The Robert Cray Band at the Capitol Theatre -- August 9.
Saturday, August 9, 7 p.m.
Capitol Theatre, 330 West Third Street, Davenport IA
A five-time Grammy Award winner who was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned the Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance, blues-rock legend Robert Cray brings his band's national tour to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on August 9, the artist's ensemble having previously shared stages with the iconic likes of Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, and Eric Clapton.
Born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was stationed at Fort Benning, Cray had seen his heroes Albert Collins, Freddie King, and Muddy Waters in concert by age 20, and decided to form his own band. He and his fellow musicians began playing college towns on the West Coast, and in the late 1970s, the artist collaborated with Curtis Salgado in the Cray-Hawks. (In the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House, Cray was also the uncredited bassist in the house party band Otis Day & the Knights.) Cray released the album Who's Been Talkin' on Tomato Records in 1980, as well as two albums on HighTone Records in the mid-1980s: Bad Influence and False Accusations. Both were moderately successful in the United States and in Europe, where he was building a reputation as a live artist, and in 1986, Cray was signed to Mercury Records and released his fourth album Strong Persuader, which received a Grammy Award. Its crossover single "Smoking Gun," meanwhile, brought Clay wider appeal and name recognition.
By the late 1980s, Cray was an opening act for such major stars as Eric Clapton, and in August of 1990, the musician played with Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, performing "Sweet Home Chicago." This was Stevie Ray Vaughan's final performance before he died in a helicopter accident later that night. Over the decades since, Cray has created a sound that rises from American roots and arrives today both fresh and familiar. In just over 40 years, Cray and his bandmates have recorded 20 studio releases, 15 of which have been on the Billboard charts, and played bars, concert halls, festivals, and arenas around the world. He has earned a quintet of Grammys and a number of W.C. Handy blues awards, while in 2011, Cray was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. The blues great also received the Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance in 2017.
The Robert Cray Band brings their national tour to Davenport on August 9, admission to the 7 p.m. concert event is $45-160, and more information and tickets are available by visiting FirstFleetConcerts.com/first-fleet-venues/capitol-theatre.
