Chicago Blues Festival
Sunday, June 7 at 10:00 AM
Day 4 of 4 · Sunday, June 7
Lineup
Sue Foley
Sue Foley is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer/songwriter known for her Texas blues style and acoustic touch. A five-time Blues Music Award winner for Traditional Blues Female, and a Juno recipient, she has shared the stage with musicians including B.B. King and Buddy Guy. In 2024 she released One Guitar Woman: A T… Sue Foley is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer/songwriter known for her Texas blues style and acoustic touch. A five-time Blues Music Award winner for Traditional Blues Female, and a Juno recipient, she has shared the stage with musicians including B.B. King and Buddy Guy. In 2024 she released One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to The Female Pioneers of Guitar which earned a 2025 Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. Foley also holds a PhD in Musicology, and is the author of the forthcoming book Guitar Women, exploring the lives and legacies of trailblazing female guitarists. Read moreShow less
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Women in Blues Tribute to Mama Yancey and Big Mama Thornton with Mary Lane, Deitra Farr, Katherine Davis, Nora Jean Wallace, Melody Angel, Lee Kanehira, and Lynne Jordan & the Shivers
Women in Blues Tribute to Mama Yancey and Big Mama Thornton is a Chicago blues ensemble performance featured at the 2026 Chicago Blues Festival, bringing together Mary Lane, Deitra Farr, Katherine Davis, Nora Jean Wallace, Melody Angel, Lee Kanehira, and Lynne Jordan & the Shivers.
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Libby Rae Watson with Bill Steber
Libby Rae Watson is a Mississippi acoustic country blues singer-guitarist from Pascagoula, MS, active since the early 1970s; she frequently performs as a duo with blues musician and photographer Bill Steber.
Fred T and The Band
Fred T (Fredrick T. Robinson) is a Mississippi blues musician from Crystal Springs, MS, who fronts Fred T and The Band. He was named the 2015 Jackson Music Awards Musician of the Year.
Mzz Reese & Reese's Pieces
Mzz Reese & Reese's Pieces is a Chicago blues and soul-blues act led by vocalist Mzz Reese, born in Jackson, MS, known for her 2015 debut single "Cookies" and regular appearances at venues like Buddy Guy's Legends.
Jaye Hammer
Jaye Hammer (born Jeremy George, 1981) is a Southern soul and soul-blues vocalist from Friars Point, Mississippi, who signed with Ecko Records in 2012 and released his debut on that label, *Hammer*.
A Patch of Blues
A Patch of Blues is a Chicago blues and soul band featuring vocalist Fati Jones, guitarist Rebecca Egwuenu, and drummer Stacy Norris, winners of the 2024 Chicago Music Award for Most Outstanding Band.
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Dan Souvigny Band with Carlos Johnson
The Dan Souvigny Band is a Chicago blues/jazz outfit led by Hammond B3 organist and Buddy Guy keyboardist Dan Souvigny (Hampshire, IL), frequently featuring Chicago Blues Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Johnson.
Bob Stroger - Windy City Blues Legend
Bob Stroger (born 1930) is a Chicago electric blues bassist, singer, and songwriter from Missouri who rose to prominence backing Otis Rush and earned multiple Blues Music Awards for Best Blues Bassist.
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Rick King's Royal Hustle
Rick King's Royal Hustle is a Chicago funk-soul-blues band fronted by South Side native Rick King, a founding member of Lubriphonic who has drummed for Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Chuck Berry.
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Gerald McClendon (The Soulkeeper) & The A-Team Band
Gerald McClendon 'The Soulkeeper' is a Chicago-based soul and R&B singer/songwriter who has performed with his A-Team Band for over 20 years, with seven studio albums to his name.
Wendy and DB
Wendy and DB (Wendy Morgan and Darryl "DB" Boggs) are a Grammy-nominated children's blues duo from Chicago, known for their album *Into the Little Blue House*.
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King College Prep
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Jones College Prep
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Will Carter Music
Will Carter is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer with an online presence at willcartermusic.com.
