Steve's Blog
Wednesday December 2, 2009

Hi everyone

The Rogue's fabulous Fall Season continues this weekend with a Guy Davis concert and a Contra Dance - and concludes with two concerts next weekend to celebrate the launch of the new CD by Los Paperboys.

We have added some January shows to the concert calendar - all at St. James Hall. Ttickets will go on sale for these shows later this week:

• Sat. January 9th - Foghorn Stringband with Annie Lou
• Wed., Jan 20th - The Haints Oldtime Stringband
• Sat., January 23rd - Martyn Joseph
• Fri., January 29th - Dala
• Sat., January 30th - Red Stick Ramblers
• Sun. January 31st - Don Ross with Jordan O'Connor

This week:

Guy Davis with special guest Rod Davis, Friday December 4th 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

On Friday night we present two musicians with a direct link to two of the most profoundly influential phenomena of the late 20th century - The Civil Rights Movement and The Beatles.

Guy Davis is a very fine Blues singer, and also an accomplished actor. Guy is the son of legendary actors Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis - who were close friends of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, and helped organize the March on Washington (Ossie gave the eulogy at the funeral of Malcolm X and also one for Doctor King on the day after his assassination.) At one concert a few years ago at Capilano, Guy shared a very public and extremely moving three-way hug (or thrug) with his parents when he came down from the stage towards the end of the show. Ossie was in town making a movie, and Ruby had come along to see the show and to meet up with the two most important men in her life.

Every time Guy Davis sings he delivers the real blues experience, calling on the wealth of stories and songs taught him by his grandparents who had worked on the plantations in the south. His songs carry the weight of that hardship, but also convey the cathartic release of the saddest songs. Much of his material is original, some of it is traditional, and some is a tribute to blues legends like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt. He is also very adept at mixing cooking metaphors with sexual innuendo - in the celebrated style of Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson and - latterly - Maria Muldaur. He mixes stories with his songs, and is a remarkable entertainer with seemingly boundless energy. His most recent CD, Sweetheart Like You (Red House Records, 2009) contains a song culled from many of his mother's speeches: Words To My Mother's Song. By incorporating the stories of the African American experience over the years, the defiance of the Civil Rights movement, the heart-rending pain of the Blues, and the raunchy imagery of the songs from the bars and brothels of Beale Street with the power of modern beats and rap, Guy Davis is keeping the Blues alive and relevant - and very entertaining, too! www.guydavis.com