MARK HUMMEL'S BLUES HARMONICA BLOWOUT Coms to Harris Center Tonight

Mark Hummel again returns to Harris Center for the Arts and brings more of his talented friends with him in this tribute to Bluebird Records. The Blues Harmonica Blowout has sold out in past performances and with the caliber of talent joining this evening's activities, tickets will be in high demand!

Grammy Award nominee Mark Hummel started playing harmonica in 1970 & has gone on to become one of the premier blues harmonica players of his generation. The Blues Review Magazine even calls Hummel "A Harmonica God." Thanks to over thirty recordings since 1985, including the Grammy-nominated 2013 release Blind Pig recording, Remembering Little Walter, part of the Blues Harmonica Blowout cd series Hummel started in 1991. These events have featured every major legend (Mayall, Musslwhite, Cotton, etc.) on blues harp as well as almost every player of note on the instrument ? a who's who of players.

MARK HUMMEL'S BLUES HARMONIC BLOWOUT: A Tribute to Bluebird Records with Charlie Musselwhite, Rick Estrin, Little Charlie Baty, Billy Boy Arnold, Steve Guyger, Rich Yescalis & Others performs tonight, January 14, 2015; 7:30 pm. Tickets are priced at $25-$35, Premium Seats $45; Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

Bluebird Records/RCA Victor was an offshoot label devoted to race records & jazz at an inexpensive price to record buyers. Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Rudy Vallee and Ozzie Nelson recorded releases for Bluebird/Victor alongside Tampa Red, Big Joe Williams, Big Bill Broonzy, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson #1, Memphis Slim, and many more. These 78 RPM records were distributed all over the U.S., and as a result the younger blues players like Muddy Waters, Lowell Fulson, Little Walter, BB King, John Lee Hooker and other future icons got to hear their first blues recordings and build a repertoire. The stars of the 1950s independents would mine the material of the older RCA artists so that standards such as "It Hurts Me Too," "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," " Worried Life Blues," "Why Don't You Do Right," " Key To The Highway," "Sweet Black Angel (later Sweet Little Angel)," and "Sweet Home Chicago" would never be credited to its originators over the decades since. These RCA artists started blues as a fashionable and classic African American art form and deserve their due.

2014 Grammy-winning harp man Charlie Musselwhite, winner of a couple dozen Blues Music Awards, hails from Memphis by way of Mississippi. Taught by Will Shade, Big Joe Williams, Big Walter Horton, Johnny Young, Little Walter and Muddy Waters, Musselwhite was soon playing all over the Windy City. In the last 20 years CM has become a major star in the blues-rock world, appearing at the White House for Obama's Memphis Music Tribute, touring/recording w/Ben Harper, Five Blind Boys, Cindi Lauper, INXS, Bonnie Raitt and many more. Charlie's cd with Ben Harper, Get Up, won Charlie his first Grammy. Musselwhite was also nominated for the award on Remembering Little Walter.

Frontman extrordinaire, composer & harp blower Rick Estrin and guitarist Little Charlie Baty started Sacramento's Little Charlie & the Nightcats in mid 1970s, recorded nine albums for Alligator Records over their thirty two years together. They went on to become a major force on the West Coast blues scene, playing major venues & Fests all over the globe. In 2008 Baty retired from the band due to health issues. Estrin kept the band with a name change to Rick Estrin & the Nightcats by hiring Chris Kid Andersen and the band has released three more cds on Alligator including their newest, You Asked For It-LIVE. Baty started playing gigs again over the last few years, playing-recording w/Hummel, Blowouts and the Golden State Lone Star Revue (w/Hummel & Anson Funderburgh). Baty is one of the highlights on both harp & guitar on Remembering Little Walter cd. This is a rare opportunity to see these two old friends reunited.

Billy Boy Arnold is a life-long disciple the of the older harmonica icon. Arnold met Ellis McDaniel (aka Bo Diddley) as a teen along with teenage guitarist Jody Williams and the three started a band that recorded for Chess Records resulting in I'm a Man. Arnold recorded for Vee Jay a little later where he would record classic early R & B sides such as " I Wish You Would," "Rockinitus," "Prisoners Plea," "You Got Me Wrong," to mention just a few. Billy's last two solo recordings on ElectroFi were both tribute CDs to two different Bluebird artists, "Billy Boy sings Sonny Boy" and "Billy Boy sings Big Bill Broonzy," which both won major critical accolades. Last year Arnold was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, was nominated for a Grammy & won two Blues Awards for Blind Pig's Remembering Little Walter.

Underground harp legend Steve Guyger rarely gets to the West Coast from his hometown of Philadelphia, so this is truly a cause for celebration. He's bringing his former band mate from Jimmy Roger's band with him, Rich Yescalis (doubling on harp and guitar). Guyger has four solo CDs on Severn Records, has recorded and toured with John Primer, Louisiana Red, Paul Oscher, and Dennis Gruenling.