Charlie Jacobson is back from headlining in Mexico to perform Thursday in Red Deer with Detroit-born bluesman Harrison Kennedy.
Jacobson, a Red Deer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, will be special guest at the Central Music Festival concert with Kennedy at the Elks Club.
Jacobson has backed up — and been backed by — Canadian blues giants, including Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, Russell Jackson, David Vest and Donald Ray Johnson.
He was inspired by his musician parents — often falling asleep to the sounds of their band practices. Jacobson, who first took the stage at age four and became a recording artist at the age of 12, released his first full-length album, Alberta Flood, in 2015.
A year later, Jacobson was contributing guitar parts for the new Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne record, Jumpin and Boppin for Joy, that went to No. 1 on American and Canadian blues charts.
He’s now working on his own new full-length album after headlining the Tequila Blues Explosion Festival in Mexico.
Kennedy is a blues veteran, having joined Detroit’s The Chairmen of the Board in 1968.
With that group, he played The Tonight Show, Soul Train, American Bandstand and England’s Top-Of-The-Pops, with the hit, Gimme Me Just A Little More Time.
The band also performed at the Apollo Theatre and shared various stages with B.B. King, James Brown, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Funkadelics and others.
Since signing with Electro-Fi Records in 2007, Kennedy has released five internationally acclaimed solo albums.
He won the 2016 blues album of the year Juno Award for his release This Is From Here. It was the sixth nomination for the Hamilton, Ont.-based artist.
The same album also won the prestigious Academie Charles Cros in France for 2016 blues album of the year.
For tickets to the show and more information, please visit centralmusicfest.com.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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