Join Michael Pickett and Doc MacLean on their Canadian Tour and enjoy delta blues at its finest.

Michael Pickett

Massey Hall
(Toronto, ON Canada)
Pickett’s performance at Massey Hall this night was flawless and engrossing throughout his entire time on stage. He played acoustic guitar throughout, as well as blues harp (on a rack) with rousing, forceful vocals that radiated the confidence and supreme talent that only a decades-long blues performer can muster up and deliver to an audience, with ease, effortlessly like a blues angel flapping its wings.

Doc MacLean

Son of a civil rights lawyer and a fiddle player, Doc MacLean was exposed to country blues and folklore at an early age. By his early teens he was performing in coffeehouses and festivals, and was appearing on radio and television variety shows. Answering the call of the road, Doc traded a guitar for a 1948 Dodge and set out to explore America.

In a relentless cross country ramble, Doc MacLean sought out every living old time blues player he could find. Significantly, he met and became friends with artists such as Son House, Tampa Red, ‘Sippi Wallace, Yank Rachel, Robert Pete Williams, Rev Robert Wilkins and Bukka White. Meanwhile he toured and performed with artists as diverse as Peg Leg Sam the Medicine Show Man, Blind John Davis, Sunnyland Slim, Little Brother Montgomery, Rev Pearly Brown, Colin Linden, Mose Scarlett, the Carter Family, and Sam Chatmon. With Linden, he became a popular opener for Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, and John Hammond.

Show starts at 9pm - $5 cover

With the May 2007 release of Time bomb, a collaboration CD with fellow Canadian Roxanne Potvin and American blues guitar heroine Deborah Coleman, powerhouse singer/songwriter/guitarist, Sue Foley has once again solidified her place as one of the leading lights of the contemporary blues scene.

Time bomb’s release comes only a year after Foley’s critically acclaimed 10th studio album, New Used Car, the most accomplished and accessible album of her career, featuring Sue’s smooth purr-to-growl vocal style wrapped around original songs, punctuated by her biting, shiver-inducing lead guitar work. She wrote or co-wrote 11 of the 12 tunes on the disc. “I feel this is the best songwriting I’ve done in my life – the songs just developed so naturally and seemed to write themselves,” says Foley, “it was a remarkable process and it is the strongest work and most satisfying album yet.”

With the May 2007 release of Time bomb, a collaboration CD with fellow Canadian Roxanne Potvin and American blues guitar heroine Deborah Coleman, powerhouse singer/songwriter/guitarist, Sue Foley has once again solidified her place as one of the leading lights of the contemporary blues scene.

Time bomb’s release comes only a year after Foley’s critically acclaimed 10th studio album, New Used Car, the most accomplished and accessible album of her career, featuring Sue’s smooth purr-to-growl vocal style wrapped around original songs, punctuated by her biting, shiver-inducing lead guitar work. She wrote or co-wrote 11 of the 12 tunes on the disc. “I feel this is the best songwriting I’ve done in my life – the songs just developed so naturally and seemed to write themselves,” says Foley, “it was a remarkable process and it is the strongest work and most satisfying album yet.”

Max Cann has a reputation as one of the finest singer_songwriters in the south_west of England, making music based on 35 years of rich experience, and writing entertaining songs that resonate with listeners, an extensive repertoire of original folk_rock tunes, from topical songs to hilarious novelty tunes. There’s humour and thoughtfulness in Max Cann’s live presentations, and, most of all, variety.

This is his first Canadian tour.

Artist Bio: You start performing when you’re 16. You form a folk band with your brothers. Then you front rock bands. Play bass and guitar. Feel the energy of Celtic music and riff off that, too. Add blues. Go off to Germany with your brothers and entertain the burghers in small towns. Come home, write more songs. You play weddings, parties, anything. Big bands, duos, solo. Perform regularly on Glastonbury’s acoustic stage. Work, work, work - sometimes as much as five or six nights a week.

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Hard as nails, tough as steel, but with a warm silver glow stretching from coast to coast. Join Doc MacLean and Michael Pickett, two of Canada’s most uncompromising, most travelled and most storied acoustic blues artists as they bring the real deal to your town. Feel the heat from two vintage National Steel guitars, up close and personal. Experience true blues on the edge and share the inspirations of these veteran artists, together only for this unique tour. The Ammo’s in the Icebox, and there’s a raw steak on a plate, cut like a valentine. So be ready.

The National Steel Blues Tour, September 3 - November 14, 2008, is to include up to 75 shows across Canada. A small number of American dates are also under consideration. Although many of the prime nights have been sold for theatre and festival presentations, the Tour looks forward to performing in a variety of venues both humble and grand.

“This tour is going to feature some very, very deep blues. I’m totally thrilled imagining what Michael and I will do over this many shows. The National Steel Blues Tour is going to be an amazing journey.” - Doc MacLean

Formed in 1992, FATHEAD has developed a distinctive & unique sound characterized by solid grooves, soul-drenched melodies and ace musicianship- allowing the band to pack multiple music genres into a Blues tour de force. Three of the five band members have remained constant over the years; John Mays (lead vocals), band leader Al Lerman (harp & tenor saxophone, vocals) and Omar Tunnoch (bass, vocals). In 2006 Darran Poole replaced original guitarist Teddy Leonard, while current drummer Bucky Berger joined the group in 2007, succeeding Hayden Vialva (2003-2007), Chuck Keeping (2001-2003), Ed White (1993-2001) and Mike Fitzpatrick (1992).

