Lewiston gets best of the blues with Guy Davis
LEWISTON — Lewiston has the blues — and couldn’t be happier.
Blue Mondays, spearheaded by the Lewiston Council on the Arts, launches a new season today in the Hennepin Park Gazebo at Fourth and Center streets.
The concert series, which generally features some of the best blues musicians in the region, has grown during the past 15 years from a single free concert to a summerlong series of seven Mondays in the park.
The first concert starts at 6 p. m., an hour earlier than the rest of the summer gigs.
Arts council Artistic Director Eva Nicklas said that generous support from sponsors will allow them to start the series with internationally known blues star Guy Davis.
“It’s virtually unheard of to have Guy Davis perform at a free concert. He is a great blues man and a fantastic storyteller,” Nicklas said.
Davis is known for his folksy and humble stage presence, which includes humorous monologues that make listeners feel like they’re at an impromptu performance on a front porch or along a Southern swamp, some reviewers have said.
Appearing on the same slate with Davis will be Steve Burnside and the Original Marquis — Canada’s “First Man of the Blues.”
The concert will be presented as part of the “Year of Our Shared Waters” celebration, which will include a series of musical and other performances on both sides of the U. S.-Canada border through next weekend to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Boundary Waters Treaty between the two countries.
“[Free music] defines our community. It’s a chance to leave our television behind and come out to the park and hang out and dance,” Nicklas said.
Blue Mondays have received the prestigious Muddy Award for best blues.
Nicklas said this year’s lineup was put together by the late Rich Snyder, the editor of Blues Beat Magazine, who died shortly after the task.
“This year’s series is dedicated to his memory,” Nicklas said. “He was blues in Western New York.”
Other shows will include:
• July 13 — Harmonic Dean and the Blue Lights
• July 20 — Junk Yard Dogs
• July 27 — The Bravuras
• August 3 — 12 Pack Jack
• August 10 — Todd Eberwine Band
• August 17 — Willie May Band
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