By Michael Mering, cbbfestival.com Senior Correspondent, mikemering@gmail.com
Blue grass and blues. Chicago and Nashville. A grand stage and a hallway haven side stage. Husband and wife.
Our panel of writers here at Chicago Bluegrass & Blues couldn’t have imagined a more successful marital state of affairs for this year’s inaugural festival. Of course, we (the writers) met one another at a swingers’ conference for journalists. It’s quite a scene. One minute you’re discussing obscure documentaries, the next you are tossing your keys into a large bowl and being whisked away to the bondage room by an NPR executive. I guess our parameters for holy matrimony veer from the norm.
Let’s talk music…
Majors Junction and Blue Mother Tupelo… These two bands will help fuel the sonic landscape at the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues fest, and both feature a dynamic husband-and-wife duo. Don’t scoff at the sentiment, as you’ll soon be scooped up by the love in the air.
Check the stats:
Blue Mother Tupelo (BMT)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
They moved there in 2001 and have since earned rave reviews and gained momentum with their live shows.
Band Members: BMT is the husband/wife duo of Ricky and Micol Davis
Hollywood Moment: BMT’s video for “Head On My Shoulder” is featured on the DVD of the movie Daltry Calhoun (Miramax, 2005) starring Johnny Knoxville and Juliette Lewis.
Sounds Like: If Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty were actually married and decided to take over Dixie.
They describe their sound as: “Swampadelic Southern Soul Rock”
Majors Junction
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Band Members: The husband and wife tandem of Mike Mulcahy (guitar, vocals) and Heather O’Brien (vocals) front the band. Their harmonies are accompanied by Brian Wilkie (pedal steel), Matt Gandurski (guitar), John Hasbrouck (bass), and Colin Williams (drums).
Sounds Like: Everything you love about Johnny Cash and early Wilco.
Their sound has been described as: “Plush Lonesome Western Blues.”
Live show: Keep your eye on chicagoacoustic.net for a podcast with the legendary Michael Teach, and your ear on Hambone’s Blues Party every Thursday night at 10pm on WDCB 90.9FM. They are scheduled to turn up on both in early November, when you’ll hear them ripthrough several numbers in a very intimate setting.
ABOUT THE CHICAGO BLUEGRASS & BLUES FESTIVAL:
On November 22nd, 2008, the Congress Theater will host the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival (cbbfestival.com). While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today. The one-day event will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jamband, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures, while allowing festivalgoers to save a heart. A portion of each $31 ticket will be donated to the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), an non-profit organization that raises money for America’s #1 birth defect, congenital heart defects (CHD).