Fathead’s incendiary live shows have taken them far and wide, performing across the continent at high profile events such as Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, The Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, The Montreal International Jazz Fest, The Toronto Soul & Blues Fest, Festival By The Sea in New Brunswick, and Playing With Fire in Omaha, Nebraska. They have performed in Washington, DC for the Canadian Embassy, at Buffalo’s Lafayette Tap Room Blues Festival, at Virginia’s famed Birchmere Theater, and have opened for blues icon B.B. King at Massey Hall in Toronto. The band also backed the late Chicago bluesman Little Mack Simmons on two fine albums that were critically acclaimed internationally.

Formed in 1992, FATHEAD has developed a distinctive & unique sound characterized by solid grooves, soul-drenched melodies and ace musicianship- allowing the band to pack multiple music genres into a Blues tour de force. Three of the five band members have remained constant over the years; John Mays (lead vocals), band leader Al Lerman (harp & tenor saxophone, vocals) and Omar Tunnoch (bass, vocals). In 2006 Darran Poole replaced original guitarist Teddy Leonard, while current drummer Bucky Berger joined the group in 2007, succeeding Hayden Vialva (2003-2007), Chuck Keeping (2001-2003), Ed White (1993-2001) and Mike Fitzpatrick (1992).

Fathead’s incendiary live shows have taken them far and wide, performing across the continent at high profile events such as Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, The Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, The Montreal International Jazz Fest, The Toronto Soul & Blues Fest, Festival By The Sea in New Brunswick, and Playing With Fire in Omaha, Nebraska. They have performed in Washington, DC for the Canadian Embassy, at Buffalo’s Lafayette Tap Room Blues Festival, at Virginia’s famed Birchmere Theater, and have opened for blues icon B.B. King at Massey Hall in Toronto. The band also backed the late Chicago bluesman Little Mack Simmons on two fine albums that were critically acclaimed internationally.

Blues vet and Nova Scotia import Morgan Davis releases a love letter to his adopted province.

“Nova Scotia hasn’t just been a way for Davis to escape Toronto’s decrepit public transit system and oppressively muggy summers. It’s also been his muse, and his guide, for his latest album, At Home in Nova Scotia - and is he ever. Everything about the album is Bluenose to the core - from the songs that proudly trumpet that ship’s presence on the Nova Scotian licence plate, to the photos of abandoned boats along the South Shore in the liner notes. And of course, there are the side players, a virtual who’s-who of the local blues cabal - everyone from John Campbelljohn and Matt Minglewood to longtime collaborator Geoff Arsenault and Davis’ 18-year-old daughter, Rosie.”

“On Thursday, May 8th auditions will be held for the ‘On Stage’ portion of the Stewart Park Festival. The event will take place at O’Reillys pub, 43 Gore Street. Each performer will be asked to play 2 songs , at least one of them must be an original composition. Six acts will be chosen and two spots are reserved for local acts.  We are looking forward to a great night of entertainment.

“…The young guitarist most often plays a National Steel and writes effective original songs…The strong vocals are complimented by solid slide work…The songs cover a range of styles, from a capella gospel to soul to rocking blues and a very impressive debut.”

- John Valentyn, Toronto Blues Society

ECMA nominee and two time CBC Rising Star Award winner, Ross Neilsen, eats, breathes and sleeps the blues. Whether electrifying audiences with his power trio or telling tall tales in his intimate solo shows, Ross has been out there delivering the goods.

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“…The young guitarist most often plays a National Steel and writes effective original songs…The strong vocals are complimented by solid slide work…The songs cover a range of styles, from a capella gospel to soul to rocking blues and a very impressive debut.”

- John Valentyn, Toronto Blues Society

ECMA nominee and two time CBC Rising Star Award winner, Ross Neilsen, eats, breathes and sleeps the blues. Whether electrifying audiences with his power trio or telling tall tales in his intimate solo shows, Ross has been out there delivering the goods.

(more…)

Formed in the spring of 2003 these rowdy Winnipegers are on a mission to show that not all country is Nashville Pop with a hint of twang. Drawing influence from artists such as Johnny Cash, John Prine, Fred Eaglesmith, and Stompin’ Tom, they bring the music back to its original roots with alcohol-soaked songs full of trucks, trains, and a whole lot of heartache.

Formed in the spring of 2003 these rowdy Winnipegers are on a mission to show that not all country is Nashville Pop with a hint of twang. Drawing influence from artists such as Johnny Cash, John Prine, Fred Eaglesmith, and Stompin’ Tom, they bring the music back to its original roots with alcohol-soaked songs full of trucks, trains, and a whole lot of heartache.

Preview: Canadian bluesman Pat Johnson
“Pat Johnson is one of eastern Ontario’s busiest musicians, and he’s marking the release of his second solo CD with a couple of special music events. Joel Hurd has a preview.” - North Country Public Radio (Aug. 15, 2006)

Preview: Canadian bluesman Pat Johnson
“Pat Johnson is one of eastern Ontario’s busiest musicians, and he’s marking the release of his second solo CD with a couple of special music events. Joel Hurd has a preview.” - North Country Public Radio (Aug. 15, 2006)