If you've seen Jim the Mule live, the first few seconds of the band's new self-titled studio album will be a bit of a shock: Some dirty but muted guitar and drums kick things off, and my first thought was that something had gone wrong in the recording process.
When you first meet the energetic, charming Josh Duffee, within five minutes you find yourself thinking: This man is sharp. This man is focused. This man came ready to play. And what he plays is jazz.
For Ed Polcer, bandleader and performer with the much-loved swing ensemble Ed Polcer's All Stars, a musical career shouldn't have come as a surprise. He hails from a horn-playing family - his father performed weekends at the Majestic Theatre in Patterson, New Jersey, and his uncle was a jazz musician who toured with Benny Goodman's orchestra.

Evolver

What started as a joke isn't so funny any more. For one thing, the threat of legal action hangs over Michael Tierney and his band. For another, his four-piece outfit is successful - and notorious - beyond what anybody could have expected based on its roots.
Deacon Burton & the Victory Travelers - 2 p.m. Starting in 1991 with the Blind Boys of Alabama, top-notch gospel choirs have been featured at Mississippi Valley Blues Festivals. The Mississippi Valley Blues Society learned about the Victory Travelers thanks to Otis Clay.
The purpose of the RiverRoad Award (as the Mississippi Valley Blues Society [MVBS] "a river runs through it" guitar logo attests) is to honor those artists who have devoted their lives to bringing what we call "river" blues - music that runs deep with emotion, like a river of the soul - to anyone they meet on life's highways.
Joe Price - 5 p.m. Joe Price comes from Waterloo, where he first began to play slide guitar using a slide he sawed from the handlebars of a neighbor's bike. Pretty old-school for an Iowa boy. He found his way to Iowa City, where he managed to solidify his craft when blues legends such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Honey Boy Edwards, and Hound Dog Taylor passed through town on their Midwest tours.
The Mercury Brothers - 2 p.m. The Mercury Brothers are Memphis-bound in early 2006 to compete in the International Blues Challenge after winning the local blues challenge and the Iowa Blues Challenge.
Daniel Burnside - 2 p.m. Opening on the tent stage at 2 p.m. on Sunday will be Blue Grass, Iowa's own Daniel Burnside. Originally from Como, Mississippi, Daniel is the son of legendary bluesman R.
The Tablerockers - 5 p.m. The current band is based in northwest Arkansas and premiered in December of 2001. It features Jason Davis on guitar and vocals, Texas native David Watson on drums, and Larry Boehmer on bass.

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