So many amazing performers have graced the Bluebird Blues Festival stage over the years. Here are just a few.
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The Jewels
Headlined 12th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, and 23rd Festivals, Performed Most Other Years
Formerly known as The Impalas and The Four Jewels, The Jewels was an all-female group from Washington, D.C. The group released two singles that hit the Billboard charts, "Opportunity" and "But I Do," with Dimensions Records. When the label folded, The Jewels toured with James Brown as his background vocals for three years. The group broke up for several years and reunited in 1985 with a classic album of hit singles, Loaded with Goodies. The Jewels released their last official album, Doo Wop Classics in 2010 and an Extended Play Collection album in 2013. Original member Margie Clarke passed away in 2019.
Daryl Davis
Multi-Year Performer
Chicago native Daryl Davis is an American R&B and blues musician, activist, author, actor, and bandleader. He graduated from Howard University, with a degree in Jazz. Known for his energetic style of boogie-woogie piano, Davis has played with legendary musicians such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King, and Bruce Hornsby. He was awarded Traditional Blues/R&B Instrumentalist" at the 2009 Washington Area Music Awards. In 2016, Davis was recognized for his work in race relations, including engaging Ku Klux Klan members and was the subject of the nationally publicized documentary Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race and America.
Memphis Gold
Multi-Year Performer
Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955, Memphis Gold, also known as Chester Chandler was the thirteenth of fourteen children. Gold’s musician father introduced him to the guitar at the tender age of four and by eight he was a regular on historic Beale Street in Memphis. After decades of juke joints, blues festivals, and Navy military duty, Gold has become a staple of the D.C. music scene performing with the likes of famed blues harp player, Charlie Sayles and bluesman Bobby Parker.
The Holmes Brothers
Multi-Year Performer
The Holmes Brothers, known for their soul, blues, and gospel music, have performed twice at the Bluebird Blues Festival in their 35-year career. Since their last performance, drummer Willie “Popsy” Dixon died on January 9, 2015 of cancer and Wendell Holmes, vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter, died on June 19, 2015 after announcing his retirement the previous April. The eldest brother, Sherman Holmes, vocalist, bassist, pianist, and songwriter, continued to celebrate and explore The Holmes Brothers legacy by forming a new band, The Sherman Holmes Project with Brooks Long. Long, a Baltimore blues and soul musician, was mentored by Wendell Holmes prior to his passing through the Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Award program of the Maryland State Arts Council’s folk life program which honors master traditional artists and enables them to pass their skills on to the next generation.
The Hardway Connection
Multi-Year Performer
Hardway Connection is a nine-member group that features a trio of outstanding singers hailing from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The group combines synthesized sounds with soul and blues from the 1960s through the present day. The group has practiced blues music for more than fifteen years and released three albums. While their lyrics may be considered risqué, the spirit and musical philosophy of the group is engaging, fun, and powerful.
Phil Wiggins
Multi-Year Performer
D.C. native Phil Wiggins is a versatile old-style harmonica player whose playing style is the Piedmont blues tradition, a moderate and melodic blues style of the mid-Atlantic region. Phil has been repeatedly ranked among the world’s top harmonica players in both Reader and Critics polls by Living Blues magazine. He is an active musician, teacher, music director and has educated thousands of harmonica players through workshops such as at the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia and the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Workshop in Washington State. Plus, he continues to play an active role in the National Council for Traditional Arts. He has recorded numerous award-winning and critically acclaimed albums and has even performed at the White House with B.B. King. In 1989.