Alex Olson
from alixolson.com Alix Olson is an internationally touring folk poet and progressive queer artist-activist. One part peace vigil, one part protest rally, and one part joyful raucous concert, Alix ignites audiences everywhere she performs. Olson's innumerable stage, broadcast, radio and print appearances include, most… from alixolson.com Alix Olson is an internationally touring folk poet and progressive queer artist-activist. One part peace vigil, one part protest rally, and one part joyful raucous concert, Alix ignites audiences everywhere she performs. Olson's innumerable stage, broadcast, radio and print appearances include, most recently, twice headlining HBO's "Def Poetry Jam" (Russell Simmons), and an inclusion in Utne Magazine's InRadio compilation. Utne's website calls Olson "...the spoken word diva everyone's talking about." Alix has graced the cover of Ms. Magazine, who called Olson a "road-poet-on-a-mission," and her work has been featured in Girlfriends Magazine, The Advocate, OUT Magazine, Curve, Lesbian Review of Books, and on the covers of Lambda Book Report, Lavender Lens, and Velvet Park magazines. A recent interview with Olson for The Progressive calls her a "word warrior" and gives a comprehensive peek into just what makes her work so compelling. Alix has appeared on the nationally syndicated Air America's "Unfiltered" radio (co-hosts Rachel Maddow, Rachel Winstead, and Chuck D), as well as on Oxygen television, CNN, HBO, In the Life, and WXPN's World Cafe with David Dye, and local radio stations around the country. Alix was voted "Best Activist", along with MoveOn, in Venus Magazine's Hott List 2004. Olson was voted 2004 OutMusician of the Year (OutMusic), and was a triple nominee for the 2002 OUTMusic Awards. In June 2003, Alix (along with Margaret Cho and Nobuko Oyabu) received the "Visionary Award" from the DC Rape Crisis Center for her "exceptional commitment to the promotion of social justice." Past honorees include Gloria Steinem, Tori Amos, Patricia Ireland and Sarah Jones. Olson has also received a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, and a Barbara Deming grant. Howard Zinn (historian/activist) calls Alix "an ingenious poet, a brilliant performer, a funny person, a serious thinker. Quite simply, extraordinary." Alix tours over two-hundred days a year, and has headlined national conferences for the National Organization for Women, GenderPac, and the Lesbian Summit. Most recently, Alix performed for one million people at the Washington, D.C. March for Women's Lives. She has headlined international poetry festivals in Portugal, the Netherlands, and England, and will be touring Australia in January. Of her live performances, The Progressive Magazine calls Alix "an electrifying performer who seduces the audience with wit and energy, spinning tales of life on the road between her fiery poems. A sharpshooter with theatrical flair, Olson oozes both love and rage." Above all, Alix Olson is undaunted by being labeled as "controversial." "I think any artist who confronts the status quo will be targeted as 'controversial'. We will also be called 'angry,' 'aggressive,' 'loud,' or at best, 'idealistic,' so that we are discounted, backed into a corner, and our power is deflated. But I have never been intimidated by words, because they've always been on my side." Read moreShow less
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Knott Us Band
Knott Us Band is a Chicago youth blues and classic rock cover band born from the Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, performing works by Aretha Franklin, BB King, and Queen at venues across Illinois.
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The Chicago Academy for the Arts
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DJ James Porter
DJ James Porter is a Chicago-based DJ, musician, and journalist who hosts the Hoodoo Party on WLUW and is one half of the soul DJ duo East of Edens Soul Express.
