The 6th edition of the Red River River & Brews Blues Festival is set for June 6-7, at its new location at the Red River Ski Area Chalet.
Fun begins Friday night, June 6, with an Open Mic Night at the Motherlode Saloon.
Saturday morning gates open at 10:00 am at the Red River Ski Area Chalet. Admission’s only $15.
Scheduled to appear are Philip John Brooks, The Johnny Reverb Band, John Carey Blues Band, The Damn Band, The Pleasure Pilots.
Headlining the show will be The Pleasure Pilots, a 6-piece group of veteran New Mexico musicians with a long list of Blues credentials, working with the likes of T-Bone Walker, Albert King, Guitar Shorty and Fats Domino.
With a three-piece horn section, their specialty is vintage dance band rhythm and blues, but don’t be surprised when shades of Motown arrive to delight listeners as well as dancers.
John Cary is no stranger to the Taos music scene, making regular appearances for years and his style of blues has won him a legion of fans.
Singer, songwriter and harmonica man John Carey is a long-time veteran of funky rhythm and blues, from the Eleventh Hour Band to the powerhouse John Carey Band of New Orleans. John Carey and his band are well known throughout the southern club circuit for their unique sound which brings New Orleans funk and R&B together with the sounds of Memphis Soul and Chicago Blues. Carey’s 1998 release, Hot for Louisiana, features his funky rhythmic harp playing.
He may have been Mississippi-born but Johnny Reverb was raised in Amarillo and owes his driving style of guitar to the vibrate influence of the Texas music scene.
Of course, the 28 years he spent playing in country, blues and anything else that came along left quite an impression on his treatment of the blues, as did his 1990s stint in France and Eastern Europe where the Blues is considered an art form.
The Damn Band will make its third appearance at River and Brews in 2014. Their regular appearances in Taos – they do play Red River too – are popular and they recently opened the Taos Plaza concert series with the hard-driving R&B, Rock, Blues, Reggae, Latin, & Pop that has come to be their trademark. Lead by Red River’s K. Bolan and featuring the vocals of Mina Tank, they will rock the stage.
Red River’s favorite Englishman Philip John Brooks will be opening the show with his own unique take
on the blues.