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Meet The Artists
Jimi "PrimeTime" Smith
Jimi "Primetime" Smith is likely the only person who can say that he was homeschooled on guitar by Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor. He is also one of the few guitarists on the present scene who learned early on how to accompany blues pianists such as Sunnyland Slim and harmonica players such as Big Walter Horton. Jimi Smith is simply not one to blow his own horn, crafting his own carreer in a remarkably humble and preserverant manner.
Willie West
Willie West is one of the original Soul and Blues men. He was born Millard Leon West on December 8, 1941 in Raceland, Louisiana, a stone's throw from New Orleans. He started singing at 15 when he and his cousins formed a band they called The Sharks. He was known for his high energy performances and wide vocal range. The band became very popular in the local clubs and venues. Willie wrote and recorded his first vinyl 45 in 1959 called, "Did You Have Fun" for Dorothy Lee's Rustone label. His mother had to sign the contract for him as he was just 17. The song became a regional hit and made the Billboard charts.
New Primitives
New Primitives was founded in Minneapolis in 2003 by drummer, singer, songwriter Stanley Kipper. They are four-time Minnesota Music Award recipients and have played with Taj Mahal, Ziggy Marley, Mickey Hart, and the Neville Brothers, among others. The band's first two records, New Primitives and American Nomads, received nationwide airplay including top ten chart positions across America and Canada.
Earlier, in southern California, Stan played, toured or recorded with Minnie Riperton, The Bee Gees, Joe Walsh, Bill Withers, former Eagle Randy Meisner, Jay Ferguson, Andrew Gold, Karla Bonoff, Melanie, and Gypsy. The hits these artists made influenced Stan in making his own music. New Primitives musicians come from a variety of strong musical backgrounds. Stan is on drums, Chico Perez on congas and percussion, Patrick Nelson on bass, Andrew Wozniak on lead guitar, “Lightnin” Joe Peterson on B3 and Brian “Snowman” Powers on saxophone. The music is Funky R& B/American Reggae with world music influences.
Joe Flip
Award winning musician, Joe Flip, performing with his hand-made oil can guitars, is releasing his new album, “Home Sweet Home,” with an international distribution deal with Loud Folk Records.
His 2019 album, “Tin Can Tunes,” charted #2, along with his song “Mess Around,” charting #1 on the international RMR Radio Charts earning him a Blues Blast Magazine Music Award nomination. Joe also represented Minnesota at the 2019 International Blues Competition in Memphis, TN, advancing to the semi-finals.
His hand-made oil can guitars, "Hayburners," have been sold all over the world and have been featured on FOX 9 News, Blues in Britain Magazine, CNET, and The Drive Magazine.
Not only content with performing, Joe also serves as a music teacher and promoter of "Blues for Kids," a music education program he created at the 501c3 non-profit organization, "Discover Music". The program is known for organizing workshops at schools and festivals with the mission of teaching children of all ages about the Blues music genre with harmonica and guitar.
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Sawyers Dream
– Sky Athmann, “The Perfect Solution”
Minneapolis based Sawyer’s Dream is an all original band with amazing 4-part vocal harmonies. The name “Sawyer’s Dream” emanates from the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, where in the 18th Chapter “Tom’s Dream,” the boy’s dream was to go home to be with his family. Laden with the outdoors, adventure and family, Mark Twain’s writings really resonated with the band. These inspirations combined with vocal harmonies similar to those of groups such as the Mamas & the Papas, ABBA and Bread, create a unique cross-blending of Americana, Folk, Soul, Pop and Rock. These genres formulate into an adventurous and whimsical music creation, offering the listener a modern take on the classic rock of the ’60s and ’70s. Sawyer’s Dream includes visual and imaginative lyrical masterpieces, all original material focusing on themes of love, life, dreams, the natural, and the supernatural formatted for an audience of all ages. Lyrically, the songs will take you back to simpler times, a time of dreams, nature and human kindness. Comprised of complex instrumental arrangements and intricate four-part harmonies, this daydream trip is an echo of the past and a glimmer of hope for the new day.
