Lead singer, CeCe Teneal is an award-winning, undeniable talent whom both critics and fans call “a musical force to be reckoned with,” and her achievements in the industry over the past decade are certainly a testament to that view. The funkiest musicians to ever touch the stage, Soul Kamotion is the smooth and passionate. They have as their song “90 MPH” suggests, one gear – high energy. CeCe Teneal & Soul Kamotion has been captivating the globe with original, live music for more than 16 years. Their blend of soul, rock, and rhythm and blues music uplifts and inspires audiences with messages of hope, love and the belief that anything is possible. They pride themselves on creating incredible live music experiences that transcend cultural and generational barriers.
Author: bgd-bryan
Johnny Rawls
Johnny is a soul blues legend. The term soul blues was invented to describe his music. He is an internationally recognized recording artist, music producer, and songwriter who tours extensively throughout North America and overseas. The Blues Music Awards, Blues Blast Awards, Living Blues Critics Poll Awards, and the W.C. Handy Awards have all acknowledged Johnny with multiple awards and nominations including Soul Blues Album of the Year, and Soul Blues Artist of the Year. Johnny is also honored to be mentioned on two markers along the Mississippi Blues Trail. He’s been around the world and literally played everywhere. Every time as entertaining as ever. 50 years and still going strong. In 2021 he was nominated for Blues Music Awards for Soul Blues Album – Where Have All the Soul Men Gone and Soul Blues Male Artist.
Doug MacLeod
MacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of a Doug MacLeod performance is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters-from the faceless to the legendary-to strikingly real life. Doug is a multiple Blues Music Award winner, most recently the 2020 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Artist of The Year and the 2018 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album Of The Year ‘Break The Chain’. His new album with producer Jim Gaines will be released in 2021. He was nominated in 2021 for the Blues Music Award for Acoustic Blues Artist.
Terrie Odabi
Few vocalists own the stage like Terrie Odabi. When the statuesque Oakland native begins to sing, a hush falls over the audience. They’re about to take a ride through the highs and lows of soul music, led by a beautiful singer who packs her shows with heart-pumping energy and poignant memories. Terrie performs original stirring blues straight from the soul. Her compelling arrangements create a contemporary sound that support Terrie’s witty lyrics and compelling voice. She takes pride in her urban roots, appealing to a wide, new audience. 2014 & 2015 Winner of Bay Area Regional Finals International Blues Challenge; 2015 Winner of the Black Music Award for Best Female Blues Artist; 2020 Blues Music Award Nominee. In 2021 she was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Female Artist.
James Armstrong
Born into a musical family in 1957 in Los Angeles, James Armstrong had blues music in his blood from the very start. His Mom was a blues singer, his Dad played jazz guitar. Armstrong formed his first band in the 7th grade, and by age 17 he was touring the country. James would start making waves on the local California blues circuit by his 20s, becoming the youngest member of Smokey Wilson’s band. In the 1980s, James was a founding member of the band Mama Roo and received his first recording contract for Crescendo Records. Armstrong continues to tour extensively. He pays tribute to the past with the traditional blues, and his unique songwriting skills. Using both slide and pick, James’ guitar playing is some of the smoothest in the business. James regularly brings his vibrant and welcoming live shows to people around the globe.
Dawn Tyler Watson
Multiple award-winning, Montreal based Singer/Songwriter Dawn Tyler Watson has earned her place among the International Blues elite. Her fiery stage presence and soul-stirring performances have garnered her national and world-wide recognition. With two recent Maple Blues Awards; Songwriter of the Year, and Best Album/Producer, she was also nominated by the Blues Foundation in Memphis for a 2020 Blues Music Award for Vocalist of the Year. Her latest record “Mad Love,” has just won the 2020 JUNO award for Blues Album of the Year! Since hooking up with a 7-piece killer band fronted by award-winning guitarist Ben Racine, Watson’s star has been on the rise. She took the coveted first-place prize at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2017. With a sound that’s infused with Jazz, Soul, Rock, and Gospel, Watson pushes the boundaries of traditional Blues into a whole new dimension.
Bernard Allison
As a true “Son of the Blues”, Bernard possesses the requisite guitar feel and vocal intonations necessary to propel his blues to the next century. He delivers the energy level essential to captivate audiences and indulges showmanship and spontaneity to drive his performance in fresh, innovative directions each night. Bernard Allison totes the same smokin’ six-string shooter that his father, the late great Luther Allison, assaulted the blues with. Bernard is blessed with his father’s soulful voice, spiritual devotion and a musical freedom, which experiments with the blues. Born in Chicago, he was the youngest of nine children. Like Ken Griffey Jr., hanging out in baseball locker rooms as a youth, Luther’s son was a kid running on stage throughout the bands’ sets. Experiences like that profoundly affect one’s aspirations. “That’s when I decided that I wanted to be up there with him. I think I was seven.”
