Preston ShannonPreston Shannon was working and performing in Memphis during the 1960s and '70s, when "Soulsville USA" rivaled Detroit's Motown. Stax Records ruled the airwaves with Booker T & the MGs laying down the backing "Memphis Soul Stew" for hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett, while over at Hi Records producer and songwriter Willie Mitchell was working with Al Green and Otis Clay. It was a magic time. You can hear those soul influences in Preston Shannon's music, but he doesn't acknowledge the soul connection.

"I am really a blues man," Shannon declared in a recent phone interview. "I know the blues, I've experienced the blues, I play the blues. You know, when I recorded all my CDs, the reason I inserted R&B ... was because at the time it was so hard to get airplay for the blues."

Lady BiancaLady Bianca. Her very name suggests confidence and brio and more than a hint of glamor, qualities that are readily apparent in the artist's soulful, soaring renderings of blues originals and covers, and that led Blues Revue magazine to call her "a great talent whose hearty, refreshing approach tugs at the heart while moving the feet." (For a quick, thrilling introduction to Lady Bianca's gifts, check out her performances of "Ooh, His Love Is So Good" - from her 1995 debut album Best Kept Secret - and Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," both viewable on YouTube.)

So when you learn that Lady Bianca (born Bianca Thornton) was given her stage moniker at age 17 - a name bestowed on her by the noted San Francisco-based bluesman Quinn Harris, for whom she sang backup - you might think that even then she boasted the electrifying magnetism and blues-fueled assurance that she does now at age 58.

"Oh, no," she says, with a laugh, during our recent phone interview. "Quinn Harris named me Lady Bianca because I was so square."

Matthew Curry & the Fury, 6:30 p.m.

The party starts here! Matthew Curry is a teenage phenom from Normal, Illinois, who plays guitar, writes songs, and sings. He is backed by the Fury - veteran performers Greg Neville on drums and Jeff Paxton on bass.

In 2011, Matthew was awarded second place (first was taken by a Tommy Castro collaboration) in the International Songwriting Competition for his composition "Blinded by the Darkness," a slow, Chicago-sounding blues that features his Clapton-like guitar melodies. The song is included on the 2011 debut CD for Matthew Curry & the Fury, If I Don't Got You.

Earnest "Guitar" Roy, 6:30 p.m.

Earnest Roy Jr. was born on September 25, 1958, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, under the watchful eye of his father, guitarist Earnest Roy Sr., who worked with Jackie Brinston, Ike Turner, John Lee Hooker, Wade Walton, Raymond Hill, and many of the other Clarksdale bluesmen. Earnest's father taught him bass guitar at five, and when Earnest turned eight, he began playing in his father's band, Earnest Roy & the Clarksdale Rockers, whose members included Big Jack Johnson. At age 11, Earnest Jr. began playing lead guitar, and he formed his first band at 14, which led to his being regular performer on Soul Train.

Terry Quiett Band, 2 p.m.

As his Web site (TerryQuiettBand.com) says: "Terry Quiett explodes every power-trio cliché" by performing striking original material, from haunting Delta blues and sophisticated jazzy swing to rock-flavored riffs, all featuring his stunning guitar technique and soulful vocals. Hal Reed brought the Terry Quiett Band to The Muddy Waters, so we found out firsthand that his Web site doesn't exaggerate.

Bryce Janey, 2 p.m.

Bryce Janey grew up in a musical family and has been playing his guitar for almost 30 years. He started playing at 13 years old in his hometown of Marion, Iowa, in a blues trio with his mother on drums and his father also on guitar. They were simply named The Janeys. Both he and his father Billy Lee Janey are in the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They still perform as a four- or five-piece band called The Janeys; his mother no longer performs, but Bryce and Billy Lee still headline the band. Bryce also has a band of his own that performs under the name Bryce Janey Group.

Jeff Banks & the Pain Killers, 3 p.m.

Congratulations to the winners of the Iowa Blues Challenge: Jeff Banks & the Pain Killers! They emerged victorious from tough challenges by two Quad Cities bands - Serious Business and The Mississippi Misfits - at the final round in Des Moines in May.

The Pain Killers will represent the state of Iowa at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis next February. Besides their set at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, they will receive recording time and cash to help defray expenses in Memphis.

Winter Blues All-Stars, 3 p.m.

The Winter Blues All-Stars is a collaboration of graduates of the River Music Experience's Winter Blues program, led by Ellis Kell and Hal Reed. The kids have been practicing hard, so their set will be sure to amaze the audience!

David Horwitz (blues photography): Saturday, June 30, 2:30 p.m.

Photographer and educator David Horwitz of Tucson, Arizona, has been traveling to clubs and festivals for decades in search of great blues music for his ears and visual images to capture on film. The winner of the 1999 Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Photography, David has spent more than 25 years capturing moments of the blues masters. His works have appeared in countless publications. Last year, he was inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. This is his 25th year of shooting the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, and the free photo exhibit near the workshops will showcase David's work. - Ann Ring

(Editor's note: This concert was canceled on June 13.)

Richard Lloyd. Photo by Brian Jenkins.What's essential to know about the Redstone Room's June 14 headliner can be summed up succinctly: Richard Lloyd was one of the guitarists of Television, the seminal band whose 1977 Marquee Moon is widely considered a great debut, an unmistakable influence on post-punk and alternative rock, and a classic, period.

The All Music Guide calls it "a revolutionary album, but it's a subtle, understated revolution. Without question, it is a guitar-rock album - it's astonishing to hear the interplay between [singer/songwriter/guitarist] Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd - but it is a guitar-rock album unlike any other," composed entirely of "tense garage rockers that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the group's long, interweaving instrumental sections ... ."

But to reduce Lloyd to a member of Television - whose initial incarnation disbanded in 1978 after two sterling studio albums - is to diminish a more-than-respectable career as a performer and songwriter outside of that band, and to rob the world of a fascinating person.

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