FREEKBASS W. SAMMI GARRETT OF TURKUAZ
Virtuoso bass player FREEKBASS has been hailed by the legendary Bootsy Collins as The new spiritual warrior of the funk. Hailing from Cincinnati, FREEKBASS and his group, The Bump Assembly, are deeply rooted in funk, cultivated under the guidance of legendary funk masters like Bernie Worrell, George Porter Jr., Dumpstaphunk and Bootsy, just to name a few. Known for his energetic live show and ignited low-end, FREEKBASS brings danceable tunes with hints of Prince, David Bowie, Talking Heads and P-Funk. A staple on the festival and club touring circuit, his band consists of Rico Lewis on drums, a 13-year veteran of George Clintons Mothership, Sky White from Foxy Shazam on keys and the vocal duties are shared between funk queen Sammi Garrett from Turkuaz and the beautiful songstress Reilly Comisar. With a brand new album out in May 2019 under the Color Red label (Denver based New Mastersounds guitarist Eddie Roberts), the excitement for what is next is simply too much to contain. A FREEKBASS performance is for those who want to move, to groove, and to experience an event where the show and the music are one, creating a powerful visual and sonic experience that is not to be missed.
NORA JANE STRUTHERS
Nora Jane Struthers is “remarkable,” says Ann Powers of NPR Music, and writes music that is “as powerful as anything Jason Isbell released this year.” The songs that last decades and weave themselves into the fabric of listeners’ lives are usually the ones in which an artist lays her soul bare for the world to hear. Struthers’ new album Champion, released at the close of 2017, is built on these kinds of songs. Struthers wrote and recorded the album with her longtime road band the Party Line, and the chemistry between her and the other players is palpable. Champion is the follow-up to 2015’s Wake, and earned Struthers acclaim from major outlets like NPR’s Fresh Air, Rolling Stone, and Vice/Noisey, who raved that “Nora Jane Struthers and her band sound ready to take over Americana completely … bringing a fuller, harder sound to the table.”
JOHN PAPA GROS
DATE CHANGED TO FRIDAY, AUGUST 16
Born in New Orleans, John “Papa” Gros has spent more than a quarter-century championing the music of the Big Easy. He’s played it all — New Orleans funk, rock & roll, jazz, blues, Americana, pop/rock, and he swirls those styles into a genre-bending gumbo that pays tribute to his influences while still pushing ahead into new territory. Like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, Gros is a proud local who carries on the tradition of New Orleans music, both honoring its past and helping to shape its future.
ANA POPOVIC
Ana Popovic has been moving west all her life. She fell in love with American blues as a kid, starting back home in Belgrade, Serbia (ex-Yugoslavia), then moved to the Netherlands to study at the conservatory of jazz and world-music. She lived in Amsterdam for over ten years, and then in a single-minded pursuit of her art and career, she relocated to Memphis, TN to record and work with Southern musicians. Finally, two years ago, she moved her family to Los Angeles, California where she now lives.
Called “one helluva a guitar-player” by Bruce Springsteen and nominated for six Blues Music Awards, Ana has appeared on the covers of Vintage Guitar and Guitar Player magazine. Her albums ‘Can You Stand The Heat’ and ‘Unconditional’ were USA Today Picks-Of-The-Week and featured on NPR Weekend Edition, who praised her “Fiery technique on the Stratocaster”. Nearly all of Ana’s albums reached the top of the Billboard Blues Charts. She and her six-piece band have toured tirelessly, sharing stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa and many others.