Julie Black Band
6:30p – 8:00p
Critically-acclaimed songwriter & artist Julie Black performs creative, original, no-compromise music. A kindred spirit of free and fiery souls, she’s a songwriter whose personal story is deep, complex, and inspiring. Her soulful voice, intuitive approach, and fiery emotional intensity conjure up live performances that are passionate and profound. Deeply-rooted influences like Solomon Burke and Etta James flavor her sound, as do elements of blues, jazz, soul, swing, and rock. Still, as an artist unconfined, she finds inspiration everywhere. She’s performed at Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival, Dunedin Wines the Blues, Chasco Fiesta, Pasco Pride, and many other major festivals. She appears regularly on television and radio and can be heard at great venues like the House of Blues, Zenfinitea, and Blur.
Julie Black has charted on Sirius XM, gets worldwide airplay on jazz, blues, and rock stations, and was even up for a Grammy nomination for songwriting. She has several successful albums available on iTunes and Amazon, and a continuous stream of new music being released. Julie Black proudly performs with her tight-knit band: Dave Eichenberger – guitar, Frank Timpanelli – drums, and Graeme Currie – bass. Filled with emotional truth, clarity, and vision, Julie Black offers a musical experience that is one-of-a-kind.
Damon Fowler 8:30p – 10:00p
Florida’s Gulf Coast has produced a plethora of distinctive musicians, from the blues of Tampa Red to jazz greats Cannonball and Nat Adderley to former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts to The Outlaws. Tampa’s Damon Fowler, a masterful singer, guitar player and songwriter, has absorbed the best of and furthered the work of the region’s definitive artists. A hard driving troubadour, his music is steeped with soul and representative of the many styles that make up the roots of American music. He has gained the respect of his peers given his featured slot in Butch Truck’s Freight Train band and his side gig as guitarist in the Dickey Betts Band. Critics have compared Fowler’s guitar work to Johnny Winter and Jeff Beck, while his slide guitar is reminiscent of the late Duane Allman. Fowler can play fiery guitar runs with the best of them, and his lyrical work on lap steel and dobro makes him a stand out performer among the legions of guitar heroes. His new release, ALAFIA MOON, was produced by Fowler and George Harris (Cheap Trick, Rick Derringer, Brian Johnson—AC/DC), ALAFIA MOON, represents Fowler’s 8th solo release. combines all the influences that have shaped his distinctive blues career. On the strength of Fowler’s hybrid of roots rock, blues, and sacred steel, the Florida native started wowing audiences with his musical exploits as a teenager, building a reputation as one of the hottest young players on the scene. Adding songwriting and vocal skills to his repertoire over the years has brought him many accolades, with music journalists extolling his originality and maturity as well as his technical guitar expertise. All of these attributes have helped further define Damon Fowler as one of the great Southern artists of his time.
