“The next big thing has already been around the
block,” a Canadian newspaper reporter wrote of
The Sean Carney Band’s impressive showing and subsequent
victory at The
2007 International
Blues Challenge,
held in February in Memphis, Tennessee, explaining that
Carney and his crew are no newcomers to Blues. The IBC
is presented by The Blues Foundation, who also awarded
34 year-old Carney
the Albert King Best Guitarist Award and “Best Dressed”
in their 23rd annual competition,
before an audience of 1,700 blues lovers.
Columbus, Ohio natives and veterans of the scene, like
Carney, drummer Eric Blume and bassist Steve Perakis
have been performing with Carney in Columbus venues for
a decade, backing pioneering blues and R&B artists like
Christine Kittrell, Jimmy “T-99” Nelson, Big Joe Duskin,
Joe Weaver and Johnnie Bassett. In his early twenties,
Carney’s passion for the Blues extended beyond the stage
as he bolstered the scene in his hometown, organizing
concerts featuring the likes of Jimmy Witherspoon, Hank
Marr, Earl Gaines, Luther Allison and Charles Brown,
writing blues-related articles, co-hosting a radio
program, organizing fundraisers for ailing artists and
serving three terms as President of The Columbus Blues
Alliance. Carney released his first CD, “Provisions,”
in 1998 and celebrated another milestone in a 2001 with
a performance at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival backing Cincinnati Blues piano master Big Joe
Duskin.
It
was through Christine Kittrell that Carney met Teeny
Tucker and eventually became her musical director and
songwriting partner in what led to the recording of “First
Class Woman”
with producer “Kaz” Kazanoff. Carney performed at The
Ratskeller Jazz Festival in Berlin, Germany with Tucker
and Blume soon joined her band, backing the two-time IBC
finalist at venues such at The Monterey Bay Blues
Festival, The Fleet Blues Festival and Buddy Guy’s
Legends in Chicago.
Blume
attended The Fort Hayes High School for the Performing
Arts, along with Carney, and gigged with singer Willie
Pooch as well as recording and performing frequently
with Central Ohio legend Ray Fuller. Perakis, an OSU
Music Department graduate performs often in Columbus as
a sideman, arranger and composer, as well as leading and
recording with his own band, Honk, Wail & Moan.
Carney and Blume formed Nite Owlz Records in 2006, for
the release of their self-produced CD, “Life
of Ease,”
and embarked on a summer tour of Western Canada
organized by guitarist/producer Steve Gerard. Gerard,
who joined the touring band on guitar, paired the
visiting players with top-notch Canadian musicians,
Graham Guest on piano/organ and Chris Brzezicki on
upright bass, for an itinerary that included The Yale in
Vancouver, The Red Onion in Calgary and Blues on Whyte
in Edmonton. Following Canada, The Sean Carney Band
toured the Midwest with Phil Berkowitz, West Coast harp
boss and Louis Jordan specialist, performing at
Chicago’s House of Blues and The Slippery Noodle Inn in
Indianapolis, among other venues.
Touring behind the
band's new release, "Life
of Ease,"
Carney and his group recently completed a very
successful, thirteen date tour Europe, including The
Eslov Bues Festival in Sweden and Ls Scala Blues
Festival in Wetizikon, Switzerland, following a US tour
that included The Portland Waterfront Blues Festival,
The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, The Arkansas Blues
& Heritage Festival, Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero in the
heart of The Mississippi Delta and Blind Willie's in
Atlanta. In the winter, the band will appear live on XM
Radio's Bluesville with Bill Wax and set sail with Taj
Mahal on The Ultimate Rhythm & Blues Cruise in January.
"Life of
Ease," has
been critically acclaimed by the likes of Blues Revue,
DownBeat, Soul Bag and Blues Wax. Sean Carney has
arrived as one of the most talented and serious young
blues artists you will find touring the US, Canada and
Europe. Advance festival bookings in all three
countries are a testament to The Sean Carney Band's
ability to entertain and enthrall.
Carney has performed at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival, Buddy Guy's Legends and The House of Blues in
Chicago, The Monterey Bay Blues Festival and Biscuits &
Blues in California, The Ratskeller Jazz Festival in
Berlin, Germany and The Paris Jazz Festival in France
and in Canada at The Red Onion in Calgary, Blues on
Whyte in Edmonton and The Yale Hotel in Vancouver.
Late 2007 saw the reissue of Carney's debut CD, "Provisions:
A Second Helping,"
and a live recording from Blues on Whyte in Edmonton is
set for release in early 2008. Carney and his band look
forward to exclusive summer 2008 bookings at The Eutin
Blues Festival in Germany and Edmonton's LaBatt Blues
Festival in Alberta.
DISCOGRAPHY:
"Provisions" Sean
Carney & The Nite Owlz
"First Class Woman" Teeny Tucker, with Kaz Kazanoff &
Nick Curran
"Tommy's Girl" Teeny Tucker
"A Fifth of Good Whiskey Blues" V/A Christine Kittrell
w/Sean Carney
"King Saxe Plays The Blues" Gene Walker
"Twist of Fate" Ray Fuller
"Don't Borax The Borax Man" Dick Deluxe
"The Best of Columbus Blues Vol. 1" V/A
"The Best of Columbus Blues Vol. 2" V/A
"Blue Bop" LDB-3
"Life of Ease" The Sean Carney Band
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