Blues guitarist Chick Willis added to festival lineup

Posting on behalf of Publisher Charles Womack…

Piedmont Blues Preservation Society press release:

Award-winning blues guitarist/vocalist and Blues Hall of Fame member Chick Willis has been added to the line-up of the 22nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival, presented by YES! Weekly, Saturday, May 3rd, at Festival Park, downtown Greensboro.

Willis replaces Sean Costello, who tragically died on Tuesday, April 15th.

Based in Forsyth, GA, Chick Willis has been serving up his raucous style of blues and R&B since the 1950’s. Willis began performing in his late teens at the old Royal Peacock Club in Atlanta, backing up legendary singers like Jackie Wilson, Nappy Brown, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. He also joined his cousin Chuck Willis’s band, and toured with that outfit until Chuck’s death in 1958. Chick Willis emerged from this scene as an accomplished, versatile blues guitarist and performer. With no less than thirteen albums to his credit, including his latest release, I Did It All, Chick Willis still brings down the house touring blues clubs and festivals across America. In addition to being enshrined in the Blues Hall of Fame, Chick Willis was also named the “2006 Best Live Performer” by Living Blues Magazine.

Backing up Chick Willis will be the King Bees, from Todd, NC. The King Bees are a North Carolina blues fixture, fronted by guitarist/keyboardist Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville and bassist “Queen Bee” Zamagni. They have backed up such blues legends as Bo Diddley, Billy Branch, Jerry McCain and Lazy Lester.

Tickets for the 22nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival, presented by YES! Weekly, are on sale now at the Carolina Theatre Box Office, 310 S. Greene Street, downtown Greensboro, or by charging by phone at (336) 333-2605. Tickets are also available on line at www.carolinatheatre.com. Other ticket outlets include BB’s Compact Discs, all five Bank of Oak Ridge locations, Triad Stage, and Stonefield Cellars Winery. Group discounts are available for $10 per ticket, minimum ten ticket order; mail all ticket requests on company letterhead to PBPS, P.O. Box 9737, Greensboro, NC 27429.

The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society is also announcing that the 22nd Annual Carolina Blues Festival will be dedicated to the memory of Sean Costello, the brilliant young guitarist/vocalist who died at age 28.

For more information, please visit the PBPS web site at www.piedmontblues.org.