ALLIGATOR RECORDS ARTISTS TO PERFORM AT THE CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL – JUNE 6 THROUGH JUNE 9
Nick Moss Performs On June 7, Southern Avenue On June 8 And
The Cash Box Kings On June 9
Shemekia Copeland And Ronnie Baker Brooks
Free Opening Night Performance At The Ramova Theatre On June 6
The City of Chicago will host the 2024 Chicago Blues Festival Thursday, June 6 through Sunday, June 9, taking place as part of Millennium Park’s milestone 20th anniversary season. Alligator Records stars Shemekia Copeland and Ronnie Baker Brooks will give a special opening night performance at the historic Ramova Theatre, 3520 S. Halsted St., in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood on Thursday, June 6. The opening night performance on Thursday, June 6 is free with online RSVP, which will go live Wednesday, May 1.
In addition to the opening night performance, Alligator Records Artists The Nick Moss Band will join Louisiana bluesman Lil' Jimmy Reed and pianist Ben Levin on the Rosa’s Lounge (North Promenade) Stage on Friday, June 7. GRAMMY-nominated, Memphis-based roots, blues and soul band Southern Avenue, recently signed to Alligator Records, will headline the Jay Pritzker Pavilion Stage on Saturday, June 8. The Cash Box Kings will perform on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion Stage on Sunday, June 9.
For more information, visit ChicagoBluesFestival.us or follow on Facebook (@ChicagoBluesFestival), Instagram (@ChicagoDCASE), (@Millennium_Park); or X/Twitter (@Millennium_Park) or (@ChicagoDCASE). Sign up for the DCASE Newsletter to receive monthly updates and event information.
SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Award-winning, multi-GRAMMY Award-nominated blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. She is beloved worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory music, as well as for delivering each song she performs with unmatched passion. Copeland connects with her audience on an intensely personal level, taking them with her on what The Wall Street Journal calls “a consequential ride” of “bold and timely blues.” Look for a new Shemekia Copeland album later this year.
RONNIE BAKER BROOKS
Ronnie Baker Brooks was born in 1967 in Chicago, first playing guitar with his famous father onstage at age nine. Having joined his father's band full time after graduating high school, Ronnie made his recording debut on Lonnie Brooks' Live From Chicago: Bayou Lightning Strikes album in 1988. In 1991, he hit the road as part of The Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Tour band, backing Lonnie, Elvin Bishop, and Katie Webster. Ronnie performed with his father for 12 years, gaining valuable experience and sharing stages with such notables as Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Buddy Guy, among many others. His Alligator Records debut will be released in 2024.
NICK MOSS
Nick Moss is a towering figure in today’s blues world. He’s a guitarist who can play from subtle to searing, as well as a gifted singer and songwriter. He toured with, and was mentored by, 1950s blues titan Jimmy Rogers, and played in the bands of harpist/singer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and West Side guitar hero Jimmy Dawkins. Nick has led his own band since 1997, cutting a dozen albums that range from traditional Chicago blues to hard-rocking guitar explorations. Moss’ latest Alligator Records release is Get Your Back Into It! by The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling. Moss, Gruenling and the band are five-time Blues Music Award recipients, including Band Of The Year.
SOUTHERN AVENUIE
GRAMMY-nominated Memphis-based roots, blues and soul band Southern Avenue are known for their positive, message-driven original songs and their melting-pot mix of Memphis blues and soul. The dynamic collective, more a family than a band, showcases the jaw-dropping talents of Memphis born-and-raised sisters -- lead vocalist/songwriter Tierinii Jackson, drummer/vocalist Tikyra "TK" Jackson and percussionist/violinist/vocalist Ava Jackson -- along with endlessly creative Israel-born guitarist/songwriter Ori Naftaly and keyboardist Jeremy Powell. Tierinii's lyrics are defiant and straightforward, her mesmerizing vocals effortlessly moving from an emotional purr to an inspired and powerful roar, while the music explodes into a non-stop, all-inclusive celebration.
THE CASH BOX KINGS
The Cash Box Kings’ most recent release is their dynamic 2023 Alligator Records album Oscar’s Motel. According to Living Blues magazine, The Cash Box Kings “are one of the best blues bands in the land.” The group, co-led by Chicago blues vocalist and songwriter Oscar “Mr. 43rd Street” Wilson, and Madison, Wisconsin-based harmonica giant, songwriter, and singer Joe Nosek, plays masterfully raw, unvarnished, old-school ensemble blues. Wilson’s huge, emotive vocals and Nosek’s blistering harmonica, along with an all-star band, fuel their razor-sharp original songs and always-incisive reinventions of obscure blues classics.
