Chicago Blues Veteran to Open for George Thorogood
Imagine being a 20-year-old blues saxophonist in 1950s Mississippi.Now imagine Muddy Waters coming up to you and asking you to move to Chicago to join his band. Lucky for us, Eddie Shaw took Waters up on his offer. Fifty years later, he is a well respected blues musician in his own right. And that’s not an easy task in Chicago’s predominately guitar-and-harmonica driven blues scene.
Eddie honed his craft as a principal member of Howlin’ Wolf’s band. He served as the band’s leader after Wolf’s death in 1976. His own career really took off in the late 70s when he and some of the members of Wolf’s band re-formed under the name, Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang. Today, the band includes Eddie on sax, his son Eddie Jr. (aka Vaan) on guitar, Lafayette “Shorty” Gilbert on bass and vocals, and Tim Taylor (son of the late Eddie Taylor) on drums. Eddie has also played or worked with the likes of Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Otis Rush and Magic Sam. He has won several awards including the 1996 Howling Wolf Award (Chicago Blues Festival) and, most recently, the 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Award for “Instrumentalist–Horn.”
If you want to listen to some fabulous Chicago blues without having to drive to Chicago, check out Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang when they share the Meijer Gardens stage with George Thorogood.
For ticketing info visit the George Thorogood & The Destroyers event page.