Los Angeles based Janiva Magness is one of today’s most talented and recognized blues and roots vocalists. A three-decade darling of the blues genre, Janiva’s vocal prowess and performance is the best of the genre. In May 2006 she beat out contemporaries Susan Tedeschi, Shemekia Copeland and Marcia Ball to win the 2006 Blues Music Award for ‘Contemporary Female Artist of the Year.’

Billboard writes “Magness carves out a niche by singing the blues with maturity and sophistication." Singer Magazine writes “Her voice is sultry, smoky and strong with jazz, blues, and soul textures enveloping it.”

Although her vocals are at times beautiful, this 49 year-old grandmother is best known for her sauciness and the bold, brazen beauty of her recordings and performances. In the liner notes of the new record Janiva pays homage to controversial and rule breaking women before her like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith for fearlessly embracing their age, their sexuality, and truth.

Janiva was barely a teenager when she was consumed by the power and expression of rhythm and blues from the radio stations of her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Janiva’s influences include Etta James, Billie Holiday, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson, Memphis Minnie & Koko Taylor - some of whom she has since shared stages with and drawn comparisons.

In addition to being an outstanding vocalist, Janiva Magness is a favorite on the North American and European festival circuit. Los Angeles’ NPR affiliate KCRW FM says “…you're gonna get knocked out by what you hear. I recommend you go SEE and HEAR Janiva Magness.” Fellow genre leader Charlie Musselwhite says “Janiva Magness always knocks me out because she has such style and poise on stage and she hits every note she sings just right - perfect every time."

Magness’ vocals and stage presence expanded beyond the clubs, venues and festivals in 2003, when she played the lead character in the west coast edition of the Tony-nominated Broadway production "It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues", which ran at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles.

Janiva has provide vocals to Brian Setzer, Jimmy Buffett, the late R.L. Burnside, both former Fabulous Thunderbird guitarists Kid Ramos and Kirk ”Eli” Fletcher, and many others.

Although singing has always been natural for Janiva, her early life’s path was not rosy. Early in life she lost both parents to suicide. Shortly after came 12 foster homes in two years. At 16 Janiva became an emancipated minor with chemical dependencies and a teenage mother putting her baby up for adoption. Turmoil was a daily part of her young life.

How is it today Janiva Magness is one of the most successful and determined blues based songstresses? At 14 Magness found salvation in the form of a blistering blues guitarist named Otis Rush. On a winter’s night hitchhiking across Minneapolis, she ended up a the Union Bar and paid $2 to get in the door. She explains “He just blew my mind. He made me feel things I didn’t know what to do with. The music spoke to parts of me that had never been addressed. It opened up some other place in me, like letting oxygen into a sealed crypt for the first time.”

The enlightened teenager started hitting blues shows throughout the Minneapolis/Chicago/Detroit triangle. Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins became favorites as did the early funk and R&B of the thriving local scene including one particular emerging artist who called himself Prince – long before he took the city’s sound nationwide.

As with the beginning of the music itself, Janiva started listening to and singing the blues for catharsis. After discovering she could sing not only for healing but to get paid, she went to work as a backup vocalist working frequently with Sounds of Blackness member Joanne Hollis.
Janiva replaced one habit for another and made a steadfast run at a life as a blues musician. She landed in the sunnier Phoenix, Arizona and took up a mentor in Bob Tate, Sam Cooke’s legendary and long-time musical director. The first band she assembled in Phoenix was named as the town’s Best Blues Band.

In March 2006 Janiva released her sophomore album for NorthernBlues Music entitled ‘Do I Move You?’ It is her seventh recording in a long list of critically acclaimed albums.

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Scotty Spenner - members.cox.net/scottyspenner/index.html

Like many guitarists who grew up in the 60's and 70's, Scotty Spenner got the bug to play after seeing the Beatles' debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. At 9 years old, he received his first guitar and was playing gigs by the time he was 19.

