The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club on Friday 21st March promises to be an evening to remember as it welcomes for the first time one of the truly great names of British blues – The Dave Kelly Band.
Dave was a founder member of The Blues Band with Paul Jones, Hughie Flint & Tom McGuinness in 1979, by which time he was already a seasoned blues artist with a reputation across the world. In the early sixties he started performing acoustic, mostly Mississippi style blues in folk clubs – he was a disciple of Mississippi Fred McDowell. His first performance was a floor spot at The Half Moon Putney in 1964 - a session run by Gerry Lockran, Cliff Aungier & Royd Rivers. In 1966 he went to the USA and played at Gerde's Folk City in New York where he was invited to join several bands – but decided to return to the UK to join The John Dummer Blues Band as lead vocalist and guitarist along with his sister, the late great Jo-Ann Kelly. With the Dummer Band he made two UK tours backing John Lee Hooker and one with Howlin Wolf, and also played with Freddie King. He went on to form Tramp along with Jo-Ann and Tony Mc Phee of The Groundhogs.
As well as his long-term commitments with The Blues Band, he has toured and done TV shows with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. He has also appeared in acoustic duos/trios with Paul Jones, Maggie Bell and Long John Baldry as well as regular tours with Christine Collister and The Travelling Gentlemen. He is one of the very best slide guitarists in British blues, regularly doing solo acoustic gigs, and has won the British Blues Awards acoustic artist of the year for five consecutive years, after which he was kicked upstairs to the House of Lords and not allowed to enter any more.
There are a number of videos on YouTube of Dave, many showcasing his brilliant slide guitar technique, and they are well worth a look – go to youtube.com/results?search_query=dave%20kelly&sm=12
The Club is very fortunate to have an artist of Dave’s stature at the Club, and an evening of top class blues is guaranteed.