Blues Caravan 2018
10-11-2018
** PLEASE NOTE: Vanja Sky was not able to get a work visa for this tour so we swapped her out with the blazing up-and-coming Texan, Ally Venable.
This is no ordinary club tour. This is the Blues Caravan 2018. If you've followed Ruf's rolling revue since it started life in 2005, you'll already know that these shows are must-see events, throwing together three stellar artists on one bill - then letting the chemistry do the rest!
Traditionally, The Blues Caravan lineup has showcased the label's breaking talent - from Aynsley Lister to Samantha Fish - and given fans a chance to catch the bluestitans of tomorrow before they go "boom". But in 2018, it's time to mix things up. On this year's Blues Caravan, you'll not only find one young gun with a dazzling career ahead of her, but also two heavyweights with a sky-high reputation. Let's welcome them to the stage...
Ruf's tireless dedication to the blues means it hunts far beyond the US and UK for its new signing - and the label has struck gold Lone Star State Powerhouse Ally Venable. Ally Venable, started singing at an early age in church and then in recent years picked up the guitar and found her passion establishing herself as a Texas Blues Guitar Slinger. Good Times Magazine calls her ""The hottest new guitarist in blues music." And Guitar Player Magazine says "Venable pulls off a stunner of gritty and/or sultry blues-rock tunes embellished with lots of tasty guitar solos."
Some surnames command instant respect on the blues scene. As the son of the mighty Luther Allison - the late Chicago blues titan who was Ruf's first signing back in 1994 - Bernard Allison has added to the family legend and carved out his own mythology as a world-class songwriter and performer. For this year's Blues Caravan, he'll be drawing on an acclaimed back catalogue that includes 1997's US debut "Keepin' The Blues Alive" and 2000's classic "Born With The Blues,” and slipping between genres as only a master can.
If you're remotely serious about modern blues, you'll have followed the twists and turns of Mike Zito's fascinating career. The Missouri-born band leader overcame has crippling early addictions to become one of modern America's sharpest songwriters, and few artists have written with such stark eloquence as he did on 2011's "Greyhound" album. In 2012, Mike threw us a curveball, lining up alongside Devon Allman and Cyril Neville as a key member of Royal Southern Brotherhood - and went on to stay with the supergroup for two critically feted albums. But the call of his own muse was too strong, and in 2014, Mike burst out with two amazing blues albums, "Keep Coming Back" and "Make Blues Not War."
** PLEASE NOTE: Vanja Sky was not able to get a work visa for this tour so we swapped her out with the blazing up-and-coming Texan, Ally Venable.
This is no ordinary club tour. This is the Blues Caravan 2018. If you've followed Ruf's rolling revue since it started life in 2005, you'll already know that these shows are must-see events, throwing together three stellar artists on one bill - then letting the chemistry do the rest!
Traditionally, The Blues Caravan lineup has showcased the label's breaking talent - from Aynsley Lister to Samantha Fish - and given fans a chance to catch the bluestitans of tomorrow before they go "boom". But in 2018, it's time to mix things up. On this year's Blues Caravan, you'll not only find one young gun with a dazzling career ahead of her, but also two heavyweights with a sky-high reputation. Let's welcome them to the stage...
Ruf's tireless dedication to the blues means it hunts far beyond the US and UK for its new signing - and the label has struck gold Lone Star State Powerhouse Ally Venable. Ally Venable, started singing at an early age in church and then in recent years picked up the guitar and found her passion establishing herself as a Texas Blues Guitar Slinger. Good Times Magazine calls her ""The hottest new guitarist in blues music." And Guitar Player Magazine says "Venable pulls off a stunner of gritty and/or sultry blues-rock tunes embellished with lots of tasty guitar solos."
Some surnames command instant respect on the blues scene. As the son of the mighty Luther Allison - the late Chicago blues titan who was Ruf's first signing back in 1994 - Bernard Allison has added to the family legend and carved out his own mythology as a world-class songwriter and performer. For this year's Blues Caravan, he'll be drawing on an acclaimed back catalogue that includes 1997's US debut "Keepin' The Blues Alive" and 2000's classic "Born With The Blues,” and slipping between genres as only a master can.
If you're remotely serious about modern blues, you'll have followed the twists and turns of Mike Zito's fascinating career. The Missouri-born band leader overcame has crippling early addictions to become one of modern America's sharpest songwriters, and few artists have written with such stark eloquence as he did on 2011's "Greyhound" album. In 2012, Mike threw us a curveball, lining up alongside Devon Allman and Cyril Neville as a key member of Royal Southern Brotherhood - and went on to stay with the supergroup for two critically feted albums. But the call of his own muse was too strong, and in 2014, Mike burst out with two amazing blues albums, "Keep Coming Back" and "Make Blues Not War."