this trio a powerhouse.

"Rollicking party blues." Blues Revue

Saturday

Oct 2

9:30PM

TBA

Sunday

Oct 3

7:00PM

Charlie Musselwhite
website >>
$15

Some musicians become blues players by choice, some are simply born into it. Harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite's life story reads like a classic blues legend, with roots in the blues heartland of Mississippi and Memphis followed by a migration to Chicago, the birthplace of modern electric blues. His recordings—two dozen solo albums for many labels spanning almost 40 years—have become classics, and his live shows continue to amaze fans around the world. Like the great bluesmen before him, Musselwhite has added his own signature to the music. Over the course of his career, he's introduced jazz stylings, Cuban rhythms and a contemporary world-view into his vision of the blues.

Musselwhite's lengthy resume—which, in addition to his solo projects includes guest tracks on recordings by Bonnie Raitt, the Blind Boys of Alabama, John Lee Hooker, Tom Waits and INXS; multiple Blues Music Awards ( W.C. Handy awards) and multiple Grammy nominations; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Monterey Blues Festival—Charlie Musselwhite is firmly entrenched in musical history.

"A venerated blues harmonica elder at his creative peak…his approach is imaginative and stunning…utterly convincing." -Chicago Tribune

"With unabashed excellence, Charlie Musselwhite and his tight band set the standard for blues bands everywhere." - Rolling Stone

tuesday

Oct 5

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Oct 6

9:00PM

Matt Woods & the Thunderbolts
website >>
$3

Down-home, juke house blues... From the Delta to the Hills the Thunderbolts thumping rhythm and stomping slide workouts will remind you what real party music is meant to be. Guaranteed to make you shake your ass! LISTEN>>

Thursday

Oct 7

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Oct 8

9:30PM

Johnny Rawls
website>>
$10

Johnny describes his style as "between gospel, blues and good hard soul music" which sums things up nicely. There are elements of all these styles but he leans decidedly toward classic southern soul and he makes no bones about it. Johnny Rawls is a soul man. It was the legendary O.V. Wright, "the man with the tear in his voice", who influenced Rawls the most. Johnny was Wright's guitarist and bandleader from 1974 until his death "It was a great experience playing with him, I learned a lot. He was one of the greatest singers that has ever lived. He was a friend of mine. See, we was like brothers. I picked up a lot of soul influences from him."

Saturday

Oct 9

9:30PM

Chris Cain
website >>
$10

Chris Cain's jazz-tinged, blues-soaked guitar, and deep, warm vocals have the maturity and authenticity of bluesmen many years his senior. His expressive style is the result of a lifetime of study and the relentless pursuit of music mastery. His passion and intensity are a blend of his mother's Greek ancestry and his father's soulful black heritage.

Through his guitar mastery and remarkable creativity as a songwriter, Cain has carved a sound that's unmistakably his own. As San Jose Mercury News music critic John Orr writes, "Chris Cain, more than anyone else, anywhere, represents the future of the blues."

tuesday

Oct 12

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Oct 13

9:00PM

Matt Woods & the Thunderbolts
website >>
$3

Down-home, juke house blues... From the Delta to the Hills the Thunderbolts thumping rhythm and stomping slide workouts will remind you what real party music is meant to be. Guaranteed to make you shake your ass! LISTEN>>

Thursday

Oct 14

9:30PM

A Thursday night tradition since 1992! The host band warms up the crowd from 9:30 to 10:30. Musicians, ranging from the accomplished professional to the inspired novice, are then invited to take the stage. Unrehearsed and straight from the heart, this is some real Blues guaranteed to fill the house week after week. $3 Cover photos >>

Friday

Oct 15

9:30PM

Corey Stevens
website >>
$10

Don't let the cowboy getup fool you. While Corey Stevens plays a style of blues that interjects a country flavor, he's a blues player first and foremost. Early on, Stevens was compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan for his Texas style fret work and rightfully so. He began his recording career as Corey Stevens and the Texas Flood which only added to the resemblance of Stevens to Stevie. However, despite the comparisons, Corey Stevens is blazing his own trail and his latest, Bring On The Blues, is a testament to this. - Tony Engelhart

Saturday

Oct 16

9:30PM

TBA

tuesday

Oct 19

9:00PM

Bob Pace Band

NO COVER - Smokin’ hot blues guitar and a killer rhythm section. Blues Revue Magazine's Chip Eagle says "Bob Pace is one of my favorite guitarists."

Wednesday

Oct 20

8:00PM

Bruce Katz
website >>
$10

Bruce Katz, a 2008 Blues Music Award Nominee for Best Keyboardist, brings his fiery, passionate and very original take on American Blues, Roots and Soul music as part of his CD Release Tour for his new CD, Live! At the Firefly. Bruce is an acknowledged Hammond B-3 master and acclaimed pianist and brings his top flight band with him. Besides touring with his own band, Bruce actively tours with Gregg Allman & Friends and John Hammond. He has recorded over 60 CDs in his celebrated career. While his music draws from many flavors of American music, the Blues is always in the house.

"He can play jazz, blues, Bach, anything. Man, he’s a heavy!” ~Gregg Allman

“This man is as good as it gets. One of the greatest keyboard artists I’ve ever heard.” ~John Hammond

“...Katz cooks up a brilliant marriage of blues, jazz, gospel and soul.” ~Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

“A fiery live set from a respected ‘player’s player’ and his very tight road band.” ~Bob Margolin

dates added as info is received... call 515.244.3092 for additional info

Blues On Grand, 1501 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 - 515.244.3092
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