Local favorite sings the blues in Marty's Oct. 1
Date 9/30/2004 12:00 AM | Topic: Arts & CultureLegendary local bluesman Joe Price will perform live in Marty's on Friday, Oct.. 1.
For anyone who isn't already in the know, Price is something of a superstar on the local music scene. He's been playing all over Iowa for more than 30 years - but if that seems old, people will find his style to be even older.
Price's slide guitar and "juke joint" sound has not been influenced by modern blues.
His latest album, "Designated Driver," has been described as "a decades-old field recording snatch from the Smithsonian vaults."
His voice is gruff, as you might expect from someone who's spent a lot of nights singing in smoky barrooms.
He draws his inspiration from older legends; but has a unique style all his own and makes something new out of old-time sounds.
He hasn't just learned from the legends, however, - he's played with a lot of them too. Sharing the stage with the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Koko Taylor and Sonny Terry, he's earned his place right up alongside them all.
In 2003, he was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame, and is said to be "one of the true pioneers of the Iowa blues scene."
Price was given his first guitar at the age of nine. He first started to play slide guitar after watching Earl Hooker perform in a local music store, and he ran home and cut the handlebar off his neighbor's bicycle with a hacksaw to make his first slide.
After graduating high school, he moved to Iowa City from his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. In Iowa City, he was able to learn from, and open for, a lot of "the greats" who came through the city on their Midwest tours.
He currently lives in Lansing, Iowa, and performs full-time, mostly throughout Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
He usually performs solo, but is oftentimes seen accompanied onstage by his wife, Vicki Price, who also sings and plays guitar, and his son Keni Ewing, who plays drums.
This performance will not be Price's first time in Marty's.
He usually comes around once a year and is always well received.
His appearance this Friday is scheduled to run from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Anyone who's not into the blues may experience a change of heart by the end of Price's performance.
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Patrick Noonan
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