August 9th -11th
garry cogdell
The East Pier Stage @O'Connells
Saturday August 10th at 4pm - FREE
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Blues musicians are not that common these days; even less so are good ones; rarer still, guitarists as adept on electric as acoustic. Narrowing it down even further, how many link the blues of the twenties with a major world event of the modern era? Then, once we have specified these criteria, who is left who can demonstrably still claim to be pushing his music forward?
There is one man, well-respected in his native Delaware and recognized internationally. He was directly inspired by veteran blues legend Sleepy John Estes himself, and his accompanists sometimes include members of George Thorogood's Destroyers, the act chosen to represent the blues at the global (and now also legendary) Live Aid concert. This man can turn in a mean Delta blues when he wants to, or he can recreate and adapt the sound of British blues-rock; but he also recorded most recently with Native American Shannon Hale, bringing to mind the currently very popular, driving, deep Mississippi hill-country sound whilst addressing the concerns of the 21st Century.
This man's name is Garry Cogdell, of course.
Norman Darwen
(Blues & Rhythm, Blues In Britain, Blues Matters magazine, and others)
January 2010
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