Winter Blues Guitarmageddon returns to Scranton Cultural Center with Joe Louis Walker on March 27
From a press release:
After a year away, the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple will host its sixth annual Winter Blues Guitarmageddon – a one-night blues festival featuring an eclectic mix of local, regional, national, and international touring artists – in the Grand Ballroom on Sunday, March 27.
Grammy-nominated, six-time Blues Music Award winner and Blues Hall of Fame inductee Joe Louis Walker is confirmed to headline.
“We are beyond excited to be back this year as a one-night mini-fest, with plans of expanding to a weekend event in 2023,” organizer Maria Santomauro said.
“The last two years were challenging, but we are grateful to be back presenting live music to the greater Northeastern Pennsylvania regions again!”
Boasting a career that spans over 50 years, headliner Joe Louis Walker is regarded by NPR as a “legendary boundary pushing icon of modern blues” and is a true guitar powerhouse with distinctive vocals. He has toured the world’s most renowned music festivals, sharing the stage with Muddy Waters, Thelonious Monk, Ronnie Woods, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Charlie Musselwhite, and John Mayall, to name a few.
In addition to his own 25 albums, Walker has played on Grammy-winning records by B.B. King and James Cotton and collaborated with a diverse group of first-rate artists, including Branford Marsalis, Tower of Power, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. His latest album, “Eclectic Electric,” features a diverse mix of blues-stomping and horn-powered originals, as well as a few out-of-the-ordinary covers like Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and The Eagles’ “Hotel California.”
Adding to the lineup is King Solomon Hicks, who returns by popular demand after his Scranton debut at Winter Blues Guitarmageddon: Next Generation in 2020. At that time, he was just releasing his latest work, “Harlem,” which was awarded Best Emerging Artist Album at the Blues Music Awards. The record was produced by three-time Grammy winner Kirk Yano, who has worked with Miles Davis, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey, and more.
Rounding out the lineup is Wilkes-Barre blues rock powerhouse trio Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen and the soulful, Philadelphia-based Deb Callahan Duo featuring Allen James.
Winter Blues Guitarmageddon is sponsored by UGI Utilities, Inc. and LT Verrastro. It is supported by Lackawanna County and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the show begins at 6 p.m. There will be a cash bar and light fare for purchase.
Masks are required for all patrons, regardless of vaccination status. They can be removed for eating or drinking in the designated area, which will be located on the lower level.
Seating is reserved, and tickets range from $40-50 in advance or $45-55 the day of the show. They can be purchased at the Fidelity Bank Box Office at the SCC (420 N. Washington Ave., Scranton), online at ticketmaster.com, or by calling 570-344-1111. For additional information and a full schedule of events, visit scrantonculturalcenter.org.
The Scranton Cultural Center’s 2021-2022 season is sponsored by Fidelity Bank and LT Verrastro and supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department, and Commissioners Jerry Notarianni, Debi Dominick, and Chris Chermak.