Bobby Rush
Grammy winning blues legend, Blues Hall of Famer, 12x Blues Music Award winner, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, and makes a cameo in the Netflix Original ‘Dolemite Is My Name’ Starring Eddie Murphy. After decades of tearing up the chitlin’ circuit on a nightly basis with his sweaty, no-holds-barred funkfests, Bobby has thoroughly broken through to the mainstream. He won a long-overdue 2017 Grammy for his spectacular album Porcupine Meat and consistently tours the globe as a headliner. What’s more, Bobby’s newest album Sitting on Top of the Blues on his own Deep Rush imprint (distributed by Thirty Tigers) promises to further spread the news that this revered legend, well past 80 years of age even if his stratospheric energy level belies the calendar, is bigger and badder and bolder than ever. In December 2019 – January 2020, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album and for a Blues Music Award for Best Soul Blues Album. In January 2021, Rawer Than Raw was nominated for Blues Music Awards for Album of the Year and Acoustic Blues Album.
Mud Morganfield
Eldest son of blues great Muddy Waters, Mud grew up surrounded by music, and particularly the blues, and he’s played music all of his life, starting with the drums his dad gave him as a child, then moving on to the bass guitar. Supporting himself as a truck driver, just like his father did when he was first starting out, Morganfield didn’t seriously consider being a professional blues musician until after Waters’ death in 1983, by which time Morganfield was already close to 30. Possessing a baritone voice very much like his father’s, and blessed with a similar sense of vocal phrasing and a sense of how to command a stage, Morganfield made up for lost time, cutting his teeth in the southside Chicago clubs where he was soon a popular draw on the blues club and festival circuit; he mixed both original songs and Muddy Waters classics into his live sets. Morganfield has described the resemblance of the tone and timber of his voice to that of his father’s voice as a double-edged sword. The similarity is evident in For Pops: A Tribute To Muddy Waters, an album on which Morganfield performs several Muddy Waters songs. Mud is proud to have won the Living Blues Album of the Year award.
Lucky Peterson Tribute
Legendary American Bluesman Lucky Peterson, master of the blues guitar and the Hammond B3, died May 17, 2020 in Dallas, TX. He was 55 and survived by his wife, Tamara Peterson and four children.
In 2019, he celebrated his 50th anniversary of performing professionally. Born in Buffalo, NY in 1964, the son of James Peterson, a renowned blues guitarist and owner of “The Governor’s Inn,” a popular roadhouse club in the city and regular stop for some of the most famous bluesmen of the day. With all of the incredible talent and music going through the club, Little Lucky Peterson, as they called him at the time, learned very early in his life that his true calling was music, and in particular the Blues!
Lucky Peterson released 32 albums in his career, including The Son of a Blues Man, in honor of his father. He is dearly missed by Blues fans all over the world.
Billy Branch & The Sons of Blues
Inducted into the 2020 Blues Hall of Fame by the Blues Foundation, Billy Branch is one of today’s greatest harmonica players. Branch learned first-hand from icons Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, and Willie Dixon. They made it clear that Branch was the heir apparent to the Chicago blues harmonica throne. With his instantly recognizable sound and his band of hard-hitting blues virtuosos, aptly named The Sons of Blues, Branch has traveled the world, creating living, breathing and evolving Chicago blues for over four decades. Branch is among the last living bluesmen to have been mentored by the original blues giants. Branch absorbed the tradition and over the years developed his own style and sound. He is a three-time Grammy nominee, a three-time Blues Music Award winner, a retired Grammy governor, a two-time BMA Keeping the Blues Alive Award winner, and a two-time Living Blues Critics’ Award winner.
Kenny Neal
Kenny Neal, born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, began playing music at a young age. Learning the basics from his father, singer and Blues harmonica master, Raful Neal, Kenny is known as a modern swamp-blues and multi-instrumentalist, that draws from the sizzling sounds of his native Louisiana. Kenny’s 2016 release, Bloodline, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album and also won 2 BMAs (Blues Music Awards); one for Best Contemporary Blues Album and the other for Best Contemporary Male Blues Artist. He is a true living blues Legend, THE REAL DEAL and more poised than ever to deliver the blues like no one else can!
Toronzo Cannon
Since the 2016 release of his Alligator Records debut, The Chicago Way, contemporary blues guitarist/vocalist/songwriter (and Chicago Transit Authority bus driver) Toronzo Cannon has burst onto the international stage as one of Chicago’s – and the world’s – most acclaimed next-generation bluesmen. He’s earned his fame through the overwhelming response to his album, the sheer force of his music, his original songs, and his live charisma. Since the CD’s release, he’s played major cities all over the U.S., Canada and Europe, delivering one hard-rocking performance after another. England’s MOJO magazine declared The Chicago Way the #1 Best Blues Album of 2016. The album and Cannon were also nominated for four Blues Music Awards in 2017. And the world champion Chicago Cubs invited Cannon to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the September 13, 2017 game.
