James Cotton, Jody Williams, Bob Margolin: Blues At The Crossroads In Pacific NW

"Drive!" John Lee Hooker commands at the beginning of his song "Burning Hell" on his tribute album, THE BEST OF FRIENDS. And that's what a blues fan must consider when living in Eastern Washington and yearning to see some blues greats in the flesh. So, grab a friend, your spouse or --most importantly--your child and drive to the Benaroya Hall http://www.seattlesymphony.org/benaroya/ in Seattle, WA, or the Hult Center for the Performing Arts http://www.hultcenter.org/ in Eugene, OR, for some authentic blues from the roots. The sidemen of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters converge with the students of the Country Blues/Chicago sound, The Fabulous Thunderbirds http://fabulousthunderbirds.com/ and JJ Grey http://www.jjgrey.com/tour , for a night of blues history in the making. James Cotton http://www.jamescottonsuperharp.com/#inx, Bob Margolin http://bobmargolin.com and Jody Williams http://www.pollstar.com/resultsArtist.aspx?ID=44724&SearchBy=jody%20williams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jody_Williams_(blues_musician) (in alphabetical order by last name--each too important to establish some strange subjective hierarchy) join together on this magical night to present the music of their predecessors, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf (again, in alphabetical order by "last name")http://www.tedkurland.com/artists/blues-crossroads. In support of this show are The Fabulous Thunderbirds as the backup band and JJ Grey as the frontman. The theme is not to be missed, "Generations of Blues." This tour is evidence of the blues as folk and folk as blues. The blues as a genre has had high and low marks on mainstream media, but that is the beauty of the blues. It is not some passing pop phase to be categorized under "B" for Black Keys in the archives of some dusty used vinyl shop that smells like moth balls.(ATTENTION: This writer doesn't have anything against the Black Keys other than their pop following, a following which is good for them and good for Dr. John) The Blues is and always will be there in your region, in your hometown and on your street corner. It is ubiquitous, omnipresent, America, Africa, the world... So, where are the other sidemen of Muddy & The Wolf? Where is the master of trhe keys, Henry Gray? How can we see him live? Stay tuned...