IN CONCERT
What: A Tribute to the Blues Songs of Christmas
Where: Hermann’s Jazz Club, 753 View St.
When: Friday, Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6)
Tickets: $25 at the door
The blues veterans in Uncle Wiggly’s Hot Shoes Blues Band have come up with a unique way to grab audiences’ attention during the packed holiday season: a night of Christmas-themed blues songs from the 1920s onward.
“You can go through the city and see 10 other Christmas shows and they will all be doing variations of the same Christmas songs,” said Hank Lionhart, founder and frontman of Uncle Wiggly’s Hot Shoes Blues Band.
“Our show is all Christmas blues tunes from the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. There are some really unique tunes. It’s amazing how if you Google ‘blues Christmas’ how many fabulous tunes there are that people don’t even know about.”
A list of who’s-who blues masters will be on the program for A Tribute to the Blues Songs of Christmas, the eighth annual seasonal offering from Lionhart. He started the tribute while he was still living in Edmonton, and kept up the tradition when he moved back to Victoria and made Uncle Wiggly’s Hot Shoes Blues Band full-time again in 2014.
The program changes from year to year, but a few staples remain — tops being the music of blues legend Charles Brown, whose Please Come Home for Christmas album from 1961 remains one of the best Christmas offerings.
Brown is merely the tip of the iceberg, however.
“We try to change it up every year and add about four new tunes, to keep it fresh,” Lionhart said of the band’s two-set, 24-song concert set for Hermann’s Jazz Club on Friday. “It’s so much fun to do, and because we only do it one month a year, I really look forward to it. I’m always sad when it’s over.”
The seven-piece band will play original Christmas material alongside yuletide songs made famous by Etta James, Louis Jordan, Asleep at the Wheel, Big Joe Turner and Eric Clapton. A centrepiece of the set comes from a troika Lionhart refers to as “the Three Kings” — B.B. King, Freddie King and Albert King. “The single biggest thing we hear when we do the show is: ‘Wow, what a refreshing Christmas show.’ It’s great to come and see a Christmas show and not hear Silent Night.”
The band, which also features Mark (Westcoast) Comerford on guitar, Jack Lavin on bass, Andy Graffiti on drums, Steve Ranta on keyboards, Wayne Kozak on saxophone and Bryn Badel on trumpet, concludes its successful 14-date tribute tour through Alberta and B.C. in Victoria, and Lionhart is expecting a similarly enthusiastic response.
“We’ve had standing ovations at every show. People are blown away because it’s so unique. We always say to people coming in: ‘If you’re not a blues fan coming in, we hope you’re a blues fan going out.’ It’s very enlightening.”
Uncle Wiggly’s Hot Shoes Blues Band celebrated its 40th year as a group in 2018. Lionhart said that by constantly keeping the concerts fresh, and doing unique shows such as A Tribute to the Blues Songs of Christmas, the group has succeeded where many of its musical kin from the 1970s and ’80s have not.
The group released its first single in 1980, and with a growing reputation, saw its independently released debut album hit stories in 1981. Uncle Wiggly’s Hot Shoes Blues Band eventually scored a distribution deal with RCA Records, thanks in part to help from producer Tom Lavin of Vancouver blues stalwarts Powder Blues (Lavin’s brother, Jack, who recently moved to Victoria from Vancouver, has joined Lionhart and Co. on bass).
Though musical tastes have changed, and the blues is no longer the dominant force it once was on the sales charts, Lionhart is still amazed at how much mileage they have got out of that self-titled effort from 37 years ago. “Everywhere we play, somebody will bring a vinyl copy of the album to get signed. It’s amazing how many people have the record.”
Lionhart is still the engaging frontman he was when the band was playing club dates in the 1980s with Muddy Waters and Joe Cocker, but the wear and tear of the road has caused some problems of late. He’s on a waiting list for knee-replacement surgery, so he sits during most performances. But he’s keeping the spirit of the blues alive, seated or standing.
“It’s a labour of love. I turned 72 this year, but I’ll be doing it for as long as I can.”
