Three-time Juno award winner and B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame member Jim Byrnes comes to Fort Langley for a night of blues country.
Byrnes, with special guest Mainstreet Muze, will play the Chief Sepass Theatre on March 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Described as a quintessential blues man, Byrnes, 69, has spent 45 years playing with the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal and Robert Cray.
His evocative and smoky vocals have led to a number of honours over the years. The albums That River won the Juno for Best Blues/Gospel Album (1996), House of Refuge won the Juno for Blues Album of the Year (2007) and Everywhere West won the Juno for Blues Album of the Year (2011). He was also awarded the Canadian Folk Music Awards Contemporary Singer of the Year (2006, 2009), and in 1995, was inducted to the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Byrnes’ Fort Langley show will feature performances of some of his true blue hits, including 12 Questions, Walk on Boy, Still Stuck on You, Jailbird Love Song, Me and Piney Brown, Four Until Late, Love is Just a Gamble, Of Whom Shall I be Afraid, That River, Stardust, Talk in Circles and Just a Pilgrim.
Mainstreet Muze will kick off the night with a unique fusion of roots, blues and rock music. The Vancouver indie group features core members Babe Gurr, Steve Hilliam and Adam Popowitz, who each offer a range of talent.
Singer-songwriter Gurr boasts a warm, sultry voice with a blues rock edge. She has won a number of songwriting contests, including first place in Nashville’s Sonicbids Songwriting contest; Top 10 in Billboard’s International Song Contest; Top 10 in the Indie International Songwriting Contest; and a finalist in the 12th and 13th Great American Song contests.
Hilliam adds a soulful sound on the sax and keyboards. A graduate of the Humber College Music School, he has been a session and touring player for Gino Vanelli, Otis Rush, Rosemary Clooney and John Faddis. He’s also been a regular member of the Colin James Band for the last 20 years, and a special performer with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for the past 10.
On lead guitar and support vocals, Popowitz — a music producer and recording/performing artist — adds the rock/blues colour to the band’s music. As a member of Pacifika, co-founded with Silvana Kane, Popowitz earned a nomination for World Album of the Year at the Juno Awards (2011) and won Best World Album of 2010 by iTunes for Supermagique (2010).
Tickets for the show are $45 and are available at all Ticketmaster locations. Call 1-855-955-5000 or go online to www.ticketmaster.ca.
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