Scotty came to Phoenix, AZ from the East Coast in 1980, and by 1983 he became the original guitarist with Valley blues legends Big Pete Pearson and the Blue Sevilles. Later in the 80's, he went on to work with Texas Red and the Heartbreakers, Small Paul & Drivin Wheel, the Janiva Magness Band, the Stiletto's, and co-founded the Blue Dynamo's with Roger Rotoli and Matt Rowe.

After living and playing briefly in Los Angeles, in 1992 Scotty moved to South Dakota to be close to his children. In South Dakota, Scotty formed "Little Scotty and the Big Tones". This traditional blues band played clubs and festivals throughout South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. During this time Scotty also honed his solo acoustic act, playing festivals and coffee houses. His solo blues CD, "The First Thing Smokin", was released in 1996 to excellent reviews. (See Reviews on CD Page) During his stay in South Dakota, Spenner also hosted a weekly blues radio show on South Dakota Public Radio, studied music as USD and performed with the USD Jazz Ensemble.

Upon returning to Arizona in 1998, Scotty worked with Phoenix area bands, taught guitar and continued to perform solo.

In 2004-2005, Scotty played lead guitar in the band of singer/songwriter, Dave Insley. With Dave's band, "The Careless Smokers", Scotty played throughout Arizona and Colorado, and played showcase shows in Nashville. Scotty reluctantly left Insley's band in August 2005, to stay close to home with his family.

Since March 2006, Scotty has been performing and recording with Midnite Blues Band, a gig he has coveted since he first saw the band perform at the old "Warsaw Wally's" in 1980. In addition to his gigs with the Midnite Blues, he continues to play solo acoustic shows, teach guitar, and is recording a new solo CD.

In his years performing, Scotty has worked shows with many of the legends of the blues, such as: Robert Jr. Lockwood, John Hammond, Duke Robilard, Johnny Winter, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnnie Johnson, Billy Boy Arnold, Jimmy Rogers, Smokin Joe Kubek, Janiva Magness, Honey Boy Edwards, Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Rory Block, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Buddy Guy, KoKo Taylor, Taj Mahal, Bobby Bland, Luther Allison, and many more.

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Dan Treanor - www.dantreanor.com

Veteran blues man Dan Treanor has been entertaining and thrilling audiences for over thirty five years. Dan has played his unique style of the blues all over the world. At times in his career Dan has played with Son Seals, Louisiana Red, George “Boogie Daniels”, Ronnie Boy Fruge’, Jimmy Carl Black, Frankie Lee and the list goes on and on. Originally from the Southern Colorado town of Pueblo, Dan started playing the blues as a teenager and has been at it ever since. In 1969, while serving in the infantry in Viet Nam, Dan started playing the harmonica and has been blowing up a storm ever since. Today he is considered one of the top blues harp players in the business and has been a Hohner Harmonica endorsee for the last ten years. Dan also plays guitar, dobro, banjo, bass, keyboards and cane flute.

Ten years ago Dan started the Blues in the Schools program for the Colorado Blues Society. He has since presented his unique and entertaining program to over thirty thousand kids, from elementary to college levels. A few years back he started to hand build African string instruments. Originally, these instruments were to be used in the Blues in the Schools presentations but they quickly made there way into Dan’s live blues show. A new and exciting style of blues began to emerge and blossom into the music Dan makes today. Afro beats, African string instruments, Delta Blues grooves, lots of harp and guitar and soulful vocals - Afrosippi Blues.

In the fall of 2003 a call from a Denver booking agent put Dan and his band African Wind, together with R&B legend, Frankie Lee, to do a series of concerts in the Rocky Mountain area. Frankie Lee is a wonderful entertainer with a great voice and stage presence. While in Denver, Dan played Frankie some demos of songs he was working on. Frankie loved the sound so they went into the studio and created a CD. In April of 2004 at the W.C. Handy Awards, Dan and Frankie were signed by one of the top blues labels in the world - Northern Blues. The CD - “African Wind” - was released in October, 2004 to much critical acclaim. It proved to be one of the best blues CDs of the year as declared by the critics. It was nominated by the Independent Music Awards as the Blues CD of the year in 2005. In late fall of 2005 Dan and the band will release a second CD - Mercy. This time the great R&B vocalist, Rex Peoples will lend his considerable talents to the music. The sound they have created is stripped down blues with an African feel that touches on bare-bones, Delta/North Mississippi hill country, raunchy style.

