AUNTIE
KATE AND THE UNCLES OF FUNK
"Auntie Kate and the Uncles of Funk" stir up a mess of blues,
seasoned with good old R&B and delivered on a plateful of soul and
funk. Great vocals backed up with solid playing make for a terrific live
experience! Check out the website at: www.auntiekate.ca
BILL JOHNSON
Bill performs solo on acoustic, and National steel guitar, and leads an
excellent four-piece west coast blues oriented group. He has a long
history in a variety of Canadian blues bands. Current lineup: Bill –
guitar, vocals & harp, Rick Erickson – bass, John Hunter – drums
& Brendan Hedley – keyboards. Bill has several CDs available,
including an acoustic solo disc. He is a nominee for best guitarist in
the Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Blues Awards. Visit his website for
more info at www.billjohnsonblues.com
BLOOZECAN
Bloozecan....the
blues band for folks who like the blues and those who do but don't know
it yet. Playing a mix of Chicago, Delta, and Memphis with a smattering
of Texas and classic rock thrown in for good measure. We pull this all
off with Neil Trett on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and whatever he can
get his hands on. Al Bisson, lead and slide guitar , Derek
"Drinks" Drinkwater on harp and vocals, all of which is
anchored by the solid back end consisting of Greg Wareham on drums and
Pat "Wilbury" Lawrence on bass. For gig booking call Pat at
250-385-4549.
THE
DEB RHYMER BAND
The
Deb Rhymer Band have been featured numerous times at the Victoria Jazz
Society’s annual Blues Bash and R and B Fest and have been a part of
the Victoria blues scene for many years. The band is fronted by the
Divine Ms. Deb Rhymer on vocals and includes Dan Fehr on bass, Alex
Rolland on guitar and Malcolm Cooley on drums. The band released their
first CD in 2005 and is steadily getting more airplay including the
legendary blues show hosted by CBC’s Holger Peterson. The band
currently host the popular “Saturday Afternoon Blues Jam” from 3-7pm
every Saturday at Sopranos on Caledonia St. Check out the website at www.debrhymerband.com
or for more information or for booking contact deb@debrhymerband.com
DIAMOND EAGLE REVUE
The Diamond Eagle Revue plays a mix of Chicago blues, Motown
and rockin' swing. Featuring Lil Ed Wright, inducted into the Victoria
Rock and Roll hall of Fame, 2008, for his work in Most Influential Blues
Group, 1965-1969, Blues By Five. Rockin' Danny Copper on guitar. James
Cole on Bass. Mike Sharp on drums. Fun, fun, fun. Visit their website at
www.diamondeagleband.com
DOCTOR BONES BLUES PROJECT
Dr. Bones is Victoria's own (maybe only) Gospel Blues band. Dr. Bones
plays a range of blues styles from contemplative to uplifting. It uses
its own material and songs from artists like Blind Boys, Larry Howard,
Eric Bibb and Rosetta Tharpe. Dr. Bones plays free at local church
events, charity fundraisers, and regularly packs out the Mustard Seed
street dinners. Its high was playing the "Back to the Gospel Blues
Festival" in Chilliwack with many of its musical heroes. Dr. Bones
consists of veterans Gary Brewer (guitar, dobro, vocals), Mike Phillip
(bass), Ron Cole (percussion, drums), Gail Bones (vocals) and John Bones
(harmonica, vocals). Playing "music for what really ails ya",
check out their site at www.myspace.com/drbonesbluesproject
or call 250-652-4002.
ELMORES
BAR AND GRILL
Named
after Elmore James, and like him, ELMORES' is pure blues; a place to lose
yourself in the shuffle driven by seducing slide guitar and haunting
harp.
The
band includes John Fisher, slide guitar and vocals, Sharon Wadsworth,
bass and vocals, Jack Hicklin, harmonica and Kenny Preston on drums. For
booking/gig booking contact: s.wadsworth@telus.net or view
MYSPACE
THE
GARY
PRESTON
BAND
The
Gary Preston Band
specializes in blues, but throws in some lovely surprises and can cover
a wide range of styles. The band plays regularly at two of
Victoria
's great live venues - Swans and
Bart's, and features Colin Campbell on
guitar and trumpet, Rick Erickson on bass, and Anita Bonkowski on drums.
