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Hummel, Baty team up for combo

Southern Hospitality takes the stage
at 7:30 p.m. Saturday

(August 2015) – The South has a niche for hospitality and down home music. An emerging group of young musicians are creating quite a buzz about the music for which the South has become known.

Photo provided

Harmonica player Mark Hummel will team up with guitarist Charlie Baty to perform as the Mark Hummel Combo with Little Charlie at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Southern Hospitality is a group comprised of three artists who bring their own unique style along with a fresh translation of the southern soul, blues and rock music that preceded them. Their chemistry creates a vibrant sound that is original yet contains elements of Americana and Southern soul roots music.
The trio is made up of lap steel guitar master Damon Fowler, guitarist J.P. Soars and keyboard player Victor Wainwright. Fowler has been described as a master of the six string, lap steel and Dobro. He has been compared to Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck and the late Duane Allman.
A singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his distinctive gypsy-swing jazz playing, Soars was nominated for a 2015 Blues Music Award in the category Best Contemporary Blues Male Artist. Soars and his band won the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in 2009 and he won the Albert King Award for Best Guitarist in the competition.
Victor Wainwright is well known for his combination high energy boogie piano, big soul sound, powerhouse blues and roots rock’n’roll. Memphis-based Wainwright was nominated this year for the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Blues Music Award, which he won. Nominated three years in a row, he has won both the 2013 and the 2014 award consecutively.
Together they will take the stage as Southern Hospitality at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Madison Ribberfest Blues Bash. They will get the crowd revived up for the Saturday night headliner, Keb’ Mo’.
“Southern Hospitality is kind of a super group,” said Blues Bash organizer Dave Butler, who is part of a committee that selects the musical lineup each year. “They are three different artists that have had individual careers.”
The band got together several years ago when each was playing individually at a festival, said Butler. From that impromptu session, they formed Southern Hospitality but also still tour individually.
“I think everybody will love them,” Butler said. “They’re masters of their instruments.” 
Preceding Southern Hospitality will be the Mark Hummel Combo with Little Charlie at 5:30 p.m. Born in New Haven, Conn., Hummel is a Grammy nominee, Blues Award winner and author.
Hummel grew up in Los Angeles and started the Blues Survivors in 1977 with Mississippi Johnny Waters. Hummel has become known for his non-stop touring dates, having toured or recorded with such blues legends as Charles Brown, Charlie Musselwhite, Lowell Fulson, Billy Boy Arnold, Carey Bell, Lazy Lester and Jimmy Rogers.
He has become best known for his trademark harmonica sound-a combination of tone, phrasing and attack combined with a strong sense of swing. The winner of two Blues Music Awards in 2014, he has played major blues festivals in the United States and Europe.
Since 1985, Hummel has released 30-plus recordings, including five albums. He started the “Blues Harmonica Blowout” CD series in 1991. He also penned his memoir in 2012, “Big Road Blues: Twelve Bars On I-80.”
He’ll perform with guitarist Little Charlie Baty at Ribberfest. Baty is a master of styles, proficient at jazz, blues and rock. Guitar World said of him, “Baty’s straight blues playing is eye-popping-he sketches solos to the breaking point, skittering on the edge, where one wrong note will bring the whole thing crashing down.”
Tee Dee Young will perform at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. He is known for playing his own unique style of blues, backed by a dynamic stage presence.
Young got hooked on the blues at age 13 when exposed to the late Harrison Coleman, who taught him the basics. A native of Lexington, Ky., Young formed his own band at age 14 and performed everywhere – basements, private parties, talent shows and clubs. By his twenties, he had moved up to more prestigious venues such as The Cotton Club and Albert King’s Club.
In his 30 years of performing, Young has appealed to many because his playing and singing are authentic to the genre but not oblivious to current industry trends.
Bosco France will take the stage at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. A native of Madisonville, Ky., Daniel “Bosco” France was inspired to pick up the guitar at age 3. His uncle, Duke Madison, taught him how to play. “He is my biggest musical influence without a doubt,” France has said of his uncle.
By age 14, France was on the way to becoming a professional guitarist. In addition, he worked as part of the road crew for several national acts such as country superstars Brooks and Dunn. He has been most influenced by Duane Allman, Freddie King and Elmore James.
France was the 2012 winner of Guitar Center’s Battle Of The Blues competition at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. He beat out more than 4,000 competitors nationwide to capture the title.
He currently performs with his band, The Boscoe France Band, which features Jon Rochner on bass and Jimmy Cummings on drums.
“I just grew up with a guitar in my hands,” said France. “My papaw played, my mamaw played and my uncle played. During family gatherings they would break out the instruments and the bottle and pas both of them around.”
“We have three guitar players in a row, following Da Mudcats,” said Butler. “France is a young guy; he’s heavy on the guitar. We’ve got some tremendous, top of the line players.”
Louisville-based band, Da Mudcats, kick off Saturday’s entertainment lineup at 11:30 a.m. Their repertoire includes a variety of sounds, broadening their appeal to many ages. Audiences can enjoy the traditional blues sounds of Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and B.B. King to Da Mudcats original works.  
Thirty years ago, harmonica player Jim Rosen and vocalist Susan O’Neil got together and decided to assemble the best musicians they could find to form their dream blues band. Decades later, the band is still together, with a slightly different lineup. They have enjoyed a large and very loyal following ever since, playing in countless venues and festivals.
Da Mudcats have shared the stage with such national blues recording artists as Albert King, Elvin Bishop, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor and many more big names. In 2006 they were honored with the prestigious Sylvester Weaver Award, presented annually by the KY ANA Blues Society to artists dedicated to presenting, preserving and performing the blues.
For the entire Blues Bash, “We’ve got nine bands – all very high level bands,” Butler said. “For $10, that’s hard to beat.”

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