Biscuit Miller & The Mix
Biscuit and his band, The Mix, have been touring extensively ever since he won his first BMA in 2012 followed by a second BMA for Best Bass Player in 2017. Biscuit is known for his high energy shows, his antics as a funky bassist turned front man, and his blazing million-dollar smile. He is a born entertainer and is at home on the stage where he connects with his audience through a fun and funky approach to the blues. But don’t let the fun and food songs fool you! This is a dedicated group of musicians with an amazing depth of talent. Biscuit Miller has graced the covers of several publications, including the Blues Festival Guide and Big City Rhythm & Blues.
The Duke Robillard Band
Michael John “Duke” Robillard is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, bandleader, studio sideman, producer, label operator and educator. The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C.Handy Awards) named Duke Robillard Best Blues Guitarist four years out of five (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004) making him the second most honored guitarist for that award! He was also nominated in that category in 2005, 2007 and 2008. In 2007 Duke received a Grammy nomination for his Guitar Groove-a-rama CD and was also honored with the prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award for excellence in the arts. Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003 for Best International Blues Artist, The Blues Foundation’s Producer of the Year award in 2004, The French Blues Association Album of the Year award in 2002 and Guitarist of the Year awards in 1999 and 2002.
John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band
Growing up on Mississippi sharecropper land in 1945, inspired by his family’s deep devotion to spirituals on Sundays, and blues on Saturdays! Moving to Chicago in 1963, he started on that path of becoming a great bluesman, getting his first steady gig at the Legendary Theresa’s Lounge. After he joined forces with Willie Dixon, his dream came true in 1981, John’s idol, Muddy Waters called for him to lead his band. After Muddy’s untimely death, he joined up with Magic Slim & The Teardrops for the next 13 years, traveling all over the world and innovating the “Chicago lump” sound. In 1995, he began leading his own Real Deal Blues Band. He recorded his own Blues House Productions record label. A Chicago Blues Hall of Famer with 2 Grammy Nominations, given 2 Lifetime Achievement Awards, winning a Blues Music Award, several Living Blues Awards and countless other awards, John Primer is a Chicago Blues Icon keeping all the traditions alive!
Zac Harmon
Zac Harmon is an award-winning guitarist, organist, singer, and songwriter whose distinctive style combines the best of old-school soul-blues artists with modern lyrics and themes that bring the blues into a new century. In 2004, Harmon and the Mid-South Blues Revue won the Blues Foundation’s prestigious International Blues Challenge title of Best Unsigned Band. XM listeners voted Harmon Best New Blues Artist in the inaugural XM Nation Awards in 2005. In 2006, Harmon won the coveted Blues Music Award for Best New Artist Debut for the Blues according to Zacariah. Later that year, he was featured in Blues Revue magazine as one of the 10 artists that “represent the future of the blues.” Also in 2009, Zac was honored for his career achievements in his beloved hometown at the Jackson Music Awards, and weeks later in Nashville, the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation bestowed the “Little Milton” Guitar Award for Outstanding Guitar Player upon him.
Angela Easley
She has the voice of the bayou-sultry, spicy, and full of soul. This Nashville Indie Recording Artist and Mississippi Soul Singer will rattle the rafters with her powerhouse vocals and rockin’ soulful band. Angela Easley Band was 2016 Nashville Blues Challenge Finalist and performed in February at Hard Rock Cafe Memphis for Hart Fund Benefit during 2017 International Blues Challenge week. Angela also made her debut performance in 2016 at the legendary Nashville club 12th & Porter, and co-hosted a roots series show “Rock & Roots Boogaloo” at Douglas Corner Cafe. Angela Easley’s new album title “Hold On” is filled with infectious tunes and showcases Angela’s prolific lyric style rooted in the deep soul of the south. Angela’s latest single titled “Lay Down” is sure to get you singing along.
Rusty Wright Band
For Rusty Wright, it’s “all about the moment,” commanding the stage to deliver the musical heat, the infectious grooves and penetratingly sincere songs that have earned the Michigan native an international audience and recognition as a Master Blues Artist in the International Blues Hall of Fame®. Formed in 2004, the band’s second public performance was opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd, the crowd of 4000+ rewarded them with a standing ovation and became the nucleus of the band’s ultra-loyal Midwest following. Those who’ve seen Wright and his top-drawer band perform live, will attest to the outfit’s razor-tight, explosive delivery of inventive blues songs. The band’s innovative sound is a hot rod fusing of Texas and Chicago-style blues, swinging boogie and Southern rock, with a twist of Motor City grit.
Duffy Bishop Band
Duffy Bishop is a force of nature. A powerful blues blaster, a sultry soul singer, a presence who connects with her audience in a deeply personal way be it in an intimate club or huge festival. Duffy was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Based in Portland Oregon and St. Augustine, Florida, Duffy is in the Cascade Blues Association and Washington Blues Society Hall of Fame, and a recipient of both organizations’ Lifetime Achievement Award. She has won the CBA’s Female Vocalist Award so many years in a row that they renamed it the Duffy Bishop Female Vocalist Award. “Who Is Duffy Bishop and Why Is She Not World Famous?” a documentary on her life, was released in 2010.
