This is our next 'Thursday Night Special' featuring Dave Kemp - Scarborough's Favourite Saxophonist - playing alongside Tom Townsend and the rest of our resident band.

The Tom Townsend Blues Band always enjoy themselves when Dave appears and this enthusiasm inevitably spreads to the appreciative audience. 

Dave used to play in Chris Rea's band and is currently with York based 'Huge'.  He's a great guy and an amazing musician.  The cost of entry is just £3. 

Whenever Dave visits it's always one of the highlights of our Thursday calendar!!  Don't miss it!!

Young British Blues & Soul Songstress Dani Wilde has an incredibly soulful voice, and a unique finger picking guitar style. She is widely regarded as one of the ‘rising stars’ in the British Blues scene and, despite her young age, has already toured extensively and appeared alongside the very best in the business. This will be her first appearance in Scarborough.
 

Dani first came to notice at the tender age of 17 opening for Steeleye Span’s Maddie Prior. Within a few months she was opening for Jools Holland at The Royal Albert Hall!
 

News of her success spread rapidly and in September 2007 she was signed to Ruf Records, widely regarded as Europe’s premier blues label.
 

In January 2008 she released her debut album - Heal My Blues - and embarked on a prestigious Blues Caravan tour of the UK, Europe and America, appearing at some of the biggest blues festivals in the world, opening for the likes of Sue Foley, Candye Kane and Deborah Coleman.
 

She also toured the USA opening for Robben Ford as well as headlining European tours with her young British band.
The Heal My Blues album received excellent reviews in the music press including The Times, Blues Matters magazine, and Classic Rock.
 

Comments included:
 

"Seething Vocals ….. Raw Talent"
(Classic Rock Magazine)
 

"She releases a sort of diesel roar from her throat, pierced with little darts of high falsetto. It is like two voices. She sings the old twelve bar blues "I'm In The Mood", whooping and slurring like an old boy from the Delta. The place goes mad, as if it can't quite believe what it's heard."
(ALAN FRANKS, Times Magazine)
 

"Dani Wilde has the most genuine, authentic texture of real blues and soul in her voice that I have ever heard in singers of her age. She soars far beyond the usual limitations of youth with a conviction and emotion that defies her years. Dani combines raw with smooth, grit with cry all in a vocal tone so compelling, clearly she has been blessed with the gift of being a magical singer!"
(CARLEEN ANDERSON, Brand New Heavies, Etc)
 

Not surprisingly, Dani was soon back in the studio. In March 2010 she recorded her second album for Ruf Records entitled Shine. This album, produced by legendary British blues producer Mike Vernon, is a mix of blues and soul combined with more contemporary influences such as Alanis Morrisette and Joss Stone. It also features Van Morrison’s horn section and pianist!
 

The album is due to be released in August this year (immediately before her appearance in Scarborough) so you could be among the first to hear it performed live!
 

Her appearance in Scarborough will be at the beginning of a major tour, during which she will be promoting her new album throughout the UK and Europe. This will be followed, in 2011, by a further world-wide Blues Caravan tour.
 

Please don’t miss this unique opportunity to see and hear this amazing young artist performing at your local Blues Club.
 

On the 16th September Scarborough Blues Club will be celebrating its 2nd Anniversary in style !!

The Club will be open till 1 am, there will be lots of 'goodies' including snacks, sweets and a free prize draw.

In addition to the Tom Townsend Blues Band, we will be featuring at least three  'Special Guests' including the muti award winning guitarist Miles Gilderdale, the outstanding saxophonist Dave Kemp and local vocalist Laura Welburn.

Miles Gilderdale is a former Gibson Guitarist of the Year and, in addition to being an outstanding blues-man, has also been nominated for a Grammy Award as ther joint leader of the multi-million selling Jazz Group, Acoustic Alchemy.  Miles, who lives in York, has been a staunch supporter of Scarborough Blues Club, since the early days, and has become a good friend.

Dave Kemp has also become a regular at the Club.  He is an amazing saxophonist with an outstanding pedigree.  Among other things, he used to be a member of the Chris Rea Band.

Laura Welburn has already made a huge impact at the Club, with her impromptu appearances at our Jam Sessions.  However, for this gig, she will be performing several new songs which she has prepared especially for the occasion.

Virgil & The Accelerators is an astonishing young blues/rock trio. All members of the band are under 18 and they are taking the country by storm. They have already supported big name acts such as 9 Below Zero, Kim Wilson, Eric Sardinas, Paul Jones, Carvin Jones and Oli Brown amongst others.

Oli returns to the Cask following a European Tour incorporating Germany, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and Finland and his first appeance at Glastonbury in August. 

