The NAACP Presents: A History through Music
February 12, 2011 at the Bay City State Theater
January 30, 2011
By: Mike Bacigalupo - State Theatre
A History through Music at the Bay City State Theater February 12, 2011
The NAACP presents: A History through Music at the Bay City State Theater.
Sponsored by McDonald's and Dow Corning
Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 6:00 PM
($ FREE)
DETROIT - It's been a long time. Indeed it has. Seven years to be exact since the release of Luther Badman Keith's last CD, Thunder In My Blues, which won widespread critical acclaim.
Now, two years after first going into the studio, Keith, his bandmates and other fellow musicians are on the threshold of releasing the long awaited Blues Nation, a musical project that draws from almost every element of America's, musical landscape - blues, rock, soul, funk and hints of Motown flavored with Afro and Latin grooves and beats.
The CD is expected to be available by Nov. 1st
Blues is at the center of everything I do in music, but blues is a lot like hot sauce - you can put it on almost anything and it?s gonna taste better,' Keith explained. 'That's why you are going to find some good old fashioned blues songs and some songs that use the blues to rise to a whole new level.'
That's the intent of the title track, Blues Nation, in which Keith takes the listeners on a journey across the United States, painting a sonic picture of the impact of blues on lives and lifestyles all across America.
'When you think about it, we are, in fact a Blues Nation, from Atlantic to Pacific and even beyond,' Keith said. 'We wanted to capture that spirit in the song. It's a song for blues lovers and people who love any kind of American music.'
Guest performers on the CD includes The Original Vandellas, Rosalind Holmes and Annette Helton, members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Paul 'Bluesman' Miles, a multiple Detroit Music Awards winner.
Other performers on the CD include Milton Heavyfoot Austin on drums, Darryl Lee bass, Jim David on keyboards, Keith Owens on rhythm guitar, Mike Racette on percussion, Mark Croft on trumpet, Billy Furman on saxophone and harmonica, and Jaki G and Champagne Page on background vocals.
'James took me under his wing and mentored me and I still think about him a lot,' Keith said. 'In fact, when I started the new CD, we talked about some of the new songs. His spirit is definitely in my music.'