$18 Adv / $24 Door
Come hear these local blues masters exhibit their devotion to this cornerstone of American Music.
Blues Prophets are Doug Wainoris, guitar/vocals. DW Gill, harmonica/vocals. Jeffrey Davison, drums/vocals. Jamie Isaacson, piano. Jack Tukey, bass guitar. The Blues Prophets began as “The New England Blues Prophets” rehearsing in the basement of a house in Norridgewock, ME back in 1976. Even as teenagers, the Blues Prophets became lifelong disciples of the music, playing in the funkier clubs in the area like the Chez Paree, Emma's Hotel Lounge and the Manoir Hotel under an assortment of band names, gleaning skills from the older musicians who were already established in the club circuit. Live music was everywhere in those years and to the band’s surprise; patrons embraced the idea and sound of a band that played the blues and nothing else. The Prophets were many local Maine music patrons’ first introduction to the blues.
The Blues Prophets traveled to the four corners of Chicago, many stages in New Orleans, Boston and throughout Maine/New England honing their craft. During those travels the band met and performed with scores of the living blues heroes of the day like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Professor Longhair, KoKo Taylor, Jimmy Johnson , Otis Rush, and many more. During the 70's and 80's, the band became an institution on the club scene in Maine and inspired other musicians to turn their attention to the blues, working the gritty Chicago style and other derivative sounds into their own bands. Certain clubs in Maine were even denoted as “blues clubs” since they hired not only local blues acts, but national touring blues acts. Many blues veterans on the road were delighted to learn that clubs like the Cellar Door in Auburn, Benjamin’s in Bangor and an out of the way place in Monroe called The Red Barn were great stopovers, complete with blues thirsty crowds, allowing them to make a little more money on the way to their next destination point in the tour. Songwriter Larry John McNally wrote an article about the Blues Prophets for a local music publication in the mid 1970's; "This is good time music for dancing and having fun, not crying in your beer. Quint Davis, famed promoter for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival was quoted as saying in advance of the 1979 Festival, "A great young blues band from, Maine? I have to have them at the festival".
