The Mississippi Valley Blues Society proudly brings back to the area, Biscuit Miller & the Mix,  on Saturday, September 9 at the Kavanaugh’s Hilltop Tap, 1228 30th Street, Rock Island, IL.

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents the Golden State/Lone Star Revue with Mark Hummel, Little Charlie, and Anson Funderburgh at The Muddy Waters, 1708 State Street, Bettendorf, IA on Monday, July 27.

Larry Davison and Charlie Hayes will start off the night of blues at 5:00 p.m. and the trio of masters will take the stage starting at 6:30 p.m. The cost to see these performances will be $20 if you are a Mississippi Valley Blues Society member, or $25 if you have not joined the Blues Society (applications will be available at The Muddy Waters door). Rolling Smoke will be cooking up BBQ and will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Mississippi Valley Blues Society.

The Golden State/Lone Star Revue consists of five remarkable musicians from the Golden State of California and the Lone Star state of Texas who all love the blues, know the blues, and rock the blues like a barefoot lady dancing her heart out under the moon.

Mark Hummel and his harmonica have been steadily on the road since 1984, and he has released 17 albums and CDs since starting out. His latest is a Little Walter Tribute called Remembering Little Walter on Blind Pig Records with legendary harmonica players Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Sugar Ray, and James Harman. Mark was nominated for Blues Music Awards three years in a row for "Best Harmonica."  He has been performing and producing the Blues Harmonica Blowouts in California since 1991 and has performed at multi-artists events with the top players in the genre all across the planet.

"Little Charlie" Baty is the former leader and masterful guitarist from Alligator Records recording act Little Charlie & the Nightcats. Charlie and the Nightcats recorded 12 albums on Alligator and have been one of the West Coast's most successful blues acts, touring the globe for over 25 years. They've played every major Festival you can think of and every blues joint from Maine to Spain. Guitar World declares, "Baty's straight blues playing is eye-popping...he stretches solos to the breaking point, skittering on the edge, where one wrong note will bring the whole thing crashing down."

Anson Funderburgh is a native of Texas, and has spent the majority of his adult life playing the blues. Anson has earned the respect of artists like Delbert McClinton, Boz Scaggs, Jimmie & Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ronnie Earl. Over the years, these musicians have called on Anson to lend his tremendous guitar talents to their projects. Funderburgh recorded with the Fabulous Thunderbirds on their Butt Rockin' album, and went solo in 1981, when the New Orleans-based BlackTop label released Talk to You by Hand, the label's first release. After releasing nine albums on BlackTop, in 1999 Funderburgh changed record labels with the release of Change in my Pocket for Bullseye Blues, a CD which won several W.C. Handy Awards. "Funderburgh remains a musician's musician. He'll explode into a fiery and melodic solo, and then seamlessly recede into a song at just the right moment to propel the rhythm...he makes sure the songs both breathe and burn." --- Blues Revue.

Rounding out the Golden State/Lone Star Revue are RW Grigsby on bass and famed Texas drummer Wes Starr. Between these two old Rome, GA cronies, they've played with a who's who of famed musicians: Omar & the Howlers, Jr. Brown, Jimmy Vaughan, Asleep At The Wheel, Gary Primich, Kim Wilson, Mike Morgan, Carlene Carter, Hal Ketchum, Earl King, James Cotton, and many more.

This event is being presented by The Mississippi Valley Blues Society. The objective of the Society is to educate the general public about the native art form of blues-related music through performance, interpretation and preservation, thus enhancing appreciation and understanding.

Back by popular demand, guitar virtuoso Dave Fields, with his "Pot Luck Supper" band, will appear at The Muddy Waters (1708 State St. Bettendorf IA) on Thursday, June 13th, in a show presented by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Showtime will be 7:00; admission is $7.00, $5.00 for MVBS members.

If you missed his first Quad City appearance this past February, talk to anyone who was there and they'll convince you to come out and see this guy. A New York native, Dave Fields has played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Lenny Kravitz, Hubert Sumlin, Sean Lennon, The Drifters, Tommy James and many more.

He was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame just last year, and his most recent CD, Detonation, was chosen by A1artistspotlight.com as the Blues/Rock CD of the year. Guitar Player magazine also raves about his new CD and promises ..."an exhilarating concert experience if you ever get a chance to see Fields live."

So here's your chance.  Dave Fields, Thursday, June 13th, 7:00, at the Muddy Waters, Bettendorf.

The first Mississippi Valley Blues Challenge will be held July 5, at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. The first of three bands will start at 3 PM and each will perform 20?minute sets with 5 judges making a decision on which band is the best.

Bands within a 175 miles radius of the Quad Cities will be eligible to compete, but before a band can progress to the final round at the festival, they must first surmount a preliminary round on April 28, at The Muddy Waters, Bettendorf, IA, to decide on the top three bands for the final competition at the festival.

The winner earns the right to compete in the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis, January 21-January 25, 2014. The prize package also includes cash, travel expenses, and the opportunity to perform July 6, 2013 at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa.

The deadline for applications is April 20.  All interested bands can find applications at www.mvbs.org.

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society will present guitarist extraordinaire Bobby Messano on Sunday, March 10th, at The Muddy Waters (1708 State Street, Bettendorf IA) at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, only $8 for Mississippi Valley Blues Society members.

Messano, hailing from New Jersey, is best known for touring for a year as Steve Winwood's guitarist as well as being the only guitarist with a featured solo on a Clarence Clemons' (Bruce Springsteen's sax player) release. He also was the lead guitarist for Frankie and The Knockouts and recorded with Peter Criss (of Kiss). Messano's latest release, in 2012, That's Why I Don't Sing The Blues, even made it through to the first round of a Grammy nomination.

We'll be catching Messano on his way to Nashville to record his new, but yet-to-be-named CD on March 19, which will feature Deanna Bogart (who will then tour with Messano as part of his band), Ivan Neville, Shaun Murphy, Jimmy Hall (the harp player for Wet Willy and Hank Williams Jr.) and maybe even Mr. Winwood himself?Messano said he's still working on that.

Don't miss your chance to catch this blues-rocker in his first appearance in our neck of the woods.