Blues Fest

5^th ANNUAL ST. LOUIS BLUES FESTIVAL BRINGS RHYTHM AND SOUL TO CHAIFETZ ARENA ON FEBRUARY 19

TICKETS GO ON-SALE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6 AT METROTIX.COM

(St. Louis, MO – November 4, 2009) Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby “Blue” Bland and St. Louis-native Shirley Brown headline the 5^th Annual St. Louis Blues festival at Chaifetz (SHAY-fetz) Arena at Saint Louis University on Friday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m.  Marvin Sease, Sir Charles Jones, Mel Waiters, Bobby Rush, Floyd Taylor and Ms. Jody are also scheduled to perform.

Tickets are $49.50 and $59.50 and go on sale on Friday, November 6 at 10 a.m. at MetroTix.com, MetroTix outlets at select Schnucks and Macy’s stores, charge by phone at 314-534-1111 and the Chaifetz Arena Box Office.

Earning the title of one of the most renowned patriarchs of modern soul, Bobby “Blue” Bland is known for his unique grainy voice and snorts which later came to be known as the “chicken-bone sound.”  Since 1957, Bland has had over 30 R&B Top 20 singles including the well-known hits “I Pity the Fool” and “Don’t Cry No More.”  His success earned him an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the coveted title of the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1997.

Cutting her teeth in church at the age of ten, Shirley Brown, earned a reputation in the gospel circles around St. Louis for delivering powerful solos.  Brown parlayed that success to a recording career in 1974 where her debut single “Woman to Woman” peaked at the top spot on the Billboard R&B charts and yielded a Grammy nomination for Best Song of the Year.

South Carolina native Marvin Sease is known for his smooth, X-rated ladies’ man persona coupled with racy lyrics and concert performances.  His breakthrough jukebox hit, “Candy Licker,” is a ten-minute track which was too explicit to play on the radio, but Sease’s single “Ghetto Man” helped established himself in the gospel community.

Sir Charles Jones worked under the guidance of Sease and was later crowned “The King of Southern Soul.”    The American Blues Network honored Jones with the International Entertainer of the Year award for four years in a row (2001-2004) and the B.B. King Achievement Award in 2003 and 2004.

R&B singer Mel Waiters first began his performing career at local teen clubs in San Antonio.  After a stint as a radio disc jockey, Waiters was awarded a government contract to entertain at military bases across the southwest and later released the albums Suki-Suki Man and Women in Need.

In 2008, Bobby Rush took home the Blues Music Award for “Best Male Soul Blues Artist” and has been thrilling audiences around for the past four decades with his stellar showmanship.  Rush has been awarded the Best Live Performer of the Year multiple times by Living Blues Magazine.

Known for his smoky voice, Floyd Taylor is the son of the legendary singer Johnnie Taylor and has made a name for himself with his hit “Baby I’ve Changed.”  Taylor’s latest album, You Still Got It, has established himself as the heir to the throne his father has held for so long.

Ms. Jody was raised in Bay Spring, Mississippi and joined the Ecko Records family with the debut album You’re My Angel.  Ms. Jody’s latest album, It’s a Ms. Jody Thang, was released earlier this year.