The King Biscuit Blues Festival this year showcases more than 40 acts in four days, starting with Warmup Wednesday, October 9th and running through Saturday the 12th on the berm of the mighty Mississippi.
Three-time Grammy® winner and perennial King Biscuit favorite-son Bobby Rush is the Saturday night headliner. The Three Kings featuring Albert Castiglia, Chris Cain and D.K. Harrell pay homage to Kings B.B., Albert, and Freddie topping Thursday’s schedule, and eight-time Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year Curtis Salgado headlines Friday.
Now in its 37th year on the banks of the Mississippi River, The Biscuit has become the gold standard of blues festivals. Join us as we celebrate a rich and varied heritage that has made blues America’s gift to world culture.
Saturday night headliner Bobby Rush has played every stage at the Biscuit throughout its 37 years. Help him celebrate his latest crown and third Grammy® win fresh from a tour with Buddy Guy as he comes home to The Biscuit. “I’m grateful they asked me to play almost all of the years,” says the 90-year-old Delta blues legend. “I appreciate the new team honoring my initial deal that Bobby Rush was going to be a part of the festival year after year.”
B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King truly were the kings of blues. Now for the first time together as Thursday’s headlining act, three legacies in the making bring back the thrill of the three blues Kings who defined electric blues. Each one a headliner, they have joined forces to bring to life the music of the crowning legends of electric blues. Be there as they recreate the electric charge of the legends who first plugged in the music we love.
In two short years, The Three Kings’ D.K. Harrell has become one of the fastest rising stars in blues, his album The Right Man rising to the top of the blues charts, but as a toddler he never spoke a word until he was two years old, and his mother put B.B. King on in the car. “The song ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ came on, and I started singing. She almost wrecked the car. For a while she thought, ‘My baby’s not gonna speak. He’s not gonna talk,’ but I had a lot to sing about that day, and have been ever since.”
By the age of 17, The Three Kings’ Albert Castiglia had bought every album Freddie King ever put out. Albert would go on to become Jr. Wells’ lead guitarist, and most recently, has toured with Mike Zito as The Blood Brothers. When Rick Booth, President of Intrepid Artists, invited Albert to be one of The Three Kings, his answer was an immediate yes. “Freddie’s guitar attack and phrasing, along with his beautiful vocals made him a hero in my eyes. So powerful, such a force of nature he was. He is my King of the Blues!”
“My greatest influence when I first picked up the guitar was B.B. King,” says the third of the Three Kings, Alligator recording artist Chris Cain. When The Chris Cain Band opened for Albert King at JJ’s in San Jose, California, Albert invited the young bluesman on stage to play guitar with his band and was im pressed with Cain’s unique guitar riffs and sound. Albert would surprise Chris by coming to his shows whenever Cain and his band played in Memphis, and he was in town.
Friday headliner Curtis Salgado raises the bar height for blue-eyed soul, giving his vocals a blues accent built on 40-some years as a headliner and stints with The Robert Cray Band, The Nighthawks, and Roomful of Blues. The eight-time Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year says, “I want a SONG. I don’t want someone to sit there and play a shuffle. Songs are about melody, and that’s why the ones that work people can grasp onto and sing. That’s what it’s about.”
The headliners are joined by more than 40 acts that showcase blues legacies and legacies-in-the-making offering a broad spectrum of America’s get-down gift to culture. Texas singer/songwriter/guitarist Carolyn Wonderland has topped blues, Americana, and alt-country charts. Detroit Blues Queen Thornetta Davis is a hard driving seven-time Blues Music Award nominee. Marquis Knox has been called “the essence of what blues is all about” by Z.Z. Top’s Billy Gibbons.
And they’re just a sampling of what you can expect. Vasti Jackson co-produced Bobby Rush’s Grammy nominated album Hoochie Man, and was musical director and guitarist for Z.Z. Hill and Bobby Bland. Mark “Muleman” Massey is a graduate of the Parchman Prison Band. DuWayne Burnside’s electric guitar combines his father R. L. Burnside’s influence with shades of B.B. King, and Jimi Hendrix. Zakiya Hooker is John Lee Hooker’s daughter. Benny Turner is Freddy King’s older brother. Lucious Spiller is Magic Sam’s nephew.
The Biscuit has created its own legends on the banks of the Mississippi with perennial favorites like Memphis veteran Reba Russell whose credits include recording with U2 and a personal endorsement from the late Rufus “Walkin’ My Dog” Thomas. Her “Heaven Came to Helena” has become the unofficial Biscuit theme song. Texas tornado on the strings Anson Funderburgh is the only artist to have appeared at all 37 years of The Biscuit. This Texas jump blues guitarist learned his chops from the likes of Freddie King, Jimmy Reed, and Albert Collins when these great bluesmen were passing through Dallas-area clubs.
Come to the Biscuit and help us celebrate The Biscuit’s favorite son Bobby Rush on his third Grammy® win. Rub shoulders with legends and reconnect with the artists that have made America’s music the cultural envy of the world.
For further information or media inquiries, please contact operations@kingbiscuitfestival.com.
