SD Blues Fest

Mississippi Mudsharks

Just when you thought the blues was losing the battle and becoming just another pre-packaged conglomerate entertainment, along come the Mississippi Mudsharks to shake you to your senses. These guys play blues without apology, songs that bite with poisonous fangs or simply slither up alongside and seduce you.

The Mudsharks play with a conviction that music can seep into your soul. Seven years of slinging blues night after night has given the band confidence that it can knock any audience, anywhere, at any time right off the barstools and onto the dance floor. Not only is the music infectious, but the passion the band pours into it is downright inspiring.

Listen to the way drummer Tom Essa and bass player Christopher Michaels cut the tempo when they want to turn on the midnight romance, or the way harmonica player/singer Billy Watson fans the flames with his soulful touch. Best of all, listen to Scottie Blinn sing and play will the skill and determination of the best blues musicians in the world today. Blinn's wide-open approach to the blues gives his guitar to speak in several different languages. Blues from the soul of the Mississippi delta, the traditions of Chicago taverns, the swing of the West Coast and the stinging blues from Texas, all come together with the Mudsharks. Very simply, the Mississippi Mudsharks is the best blues band in San Diego.

No one disputes that. They've been spreading their influence into Europe. Last fall, they spent seven weeks playing shows and festivals in Germany and Switzerland and will be back this year for more. Who's to argue with a band that finds soulmates such as Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson and Brian Setzer ready to step on stage with them at anytime?

Bill Magee

Born in southern Mississippi, Bill Magee grew up with the blues. From his father's small radio, he'd hear the music of Muddy Waters, Elmore James and B.B. King, which left an indelible impact on his life. Relocated to New York as a young teenager in the mid-'50s, Magee took up guitar and started playing blues. He made a name for himself playing for packed houses at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.

These days, Bill fronts his own band in San Diego and is regarded as one of the more soulful guitar players in Southern California. Bill has a fine feel for the guitar and uses it to accent his understated vocal style. Bill nimble guitar work sizzles with all the fire of Bill's nimble guitar work, as demonstrated on 1998's fine album "Steppin' Out," is in the finest tradition
of Chicago blues.

Also, check out The Staple Singers.