Colin Perry
Guitarist and vocalist Colin Perry was born and raised in Kentucky. While there he absorbed the rich musical heritage that was around him, including blues, bluegrass, fiddle music and jazz. He is now based in Montreal. He has performed across all of North America, including five appearances at the Montreal International Jazz festival, the Halifax Atlantic Jazz Festival, The Sackett’s Harbor Jazz Festival, the Carleton Maximum Blues Festival, The Victoriaville Blues Festival, and four appearances at Le Grand Theatre de Quebec. When not leading Blind, he can be found playing guitar behind the well-known Montreal harmonica player Bharath Rajakumar. He has also worked with the Susie Arioli Band, with whom he collaborated on the Juno-nominated album That’s For Me. His guitar playing reflects the early traditions of jazz and blues guitar, when players like Teddy Bunn, Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, and Dick McDonough could be found lending their personal styles to many different types of music. His strong, clear vocals carry the band across a wide spectrum of early American Music, showing the influence of Jack Teagarden, Tommy Duncan, and Big Bill Broonzy among others.
Julia Narveson
World Champion Jug-Tubbist Julia Narveson hails from Waterloo, Ontario where she was raised in household of music afficianados. Julia has been playing music for over 20 years on violin, double bass ukelele, saxophones, madolin, saw, jug and of course washtub. Played a whole lot in the classical realm, and branched out from there. Miss Narveson has been living in Montreal for 5 years now, playing mainly folk/country/old time music with such bands as Lake Of Stew among others. Her incredible groove and intonation is the keel of the Griifintown Jug Addicts.
Brad Levia – (washboard, percussion, vox,)
Originally from Chateauguay Quebec, 'Washboard' Brad Levia has played bass, drums and guitar in numerous punk and rock bands around Ontario and Quebec. In 2004, he decided to retire from the loud, electric genres and began a solo show as 'Uncle Daddy', a country/rockabilly one band band. He is also a founding member of Lake of Stew- a 7 piece acoustic folk/country/bluegrass group with a heavy emphasis on vocal harmony. In tandem to Lake of Stew he also maintains a 'skiffle' duo with Julia Narveson.
Influences
My influences tend to vary between country blues and western swing. People like Ken Hamm, Michael Jerome Browne and Tim Williams come to mind. Many of the ragtime pickers of the '20s and '30s such as Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Gary Davis and like have been integral to my musical evolution. A great many piano players are in my day-to-day influences (Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Thelonious Monk etc.) also. The band has collected a large and eclectic repertoire with influences ranging from the Tune Wranglers, Bob Wills, Harry Choates to the Mississippi Sheiks and even Hot Tuna.
Be prepared to tap your feet or dance in the aisle. Dan Livingstone is a musician who bridges the worlds of the Delta blues, swing, and Cajun folk traditions to create an expressive music that delights his audiences. Whether playing Dobro or acoustic guitar, this exceptional fingerstylist and singer takes the earliest themes of love, humour, loss and redemption and makes you believe the stories.
Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, Livingstone now makes his home in Montréal where he regularly plays the clubs around that city. Playing alone, or with his band, the Dan Livingstone Trio, he is well known to festival audiences all over Québec; in June, he played the pre-show for BB King at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and in October, the Norand Blues Festival. In the fall of 2004 (and again in 2007), he toured Europe, wowing audiences in clubs and concert halls of Norway, Germany and France. His appearances and concerts across Canada over the last decade have included festivals such as Rimouski en Blues, Carleton International Blues festival, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the Pan Am Games (1999), Mt-Tremblant International Blues Festival and the 16th Islands Folk Festival on Vancouver Island where audiences ranked him as one of the top performers of the weekend.
Livingstone is inspired by the magic of the Piedmont, Delta and Texas blues traditions. One of his aims as a musician is to immerse his audience in the music of Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, and Robert Johnson. But it is not his intention to simply play these tunes from a bygone era: through the introduction of swing, West African and other rhythms, Livingstone recreates the music for a modern audience’s ears and imagination. And Livingstone’s originals – very popular with his fans – are a thoughtful mix of these influences and his own lyrical style. Dan's work has also been featured in a variety of media such as radio, television and cinema.
Livingstone’s debut CD was released in June 2000 and is entitled, Dan Livingstone.
Dan, Hugh and I both still listen to your cd, hopefully we'll get out to see you live again. Your set at the Branches and Roots Festival a couple of years ago with Bernadette and Stephen was a Festival highlight. Are you coming to Apple Hollow Musicfest?
Thanks for accepting my friendship. Great Tunes You Got Here - keep those good ole Blues Alive!!! Keep up the great work and have a great week my new friend!!!