Studebaker John's Maxwell Street Kings
Who is Studebaker John? Studebaker John Grimaldi was born in an Italian-American section of Chicago and started playing harmonica at age 7. Under the spell of music he heard on Maxwell Street, Chicago’s famed blues melting pot, Grimaldi began performing as Studebaker John and the Hawks in the ‘70s. The band name refer… Who is Studebaker John? Studebaker John Grimaldi was born in an Italian-American section of Chicago and started playing harmonica at age 7. Under the spell of music he heard on Maxwell Street, Chicago’s famed blues melting pot, Grimaldi began performing as Studebaker John and the Hawks in the ‘70s. The band name referenced the Studebaker Hawk, a car Grimaldi still owns today, and was also intended as a tribute to his friend, J.B. Hutto and the Hawks. John began playing guitar after a life-changing experience of seeing Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers perform. “…Hound Dog started playing, hitting notes that sent chills up and down my spine. He was versatile and powerful and would play rhythm as well as leads. I left there knowing what I wanted to do. I had to play slide guitar.” 1978: After playing at various Chicago clubs, John records his first record, Straight No Chaser, released on Retread Records. His second recording, Rocking the Blues, is released in 1985 on Avanti Records. John continues to work clubs and concerts in Chicago and the mid-west region. 1988: Nothin’ But Fun is released in Europe on Belgium’s Double Trouble label. A European tour follows in support of this recording. Due to the success of this release, Born to Win, also on Double Trouble, is released in 1990 resulting in more European tours. At home, John continues to play throughout the Midwest. The Chicago Tribune hails John as “a blues classic”. 1991: John joins the Yardbirds & Pretty Things to record a St. George and Demon Records’ release of classic Chicago Blues. This recording leads to another Demon Records’ release Wine, Women & Whiskey. 1992: Rockin’ The Blues is re-released on the Double Trouble label. 1993: Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan, selects three songs from Nothin’ But Fun and Born To Win to include in his film, Calendar. 1994: John records Too Tough, his 1st release on Blind Pig Records. Also in 1994, Atom Egoyan produces another film, Exotica, featuring two songs from Too Tough. 1995: Nothin’ But Fun is renamed Outside Lookin’ In and becomes John’s 2nd Blind Pig Records release. 1996: John collaborates with record producer Jim Gaines on his 3rd Blind Pig release, Tremoloxe. Studebaker John & the Hawks tour throughout the USA, Canada & Europe in support of this new release. 1997: Time Will Tell, John’s 4th Blind Pig recording, is released. Songs from the CD are featured in the 2001 film Cowboy Up, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Darrel Hannah. John’s music is also used for a CNN/NASCAR Raceway break-theme and in a Ford Thunderbird commercial shown during the 2002 season premiere episode of Fox TV’s “24”. 2001: Howl With The Wolf, released on Evidence Music, revisits John’s roots, one last look at the past before looking exclusively to the future. 2004: The Avanti Records’ release, Between Life & Death, showcases John’s unique songwriting talents, and his blazing guitar and harmonica technique, creating a new sound that transports the blues genre into the 21st century. CD 2006: Avanti Records’ Self-Made Man contains nearly 80 minutes of all original steamy blues and smokin’ blues-rock, incorporating Chicago, boogie, swamp, swing, and harmonica blues, all recorded with a live-in-the-studio sound that is true to Studebaker John’s stage performances. As a songwriter and musician, Studebaker John has emerged as a major creative force in the world of the blues today. Ahead of the pack, with vision and foresight, creating a new standard and landscape for this music’s future… with John at the wheel, the future is now! Website: Studebaker John Read moreShow less
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John Primer & Steve Bell
John Primer & Steve Bell are Chicago blues duo: Primer is a Grammy-nominated guitarist and Blues Hall of Famer; Bell is a Chicago Blues Hall of Fame harmonica player and son of Carey Bell, with Primer since 1996.
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Harmonica Hinds Duo
Harmonica Hinds Duo is a Chicago blues act led by Mervyn "Harmonica" Hinds, a Trinidad-born harp player active since the early 1970s, performing as a duo with guitarists including Eddie Taylor Jr. and John Primer.
Gerry Hundt's Legendary One-Man Band
Gerry Hundt's Legendary One-Man Band is the solo project of Gerry Hundt, a Chicago blues and American roots multi-instrumentalist from Rockford, IL, who released the self-titled album on SteadyGroove Music in 2015.
Venue
Chicago Blues FestivalLoop
Millennium Park, 201 E Randolph St Map ↗
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