Bluesmasters at the Crossroads
Blues pianist Marcia Ball was on her way to San Francisco when her car broke down in Austin, Texas.
While her car was in the shop, Ball took a good look at Austin and fell in love with its diverse and liberal community, as well as its vibrant music scene.
Next thing she knew, Ball had settled in the Texas town.
That was nearly 40 years ago.
"I decided to move to Austin to get out of the conservative part of the country I was raised in," she said.
That would be Vinton, La., right across the border from Texas.
But try as she might to shake off her childhood influences, when it came to performing music, she found herself mixing New Orleans and Gulf Coast rhythm and blues with the country-tinged rock and blues sound of Austin.
"Now I have dual citizenships in both states," Ball said with a laugh.
Ball will open the 12th Annual Bluesmasters at the Crossroads on Oct. 16.
Performances will be at Blue Heaven Studios, 201 S. Eighth, a former Salina church transformed into a performance space and recording studio by Salinan Chad Kassem, a blues aficionado and owner of Acoustic Sounds, 1500 S. Ninth, one of the largest vinyl record and stereo equipment distributors in the world.
There's seating for about 450 people in the former church's sanctuary.
Stacked on both nights
On the bill with Ball will be blues guitarist and DJ Leroy Jodie Pierson; 94-year-old blues guitar legend Honeyboy Edwards; zydeco and electric blues musician Sherman Robertson; Louisiana zydeco accordionist Major Handy; and blues guitarist and harmonica player Lazy Lester.
The next night, Oct. 17, will feature blues country roadhouse musician Magic Slim; Houston blues and gospel singer Diunna Greenleaf; another performance by Edwards; rhythm and blues singer Howard Tate; and 18-year-old St. Louis blues guitar prodigy Marquise Knox.
The concert will conclude with a performance by Texas-based guitarist and singer Dan Dyer, who performed a solo acoustic concert earlier this year at Gutierrez Mexican Restaurant, 640 Westport. Dyer will be performing with his full band during the Bluesmasters concert.
Kassem, who also grew up in Louisiana, said he is pleased that with all the other entertainment choices available in Salina, the Bluesmasters concerts continue to sell out, even at ticket prices of $40 a night.
"People who don't even know the artists will come because they know it's an event," he said.
A secret to the continued success of the concert series is the diversity of the music and the performers, Kassem said.
"We have the oldest and most legendary performers, along with the people who are going to carry it on," he said.
From 94 to 18
An example is Honeyboy Edwards, at 94 one of the last of the blues guitarists linked to the first blues recordings in the early 20th century. Edward shares the bill with Marquise Knox, who at 18 already has been acclaimed as the future of the blues by such guitar luminaries as B.B. King, Henry Townsend and Sam Lay.
Add to the line-up harmonica blues, zydeco, blues piano and guitar and gospel-tinged blues singing, and the result is a musical smorgasbord designed to appeal to all tastes, Kassem said.
"We always try to stack both nights even so it's hard to choose just one night to come to," he said.
First time in Salina
The Bluesmasters concert will be Ball's first performance in Salina. She said she's looking forward to performing with such a diverse line-up of great musicians.
"I want people to come and feel happy, have fun and dance," she said.
Ball described her music as a combination of southern boogie, rollicking roadhouse blues and heartfelt ballads.
Her music is inspired by legendary rock and blues pianists such as Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis.
"That's fertile ground to be inspired by," she said.
Since becoming a solo musician in 1978, Ball has released more than a dozen albums and has been nominated for four Grammy awards. She's also won eight major blues awards, including Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1998 Blues Music Awards, and the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award last May at the Memphis Blues Music Awards.
"I'm proud of what I've done so far," she said. "I think I've honed my craft over the years. I'd be a disaster if I hadn't."
nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.
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