Saturday, December 9, 8 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
In a concert co-hosted by the River Music Experience and Mississippi Valley Blues Society, Iowa-music legends Bob Dorr & the Blue Band will deliver high-energy entertainment in a December 9 Redstone Room set – the latest stop in the band's thirty-sixth year of professional performance.
Bob Dorr & the Blue Band originated in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the summer of 1981 as a means of satisfying the remaining contracted obligations of another group – The Little Red Rooster Band – that had broken up that spring. Blue Band founding members Dorr (vocals and harmonica) and Molly Nova (bass, violin, and vocals) assembled old friends to play the three remaining contracted dates for the LRRB, and the newly formed ensemble enjoyed such strong responses that most of the band members decided to stick with the outfit. Thirty-six years later, the group has evolved into a veritable Iowa All-Star collection of regular and alumni players, spearheaded by Dorr and fellow founding member and guitarist Jeff Petersen.
A familiar radio presence through KUNI-FM, where he began his broadcasting tenure in 1972, Dorr was inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in 2000 (with his Blue Band collaborators also inducted in 2007), and the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in 2006. The group has averaged 125 performance dates a year, serving as opening acts for the likes of B. B. King, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Bobby Rush, Robert Cray, Roomful of Blues, and Tower Of Power. To date, there have been over 25 Blue Band albums released, and in 2006, to celebrate the outfit's 25th anniversary, Iowa Public TV released a two-DVD set spanning the group's history and including 12 years worth of archival footage.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. Bob Dorr & the Blue Band concert are $12-15, and more information and reservations are available by calling (563)326-1333 or visiting RiverMusicExperience.org.
