[mplpost] guy davis in gravenhurst (muskoka)

[Derek Andrews - Harbourfront Centre]

forwarded for ross carlin / RCarlin@gravenhurst.net


In Bed With The Blues ... at The Op!

A hit off-Broadway blues play is coming to the Gravenhurst Opera House &
Arts Centre, a rare and special treat that should not be missed.

It is only near the end of Guy Davis's engaging one-man show "In Bed With
The Blues - The Adventures of Fishy Waters" that we are told how his stage
alter-ego, an itinerant storyteller and blues singer named Fishy Waters,
acquired his name. Let it suffice to say that the christening took place at
his teen-age initiation into a tribe of southern hobos when he was passed a
bottle of scorching moonshine liquor.

The son of a black sharecropper, Fishy Waters, whose biography bears marked
resemblance's to that of the blues legend Muddy Waters, decides while still
in his teens that he would rather scrounge a living as a musician than
settle for the grueling life of tenant farmer. Carrying a guitar inherited
from his grandfather, he strikes out on an uncertain path that will
eventually take him from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago.

"In Bed With The Blues," set in 1959 and liberally laced with delta blues
songs of the 1920's and 30's is a loosely knit hybrid of clues concert,
storytelling session and fictional remembrance. The portrait is as sad as
it is deeply affectionate.

Guy Davis is a musician, composer, actor, director and writer.  But most
importantly, Guy Davis is a bluesman.  The blues permeates every corner of
Davis' creativity.

Guy Davis is a young African American artist who is giving the blues of the
'20s and '30s his own contemporary spin.  His influences are wide and
varied.  Musically, he enjoyed such great blues musicians such as Skip
James, Manse Lipscomb and Buddy Guy, among many others.  It was through Taj
Mahal that he found his way to the old time blues.

Davis' creative roots run deep.  His parents and especially grandparents
told him stories of life in the rural south.  David taught himself how to
play the guitar (never having the patience for formal lessons) and learned
by listening and watching other musicians.

Throughout his life Davis has had overlapping interests in music and
acting.  Early acting roles included a part in the film "Beat Street" and
on television "One Life to Live".  Eventually he had the opportunity to
combine music and acting on the stage.  He made his Broadway debut in 1991
in the Zora Neale Hurston/Langston Hughes collaboration "Mulebone".  In
1993 he performed Off-Broadway as legendary blues player Robert Johnson in
"Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil".  He received rave reviews and became the
1993 winner of the Blues Foundation's W.C. Handy "Keeping the Blues Alive
Award"

In the past few years, Davis has concentrated much of his efforts on
writing and performing music.  In the fall of 1995 he released his Red
House Records debut "Stomp Down Rider," an album that captured Davis'
stunning live performance.  The album landed on top ten lists all across
the country.  His next album, "Call down the Thunder," paid tribute to the
blues masters.  The electrifying album solidified Davis' position of being
one of the most important blues artists of our time.  It was named a top
ten album of the year.  Davis' third release "You Don't Know My Mind"
explodes with passion and rhythm.

Guy Davis reminds you that the blues started as dance music.  Davis' tough,
timeless vocals blow through your brain like a Mississippi dust devil.
Don't miss out on Guy Davis "The Legend of Fishy Waters one night
performance at  the Gravenhurst Opera House & Arts Centre, Friday June 9th
at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $24.50 Adults and $20 Seniors/Youth. Please call THE
Op box office at 687-5550 or toll free 1 888 495 8888.



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derek andrews - harbourfront centre
416-973-4744 fax 973-8729
mailto:derek@harbourfront.on.ca
http://www.harbourfront.on.ca

NEW ADDRESS: 

Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West
Toronto ON Canada
M5J 2G8

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