Images by photographers Steve France and Chris Jones from the 2010 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, held July 2 through 4 in Davenport's LeClaire Park. Click on any photo for a larger version.
Caroline Shines:
Here you'll find links to all the content in the official guide to the 2010 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival -- taking place July 2 through 4 in Davenport's LeClaire Park -- along with previous coverage of this year's performers from the River Cities' Reader.
"I started gravitating toward the blues in about 1969," says 60-year-old vocalist Shirley King. "What happened was I'd moved to Chicago from California -- I'd been staying with my dad and came back to stay with my mom -- and I was supposed to be getting married to a boyfriend I'd been liking ever since I was small. So I pretty much followed him here to Chicago to get married ... and he decided he'd had a change of mind, and wanted to marry my girlfriend.
The Kinsey brothers -- guitarist/vocalist Donald, drummer Ralph, and bassist Kenneth -- developed their funk-oriented blues sound from a lifetime of working together on stage and in the studio. Their father and musical mentor, the late Mississippi-born Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey, introduced his sons to gospel and blues early on. As youngsters, they saw firsthand the emotional power of music in their grandfather's church in Gary, Indiana. By the time Donald was 13, he was an accomplished guitarist who performed with Big Daddy around Gary. During the late 1960s, Big Daddy began taking the family act on the road. In 1972, Albert King recruited Donald as his rhythm guitarist.
Alvin "Little Pink" Anderson is the son of Piedmont blues giant Pink Anderson. Alvin was born on July 13, 1954, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and by the age of three was performing with his father as a tap dancer and singer in the medicine shows that traveled throughout the South. It was also at this early age that Pink Anderson started teaching Alvin to play the acoustic guitar. By the time Alvin was 13, he was touring with Clarence Carter -- until his age was discovered!
Just five weeks after winning the Quad Cities round of the Iowa Blues Challenge, the Steady Rollin' Blues Band emerged victorious from the final round of the state challenge in Des Moines on May 22. The prize package includes studio recording time and a slot at the IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival for July 3, as well as money to help support the band's trip to Memphis next January, when they will represent Iowa in the International Blues Challenge.
I must start out this bio admitting I have not witnessed this gentleman in person. Sometimes it is better that way. I do know by listening to his CDs and reading his stories that this guy is going to be the real deal. This guy is a bluesman in every sense of the word. This is going to be another one that you will be saying, "Where do they find these folks? Little Brother Jones is great!" Well, thank Bob Covemaker for this one.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
On Stands Now
Tagged Content
Two Ways to Subscribe
1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Amy Alkon Advice Goddess, Real Astrology, Red Meat cartoon and RCR Crossword every week?)
2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48
Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!