New England Winter Blues Tour
Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson
Curtis Salgado
Sonya Rae Taylor
The Wicked Lo-Down
Sunday, February 6
Show: 7p | Doors: 6p
Tickets: $20 advance / $25 door ($2 Service Charge Included With Online Tickets. All sales are final, no ticket refunds or exchanges. Seats are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and seats are not guaranteed with ticket purchase.)
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Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Headliner
Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson is one of the premier blues artists to emerge from Chicago’s music scene. Hailing from Itta Bena, Mississippi, Johnson arrived in Chicago in the mid-fifties as a young man. At around the same time, the West Side guitar style, a way of alternating stinging single-note leads with powerful distorted chords, was being created mostly by Magic Sam and Otis Rush. Originally developed because their small bands could not afford both lead and rhythm guitar players, this style grew into an important contribution to modern blues and rock, influencing such notables as Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler. In the 1960's he played with Magic Sam, whose West side style remains integral to Johnson's sound today. He was a major player in Muddy Waters Band from 1972-1980. In 1976 he cut his own debut album, "Luther's Blues," during a European tour with Muddy. By 1980 he was on his own, recording with the Nighthawks as well as four tracks on Alligator's second series of "Living Chicago Blues" anthologies.
With his own band, the Magic Rockers, and the Roomful of Blues horn section, Johnson released "Doin' the Sugar Too" on Rooster Blues in 1984. Since 1990, Johnson has been signed to Ron Levy's Bullseye Blues logo; his three albums for the firm have been sizzling, soul-tinged blues with a strong West Side flavor often slicing through.
No stranger to critical acclaim, "Guitar Junior" has captured numerous awards throughout his career. His live rendition of "Walking the Dog,", was included on the Atlantic Records collection Blues Explosion, which captured a Grammy Award in 1984. In 1999 Luther's second Telarc release, "Got To Find A Way", was nominated for a Grammy as Best Traditional Blues Album. Johnson’s super-charged performances consistently thrilled audiences in the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center and Radio City Music Hall as well as at music festivals in Newport, Antibes, New Orleans and countless others. During his association with Muddy Waters, Johnson also shared the stage with The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers, Johnny Winter and he made a guest appearance in the movie The Blues Brothers.
Curtis Salgado, Headliner
Award-winning vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter Curtis Salgado, the man NPR calls “an icon” with “a huge voice,” is revered worldwide for his ability to wring every ounce of soul out of every song he performs. Salgado is famed not only for his powerhouse live shows and ten previous albums, but also for his passionate and insightful original songs. He has been nominated three times for the Blues Music Award for Song Of The Year, winning in 2018 for Walk A Mile In My Blues from The Beautiful Lowdown. In total, he has won nine Blues Music Awards, including the B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year. DownBeat calls his songwriting skills “an impressive gift.” Billboard says Salgado’s music is “inspired and powerful.” Now, after 40 years of recording, performing, touring and songwriting, Salgado is back with Damage Control, his first full band album in four years, and it’s packed with fresh, original material.
With Damage Control, Salgado has created what he calls “a rock ’n’ roll record with lyrics that hit.” The 13 songs—12 originals and a raucous cover of Larry Williams’ Slow Down (famously covered by The Beatles)—will surprise and delight longtime Salgado fans. Salgado has crafted a soul-searching, street-smart collection of vividly detailed, instantly memorable songs. From the defiant opener The Longer That I Live to the bouncy New Orleans crime story You’re Going To Miss My Sorry Ass to the foot-tapping history lesson of Hail Mighty Caesar to the plaintive honesty of Always Say I Love You, Salgado’s vocals weave, bob and soar, at times jabbing with nuance, and then striking with unlimited power. Of the title track, he says, “Life is all about damage control...trouble and then some. It’s about dealing with what gets thrown at you and saying, ‘I ain’t finished yet.’”
Damage Control was produced by Salgado and recorded in three studios with three different groups of musicians, featuring some of the very best players in the business. At Nashville, Tennessee’s Rock House Recording, top notch support included guitarist George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt), keyboardist Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer, Delbert McClinton, Tinsley Ellis), singer Wendy Moton (Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton) and special guest Cajun accordionist and vocalist Wayne Toups. At Studio City, California’s Ultratone Studios, guitarist/ bassist Johnny Lee Schell (Otis Rush, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt), pianists Mike Finnigan (Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon) and Jim Pugh (B.B. King, Etta James, Robert Cray), drummer Tony Braunagel (B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt) brought the goods. And at Greaseland in San Jose, California, guitarist/bassist Kid Andersen (Rick Estrin, Charlie Musselwhite), bassist Jerry Jemmott (B.B. King, Aretha Franklin) and drummer Kevin Hays (Robert Cray) added their fuel to the fire.
