New Members
Ladies of the Blues Showcase
8-23-2014
Featuring Toni Lynn Washington, Diane Blue & Lisa Mann
TONI LYNN WASHINGTON is considered Boston's Queen of the Blues, where she has a long and storied history. Raised in a procession of gospel choirs in North Carolina, she settled in New Orleans and shared the stage with blues/soul legends like Jackie Wilson, Johnny Adams, Big Joe Turner, Sam and Dave and Bobby Blue Bland. She worked regularly in clubs all over New Orleans, before touring in the 1960s with the USO in the U.S. and Asia. She spent time in Hollywood before moving to the East coast, where her career has blossomed in the last couple of decades in Boston. She was signed to Tone-Cool Records, was awarded the 1999 Boston Blues Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award, has been nominated for two W.C. Handy Awards, had her music used in feature film soundtracks, and she appeared on National Public Radio in the company of Etta James and John Lee Hooker.
Boston's DIANE BLUE is a soul-stirring vocalist, skillful harmonica player and a crowd-pleasing entertainer. Voted "Outstanding Female Singer" in The Blues Audience 2011 Readers' Poll, Ms. Blue is a soulful and sassy performer with a strong and energetic delivery, serving up her own spin on soul, blues and R&B. She won the 2010 Massachusetts Blues Challenge, earning the honor of competing at the 2011 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. She was nominated "Best Blues/R&B Act" and "Best Female Vocalist" in 2007 by the Providence Phoenix and also nominated "Best Local Blues Act" by Motif Magazine in 2007. Ms. Blue is the featured vocalist on Ronnie Earl’s recently released CD, “Good News," and also on his previous CD, “Just For Today.”
Powerhouse bassist and frontwoman LISA MANN is a proud inductee into the Cascade Blues Association’s Hall of Fame after winning the Muddy Waters Award for Bass Player of the Year three times in a row. In Nov of 2012, Lisa took home the Muddy for Bass yet again, and to top that off, she took home Female Vocalist of the Year and her “Really Good Band” won Contemporary Blues Act of the Year. Her influences run the gamut, from low down blues sisters Etta James and Koko Taylor, to singer-songwriters like Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow, to R&B belters like Little Milton. Her recent CD, “Move On” has been on the Living Blues Charts and Roots Music Report Charts since its release in March of 2014.
Together with Kathy Burkly on drums and Bobby Gus on guitar, these ladies are sure to chase your blues away!
Date and Time
Saturday Aug 23, 2014
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