Saturday’s Local Blues Matters show for WGVU-FM will feature Detroit’s Larry McCray, plus Hank Mowery, Jimmie Stagger and Hannah Rose & the GravesTones.
Detroit Blues Matters: Larry McCray will heat up Billy’s Lounge on Saturday night.
It’s blues music that spans The Mitten State.
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For the fifth time, the Local Blues Matters benefit supporting blues programming on WGVU 88.5 and 95.3 FM aims to pack Billy’s Lounge in Grand Rapids.
Hannah Rose & The GravesTones (Photo/Anna Sink)
This year’s event, starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, will feature much-respected Detroit bluesman Larry McCray, Grand Rapids’ own Jimmie Stagger and Hank Mowery playing together, as well as funk-blues-soul outfit, Hannah Rose and The GravesTones.
Admission is $10, and food will be available from local BBQ joint, Dallas Deli.
Growing up in Saginaw, the event’s headliner, McCray, learned to play the guitar at a young age, and eventually started playing the local club circuit with his brothers Carl on bass guitar and Steve on drums.
Eight albums and an uncountable number of live shows later, McCray is now a mainstay in the blues world. He has played alongside Jimmy Thackery, has been honored with the “Sunshine” Sonny Payne Award for Blues Excellence, and has founded his own record label, Magnolia Records. McCray tours year-round, and makes his stop in Grand Rapids before heading down to Tennessee for the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis.
Jimmie Stagger (Photo/Tori Thomas)
Local blues legend, Jimmie Stagger, will perform as one of the openers for McCray with blues harmonica player Hank Mowery. Hot off his first release in 14 years, “Graveyard of my Own,” Stagger is refreshed and poised, with a batch of new songs and new-found energy.
“It’s all like brand new again. It feels great,” Stagger told Local Spins last year around the release of his new record. “I’m in better shape now than I’ve been in my memory. I feel really strong and I’m happy. I’m happy with my private life and I’m happy with my music.”
For organizers, it represents an opportunity for West Michigan blues fans to champion and show their love for the genre.
“People should come out and support local blues music, musicians and local blues radio,” said organizer Garry Zack.
“WGVU-FM plays over 36 hours of blues music every weekend and is the only radio station in West Michigan that devotes its airwaves to presenting jazz and blues each weeknight. Without listener support we would not be able to provide the services and programming that we provide in West Michigan.”
LOCAL BLUES MATTERS: The Schedule
6:30 p.m. – Doors Open
7:30 p.m. – Hank Mowery and Jimmie Stagger
9 p.m. – Hannah Rose & The GravesTones
10 p.m. – Blues Brothers w/ Hannah Rose & The GravesTones
10:30 p.m. – Larry McCray
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
