519 December 2018

Downchild Blues Band
Legendary Blues Band Raising Funds For Windsor
By Dan and April Savoie
Downchild, the legendary Canadian
blues band that helped inspire the
characters and sound of the The Blues
Brothers, will headline a benefit
concert at Olde Walkerville Theatre
on Dec. 7 to raise money for Windsor
music icon Kim “The Commander”
Kelly, who was paralyzed in a fall, and
to further support Sparky’s Toy Drive.
Twenty-eight year veteran vocalist
Chuck Jackson has been with the band
for the last half of its lifespan. He spoke
with April Savoie about Downchild
and his passion for the blues.
The Blues Brothers really had a
unique blues sound, but that sound
clearly resonates from Downchild
itself. Does the band still keep that
same vibe and feeling after all
these years?
Sure does. You know
our thing is we like to
make sure people are
dancing, we do a lot of
jump blues and we’re
still recording fresh
new material all the
time. Our newest CD was
nominated for a Juno and
our last CD won the Juno. So
yeah, we’re still writing songs, still in
that tradition of Downchild and it’s that
same tradition that the Blues Brothers
Downchild
Olde Walkerville
Theatre - Windsor
Dec. 7, 2018
followed when they did three of our
songs on their first album. We just
played a show with Dan Ackroyd last
week, so that friendship is still alive.
Is there a certain sound or feel that
you think Canadian blues has that
might be different from American
blues?
I think it’s quite an eclectic variety
of Canadian blues musicians and
doing all styles. We do have our own
style with Downchild, but all the
blues musicians in Canada have been
influenced heavily by American blues.
It can even be broken down by style
- the Chicago blues style, the urban
style, some jump blues, some of the
Delta blues and even country blues.
There’s a wide range of blues that’s
gathered and influenced by so
many different Canadian
artists.
Blues dates back
to the 1920s, but
Canada never really
got into the game
until the 50s. Some say
Ronnie Hawkins is the
Canadian grandfather of
the blues. Who was your intro
to the blues?
Well Buddy Guy was one of the first
blues artists I ever saw. But you know I
listened to so many different artists like
Paul Butterfield and Muddy Waters.
B.B. King, was also a big influence.
Junior Wells was big influence on me
playing harmonica. A lot of the British
blues invasion like Eric Clapton and
John Mayall were playing the blues and
they kind of inspired me to find out who
the original artists were. And I started
listening to Sonny Boy Williamson and
the great Chess performers like Little
Walter. I’ve pretty much listened to all
the blues greats like Willie Dixon and
Howlin’ Wolf, who again, is another
big influence on me.
You’ve been to Windsor many
times, but not in years. Have you
ever been to the Olde Walkerville
Theatre?
I don’t think so. You know we
played Windsor so many times over
the years with Downchild. It used to be
a big stop and a lot of it had to do with
Kim Kelly, who would book us. This
show is a fundraiser for our old friend.
So what can we expect that the
show?
Well you’re going to get a lot of
our new songs from our last two Juno
nominated and Juno winning CDs,
and you’re going to get a lot of the fan
favorites like Flip Flop Fly, Almost and
Shotgun Blues as the Blues Brothers
covered. Just a little something from all
our albums. We’re going into our 50th
year and we’re going to be doing a new
tour in the new year featuring songs
from all 20 of our albums.
Downchild will perform with
local guests A.J. Vanden Berghe,
D’Anunnzio and Sean Shepard at Olde
Walkerville Theatre on Friday, Dec. 7.
Tickets start at $40 and are availbnale
at online or the box office.
www.oldewalkervilletheatre.com
Blues in the Schools
Blues Society Goes to School
The Canadian South Blues Society visited
Tecumseh Vista Academy in Windsor on Nov. 16
to talk to music teachers from across the Greater
Essex County District School Board about the
importance and history of blues music with
hopes educators might include the music form in
their curriculum.
To demonstrate the Blues in the School program,
Detroit musician Rev. Robert Jones brought along
several instruments, including the harmonica,
banjo, fiddle, and a guitar.
Photos by April Savoie