2015 Old Capitol Blues & BBQ Band Line-Up
Stage Located at 5th & Adams Streets, Downtown Springfield
Friday, October 2
Illinois Central Blues Club Challenge – 5:00 p.m.
Come cheer on your local favorite Solo, Duo, and Band acts competing in the ICBC
Blues Challenge! Winners in each category advance to the International Blues
Challenge in Memphis, January 26-30, 2016; where approximately 250 acts from
around the world will be competing!
Mojo Cats – 8:30 p.m.
A Springfield Blues band influenced by the
music of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Paul
Butterfield, The Allman Bros, and Tommy
Castro. Members: Brad Hessing (Harmonica,
Lead vocals); Tom Lewis (Lead guitar, Vocals);
Sherman Elliott (Piano/Keyboards, Vocals); Ed
Selinger (Drums, Vocals); Denny Moore (Bass)
Brandon Santini & His Band – 10:00 p.m.
Memphis vocalist and harmonica player Brandon Santini is undeniably
a worthy player to keep an eye on as the latest surge of young blues
artists leave their footprint in blues history. He combines his love and
respect for traditional blues with a present, colorful style of playing
that is often compared to James Cotton or Paul Butterfield. Raised in
the Piedmont region of North Carolina, Brandon purchased his first
harmonica in 1997 at the age of fifteen when his mother took him to
the local music store upon his request.
He founded the Blues Music Award nominated band Delta Highway in
2003 and relocated to Memphis where he absorbed the sounds and culture of the Delta and North
Mississippi Hill Country, honing his craft night after night, sweating it out in local Beale Street clubs just
like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King did decades before him.
This Time Another Year is Brandon’s second album, recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in
Memphis and features twelve dynamic performances from his former live band (playing over 220 shows
together in 2012) while enlisting the help of good friends Victor Wainwright and Chris Stephenson. This
sophomore effort was recorded live over a span of four days with minimal overdubs which created a
very “live” sound. The album debuted at #12 on the Living Blues Radio chart spending three months in
the Top 20 as well as picking up a prestigious nomination for “Contemporary Blues Album” in the 2014
Blues Music Awards.
Brandon was also nominated for a 2014 Blues Music Award in the category of, “InstrumentalistHarmonica” and a Blues Blast Music Award in the category of, “Sean Costello Rising Star!”
Live & Extended! is Brandon’s third album released in January 2015 by VizzTone Label Group. While at
the Festival D’été de Quebec, the band hit the stage with raw blues power and over an hour of the hardhitting harmonica-driven blues that’s been causing fans and critics alike to tap Santini as one of the most
quickly-rising blues stars of his generation. His A-Team road band includes Timo Arthur on guitar and
backing vocals, Nick Hern on bass and backing vocals, and Chad Wirl on drums.
Saturday, October 3
The PaperRoute – 5:30 p.m.
The PaperRoute highlights your event by
bringing great music and a dynamic stage
presence. The group consists of both scholar
and seasoned musicians from throughout
central Illinois. Fronting the stage as manager
and performer is the leading “PaperDoll”, Shay
on SAX. In the list of roughly twenty members
working with the PaperRoute, most have
traveled the country as professional working
musicians. Though the group is fairly new, The
PaperRoute has sold out venues, “packing the
house” in ticket sales on a number of
occasions. This diverse group of talent plays a
variety of Jazz, Blues, Pop and Funk. With their
large and assorted music library, every
performance is guaranteed to be different
from the last. The PaperRoute’s ability to cater
toward multiple ages, social, and cultural
groups ensures the satisfaction of many
audiences. This musical act brings positive and uplifting vibes pared with a professional sound and
energetic show. Put on your “blues shoes” and enjoy!
Backpack Jones – 7:00 p.m.
Back Pack Jones is an Illinois-based rhythm and blues band that has hit the international blues scene in
just over two years after the band’s formation in 2012. The band’s success skyrocketed after performing
at the prestigious International Blues Challenge in 2013, recognized in the top third of blues bands from
across the globe. After thrilling crowds in Memphis and at various festivals, Back Pack Jones released
their debut album - “Betsy’s Kitchen” – in November 2013 when the band performed as the opening act
for the legendary B. B. King.
“Betsy’s Kitchen” has received international airplay and has been featured on many syndicated blues
radio shows, including the Paul Jones Show on BBC Radio. The album remained on the Illinois Roots
and Blues Chart for months, and most recently was nominated as Best New Artist Debut Album by
Blues Blast Magazine. The band is working on its second release. Back Pack Jones brings a high-energy
show led by the charismatic and extremely talented front man “Big Mike Wallace” and a show chock-full
of Back Pack Jones original blues from the highly acclaimed debut album, new material from Back Pack
Jones upcoming release, and passionate delivery of more traditional blues classics.
Blues Expressions – 8:30 p.m.