Contact:
www.garypreston.ca
THE
H.P.'s (aka Hardened Professionals)
The
H.P.’s [hardened professionals] have seen and done it all in the music
business and provide more bang for your entertainment buck! Led by the two
N’s,,, Neil OH Neil, veteran saxamaphone artist and showman and Newman
Corey, master string stretcher, provide the action up front, while Dave
Bishop and local favorite Bob Miron keep it all together in the rhythm
section!! If you want to have a good time and do some dancing, be where
they are!!! Contact baseman57@shaw.ca
HARRIS GILMORE AND THE MOJOS
With
the amazing AL SABOURIN on guitar, burn up the stage with hard driving
blues originals and covers, fiery jams, and even some funky reggae.
But that's not all, oh no! THE MOJOS mess with your head,
genre bending, like in the middle of "Wang Dang Doodle",
they might break into a few bars of the 80's hit, "Tainted
Love", blended in with Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up",
before pounding back into the blues. Harris has opened shows for
DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND, ROBBEN FORD, KATIE WEBSTER, and, don't
forget...folksinger VALDY? For more info go to www.harrisgilmoreandthemojos.com
PRESTON
AND
BONKOWSKI
Preston
& Bonkowski are a swingin' little duo with Gary Preston on piano,
vocals and harmonica and Anita Bonkowski on upright bass and percussion.
The music is always bluesy, with a touch of jazz and Latin.
www.garypreston.ca
PRESTON McCOOL
PRESTON McCOOL is a five-piece blues-rock band configured of
Victoria musicians many of you will know from past experience. Along
with well-known some blues standards their repertoire includes less
familiar entries from such notables as the Paul Butterfield Blues Band,
Delbert McClinton, Robert Cray as well as some eclectic numbers from
sources like Ian Maclagan, Spirit and Gary U.S. Bonds. Del Kunitz - lead
vocals and harmonica. Del and Ken Preston previously played together in
Swingin' Richard. Ron Lukawitski - bass and vocals. Ron and Sean McCool
played together in Doc & the Doo-Wops and Ron and Ken were in The
Gene Grooms Project. Brian Ferguson - keyboards. Brian and Sean played
in Party of Four working on cruise ships in Alaska, the Caribbean,
Mexico and the South Seas. Sean McCool - guitar and vocals. Sean and Ken
played together in RiffRaff. Ken Preston - drums. Connections noted
above, but it's worth mentioning that Ken is an inductee in the Royal
City Music Project's Hall of Fame for his work with Blues Union. For
bookings contact Ken Preston 250 361-9914
SLIM AND THE DEUCES
Slim and the Deuces consists of Dave (Slim) Harris, Greg Kennedy,
John Hunter, and when in town, Don "Dr. Boogie" Yuzwenko. They
have been part of the Canadian blues scene since the early 70's. They
love that old school blues style and strive to keep it alive.
Collectively, they had the good fortune to backup many of the greats.
Slim is also a legendary Victoria busker who plays a multitude of
instruments in his own one man show. In 2008 the band released it's
first CD "Live at the Blues Underground" which can be enjoyed
at http://www.reverbnation.com/slimandthedeuces
. Check it out then come down and see the real thing.
SUMMER AND THE SINNERS
From Texas to New Orleans, to Chicago, with a stop in Memphis, Summer and
the Sinners take you on a musical tour of Blues and R&B, that slides
easily between “Stax” and “Straight Texas Boogie!” For Bookings call
250-885-5300 or visit the website at www.summerandthesinners.com
THE
PUSH
The
Push Band is a quartet of powerful musicians as adept at Blues and
Motown as they are with Classic Rock and Pop. The Push can be seen the
second weekend of every month at Bart's throughout 2008. Fronted by
powerhouse singer Rhonda Aikin, The Push also features Gavin
Dixon
on bass and vocals plus Don Peterson on guitar and vocals. Please
contact :Don Peterson at 250-386-8403-home or 250-888 3396 cell, email at donpetertunes@hotmail.com
or visit the website at www.thepushband.ca
THE
SOUL SHAKERS
The
six-piece band is fronted by Victoria's Queen of Soul, Joyce "The Voice" Allensen. The band
includes Scott Ramsay ( tenor sax / vocals ), Adrian Chamberlain (
keyboards ), Sean McCool ( guitars / vocals ), and Henning Kanstrup (
bass / vocals ) and Matt Vause ( drums / vocals ). Hard-driving rhythm
and blues stirs the pot and always gets the crowd involved.
Check
them out at www.soulshakers.ca
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