His new album is called 'Heads I Win Tails You Lose' and is produced by the legendary Mike Vernon (Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall etc)

Some comments about Oli include:

“One of the best and brightest guitar heroes performing in the world today” Classic Rock

“a real talent and should have a great career” Joe Bonamassa

“Oli is MY hero” Walter Trout

“Blues prodigy set to shake the British scene out of its slumber” Classic Rock

“Oli is the most promising Blues man to emerge from Britain for a long time” Blues Matters magazine

“the real deal” Blues in Britain magazine

For many, Oli is the most promising Blues man to emerge from Britain. Not only a guitar prodigy but also a singer, songwriter and consummate performer

Alan and Stevie Nimmo are two of the best bluesmen in the business! 

Alan Nimmo now has his own band  - King King - which is probably one of the best R&B bands in Europe.  All top musicians, top songs and top entertainment

His brother Stevie has visited as an acoustic soliost and was equally impressive.

This will be their first visit as an acoustic duo.  It should be something really special!

Need we say  more?

It's going to be packed out!

This is Erja Lytytinen's second visit to Scarborough Blues Club.  Last year's was a huge success!! 

After two years of touring, Erja launched her most recent CD - Grip of the Blues - at Finland's biggest blues festival, Puistoblues 2008.

Grip of the Blues is her boldest, freshest and most varied effort to date. After honing her sound on the road, she says, "I wanted to make an album that is as close as possible to what I do live." To that end, the CD "reunited" her with her own road band. The album's twelve tracks (ten of which she wrote or co-wrote) mix hard-edged blues with modern R&B.

Yet another top European blues artist appearing here in Scarborough!  Don't miss this unique opportunity.

This will be Joanne Shaw Taylor's third appearance in Scarborough.   The previous two have been packed to the rafters!

Anyone who has unfavourable stereotypical ideas about women playing the blues needs to think again, because Joanne is the real deal.  If you need to be convinced, take a look at the below quote:

"I have played with all sorts of blues musicians all over the world, I even made a film - Deep Blues - where I went to Mississippi and recorded some legendary players . . . Last year I heard something I thought I would never hear . . . a British White Girl playing blues guitar so deep and passionately it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!"  Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)

When Dave Stewart had his big experience, Joanne Shaw Taylor was only 16. Her skills at the Telecaster were so perfect that the blues fan and Eurythmics-frontman asked her to join his supergroup D.U.P. to tour europe in 2002.

Today Joanne is 23 and happy about the fact that she took her time with the recording debut: White Sugar.   "I wanted to take time out to really work on my craft and make sure that when I did an album it was the best that I could do." For the album Joanne took a plane to Memphis where her label RUF had booked Jim Gaines' studio. Jim had worked with some of Joanne's idols like Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The album has received rave reviews from the music press and is currently among the best selling Blues albums in the UK.

The confident and young british woman keeps the traditions of her idols but she is going her own way. Joanne is always seeking - and finding - new terrain. Funky shuffles, soulful ballads or the hypnotic hookline of the title track, a burning instrumental, she presents her craft powerfully.

It's probably a bit early to be advertising November gigs but, in view of the wonderful reception Krissy Matthews received when he first featured at the Club in February 2010, we thought we'd give you a little advance notice of the next time he's due to visit us.  It's bound to be packed out, so make sure you book your tickets early for this one!!

By the time of this November gig Krissy Matthews will have reached the grand old age of 18, yet he's already a very impressive guitarists.  While his style is firmly rooted in the blues, he's also very original, very entertaining and a joy to watch.  Anyone who came to his last gig can testify to that.  This young man is really going places!!

Despite his age, he's already been the subject of a seven page feature in 'Blues Matters' Magazine, released 3 albums, toured widely throughout Europe and performed live on stage with many eminent blues figures including Walter Trout, Jeff Healey, Robben Ford, John Mayall, Devon Allman & Joe Bonamassa.

He first came to notice when he sat in with John Mayall and the BluesBreakers at the Notodden Blues Festival in Norway (he is half Norwegian).  That was in 2004.   He ended up playing  two nights running.  The ensuing media furore resulted in national radio, press and television interviews and appearances with many other top acts.

Since then he's performed throughout Europe, including a gig in front of 15,000 people in Portugal, a 15 date tour of Scandinavia and numerous appearances at Blues Festivals in the UK including Gloucester, Tring, Nantwich, Dundee Blues Bonanaza, Maryport Blues Festival, Colne Blues Festival, Appleby Blues Festival and Banbury Blues.

The current line up of his band is Krissy Matthews (guitar and vocals), Keith Matthews (bass), and Chris Sharley (drums).