PINETOP PERKINS
9 pm Saturday

Perhaps the best known blues pianist in history, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins plays a loose, rippling, boogie-woogie style that can be traced directly to rural Mississippi, where he was born in 1913. His first instrument was a diddley bow, followed by a guitar, then in turn by the instrument that would make him famous. Pinetop's career began in earnest when he joined Robert Nighthawk's band in the 1940s. This was followed by stints with blues greats Sonny Boy Williamson, BB King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and Willie Dixon, among others. Pinetop's visibility skyrocketed when he joined Muddy Waters in the late 1960s, and he's been widely considered THE ambassador of blues piano ever since. Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin, who will back Pinetop on Saturday night, summed it up in Blues Revue: "He's getting that recognition as a legend like Muddy used to. He's cool, he's cute, he can boogie-woogie, and he can break your heart both with his piano and his voice." Thirsty Ear is proud to present one of the great blues figures of the century.

DAN HICKS & THE HOT LICKS
9 pm Sunday

The late-1960s San Francisco music scene spawned a lot great weirdness (or is it weird greatness?), but none so off the wall as Dan Hicks, who started out as a drummer with seminal Frisco rock band The Charlatans but soon formed the colorful offshoot known as Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. Combining gypsy jazz, folk, country, and swing, as well as call-response vocals with female singers, the band released four classic records in the late '60s and early '70s. After a two-decade hiatus, Hicks and company came back with a vengeance, releasing the critically acclaimed "Beatin' The Heat". All the important elements were very much intact: quirky sense of humor, three-part harmonies, swinging tempo, off-center point of view. Hicks' live shows reflect that unique combination, and he has garnered somewhat of a cult following over the years. A set not to be missed.

JOAN BAEZ
7 pm Friday, Hiland Theater, Albuquerque

What can we say about Joan Baez, literally the voice of a generation, that hasn't already been said? Cutting her teeth in the beatnik coffeehouses of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late '50s, Baez's clear, lofty soprano immediately grabbed listeners as something special. By the politically charged mid-'60s Baez began to shift her focus from "authentic" ballads and songs of yore to contemporary songwriter-poets like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Pete Seeger. Baez's work during this novel period was born of a magical alignment of social struggle, deeply relevant material, and an angelic voice strong enough to carry the message to a whole new, historically unique generation. To this day, Joan Baez remains, quite literally, a cornerstone of American folk music.
JoanBaez.com

RICHARD SHINDELL
7:30 pm Friday, Hiland Theater, Albuquerque

A singer-songwriter who dwells in the area of big, often difficult moments in the lives or ordinary people, Shindell was hand-picked by Joan Baez to open her current tour. The songwriter is also a member of Baez's band, so festival goers will hear a great deal of his melodious playing and heartfelt singing when Shindell takes the stage Friday night at Albuquerque's Hiland Theater.
RichardShindell.com

RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOT
7 pm Saturday

They say he showed up at Woody Guthrie's house sometime in the 1950s...and stayed for two years. No one better personifies the link between Guthrie's generation and the folk boom of the 1960s than Ramblin' Jack Elliot, a master storyteller, and the subject of many stories himself. Like the time he played for James Dean in a Hollywood parking lot, or the time Jack Kerouac read him the entire then-unpublished manuscript for On The Road, or the time he serenaded a group of British kids on the railway. The encounter prompted one of those kids to buy his first guitar. His name was Mick Jagger. If you want to know whether these stories are true, you'll have to ask Ramblin' Jack, and he may just sing you the answer.

MASON BROWN & CHIPPER THOMPSON
12:30 pm Saturday

Bouzouki slide fiend Chipper Thompson is the only artist who has played the main stage of all four Thirsty Ear Festivals. Joined this year by multi-instrumentalist-vocalist Mason Brown, this is the most traditional configuration in which Thompson plays. Chock full of Appalachian murder ballads and mountain woe, the Taos-based duo recently released the superb "Am I Born To Die" on the Dorian label. Brown and Thompson will play many of those numbers, as well as newly culled gems from the dusty bin of Celtic-Appalachian history, when they officially open the 2002 Thirsty Ear Festival.
Folk-n-roll.com

ALEX MARYOL
8:30 pm Friday, Second Street Brewery, Santa Fe

It's an exciting time for Santa Fe-based blues rocker Alex Maryol. On the strength of his constant gigging and impressive guitar playing, Maryol's independently released debut CD, "They Call Me Lefty," sold better than many CDs put out by big blues labels. Maryol's second as-yet-unreleased record has caught the attention of the big boys (not least because Maryol has upped his reputation by playing Thirsty Ear, Telluride Blues & Brews, and, next month, the King Biscuit Blues Festival). We're proud to have one of the country's best up-and-coming players once again host our increasingly popular Friday night blues jam.
AlexMaryol.com

THE BACKSLIDERS
10:30 pm Saturday

Singer-mandolin player Sharon Gilchrist left an early mutation of the Dixie Chicks before fame hit, but we're kind of glad she did. Joining multi-instrumentalists Josh Martin and Ben Wright, The Backsliders have quickly earned a reputation as the hottest up-and-coming bluegrass-oriented act in New Mexico. See for yourself when the band hosts one of Saturday's late-night Saloon Stage jams.