Chris Vandercook
Singer-guitarist Chris Vandercook brings a lifetime of inspiration to his 11-song collection Blue Skies, a celebration of the many varieties of blues music and a tribute to some of its greatest songwriters.
Blues is a storyteller's medium, and on Blue Skies, his debut recording, Chris Vandercook brings together stories heard and retold over the course of a lifetime. On these songs, his guitar is as much of a storyteller as his voice — snaking in and out of the foreground, commenting on the tall tales that unfold. His vocals convey a rueful acceptance of the facts of life: keeping it simple, letting the lyrics do their job. Added vocal inspiration comes from jazz diva Azure McCall — an artist who makes every song her own. Influences can be heard from the worlds of jazz, Chicago Blues, Memphis Soul, country, and early rock’n’ roll, with a guitar style that builds on the legacies of the Three Kings (B.B., Albert, and Freddy) and soul masters Cornell Dupree and Bobby Womack. Although his music is steeped in tradition, there’s no attempt to stay within boundaries here. For Vandercook, the blues can carry any number of messages, any number of ways.
George Marinelli
Born- Staten Island, NY.
Lived in Los Angeles 1964-1991.
Played clubs, extensive recording sessions, wrote, and toured.
Guitarist for Billy and the Beaters 1978-1982
Toured w Andrew Gold & met Stan Kipper 1978
Founding member of Bruce Hornsby and The Range 1982-1991
Moved to Nashville 1991.
Session work in Nashville, writing, and producing.
Performing and recording solo, and with my band Air Parma and others.
Member of Bonnie Raitt's recording and touring band, 1993 til 2022.
Recording and producing indie projects in WingDing Studios.
Have recorded and/or toured with Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Shaun Colvin, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Wynona Judd, Vince Gill, Curtis Salgado, Jon Regen, Catie Curtis, Colin Hay, Ray Charles, Robert Earl Keen, Cliff Richard, Duane Jarvis, Malcolm, Holcombe, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, and many others.
Bruce Kurnow
Bruce Kurnow, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota and now a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, is enjoying a long career in the music business. At age three he began piano lessons and was immediately hooked. As a teenager he discovered a special connection with the harmonica and has remained dedicated to exploring the possibilities of the instrument. He went on to become a music major at the University of Minnesota, primarily a classical school. He studied piano, stringed harp, guzheng (Chinese harp), voice, theory and composition, which have proven to be a solid foundation for his subsequent work, including forty recordings of original compositions and eleven others of non-original music (see discography). Combined sales of these recordings are over 1,000,000 copies. His recording, Harmonicaland, was nominated for Best Solo Instrumental Album of 2004 by Just Plain Folks. Bruce has been recognized with four Minnesota Music Awards for his harmonica, stringed harp and keyboard work. Since 1971 he has been an active studio musician, playing on hundreds of commercials, albums and film scores. As a performer, Bruce played piano with harmonica master Mojo Buford, who named him “Creeper.” In 1971 he went to Los Angeles on vacation and was surprised by the sudden opportunity to tour the United States and Canada with popular country-rock group Mason Proffit, playing 300 cities per year and recording with the group from 1971-1974 (the group reunited in 2003). During that time he was also fortunate to have been invited to perform with Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, two of his all-time favorite musicians. When Mason Proffit disbanded Bruce decided to move back to Minneapolis. He co-founded Passage with guitarist Bobby Schnitzer, his long-time friend and band-mate since junior high school. The group disbanded in 1979 and was followed up by the Doug Maynard Band, based around the original vocalist of Passage. This group leaned heavily toward traditional blues and R&B and released a vinyl LP titled The Lullaby. In a recent Minneapolis Star and Tribune poll, both groups were honored as two of the seven greatest live Minnesota rock acts of the ‘70s. Passage was recently inducted into the Minnesota Rock & Country Hall of Fame. Bruce left the Doug Maynard Band in 1980 to pursue a solo career, performing as a singer/songwriter and also showcasing his unique simultaneous combination of stringed harp and harmonica. https://brucekurnow.com