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Saturday's 3rd act is Barbara Blue.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Barbara Blues has had the blues since the day she was born. She is a blues singer who has been entertaining folks five nights a week at Third and Beale Street in Memphis for the last 13 years. Living and performing in one of the most renowned Blues meccas in the US has given Barbara a deeper perspective of this form of music than most musicians.
Barbara is a blues shouter that has an amazing 3,000-plus song repertoire. On three of her nine albums Barbara was backed by The Phantom Blues Band, the all star band that also backs Taj Mahal. Barbara is a Blues Music Award nominee, a multiple first-round Grammy nominee, the 2002 National Academy of Recording Arts & Science Phillips Newcomer Award winner, and the winner of the King Biscuit Festival's New Band Award in 2004. |
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Her latest CD is actually a set of three CDs that were recorded live at Silky Sullivan’s, the Beale Street institution where Barbara performs when not touring. It was then mixed at Ardent Studios, Memphis’ legendary recording studio that has worked with dozens of stars, including Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, and Joe Cocker.
They capture the raw essence of Barbara’s down home blues, and feature Barbara’s sparkling take on some classic tunes (“Hound Dog,” Sippie Wallace’s “Woman Be Wise,” Koko Taylor’s “Wang Dang Doodle,” “Stormy Monday,” and “Lose Your Good Thing”) along with some favorites from her previous releases (“The Road Comes To Me,” “Someday Someway,” “Can’t Get Your Loving Off Of My Mind,” “Toolbox Blues,” and “Rainy Night In Memphis”). Her vocals range from big and brassy to smoky and seductive, and her interplay with the audience is confident and relaxed. Her band is first-rate and includes her longtime piano man Nat Kerr, guitarist Corey Osborn, and Lannie McMillan on saxophone. Kerr, Nancy Apple, and Reba Russell contribute backing vocals on the CDs.
Barbara has performed at clubs and festivals all around the world, and every time she hits the stage, she gives her audiences a taste of the blues straight from its home, Beale Street. In the words of Silky Sullivan himself, "Barbara Blue can make a glass eye cry."
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