Born in 1954, Salgado grew up in Eugene, Oregon with music all around him. His parents’ vast music collection included everything from Fats Waller to Ray Charles, and his older brother and sister turned him on to the soul and blues of Wilson Pickett and Muddy Waters at an early age. He attended a Count Basie performance when he was 13 and decided then and there that music was his calling. After “Salgado inspires chills. Upbeat and original…poignant and wise with a great sense of humor” –Blues Music Magazine “Glorious and memorable… Salgado’s voice is center stage just as it should be. Highly recommended” –Blues & Rhythm UK “Salgado’s vocals are soulful beauty. Fresh, unexpected, authentic, percolating…perfectly executed… simply delicious” –Living Blues getting his hands on a harmonica, Curtis began devouring the blues of Little Walter and Paul Butterfield, and taught himself to play.
By his early 20s he was already making a name for himself in Eugene’s bar scene, first as the vocalist/harmonica player of The Nighthawks, and later as co-leader of The Robert Cray Band. Salgado quickly developed into a player and singer of remarkable depth, with vocal and musical influences including Otis Redding, O.V. Wright, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf.
In 1977, comedian/actor John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House. During downtime from production, Belushi caught a typically ferocious Salgado performance and introduced himself during a break. Once Salgado started sharing some of his blues knowledge, a fast friendship grew. Salgado spent hours playing old records for Belushi, teaching him about blues and R&B. Belushi soaked up the music like a sponge and used his new awareness to portray “Joliet” Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers, first as a skit on Saturday Night Live, then a best-selling record album (which was dedicated to Curtis) and finally as a major motion picture (Cab Calloway’s character in the film was named Curtis as an homage).
Once Salgado joined forces with his friend Robert Cray and began playing together as The Robert Cray Band, he found himself sharing stages with many of his heroes, including Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. After Salgado and Cray parted ways in 1982, Curtis went on to front Roomful Of Blues, singing and touring with them from 1984 through 1986. Back home in Oregon, he formed a new band, Curtis Salgado & The Stilettos, and was once again tearing it up on the club scene. He honed his band to a razor’s edge before releasing his debut in 1991 on the JRS label. After recordings for Rhythm Safari and Lucky Records, Salgado signed with
Shanachie Records in 1999, releasing four critically acclaimed albums. Salgado’s Alligator Records debut, Soul Shot, came out in 2012 to widespread critical acclaim. Blues Revue said Salgado’s music is “triumphant, joyful, blues-soaked R&B” and declared him to be “one of the most soulful, honest singers ever.” He followed up with The Beautiful Lowdown in 2016 and Rough Cut, the potent, stripped-down acoustic album (with guitarist Alan Hager) in 2018. The albums collectively earned Salgado multiple Blues Music Awards—for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Soul Blues Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year.
Salgado has performed at Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, The Chicago Blues Festival and The Tampa Bay Blues Festival. He has also played The San Francisco Blues Festival, Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival, Denver’s Mile High Blues Festival as well as on The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Internationally he’s toured in Saipan, Guam, Canada, England, throughout Europe, Brazil, Chile, Panama, The Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong. According to Blues Revue, Salgado’s performances “start at excellent before segueing into goose bumps, ecstasy, and finally nirvana.”
For all of his successes, Salgado is no stranger to adversity. During his career, he has overcome multiple health challenges, battling back from liver cancer in 2006 and lung cancer in 2008 and 2012. In March 2017 he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He’s not only come back stronger, he’s become one of the genre’s most prolific songwriters, going from writing a few songs per album to writing full albums of original songs. In 2016, many critics declared The Beautiful Lowdown—featuring 11 original songs—as the best of his career. According to Salgado, Damage Control is even better. He’s excited to bring his new songs to the stage, where the crowd fires him up even more. “I want people to relate to the songs,” he says. “You can dance to it but the words
have to carry the weight. I know if a song hits me, it’ll hit others just as hard.” On Damage Control, the hard-hitting songs just keep on coming.
Sonya Rae Taylor
“Boston native, Sonya Rae is a rising star with a blend of gifts rarely found on the blues-rock and soul scene. Her dazzling musical ability is immediately evident through her soaring vocals, scorching guitar work and savvy song-craft. Always backed by a masterful group of musicians including Ryan Taylor on guitar, she is quickly becoming one of the most sought after acts on the scene today.” - BT Blues
The Wicked Lo-Down
Rockin Texas Blues with East Coast Attitude by Nick David, Paul Size, Jeff Berg, Nick Toscano, and Mike Law.