If LoFi, soulful rhythms and gutbucket blues are your thing than Dan Treanor, Blues Ambassador, is here to serve you up a smoking’ plate of the real deal.

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Eden Brent - www.edenbrent.com

Boogie-woogie piano and gutsy vocals have established Eden Brent as a Mississippi favorite. Whether booked as a solo artist or bandleader, her performance is fresh and spontaneous, often filled with audience requests and participation.

Portrayed by one critic as "Bessie Smith meets Diana Krall meets Janis Joplin," other critics have compared her to Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn and Norah Jones. Never mind the comparisons. This self-described "song interpreter" is a one-of-a-kind, and her interpretations of jazz, blues, soul and pop, in addition to her own songs, are expressive and memorable.

A native of Greenville, Mississippi, Brent is the 2006 solo winner of the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge and is the 2005 Mississippi Delta Regional Blues Challenge solo winner. She received the Greenville Arts Council Greenville Honors Its Own Artist Award in 2004 and is a Greenville Blues Walk inductee. Listed on the Mississippi Arts Commission Artist Roster since 1994, Brent is currently listed with SouthernArtistry.org, an adjudicated web-based roster of Southeastern artists maintained by the Southern Arts Federation.

Brent performs regularly at Mississippi clubs and festivals, the Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival and the Highway 61 Blues Festival among them. She returns in 2006 and will also appear at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, the B. B. King Homecoming in Indianola, the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival in Alberta, and aboard the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise sailing from San Diego. Past notable dates included the British Embassy in Washington, the My South production in New York, and her appearance along with B. B. King at the Red, White, & Blues celebration in Washington during the 2005 Inauguration of President George W. Bush.

Brent enjoyed a sixteen-year apprenticeship with duo partner, the late Boogaloo Ames (1918 – 2002), who dubbed her "Little Boogaloo." Although she achieved a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas, Brent credits Ames with teaching her to play piano. "Music school taught me to think, but Boogaloo taught me to boogie-woogie," she says.

Together with Ames, Brent starred in the 1999 television documentary, Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound. The award-winning feature, which aired nationally on PBS affiliates, explores the bond between mentor and protege. Under Ames's tutelage, Brent performed not only across Mississippi, but also at the Gibson Showcase Lounge in Memphis, the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

The pair's final appearance was in the 2002 South African television production, Forty Days in the Delta, a blues documentary series taped in Mississippi shortly before Ames's death. The program spurred Brent's 2002 solo tour in South Africa, and a second solo tour and the release of her debut album, Something Cool, followed a year later in 2003.

Dedicated to Ames, Something Cool reached number two on the South Africa Rock Digest chart, and Brent's balladic tribute to that country, "South Africa," reached number three on the singles chart. About the song, Brent reflected, "I had spent so many years with Boogaloo, and I was a little lost without him. So, in the months after his death, traveling half way around the world by myself was liberating, and I wanted to express that joy to the people there."

Four years after Ames's death, Brent has secured her place in Mississippi Delta music, allowing her own style to mature and continuing Ames's legacy. Recently featured on public radio's Beale Street Caravan, she has also been heard on Thacker Mountain Radio, Night Train, Blues in the Night, and other public radio and blues broadcasts around the nation.
 

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Danny Rhodes - www.dannyrhodes.com

Danny has played in all 50 states, Canada, Japan, and Europe with a wide variety of artists, including Charlie Rich, Mel McDaniel , and Brenda Lee . With these artists and with his own bands, he has performed on Austin City Limits , the Grand Ole Opry, HBO , and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival . In the late 70's, Danny spent two years in Austin, TX and shared bills with Stevie Ray Vaughn and the Neville Brothers , among others.

While living in Nashville, TN, he had the opportunity to perform with Dicky Betts, Gregg Allman , Rodney Crowell, Gatemouth Brown , and Dash Crofts , among others. He was also a staff writer for Warner/Chappell (Warner Bros. publishing company). Danny wrote songs for several artists, including Etta James . His song, “Get Funky,” was the first single from Etta's Stickin' to My Guns album, released on Island Records.

