A Tribute to Elmore James
George Bedard will continue his History of American Music series at The Ark on August 16th.This year’s first set will begin a new tradition of exploring many different genres from a particular year – in this case 1959. The second set will be a tribute to the great slide guitarist and blues singer Elmore James.
“Midwest musicians all know the legendary guitarist George Bedard. He is the man. Where else am I going to hear authentic rockabilly, much less pure blues these days as his latest album provides? Bedard’s music has been in my head for decades and I love it. George is a national treasure”. (Michael Erlewine, Founder of the All-Music Guide)
“Variety and craft have always been the hallmarks of Bedard’s style. While his music is rooted in what might now be called traditional rock and roll, he’s a product of the Chicago blues players whom he heard in the clubs and at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival. His artistry extends to many streams of twentieth-century music: country, pop, and a remarkable amount of jazz in which he artfully reduces ensemble arrangements to the dimensions of a small rock band. He’s a guitar polymath”. (James M. Manheim, The Ann Arbor Observer)
A founding member of the Silvertones, in 1984 he formed the first version of the Kingpins. Their debut CD won CD Reviews “Best Blues CD of the Year” award. He has closed the Ann Arbor Summer Festival for more than 25 years and headlined festivals and clubs from St. Louis to Barcelona. In 2014 he and the Kingpins toured Honduras as part of the U. S. State Department’s Arts Envoy program.
Bedard has backed such luminaries as Johnnie Johnson, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, Big Joe Turner, Earl King, Eddie Taylor, Koko Taylor, Johnny Adams, and Kim Wilson. As the house guitarist on the Cincinnati Blues Festival’s Arches stage, he has accompanied dozens of blues, jazz, and boogie pianists from all over the world.