Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/30/2018
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Categories
Jack Sullivan of Blues Music Magazine called her “a mesmerizing performer, with a voice for the ages”, and she will be in Gainesville Friday, November 30. Sarasota-based Blues and soul vocalist Lauren Mitchell will be playing the Bo Diddley Plaza for a free show to kick off the Downtown Festival & Art Show weekend, presented by the North Central Florida Blues Society.
Lauren doesn’t just sing Blues and soul (although she does so with great power, range, and passion), she is also a student of those genres and the people who sang them, understanding that it’s all about finding a way to transform difficult experiences into something cathartic.
Blues legend Etta James is one of Lauren Mitchell’s major influences. “She had that low register which I identify with. She had a way of presenting a song that really got down to business, digging in and touching the emotions and the meaning of the song. She was able to interpret brilliantly.”
No less than Etta’s long-time producer and guitarist Josh Sklair, a Grammy Award Winner, thinks Lauren’s talent embodies some of Etta, saying “I miss Etta a little less when I hear Lauren sing”.
“Sometimes people don’t understand that the blues is a song of victory,” she says. “The Blues is a way to say, ‘I have overcome.’ I’m over it, and now I’m turning it into this beautiful thing that I can give to the world that can help someone else heal, or feel better, or just open up a conversation.”
Lauren performs from 9-11. Taking the stage from 7-8 will be Sweet William (solo) and from 8-9 it will be Sheba the Mississippi Queen & the Bluesmen (band), the winners of the North Central Florida Blues Society’s Blues Challenge.