Veteran harmonica player Bill Lupkin and his band will bring Chicago-style blues to the Redstone Room in Davenport on Friday September 5. The show, sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, begins at 8:30; admission is $10.

West Coast harmonica master Mark Hummel notes that “Bill Lupkin has been in the thick of Chicago blues for more than 38 years and still gets one of the best tones in the Blues Biz.” In fact, according to writer Dick Shurman, 'In the Chicago blues harp club, Bill Lupkin has the chops, the tone, the attitude, and the dues paid in full for ‘Real Deal’ status.” And, as Whatzup Magazine points out, “Lupkin's vocals mirror his evocative harp, able to express resignation and regret alongside rage and excitement.”

Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lupkin arrived on the Chicago blues scene at the end of the 1960s, when blues was still mainly heard in the ghetto clubs on the South and West Sides, and most of the great names of the post-war era were active.

Lupkin wasted no time falling in with The Aces, former backing band for Little Walter. From there, he went on to play with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, and Paul Butterfield. Eventually Lupkin landed his most memorable association with Jimmy Rogers.

Jimmy Rogers’ Chess recordings and tastes did much to define the place of the harmonica in Chicago Blues, and for Lupkin that collaboration was both a thrill and a school. Lupkin's fat-toned, vibrato-laden, note-bending harmonica was finely honed through local work, touring, and eventually recording on most of Jimmy Rogers’ Gold Tailed Bird album in Los Angeles in 1972.

Lupkin returned to Fort Wayne in the ‘70s to run a stained glass business. Decades passed before his first album, Live at the Hot Spot (1999), came out; it was highly praised, as was his 2006 release, Where I come From. Lupkin’s most recent release is 2007’s Hard Pill to Swallow.

For More Information Contact:
Steve Brundies—563-508-7660