In 1951, this current incarnation of Joe Price arrived in Waterloo, Iowa.  Unlike most kids of his generation, Price was never seduced by pop or rock ‘n’ roll music. Although his love for music was virtually immediate, it was country blues that grabbed him early; a bond that has never been broken.

It was a chance encounter with the late, great Chicago bluesman Earl Hooker, who the young Price caught in performance at a home town record store, that really sealed the deal. “He was unbelievable, that guy—he really flipped me out,” Price remembers. “He told me to cut the end of a bicycle handlebar off to make a good slide.”

Joe’s music became a crazy elastic form of old-school guitar blues that sounds like nothing else. The rhythms bounce and hop like a super-ball on caffeine, and at times, it sounds like two or three guitars at once, but it’s all just Joe slapping and hammering those strings and layering vibrations and tones over each other into this heady cocktail of joyous musical energy.  The crazy tunings, the breakneck rhythms and the growling, dancing bass notes work together to weave a unique and utterly un-copyable sound and tone.

In 1971 Joe had made the move to Iowa City. It was a fertile time and place for the blues. Located on I-80, Iowa City was a natural stop for national touring artists connecting Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. Beginning with the Rocket 88’s (through 1974) and continuing with the legendary Mother Blues (an edgy, three-headed beast featuring Patrick Hazell, Bo Ramsey and Price) from ‘75 till ’81, Joe played virtually non-stop. During that stretch, the band worked almost nightly, crisscrossing Midwestern bars and serving as the openers of choice at high-profile shows by Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Clifton Chenier, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, James Cotton and more.

In 1982 Joe escaped to Lansing in northeast Iowa. The picturesque burg happens to be near Waukon, the hometown of a pretty young blues belter, Vicki Ewing, who had captured his attention during a 1981 solo gig.

            Vicki might be Iowa's answer to early Maria Muldaur (when she was Maria d'Amato) with strong currents of the likes of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, the Mississippi River vocal twang, but rooted more solidly in the blues than they. With a more disciplined and structural guitar style providing a comping background spine to Joe's slide and lead work, the two styles dovetailed into a coherent convincing whole.

Joe and Vicki married in 1987, after having toured together for five years.  Over their 27 years together they have opened for such notables as Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Pine Top Perkins, Homesick James, Honeyboy Edwards, Louisiana Red, Al Green, Greg Brown and Iris DeMent.   Joe is a member of the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame, The Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and was a finalist in the International Blues Challenge in 2008.   They won the Independent Music Award for Best Blues CD 2010.  The couple was awarded an official showcase at the Far West Folk Alliance Music Conference 2011.

            The couple worked with Iowa’s Trailer Records from 1996 to 2007.  Sadly, in 2007 Trailer Records shut its’ doors. Taking the initiative the couple released two CD’s on their home-grown label Blues Acres Productions; in October of 2008 A Brand New Place which features 10 new tunes penned by Vicki and in March of 2009 Joe’s collection of original songs Rain or Shine.  Both releases made the top 100 CD’s of 2009 in Real Blues Magazine.  A Brand New Place was nominated for Best independent release at the International Blues Challenge in 2008, Rain or Shine was nominated for 2009. Rain or Shine won an Independent Music Award for Best Blues CD 2010 and also won the IMA Vox Pop People’s Choice Award 2010.  “Rain or Shine” has received rave reviews in major publications including Vintage Guitar Magazine, DownBeat Magazine, The American Music Guide, Blues Revue and the Chicago Sun Times.

            Joe and Vicki appear regularly at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago and BB’s in St. Louis.  From coast to coast, and from concerts, to clubs, to outdoor festivals, the Price's singular vision and dazzling, irresistible live performances continue to etch a steady, upward arc.

April 26, 2014

Dan Zahn and Kate Moretti

www.reverbnation.com/danzahnkatemoretti

Moretti and Zahn met in 1995 and discovered how similar their musical tastes were. That year they co-founded and directed the first Lake County Folk Festival, which ran for 13 years. Over the years Dan and Kate have performed as a duo throughout the Midwest.

            Kate Moretti remembers listening to the music of the ‘40s on the radio in her family’s ’64 Studebaker. It was her Dad’s car... she had no choice. She would rather have been listening to the music she later learned to play on guitar: the songs of Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Simon & Garfunkel. As her musical tastes grew she rediscovered the music that she had listened to in the old Studebaker and developed an appreciation for jazz players such as the legendary Django Reinhardt. Dan Zahn grew up listening to the music of the ‘40s when his parents would watch “Sing Along With Mitch." As a teenager, he too was influenced by the music of Gordon Lightfoot, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan. As time went by, he was also influenced by Tony Rice and Django Reinhardt. Over the years Dan has performed on the road as a soloist and in a variety of bands. As a soloist Kate performed her blend of folk and jazz at coffeehouses in Northern Illinois, opening for such great performers as Joel Mabus, Tricia Alexander, Small Potatoes, and Sons of the Never Wrong. Dan and Kate met in 1995 and discovered how similar their musical tastes were. That year they co-founded and directed the first Lake County Folk Festival, which took place in Lake Zurich, Illinois, and ran for thirteen years. Over the years Dan and Kate have performed as a duo throughout the Midwest. Playing traditional folk, blues, country swing, jazz and Dan’s originals, they have performed at such notable venues as The No Exit Café, The Hickory Ridge Coffeehouse, The Lake County Folk Festival, The Fox Valley Folk Festival and Bill’s Blues to name just a few.

May 31, 2014

The_Big_River_Reeltime_Band
(formerly Quad Cities Céilí Band)

            Members of this band are Jon Cooper on uilleann pipes, Keith Reins on guitar, Frank Claudy on flute and whistle, and Guy Drollinger on fiddle. 

            The Big River Reeltime Band, (previously The Quad City Ceili Band) has for a decade been entertaining fans with Irish traditional music and dance at festivals, dances and concerts throughout the Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois  region.

Members are: Frank Claudy: (flute,whistle) — originally from Washington, D.C., Frank was caught up in the Irish musical renaissance there in the early 1970s and has never looked back.  Inspired by Fermanagh flute-player Cathal McConnell, he has enjoyed performing with many musicians in the Washington-Baltimore region.  He has appeared on a number of recordings with others and has two solo cds. Jon Cooper: (uileann pipes, whistle):  Jon began playing the uilleann pipes (pronounced “ILL-en”) in the late nineties and has been fortunate to learn from and play with some wonderfully talented musicians in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas in Iowa and Illinois. Along with enjoying playing several gigs a year with his friends in the Big River Reeltime Band, Jon enjoys attending piping classes, playing in sessions and meeting up with friends at the annual St. Louis Celtic Music Tionol (school). The school is a “must-see” for anyone wanting to learn the challenging, rewarding and uniquely Irish uilleann pipes.

Guy Drollinger (fiddle,mandolin,vocals):  Guy is familiar to Peoria Erin Fest audiences from past appearances of the Drollinger Family Band, where he plays with his two fiddling daughters. He is a prolific tune and song composer.

David Hicks (fiddle,flute, guitar,vocals) :  David is the most prolific composer of the group, having written well over 100 tunes and songs when he was recovering from a serious illness.  We will be performing several of his compositions in Peoria.

Keith Reins (vocals,guitar): The son of a former big band saxophonist, Keith began his musical life at the age of five with piano lessons.  A junior in high school, he was a band geek, playing clarinet and saxophone in concert and jazz band. The eclectic, improvisational nature of Irish guitar accompaniment allows Keith to synthesize all of his diverse musical influences..