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***************************** Saturday, January 26, 2008 Mem Shannon & the Membership Opening set: The Cinders **************************** SLO Vets Hall 801 Grand Avenue 8PM Members $17 / General Admission $20 March
1 Eddie Turner
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PO Box 14041 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 This site
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BLUES SHOW REVIEW. The San Luis Obispo Blues Society presents the bayou flavored soul-blues of Mem Shannon and the Membership on Saturday, January 26. The Cinders will be opening the show. The show begins at 8:00 pm at the SLO Vets Hall, 801 Grand Avenue in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $17 for Blues Society members and $20 for the general public. 21 and over, please. For more information, call 805/541-7930.
MEM
SHANNON & THE MEMBERSHIP.
New
Orleans guitarist, singer and songwriter Mem Shannon combines elements
of soul, funk, jazz, and rhythm & blues into his blues-inspired guitar
playing and soul-infused vocals. Fats Domino, Professor Longhair,
and the Neville Brothers are inspirations for his music. Mem Shannon
and the Membership capture the spirit and syncopated rhythms of New Orleans.
Mem incorporates life experiences into the lyrics of his songs. “I’m still telling stories,” says the artist whose first album (A Cab Driver’s Blues) featured snippets of conversation with passengers in his cab. Downbeat Magazine says, “Shannon’s autobiographical blues approach effortlessly cut through the pretensions and hype with a sound that was as novel as it was sincere.”
Shannon was born in New Orleans and he was playing guitar in Top 40 bands by the time he was 15. When his father passed away unexpectedly in 1981, he put his music aside and began driving a cab to help the family pay bills. He began playing again in 1990 and started writing songs that were inspired partly by his life and experiences driving a cab. Mem and his band played regular gigs at clubs in the French Quarter. In 1991, he won a local talent contest that gave the band a spot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In 1995, he released his debut album and by 1996, at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Shannon announced from the stage that he was giving up his job as a cab driver to play blues full-time.
Mem
Shannon has toured the world, performing at prestigious festivals such
as King Biscuit Blues Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the New
Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (twelve times in a row). He has
released six CDs. Live: A Night at Tipitina’s was released in 2007.
Mem has been nominated for six W.C. Handy (Blues Music) Awards including
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year (2006 & 2008), and Soul Blues Album
of the Year (2006 & 2008); and he won Living Blues Magazine’s Song
of the Year in 2002. The band includes Mem Shannon on guitar and
vocals, Robert Dabon on keyboards, Angelo Nocentelli on bass, and Josh
Milligan on drums.
THE
CINDERS.
The Cinders Blues Band plays a straight-forward, slightly raw version of
the blues. The band includes Dorian Michael (guitar), Brett Hoover
(vocals), Dean Giles (drums), and Ken Hustad (bass). Samples from
their CD, Rooms on Fire, are available online (http://www.cindersbluesband.com/albums.html).
VOLUNTEER.
Your
Blues Society is run entirely by volunteers. Besides a sense of accomplishment,
volunteers get into the shows for free and receive a couple free drink
tickets. We could use your help, so call 541-7930 (our voice mail
number) and volunteer to work a shift at the show.
