The Free Press
The Boogie Blues Revue, featuring nationally known musicians Big Joe Maher, Anson Funderburgh and Red Young, will fill the beautifully decorated Grainger Hill Performing Arts Center with great music, at 8 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tickets, $25 each, are available online at www.ghpac.com, and at the door. GHPAC is at 300 Park Ave., Kinston. Halloween spooks can don their costumes to compete in a contest.
Young, a pianist, Maher, a drummer and vocalist, and Funderburgh, guitarist, can, according to critics, “play anything in the world” and take requests.
ANSON FUNDERBURGH
Funderburgh was hooked on the blue at age 7 or 8 and taught himself guitar listening to classic blues records.
The Texas native has spent most of his adult life playing the blues, with influences from such blues legends as Freddie King, Albert Collins, Jimmy Reed and Bill Doggett. Funderburgh has been called on to lend his guitar talents to their Delbert McClinton, Boz Scaggs, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ronnie Earl.
Funderburgh recorded with the Fabulous Thunderbirds on their “Butt Rockin’” album, and went solo in 1981, when the New Orleans-based Black Top label released “Talk to You by Hand,” its first release.
“Funderburgh remains a musician’s musician,” says the Blues Revue. “He makes sure the songs both breathe and burn.”
In the 90s, Funderburgh continued his association with Black Top, releasing “Tell Me What I Want to Hear (1991),” “Live at Grand Emporium (1995),” and “That’s What They Want (1997).” In 1999, he changed record labels to Bullseye Blues and released“Change in My Pocket,” a CD which won several W.C. Handy Awards.
Despite a lengthy hiatus from touring, Funderburgh’s current configuration of the Rockets is comprised of his long standing band members Gentleman John Street on keyboard, Wes Starr on drums, John Bradley on bass and Greg Izor on vocals and harp.
RED YOUNG
Born in Ft Worth, Texas, Red Young is a pianist, organist, arranger, producer, vocalist and artist. He started playing piano at age 3, first classical concert at age 10; played with bands and accompanied vocalists throughout high school and started playing the Hammond organ at 16.
He has recorded and toured with a wide variety of artists including Freddy Fender, Sonny and Cher, Noel Redding, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Eric Burdon, Linda Ronstadt, Nelson Riddle, Joan Armatrading, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, Eric Burdon, Linda Ronstadt, Clyde McCoy (“Sugar Blues”), the Air Force Band, Lloyd Price (“Stagger Lee,” “Personality”), Tompall Glaser, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.
He also has performed many television, movie and live shows worldwide and has produced arranged, sung and written on many projects, including 160 albums.
In 1985-87, he returned to Ft Worth to form Red and the Red Hots as lead vocalist, arranger and musical director. The 10-piece swing band performed more than 400 shows in three years and produced four albums: “Red and The Red Hots (1987),” “Red Hot Jazz (1996),” “Boogie Man (1998)” and “Gettin’ Around (1999).” In addition to recording they were featured in “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Donny and Marie Show.”
In 1988-2002 he returned to Los Angeles, toured with Juice Newton, performed more than a 1,000 shows with the band and made albums with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue, Joey Altruda, Johnny Reno and others.
On a his 2013 tour of Europe, he used the new SK2 on loan from Michael Falkenstein, Hammond Europe and plans to use it on tours in 2014 and beyond when touring the European Union.
“It really is a wonderful instrument — the folks at Hammond really have the sound down,” Young said. “It is a very expressive instrument — quiet when it needs to and screams when I want it to but with a fraction of the weight.”
In 2002, Young moved to Austin, Texas, and concentrated on jazz organ and made albums with Stephen Bruton and Marcia Ball. From 2004-2005 he performed with George Clinton, Mike Morgan, Janiva Magness and Teresa James in a Dallas nightclub, Django On The Parkway.
JOE MAHER
Joe Maher, aka “Big Joe,” started out his music career in his Maryland high school jazz band “The Starliners.” Such musical greats as Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Mudell Lowe and James Moody often sat in with the band as guest performers and inspired him.
His father listened to Louis Jordon and blues and jazz at home so this also influenced his musical style. He started his own roots blues record collection during that time in the 60’s when most of his friends were just into the rock-n-roll.
After high school, Maher went on the road with his own jazz/blues trio. He has shared the stage, opened up for or backed up such music legends as Willie Dixon, Johnny Adams, Floyd Dixon, Delbert McClinton, Johnnie Johnson, Mick Fleetwood, Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Rogers, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Witherspoon, Bullmoose Jackson, James “Thunderbird” Davis, Nappy Brown, Jimmy T99 Nelson, Bobby Parker, Otis Rush and Earl King.
In the late 80’s after managing and performing with the nine-piece swing band “The Uptown Rhythm Kings,” and after a few years as drummer with the Tom Principato Band, Maher formed his own five-piece jump blues group “Big Joe and The Dynaflows.” He also was music coordinator for Mick Fleetwood’s nightclub in Alexandria, Va., “Fleetwoods.”
The Dynaflows release “I’m Still Swingin” on Severn Records, received the Washington Area Music Association’s “Best Blues Recording” in 1998. WAMA also voted Big Joe “Male Blues Vocalist of the Year” in 2005 and 2009.