JAMES "SUPER CHIKAN" JOHNSON
3:30 pm Sunday

One of Mississippi's most eccentric bluesmen, James "Super ChiKan" Johnson was hatched in the winter of 1951. His first "guitar" consisted of a one-string baling wire he stretched himself. At age 19 he began hitting the jukes, playing bass with his uncle, Big Jack Johnson, a Mississippi favorite and a man to whom the ChiKan bears a startling physical resemblance. Somewhere along the way, ChiKan also discovered he could perfectly imitate the screeches of barnyard fowl, and saw fit to incorporate such sounds both live and on his three discs of music: "Blues Come Home To Roost" (1999) and "What You See" (2000), and "Shoot That Thang" (2001).
Roosterblues.com

MARY GAUTHIER
2 pm Sunday

When Louisiana-raised singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier played the festival two years ago, few knew her name (fewer still knew how to pronounce it: Go-Shay). But Gauthier mesmerized us with one of the most memorable (and humorous) sets about hard life, loneliness and tragic characters, in the festival's history. You could hear a pin drop. We're happy to welcome Gauthier back for the second of what we hope will be many Thirsty Ear Festival performances.
MaryGauthier.com

GUY DAVIS
7 pm Sunday

A central figure in the acoustic blues revival of the 1990s (along with past festival artists Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Eric Bibb), Davis is one of a handful of younger-generation African-American blues artists keeping the acoustic tradition vital. His gravelly vocals, acute sense of melody, and penchant for earthy material make for a somewhat incorrigible kind of blues. A wonderful storyteller who grew up in a family of storytellers (his parents are actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee), his latest CD, "Give In Kind," features a mix of originals and classics by Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Bill Broonzy and Sleepy John Estes, among others.
GuyDavis.com

DONNA THE BUFFALO
5 pm Sunday

A truly original American roots band, Donna The Buffalo's music is a festive elixir of reggae, rock, cajun, country, folk and zydeco. Their intoxicating, danceable rhythms, as evidenced on their latest release, "Live From The American Ballroom," have made the New York-based outfit a favorite on the jam band and Americana circuits. Thirsty Ear welcomes Donna The Buffalo for its first-ever Santa Fe appearance.
DonnaTheBuffalo.com

ANN RABSON
5 pm Saturday

Ann Rabson has been playing and singing the blues professionally for four decades. Best known as a member of Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women, she also performs solo and with various other bands. Characterized by her barrelhouse piano tapping and solid guitar playing, perhaps it is Rabson's voice, a classic rowdy blues bellow, which is most distinctive. The year 2002 marks her sixth nomination for a W.C. Handy Award as Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year. Pinetop Perkins and Ann Rabson on the same night – a real treat for lovers of blues piano.
AnnRabson.com

ERIC BIBB
2 pm Saturday

Nurturing musical influences from Africa, Europe, and the Mississippi Delta, the roots of Eric Bibb's tasteful acoustic guitar playing can be traced to the blues-heavy musical hybrids pioneered by Richie Havens and Taj Mahal. Bibb's artistic breakthrough came in 1996 at the London Blues Festival. "I performed on the same stage as Corey Harris and Keb Mo, and somehow there was this synchronicity thing involved. It was really interesting that three African-American thumbpickers came together – there was this tribe of guys who were following in the footsteps that Taj Mahal had trailblazed. It was a sign for me, a new wave of acoustic blues played by African-Americans.
EricBibb.com

RAILROAD EARTH
3:30 pm Saturday

Made up of some of the best players from popular Pennsylvania and New Jersey bands, the members of Railroad Earth knew each other for years before coming together in January 2001. In a very short time, Railroad Earth has gone from rehearsing in an old barn to playing the main stage at Telluride Bluegrass (their tenth gig) and a number of other prestigious festivals. A year of steady touring has honed Railroad Earth's Americana-meets-jamband sound. The band recently released the critically acclaimed "Bird In A House" on the Sugar Hill label and continues to build its burgeoning fanbase at high-profile gigs like Thirsty Ear.
RailroadEarth.com

STEADY ROLLIN' BOB MARGOLIN
10:30 pm Saturday

Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin carries on the deep Chicago blues style he cut his teeth on in the 1970s as guitarist for the great Muddy Waters – touring, recording, and learning directly from the master. In 1980, Margolin started his own band, recording a spate of records for the Powerhouse, Alligator, and Blind Pig labels. He has also appeared as a guest on dozens of records and live dates. Thirsty Ear Festival goers get a double dose of Margolin this weekend when he backs up another Muddy Waters alumnus, the great blues pianist Pinetop Perkins, on Saturday night. Immediately after, Margolin's own band presides over the late-night blues jam in the Hotel Saloon.
BobMargolin.com

DEM BONES
12:30 pm Sunday

Dem Bones is, in their own words, a "bar-walking, guitar-flaming, table-stomping live band playing all original music that ranges from blues to surf, and country to Latin... More fun than a bed with magic fingers in a $19 motel room." We couldn't have said it better. One of Albuquerque's most popular live bands, Dem Bones' roots stew has been a mainstay of the city's club scene for years. We're happy the quartet has agreed to stoke up Thirsty Ear Festivarians on Sunday afternoon.
Dembones.ws

THE RATTLECATS
10:30 pm Sunday

Closing this year's festival is one of New Mexico's best-loved blues bands, The Rattlecats. Featuring long-time New Mexican Chris Dracup on vocals, guitar, and a mean slide, the band has gigged all over the state for years. The Rattlecats will close out this year's festival when they host the late-night blues jam in the Hotel Saloon on Sunday.

© 2001 - 2002 Thirsty Ear Magazine. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.