Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/20/2024
7:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Location
Heartwood Soundstage
Categories
2013 International Blues Challenge winner Selwyn Birchwood will be touring his fantastic new album Old School, and will be joined by his friends and ours, the Josh Miller Blues Revue!
Although award-winning Florida musician Selwyn Birchwood is firmly rooted in the tradition, the young guitarist, lap steel player, songwriter and vocalist sets a course for the future of the Blues with his visionary, original music. Birchwood, whose band features the pulsating interplay of his blistering guitar with Regi Oliver’s driving baritone sax, deploys a singular sound and style all his own. He calls it “Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues,” an intoxicating mix of deep Blues, blistering, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk and sweet Southern soul, played and sung with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacher with a hellhound on his trail. Tastemaker Americana music magazine No Depression says, “Selwyn Birchwood reaches back in the Blues tradition to launch something out of this world.”
This is a presentation of what a Chicago Blues Band is all about, by guys who knew and loved the giants of the music. As simple as it sounds, it’s a rare occurrence nowadays. Most of the giants are gone, and most Blues bands today are influenced by modern contemporaries, incorporating modern sounds. The Josh Miller Blues Revue is more akin to single-barrel aged spirit: steeped in tradition, carefully crafted, and revered by professionals and aficionados alike —made to be enjoyed and savored, but not so pretentious that you can’t toss a shot back if the feeling gets you.
Jim Mckaba from Brooklyn, New York studied at the University of Florida, and began playing blues with fellow New Yorker Little Joe Berson in Gainesville. When Muddy Waters came to Gainesville, Joe got Muddy’s band to come and play at their place. Barrelhouse Chuck credited Jim’s leaving to play with Paul Oscher as the reason he got started playing piano.
Jonathan Buck from Bronx, New York. He and Jim have been sharing the stage for 30 plus years. Jon played the Rendezvous du L’erde Festival in Nantes, France in 2004. Jonathan has also played and recorded with Josh and Little Mike over the past 20 years.
Josh Miller met Jon and Jim when he started playing guitar for Little Mike and the Tornadoes starting in 1999. Josh was a younger man when they met, but he came with a solid foundation of the music from playing with Steven Allen Miller in Cocoa Beach. He played with Ray Charles alumni and band leader Leroy Cooper in a Hammond B3 combo.