On Saturday, October 4, Blues in the Bottoms at Knuckleheads got off to an earlier than expected start, but the performers did not let that interfere with one of the best blues music shows this year. Kevin Burt, our friend from Iowa, primed the crowd with his mellow blues sound. He performed some of his original music and some hits from his CD tribute to his music idol, Bill Withers. Because Kevin’s performance time on the outdoor stage was short, he offered to do a free set in the Gospel Lounge. If you missed this, you missed his best performance. For over 90 minutes, he entertained the crowd with his signature music. The intimacy of the Gospel Lounge lent itself perfectly to his solo performance. He was joined on stage by local musician Scotty Dennis, and later by D.K. Harrell for some awesome storytelling and more great music. It was memorable in every way.
D.K. Harrell showed why he’s one of the most sought-after young bluesmen performing today. His idol is B.B. King, and you could hear echoes of B.B. throughout his magnificent guitar picking and songs. He had the crowd up and dancing, and added some of his own booty-shaking. His music is joyous and infectious, while keeping true to his love of traditional and Delta blues. His keyboard player showed off his immense talent and was the perfect backup singer and solo accompaniment on songs. We got everything and more than we expected from this performance.
Blues in the Bottoms concluded with the Selwyn Birchwood band’s performance. Beyond his original music, we were dazzled with his slide guitar mastery and tongue doing some amazing guitar work. Wow! Selwyn’s music is explosive, and he pulls you into his unique creative vision of blues. He explained his process of taking a little sound from here and there, and making it into his own, so there is no duplication; just him and his sound. It was an excellent performance.
