Review of Kansas City, MO performance taken from Big City Blues Magazine:
Not too long ago, my band and I had the opportunity to take part in a fundraiser for the Kansas City Blues Society’s “Blues in the Schools” program. The Blues in the Schools program (BIS) is exactly what it sounds like: a program that brings Blues into classrooms to teach students all about the history of American music. The main man behind the BIS is the Kansas City Blues Society’s Vice President Ken “Judge” Bean. He explained to me that the program usually is held in hour long assemblies at elementary, middle and high schools. The assemblies feature musical groups along with a story telling production that explains how the music grew out of slavery work songs combined with acoustic folk music and developed into Mississippi Delta and Piedmont styles and how the music travelled up to Kansas City, Memphis and Chicago and the influence Blues music had on Jazz, Swing music, Rock and Roll and just about every form of American popular music. The program also teaches children about hand made instruments such as the Diddley Bow, and cigar box guitars and so forth. All this is done in an effort to inspire children to learn more about appreciating or even playing music or reading up on the history of the art form.
The fundraiser we played at was a tremendous show that took place at The Trouser Mouse in Blue Springs , MO. The lineup of performers ran the gamut of diversity in the world of Blues music. Kicking off the afternoon was 10 year old Shae B. with the Unexpected band. Shae is a great singer who performs at a level well beyond her age. This act is worth checking out. Next up was the Blues Rock stylings of Just Cuz. These boys are a family band of teenagers from Topeka , who represented the Topeka Blues Society at the IBC last year in the youth band category. They are definitely a band to watch.
A surprise was added at the last minute in the form of Funk-Blues powerhouse Chant from Dallas , Texas . They were on tour and took the time to help out the KCBS with this event. These guys took to the stage and practically tore the house down. They played mainly original music that blended a bit a Funk, Soul, Rock and dead solid Blues. If you aren’t familiar with this band yet you certainly will be. I have a feeling we Blues fans in Kansas City will be seeing more of them soon.