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Lucky Peterson
Hear
Lucky sing. Hear Lucky play organ. Hear Lucky play guitar. Hear the crowd go
wild as Lucky disappears into a vast sea of people as he rips off a stunning
guitar solo.
Live blues shows don't get much better than Lucky Peterson. Lucky is a favorite in San Diego, where he has played Bluesfest I, Bluesfest III and now Bluesfest V. It takes a special performer to wow crowds every time out and that's just what Lucky does.
Lucky was raised to be a blues star. His father, James, owned the Governor's Inn in Buffalo, N.Y. when Lucky was growing up. The nightclub was a stopping point for a Who's Who of the Blues with the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Albert King and Jimmy Reed visiting during it's heyday in the late '60s and '70s.
The Peterson family lived above the bandstand of the club and every night little Lucky would crawl out of his bed and curl up with his ear to the floor, putting himself to sleep to the beat of the blues. By age 3, he was playing drums. By 5, he was a noted child prodigy as Willie Dixon became his tutor. Soon, he would be performing on the Ed Sullivan Show.
But Lucky's was a musical legacy that continued to grow. Still a teen-ager, he found himself as bandleader for Little Milton. Then it was on to stints backing Bobby "Blue" Bland and B.B. King. Lucky was soaking in a graduate level blues education.
"Along the way, I've been able to see how other people handle the blues," Lucky says. "I found out it doesn't always have to be done the same way. I'm not afraid to change the blues. In fact, I look at as being successful. I know that you can't satisfy everyone, so that's why I try to keep myself happy with the music. If I'm happy, there's a good chance that other people are going to be happy with it, too."
Lucky is playing with dynamite these days in his band. His boasts guitarist Rico McFarland, the former James Cotton Band guitarist who other guitarists mutter about under their breath. Rico is fire on the vine, a guitarist capable of igniting on a moment's notice and running away with the show. He is a first-call guitarist when people such as Al Green or Van Morrison in need.
Lucky and Rico have been playing together for two years and there are moments, like this spring at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, when they look at each other with pure delight as they try to surprise and outfox each other. The two of them with dueling guitars are an explosion waiting to happen.
That's the way, Lucky likes it. He likes it on the edge. He can settle down behind a Hammond B3 and create a gospel serenade with Mavis Staples, rave up with the Isley Brothers, run of a blistering Jimi Hendrix-inspired or just rumble to the depths of Ray Charles soul.
In a music world that likes a flavor of the month, Lucky is a true rising star. He has none of the Overnight Sensation status that so many of today's musicians have. But when those performers disappear as fast as they arrived, you'll be able to look at Lucky stand there. A superstar of the future whose time has come today.
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