Harpdog Brown is a singer and harmonica player who has been active in Canada’s blues scene since 1982.
On Friday night, he will be active at Studio Live in Cumberland.
Born in Edmonton, Alta. and now calling Vancouver home, Brown has made a carer of playing club dates and festivals in Canada, the northwestern United States and Germany. Over the years he has issued seven CDs.
In 1995 his Home Is Where the Harp Is won the Muddy Award for the Best NW Blues Release from the Cascade Blues Association in Portland, Oregon. As well that year it was nominated for a Canadian Juno for the Best Blues/Gospel Recording. His CD Naturally was voted Canadian Blues Album of 2010 by The Blind Lemon Survey.
Brown tours extensively with his guitarist, Jordan Edmonds, performing their electric mid-1950s Chicago blues either as a duo, or with the full band. While he is home, he juggles a few combos working many venues big and small. He also leads The Harpdog Brown Band which is a gutsy traditional Chicago blues band. In 2014 they released What it Is, comprising mainly original songs and a few classic covers.
Influential blues promoter and broadcaster Holger Petersen called What It Is Brown’s best album. What It Is ranked in at No. 32 in the top 100 blues albums in the world in 2014.
He was just awarded The Maple Blues Award in Toronto, for best harmonica player in Canada, and was honoured with a lifetime membership to the Hamilton Blues Society.
Brown instructed at The Blues Camp on Hornby Island the first week of May, and is doing a Vancouver Island tour this week, with Edmonds.
Edmonds is on the latest album and really is amazing at the understated blues guitar that is, “what it is!”
Edmonds had never left his Island home until he hired on with The Dog August 2013, when he played his first festival with the man. Since that time he has toured over 30,000 km throughout Canada working exclusively with Harpdog - as an electric blues duo, or hiring rhythm sections when needed. This is a walk down memory lane for the blues enthusiast and an entertaining introduction to the blues for the newcomers.
The Harpdog Brown Duo with guitarist Jordan Edmonds hits the stage at Studio Live on Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 at the door or $20 in advance available at Blue Heron Books, Comox, Bop City Records, Courtenay and Rider’s Pizza, Cumberland.
Studio Live is located at 2679 Beaufort Ave. at First Ave., Cumberland.