Blues acts bring fans intimate experience at Chesaning Showboat

CHESANING — Thursday proved to be a rockin’ Blues Night at the Chesaning Showboat Music Festival.

Blues guitarist/singer Larry McCray, who grew up in Saginaw and was the headliner of the night, along with Homemade Jamz Blues Band out of Tupelo, Miss., billed as the “youngest blues band in America,” and blues singer/songwriter Thornetta Davis, a strong-voiced diva of soul from Detroit, entertained the audience for nearly four hours in an intimate setting.

Instead of on the main Showboat amphitheater stage, Thursday’s concerts were moved inside the hospitality tent and it proved to be effective as all three acts got the audience up and moving, dancing, clapping, smiling and snapping off pictures with their cell phones.

McCray, 51, rocked the audience for well over an hour and a half and showcased a wide range of blues-rock guitar licks on his gold Gibson Les Paul and later his red Gibson Flying V.

Using both distortion and wah-wah pedals and drawing on such influences as Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins and Freddie King, McCray performed such songs as “Get Your Blues On,” “Run,” “Soul Shine,” “Broken Promises,” “Buck Naked,” “Broken Promises,” and “I’m Praying for You,” hitting all the right notes with his extended solo breaks while being accompanied by organ, bass and drums.

In the audience, close to the front of the stage, was a former bandmate of McCray’s several decades ago.

“All three bands were really good,” said Sam Reif of Saginaw after the last note was hit just past 11:30 p.m. “Larry has been a friend of mine for 35 years. I’ve seen a lot of his concerts and know all of his family. I used to be a drummer in his band when he first started out — back in the early 1970s. He can really make the guitar talk and stuff. I really like the song ‘Soul Shine’ that he does. He seems to do that one all over the place.”

“I thought the shows were fabulous,” said Connie Kale of Flint. “The Homemade Blues Band was right on point — all three sets were just blasting. Well, we originally came to see Larry and then Thornetta. And then the Homemade Jamz Blues Band I thought would be a tough act to follow. I liked ‘Buck Naked’ that Larry did tonight — absolutely.”

Kicking the night off with a vengeance, and fresh off their hit CD entitled “The Game,” which is currently No. 3 on the national blues charts, was the young trio Homemade Jamz Blues Band, which was accompanied by their father, Renaud Perry, on harmonica.

How to Make Musical Instruments for Kids : Homemade Shakers Made ...

Make shakers from everyday household items and play with your kids! An expert will show you how in this free instructional video clip series. Making instruments with your kids is a great art project! Expert: Annie Brunson Contact: www.film-composer.com Bio: Annie Brunson has a degree in Music and Theater from Bretton Hall (part of Leeds University, England). She has taught piano, oboe, and middle school band. Filmmaker: Jeremy Brunson

Welcome! This blog is not really intended to give you step by step instructions on how to do some kind of creative music project (since it seems like that maybe defeats the purpose of wanting to be creative!) Instead, I hope to inspire you with ideas, examples, and exercises meant to get you thinking more creatively about how you write or perform your music.

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