Category Archives: Blues Music

Earl Willliams

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Earl Williams plays tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, harmonica, banjo, and vocals.

Composer, arranger, and master showman, when Earl performs he sings and tells jokes. He readily admits he survived the music business all these years because of his decision to become an entertainer, not just a musician. “Entertainment is the way to make good business out of music.”

Williams makes it his business to surround himself with musicians who can “do it all”: jazz, rhythm & blues, dance tunes – whatever it takes to captivate a crowd. His four piece band consists of keyboard & vocals, bass, and drums – featuring Earl on saxophone.

Earl has played with many internationally famous people including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, and Chubby Checker. He was band leader for Jerry Farber, a great comedian from Atlanta. Earl toured with The Commodores from 1976 – 1980. He started playing at the Crow’s Nest at the old Hilton Head Inn in 1987. He also played at the Mockingbird Lounge, at the Marriott, and the Blue Nite Café. In the early 90’s Earl spent most of the time out to sea performing three shows a week aboard a luxury cruise ship as a featured entertainment. Today Earl performs regularly in Hilton Head, South Carolina, at Ruby Lees, The Jazz Corner, and at festivals, private events, and weddings.

Let us know when you would like to schedule Earl for your event. Complete the form below, and we will contact you to discuss details.

Rickey Godfrey

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Godfrey, who has been blind since birth, began studying classical piano and voice at an early age. He had his first guitar by the time he was 13. Performing throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe, he has worked with artists such as Rufus Thomas, Sam Moore, Billy Preston and Junior Walker. He has been nominated by the Music City Blues Society for both Guitarist and Keyboard Player of the Year.  Rickey played the Montreal Jazz Festival with the Chocolate Thunder band. The versatile vocalist and musician is well known throughout the Nashville clubs as well as in the Carolinas.

Get You Some Nasty!

The blues recording from Nashville artist Rickey Godfrey is nasty, so get down with it and have some fun! Nasty Man (Oct. 9, 2010/Serenity Hill) is a powerhouse of a record – solidly blues-driven with jazz and funk influences that give it an edge and a sound unique to the uber-talented musician.

The 12-track recording showcases Godfrey’s skills on both Telecaster and keys. According to Godfrey, who also produced the album, he intentionally kept the instrumentation sparse.

“I didn’t want an over-produced, over-polished result,” he said. “This is a blues album, and I wanted a raw sound. I love the spontaneous stuff that happened in the studio, like Don Wise’s sax riff on “Let’s Get Busy.”

It’s obvious that the lyrics were just as important to this singer/songwriter. Godfrey wrote or co-wrote ten of the album tracks. “I Want Me a Nasty Woman,” the opening tune, is an unabashed appeal to women everywhere to embrace their inner nasty selves. With its cleverly written lyrics, guitar work and vocals that come from the gut, “Nasty Woman” sets the tone for Nasty Man. Co-written with Richard Fleming, it’s already proving to be one of the album’s most popular during live performances.

Other notable tunes include “Don’t Argue In the Kitchen,” a humorous tale that proves jealousy and kitchen utensils are a recipe for disaster and “Don’t Get Your Money Where You Get Your Honey,” sharply crafted advice sure to be ignored, despite the drone keyboard warning us to beware – and behave. Slowing down the pace and the mood is “Johnny Jones,” Godfrey’s tribute to his friend and Jimi Hendrix’ mentor who died in 2009.

The only songs not written or co-written by Godfrey are “Allergic To Mink” by Gary Erwin, aka Shrimp City Slim, and “When You’re Cool (the Sun Shines All the Time),” penned by Gary Nicholson, Hank DeVito and Kevin Welch.

 

Cool John Ferguson

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Taj Majal stated that “Cool John Ferguson is among the five greatest guitarists in the world and is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.  Cool John is among the ranks of Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhart.”

Cool John’s fans will tell you emphatically that he is one of the best of the best guitarists in the world. Cool John is a recording artist and  released a CD entitled:  “With These Hands.”

Cool John was born in Beaufort, SC in 1953.  He learned to play the guitar by the age of 3.  By age 5, Cool John played gospel music professionally and astounded musicians 10 times his age.  At that time his family realized that the world had been gifted with a musical genius.  Cool John was the featured entertainer for Lowcountry Sing on Channel 5, Charleston SC, for three (3) years, appearing with three of his sisters, the Ferguson Sisters, an outstanding gospel trio. Over the years, he has formed bands playing psychedelic music, rhythm and blues, pop and jazz.

Early in life Cool John made a decision to follow his dream of becoming a renowned guitarist, pianist organist, drummer and singer.  Accomplished musicians, music industry leaders and his fans all agree that Cool John’s dream is now reality. Cool John’s fingers just seem to glide effortlessly across the guitar strings as his audience watch in amazement.

Cool John spends his life conveying messages through his music and traveling wherever he is led by the music.  He has performed at numerous concerts and major blues festivals throughout the world to include: The Savannah Blues Festival, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, the Lucerne Blues Festival and the Blues-To-Bop Festival in Switzerland, the Byron Bay Blues Festival in Australia and Wasago Beach Festival, Toronto, Canada. Cool John is so versatile.

You never know what he’s going to play next. He seamlessly combines styles of gospel, funk, country, jazz, and rhythm and blues to name a few.  He has been active on tent revival circuits, played with LaFace Records of Atlanta, GA, and collaborated with several well known artists throughout the world including: Taj Mahal, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, BB King, Beverly Guitar Watkins, Barbara Carr, Al Green and the Stylistics.  He has provided sound tracks and scores for countless events and movies.