Rhythm City Casino Blues Night featuring Ana Popović -- July 15.
Friday, July 15, 6:30 p.m.
Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA
A gifted solo and group musician whose talents led Rock and Blues Muse to laud her as "an accomplished guitar virtuoso with a voice that rivals the best," Ana Popovic headlines a special concert event in the Rhythm City Casino Blues Night, the Davenport venue's July 15 event showcasing the gifts of the Yugoslavian native whom American Blues Scene deemed a "blues-rock guitar goddess."
Born in Serbia's capital city of Belgrade and currently residing in Los Angeles, the 46-year-old Popoviċ was introduced to the blues by her father, and began playing guitar when she was 15. Popović formed the Ana Popović Band in the Netherlands in 1999, and the following year, she appeared alongside Eric Burdon, Taj Mahal, Buddy Miles, and others on the Jimi Hendrix tribute album Blue Haze: Songs of Jimi Hendrix with a cover of "Belly Button Window." In 2001, she released her solo debut Hush!, which was recorded in Memphis and featured Bernard Allison as a guest artist. The album was a considerable success, so Popović consequently left her guitar studies, and dedicated herself to performing.
In 2003, Popović released her second album Comfort to the Soul, delivering a fusion of blues, rock, soul, and jazz. During the same year, at the Rhythm & Blues Festival in Belgium, she was invited by Solomon Burke to join him on stage, after which she joined him on the rest of the tour as a guest musician. Popović released a live 2005 album titled Ana! Live in Amsterdam, and two years later, she released Still Making History through the American record label Eclecto Groove Records, which also produced 2009's Blind for Love and 2011's the album Unconditional. Both Still Making History and Unconditional reached number one in the U.S. Billboard Blues chart, and in 2012, Popović moved to Memphis, relocating to Los Angeles a few years later.
Since then, Popoviċ has treated blues-rock fans to a quartet of additional albums – 2013's Can You Stand the Heat, 2015's Blue Room (with Milton Popoviċ), 2016's Trilogy, and 2018's Like It on Top – and her career has resulted in numerous accolades and professional citations. In 2012, she was nominated for three Blues Music Awards in the categories of Best Contemporary Blues Album, Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist, and Best DVD, all for Unconditional, and two years later, the same organization cited her for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. Popoviċ was also the first native European to be nominated for Best New Artist Debut at the W.C. Handy Awards, and in 2004, she was the winner of the Jazz a Juan Revelation Award in Juan-les-Pins, France.
Popoviċ headlines the July 15 Rhythm City Casino Blues Night alongside special guests Jamiah Rogers and Hal Reed, admission to the 6:30 p.m. concert event is $25-35, and more information and tickets are available y calling (563)328-8000 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.
