Apr

14

2019

Events

15th Annual Blues by the Sea

Sunday, Apr 14, 2019 @ 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

No Tickets Required
Sponsored by the Kiawah Arts & Cultural Events Council
Rain or Shine

Enjoy a spring afternoon and evening of world-class blues featuring Patrick Green & the Blues Buckets, The Night Hawks and Vanessa Collier.

Born in Charleston and raised in Virginia, guitarist/singer Patrick Green was steeped in music by his bass-playing dad, the legendary Doc Henley Smythe, who spoon-fed him a diet of vintage R&B, British Invasion rock, urban blues, and roadhouse boogie. Patrick took naturally to the challenges of the electric guitar and developed an exciting blue-eyed soul vocal style that helps him get his point across. His house-rockin’ band, now in metro Austin, TX, has released several albums with a new one in the works.

When they write the history of modern U.S. blues and roots music, The Nighthawks will figure big. Harmonica master/singer/founder Mark Wenner still steers the band, as he has since the 1970s, assisted by longtime drummer/singer Mark Stutso and two brilliant new members who make their South Carolina debut on this show. The Nighthawks began as a blue-collar bar band in Washington, DC, and almost single-handedly gathered a huge Mid-Atlantic audience for electric blues and ’50s-period rock ‘n’ roll. Their early shows are legendary, when they worked with giants like Waters, Cotton, and Perkins. Their vast discography (latest releases on EllerSoul) is a thrilling sonic journey through bluesy time and space. Were that not enough, a beautifully researched documentary film – Nighthawks: On the Blue Highway, subtitled A Film About the Hardest Working Band in America (available on DVD) – packed with archival footage does even more secure to the legacy.

In early 2015, this young lady showed up on Blues by the Seas’ radar, booked then by her mom. Accomplished on sax and also a qualified singer/composer, Vanessa had Berklee School of Music in her resume, now had a band, and wanted to try her luck on the circuit. They did the research and invited her to the 11th Blues By the Sea (2015) to open for Chicago blues sax giant Eddie Shaw (ex-Magic Sam, Howlin’ Wolf). It was a “Blues Sax Summit” – an incredible day at Freshfields and her first festival appearance outside her home state of Pennsylvania! Fast forward to 2019, and Vanessa is an international star, travelling the world and headlining all the big festivals. She has achieved so much in four years due to tons of hard work, dedication, and of course all that superlative talent.