Friday, November 1, 8 p.m.
Moline Viking Club, 1450 41st Street, Moline IL
Treating patrons to what the Atlanta Journal deemed “a healthy dose of hard-driving Texas blues, a touch of horn-fat Southern soul, and a splash of old-fashioned roots rock,” Mike Morgan & the Crawl play the Moline Viking Club on November 1 in a concert presented by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, the event sure to prove, as stated in Blues Review magazine, that “Morgan always gives fans their money's worth – and then more.”
A Dallas native who grew up in Hillsboro, Texas, the 59-year-old Morgan received his first guitar as a third-grader, and initially concentrated on playing rock music. In 1985, however, he converted to blues and blues-rock after discovering Stevie Ray Vaughan's album Texas Flood, and after returning to Dallas in 1986, Morgan met blues singer and harmonica player Darrell Nulisch. Together, they formed Mike Morgan & the Crawl and earned a glowing reputation playing around Dallas and the Fort Worth area before Nulisch left the outfit in 1989. Following a performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mike Morgan & the Crawl's 1990 debut album Raw & Ready led to national and international tours, and in 1994, the group appeared on the bill at the prestigious Notodden Blues Festival.
Over the past quarter-century, Mike Morgan has recorded 10 additional albums both with his bandmates and as a solo artist, earning raves for titles such as 1997's Lowdown & Evil, 1999's I Like the Way You Work It, and 2008's Stronger Ever Day. The group, meanwhile, has been showcased nationally at the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival, Dallas Blues Festival, Atlantic City Blues Festival, and the Quad Cities' own Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, with critics constantly singing the musicians' praises. According to the Atlanta Journal, “The Crawl kicks out some lethally propulsive rhythms behind Morgan's bard-wire-jagged guitar,” adding “With each subsequent release, Morgan's powerful guitar and the Crawl's road-proven stage shows make for one of the blyes' great success stories.”
Mike Morgan & the Crawl play the Moline Viking Club at 8 p.m. on November 1, admission is $10-12, and more information is available by contacting the Mississippi Valley Blues Society at (563)322-5837 or visiting MVBS.org.
