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Andrew Wheeler
Capital Region
Blues Network
Ben “Swamp
Donkey” Brenner
Buffalo River
Blues Society
of Moscow and performing in several
juke joints all over Mississippi
when he was traveling from
Chicago to New Orleans in 2012.
Andrew hails from Albany, New
With his raw but soulful voice, Big
York, and has been researching Ben “Swamp Donkey” Brenner
Bo accompanies himself on the
and playing blues and roots guitar
for over 20 years. He has per-
tradition yet distinctly modern.
resonator guitar, cigar-box guitar,
plays blues in a style rooted in
acoustic and electric guitar, steel
formed everywhere from large Born in Tujunga, California, the
bass drum and high hat, creating
city stages and orchestra pits to Swamp Donkey lives and plays in
a powerful one-man-band sound
bistros and cafes. Wheeler is currently
enrolled with the Berklee like he looks. In his songs you will
fields and juke joints and on the
Little Rock, Arkansas. He sounds
reminiscent of blues played in the
School of Music online as a guitar
student, and has completed iar. He believes that the blues is
find blues both new and famil-
porches of the Mississippi Delta.
the first of three certificates in a deeply honest thing, charged
guitar. His goal is to pay homage with electricity, lightened by laughter,
and sweetened with sorrow.
The Golden Gate
Big Bones
to often-overlooked blues originators
while passionately crafting “With the blues,” says the Swamp
Blues Society
new, meaningful forms of expression
that he hopes will touch your have to lean back and take in the
the artist known as Big Bones is
Donkey, “sometimes you just
Self-taught and self-motivated,
soul. Wheeler also stays busy as whole of humanity, love as hard
an integral part of the blues community
in the San Francisco Bay
the owner and lecturer of The as you can, and get Donkey!”
Blues Journey, his interactive
Area and is known internationally.
blues performance and lecture. He
His playing has been described
holds a BA and an MA in history. Ben Hunter and
as both traditional and funky.
Joe Seamons
His deep bass voice resonates
Barbara Paul
Washington Blues Society
with confidence, allowing audiences
to feel that his music is a
North Central Florida Hunter and Seamons bounce
Blues Society
true representation of the blues.
around on the limbs that spread
Big Bones lives the blues and expresses
its history through music,
Barbara Paul learned early about from the branches and roots of the
love, loss, and change as her army American blues tradition. Based in
connecting it with black American
family moved often. When she Seattle, Washington, they spread
folklore and experience. He is a
was a young girl her mother taught the glory and whimsy of traditional
song through house con-
songwriter, storyteller, and troubadour,
and in 43 years of play-
her to sing and harmonize while
they were doing dishes together, certs, community jam sessions,
ing, he has earned great respect
and bought Barbara her first guitar
in the late 1950s. While sing-
are American songsters, musi-
and schoolroom workshops. They
from fellow musicians and audiences
alike. Whether he’s solo
ing on the coffeehouse circuit, she cians whose repertoire is much
or with a big band, Big Bones
was exposed to the music that broader than the old blues and
is the real deal, guaranteed.
would become her passion—the spans many of the genres that
early blues—and as she learned to they inhabit. These two make
“double-thumb” and “knife” she American music, the kind that
Bill Weiner and
developed a deep respect for the hews to the rough-and-tumble
Al Taylor
artists of the early 20th century. collisions of musical inspirations
from the early 20th cen-
Blues Society of
Although she has played many
Western Pennsylvania
styles of music over the years, tury—music that paved the way
she always returns to the blues for everything we enjoy today.
Bill Weiner (guitar and vocals) and
that so deeply influenced her as a
Al Taylor (bass) are lifelong fans
young musician, and in every performance
she lovingly pays hom-
Big Bo
and 1930s blues and rags. The
of country blues. They play 1920s
age to those musical greats.
Dutch Blues Foundation
regional differences in music and
Big Bo Brocken has been touring
artistry of the Depression era are
Europe and the world for almost
great; by listening to the old recordings,
they re-create and in-
30 years. In his long career he
has become a renowned and wellrespected
blues musician, playterpret
the songs. They play a
variety of styles: songs to share
ing venues and festivals all across
your blues or to dance to. Weiner’s
technique is a combination
Europe, touring Scandinavia, even
playing the Svetlana Music Hall
of fingerpicking, strumming, and
128 H SOLO/DUO The Blues Foundation • blues.org
pounding either his six-string or
his baritone guitar, while providing
stylish vocals. Taylor’s walking
bass lines perfectly complement
and sustain the musical foundation.
He also keeps the beat by
doubling on hand drums, and
adds a blues flavor on the Dobro.
Billy Joe Daniel
Natchel’ Blues Network
Billy Joe Daniel has been a musical
ambassador of the blues since
the age of 7, writing original music
with a “one foot in the past and
one in the future” approach, singing
and playing guitar anywhere
people will listen. Residing in Virginia
with a 7-year-old son of his
own, Billy continues to play more
than 150 live shows a year.
Bing Futch
Orange Blossom
Blues Society
Orlando, Florida-based Bing Futch
shares his love of the blues by
performing and teaching with an
unusual instrument; the Appalachian
mountain dulcimer. Using
a special double-necked model,
along with a custom resonator dulcimer
for slide playing, Futch performs
original songs steeped in
Delta, Chicago, Texas and North
Mississippi Hill Country styles. His
unique approach and high-energy
performances resulted in advancing
to the semifinals during his
first International Blues Challenge
last year. He is the author of the
best-selling instructional book
Blues Method for Mountain Dulcimer,
and his album Unresolved
Blues has received widespread
radio play and critical acclaim.
Birddog and Beck
Crossroads Blues
Society of Illinois
Ken Olufs and Warren Beck deliver
harmonica-spiked piano
blues with two of the most soulful
voices you’ll want to hear. Beck’s
impressive musical chops have
taken him from Chicago and Nash-
32nd International Blues Challenge
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