In 1996, Danny moved to Arizona and formed the Messengers. The band won the 1999 Arizona Battle of the Bands and has opened for the Neville Brothers, the Radiators, Tab Benoit , and Sonny Landreth.

For the past several years, Danny has hosted a blues show at Cliff Castle Casino and has performed with many of the biggest names in Arizona blues, including Big Pete Pearson, Long John Hunter, Bob Blasi, JD Simo, Chuck Hall, Tommy Dukes, Maxine Johnson, Chico Chism, Chris Hiatt , and Hans Olson . In addition, since 1999, Danny has hosted the phenomenally successfully Blues Summit on December 26 th featuring Bob Blasi, Troy Perkins, and various guest artists.

Danny was recently named Blues Musician of the Year by the Verde Valley's Kudo Magazine and has been nominated for the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame .

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Grams & Krieger - www.gramsandkrieger.com

Arizona Blues Hall of Fame (ABHOF) members Danny Krieger and Steve Grams met at a gig fifteen years ago and have been friends and musical partners ever since. The incomparable Louis Jordan is also an ABHOF member and Steve likes to joke he never thought he'd be in a group with Louis Jordan!

Danny is one of the Southwest's most respected guitarists/slide guitarists. His musical resume includes world-wide tours with British pop band 'Christy' in the early '70s and numerous recording sessions with a variety of artists ranging from Exene Cervenka to the late Andy Gibb. He's also worked with Big Joe Turner, Coco Montoya, Johnny Rivers, and Smokey Wilson & Eric Burdon. Originally from LA, Danny has also toured with Debbie Davies, Sam Taylor, 'The Mollys', Eric-Jan "Mr. Boogiewoogie" Overbeek, and John "Juke" Logan. Danny also won a Tucson Area Music Award (TAMMY) for guitar in 2000.

Steve has been in Tucson since 1979 and built a reputation as one of the areas most reliable acoustic and electric bassists. During that time he has played on and/or produced over 70 LPs and CDs, and been selected bass player of the year (TAMMY) in 1998 & 2005. His list of sideman credits includes working with Bo Diddley, Nappy Brown, Rainer, Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King, Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones, Teddy Morgan, R.J. Mischo, Lisa Otey, Freddie Roulette, Holland's Mr. Boogie Woogie, Nancy McCallion, and French singer/songwriter Alexandra Roos.

The duo completed their third CD, "No You" (on the Dutch blues label Firesweep Records) in December, 2005, recorded in Tucson, AZ, and Holland with 12 new original songs and guest appearences by Mr. Boogie Woogie, and more. Other CDs include "Two Days" from 2001, and 2003 release, "That's the Way We Work", on Vitalegacy Records (www.vitalegacy.com).

Grams and Krieger play a mostly acoustic blend of Urban Blues, Roots Rock, and Country Blues. Both their CDs and performances reflect a high level of songwriting, singing, playing, and fun!

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Soulcatcher - www.soulcatcherblues.com

Tim Hern was born in western Pennsylvania and began singing at the age of ten. Being influenced by a family rich in the entertainment industry, his vocal abilities were encouraged wholeheartedly. At the age of fifteen Tim discovered the acoustic guitar and has been playing it ever since. In the early 1980's Tim was featured vocalist for several local bands before taking a break from music to raise a family. Currently looking forward to  the time when the music will carry me around the world!

Leslie A. Gray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His love of music was sparked by a movie he went to see named "It's A Hard Days Night" back in 1964! He immediately told his parents he was going to be a rock star and wanted a guitar! He got his first guitar in 1965 and by 1968 was playing everything from THE KINKS to JIMI HENDRIX with bands in North Carolina. (Leslie's first concert was Jimi Hendrix in Raleigh, North Carolina 1967.) Leslie has played with musicians from all over the world and was influenced by the like of B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winters, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, and David Grissom just to name a few. Leslie has also recently toured with Sara Church as lead guitarist and will be recording with her in 2002.

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