Four years ago Adrian Muex knew he
wanted to start a blues band. His
previous live music experience
entailed mostly church
performances as a choir director and
gospel singer influenced and inspired
by his father, Alfred Muex, and other
members of his musical family, so
deciding on a band name and blues
style was a new experience. “I
wanted to express the blues but
didn’t know how I wanted to
approach the blues so I said, ‘The Blues Expressions’ would be a good name. So here we are.”
Joining bassist/manager Muex in the group are stalwarts of the area live music scene including Tony
Young, Frank Parker, Santiago Roberts, Sr., Charles Tiner, Dion Doss and one of best blues vocalists and
guitarists around, K.P. Pollard (also of Stone Cold Blues Band). Muex stays busy with another group of
his making called Smoothtimes featuring Marcus Taylor, C Lee and Decatur vocalist Jacki Flinn, plus
some members of the Blues Expressions.
Southern Hospitality – 10:00 p.m.
A fleeting, magical moment at a
Florida music festival led to a
collaboration that has had fans of
roots and blues music raving ever
since. It happened three years ago
at a post-festival party jam session
hosted by a club that sponsored
the festival. That was the first time
Damon Fowler, J.P. Soars and
Victor Wainwright played together.
After witnessing the performance,
the South Florida Blues Society
approached the trio about playing for the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Pre-Cruise Party.
The South has long been known for hospitality and down home music. Recently the region has seen the
emergence of a musical group of young musicians who are masters of their craft and embody the soul
and spirit of Dixie. The Band creating all the buzz, called Southern Hospitality, is comprised of lap steel
guitar master Damon Fowler, guitarist extraordinaire J.P. Soars, and keyboard wizard Victor Wainwright.
The three artists are musician’s musicians, each bringing a unique style and fresh translation of the great
Southern soul, blues, and rock music that came before them. Together, their mutual chemistry, high
energy and skill sets create a cohesive vision, with echoes of Muscle Shoals and Macon, which
organically flows together into an entirely original and dynamic form of Americana, Southern soul roots
music with a modern sensibility.
Damon Fowler is a master of the six string, slide guitar, lap steel and Dobro who’s been compared to
Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar has a hint of the late Duane Allman. J.P. Soars and his
band won the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in 2009 and he won the Albert King
award as the best guitarist in the competition. A singer/songwriter and guitarist best known for his
distinctive gypsy-swing jazz playing with plenty of rock potency, he was nominated this year for a Blues
Music Award as the best “Contemporary Blues Male Artist.” Memphis-based Victor Wainwright is known
for his high-octane boogie piano, big soul sounds, powerhouse blues, and roots rock’ n’ roll. Victor was
nominated this year for the “Pinetop Perkins Piano Player” Blues Music Award.
Fowler had already been thinking about doing a project with other musicians and contacted his pal J.P.
Soars. Like Fowler, Soars lives in Florida and traces his family roots back to Arkansas. “I thought it was
great idea as soon as Damon called,” Soars said from his home in Boca Raton. “I had jammed with him a
few times on stage and was totally excited because there was a natural chemistry that seems to happen
whenever we play together.”
The two guitar-slingers with the singular singing voices immediately decided they wanted pianist-front
man Wainwright to round out their aggregation. Soars added, “I had played with Wainwright before, as
well, and he has a lot of soul, and we just feed off each other.”
Dubbing themselves Southern Hospitality, the three musicians added bassist Chuck Riley from Fowler’s
band and Soars’ drummer Chris Peet to the lineup and made their official debut opening for Buddy Guy
in August 2011 at the Heritage Music Blues Fest in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Each front man sang a couple tunes and the Band jammed them to a thunderous conclusion. Fowler
said, “It was cool to have two guitars and piano, it really added to the overall texture.” By the time the
performance ended the crowd exploded with cheers and applause.
“We were all ecstatic about the reaction,” Soars said. “I knew it would be good but not that good. The
response was overwhelming. Walking around, people kept coming up and telling us how great it was. It
felt good.” “It was a super magical experience and excellent response right from the first number,”
Wainwright said. “That was something I’ve only experienced a few times after many years of playing.
The reaction was amazing.”
BluesWax said of the show, “Southern Hospitality, which after a single gig has significant players in the
blues world taking notice. Fowler, Wainwright and Soars share much love for the songs of the South. The
hot jazz and funk of New Orleans, classic country, gospel, soul, and blues that became rock ’n’ roll in
Memphis and went global by way of a trucker named Elvis.”
Since then the Band had performed at a handful of select dates and been rehearsing for the recording
sessions. Fowler hopes to do something like the Traveling Wilburys, where each member brings his
owns songs to the table, and then everybody works on them together. “We are representing the South,”
he said of the project. “We wanted to put together a package of where we’re from that represents the
music we grew up listening to and that we’re making our own today.”
They are now known collectively as “Blues Super-Group” Southern Hospitality.