Chicago is home to the blues. So many great artists have come from the Windy City, among them Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, a group that has been standing tall among Chicago blues greats for more than 30 years. The band’s big sound, fueled by Lil’ Ed’s rollicking slide work and deep blues string...
Jassen Allen began singing at church in Iowa. A music teacher took him under her wing, hoping the young Black man would become another Simon Estes, Iowa’s famed African American bass-baritone. The teacher convinced Allen to enter talent shows at the Iowa State Fair. “I never won the talent shows, but I got better and...
She’s the great-granddaughter of Teddy Roosevelt. He’s the great-grandson of Russian Cantor Yacov Sanzofsky. Lovingly known as M & M, husband and wife Melinda Jackson and Michael Kessler have been working together for more than 30 years as producers, directors, writers, composers, choreographers, and, oh yes, performers who have appeared on Broadway, in Las Vegas,...
There is a wealth of history behind The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. In 1977, The Dirty Dozen Social Aid and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud, but antiquated, traditions. Social aid and pleasure clubs dated back more than a century, to...
Growing up in the early 1990s in the muddy potato fields of Boise, Idaho, John Nemeth was drawn to the hard-edged hip-hop sound and rock bands of the day. Boise, Idaho is not usually thought of as a home of the blues, but it was where Nemeth grew up, the youngest son of a miner...
Dan Gasser, the lead singer and pianist of Elton Dan and The Rocket Band, first saw Elton John at Caesars Palace. Since then, he has seen him 26 more times, including seven times during his final “Yellow Brick Road” tour. Gasser has been a fan of John’s music and his humanitarian work for many years,...
She was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2017 by her sister, Loretta Lynn. The Academy of Country Music recognized her with a 2016 Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award for her lifetime achievements in country music. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Indeed, Crystal Gayle has been honored by country music...
