Kevin Burt at Crawford Brew Works -- April 14.
Thursday, April 14, 6 p.m.
Crawford Brew Works, 3659 Devils Glen Road, Bettendorf IA
Touring in support of his latest release Stone Crazy that Blues Matters! deemed “vocally exquisite, musically phenomenal,” and “a blues album to cherish,” acclaimed vocalist, guitarist, and harmonica player Kevin Burt performs an April 14 concert set at Crawford Brew Works in Bettendorf, the artist lauded by Living Blues as "a serious songwriter who knows how to craft music to fit his personality, and no one delivers this brand of music better than he does."
A self-taught Midwestern musician whose smooth, warm vocal presentation sets a mood of relaxed exhilaration, Burt has won many awards and played many festivals both solo and with his band, the Iowa Blues Challenge-winning Instigators. His laurels include being named Best Entertainer in Iowa City three times; Best Band in Iowa City three times; and one of the top 25 unsigned blues bands in the world by the International Blues Challenge Competition. Over the years, Burt's festival appearances have included performances at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival; Iowa City Jazz Festival; The Blues Foundation International Unsigned Band Challenge and Blues-stock in Memphis; and the 1996 Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folk life in Washington D.C. He and his band have also had the pleasure of playing at the Iowa Sesquicentennial Festival of Iowa Folk life in Des Moines; the Boundary Waters Blues Festival in Grand Rapids, Minnesota; and the Freedom Festival in Cedar Rapids.
Over his comparably short career, Burt has shared stages with a veritable who’s who in the music world, with the impressive roster of artists including: B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Luther Allison, Bernard Allison, Junior Wells, Robert Lockwood Jr., David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Wayne Baker Brooks, Blues Traveler, Head East, Molly Hatchet, and Three Dog Night. As a registered artist and artist educator with the state of Iowa Arts Council, Burt wrote and published the classroom harmonica-method book Just Play It: An Introduction to Blues Harmonica. He has also enjoyed stage roles in several plays at the University of Iowa, appearing as “Old Timer” in Waking Niccodemus" and “Whining Boy” in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winner The Piano Lesson. As Blues Blast magazine stated of the artist's gifts, “In this day and age where celebrity status is often conveyed on people with little discernible skills or talent, it is refreshing when the spotlight finally lands on someone who has worked hard, paid their dues, and actually deserves recognition for their talent. Such is the case with Kevin Burt."
Burt's Bettendorf appearance is sponsored through Crawford Brew Works' and the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's Brews ’n’ Blues Concert Series, a new part of the MVBS's fundraising efforts for its education-outreach program Blues in the Schools. During the Friday-night event, the Blues Society will have representatives on site to answer questions and take direct donations, while the venue will donate a portion of its sales during the series' performances.
Kevin Burt plays his Brews 'n' Blues Concert Series event on April 14 at 6 p.m., and more information on the evening is available by visiting CrawfordBrewWorks.com and MVBS.org.
