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The Honeydripper All-Star Band is made
up of musicians who performed in the John
Sayles film "Honeydripper." Check
out the following videos from the band's
appearance at the NYC River to River Festival.
The band will be
touring select blues festivals this summer.
The members of the band are:
Henderson Huggins (piano double for
TYRONE PURVIS, played by Danny Glover) is a
native of Holt, Alabama. He began piano
lessons at a very young age at the Alabama
Institute for the Deaf and Blind, moving on
to become a noted stylist in multiple
genres. He crossed the country with several
different bands in the 60’s and 70’s, doing
session work in recording studios and
backing artists such as Sam and Dave and
Johnnie Taylor. Off the road in recent
years, he has become a popular blues
arranger and professional piano tuner, as
well as playing organ and serving as
Minister of Music at the Macedonia
Missionary Baptist Church in his present
home town of Tuscaloosa.
Arthur Lee Williams
(METALMOUTH SIMMS)
is a native of Tunica, Mississippi. As a
boy he moved to Chicago with his family, and
there, inspired by such neighborhood greats
as Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little
Walter, taught himself to play harmonica.
He began gigging in the mid ‘50s, sitting in
with luminaries such as Muddy Waters, Elmore
James and Eddie Taylor. He returned to
Mississippi and his country roots after high
school, breaking in on Memphis radio with
Barber Parker and the Silver Kings and
played countless dates in juke joints and
roadhouses similar to the one depicted in
HONEYDRIPPER, eventually partnering with
Frank Frost and Sam Carr on several blues
records. Relocating to St. Louis in the
early ‘70s, he formed the Bluesmasters and
became a vital part of the Midwestern music
scene.
http://www.stlblues.net/WilliamsBio.htm
Dr. Mable John (BERTHA MAE SPIVEY) was
born in Louisiana and raised in Detroit.
Following her younger brother, Little Willie
John, she recorded as a solo artist for the
Tamla and Stax labels, scoring her first
major hit in 1966 with the soul classic YOUR
GOOD THING IS ABOUT TO END, which she
cowrote. She served for several
years as director of Ray Charles’ backup
group, the Raelettes, often performing with
them, and created her own music publishing
and talent agency. Now a Doctor of
Divinity, Mable is pastor of the Joy in
Jesus Ministries and supervises outreach
programs that provide aid and counseling for
people in the Los Angeles area, as well as
writing and recording religious music. In
1994 the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
presented her with its Pioneer Award.
www.mablejohn.com
Gary Clark Jr. (SONNY BLAKE), recently
named Best Blues Artist at the Austin Music
Awards, is one of the most exciting young
guitarists in the country. Self-taught, he
hit the Texas music scene in 1998 at the age
of fourteen, and since has opened for
talents such as Gatemouth Brown, Jimmie
Vaughan, Bobby Bland and Joe Ely, while
steadily building a substantial club
following of his own. A singer/songwriter
who also plays bass, harmonica and drums,
Gary is working on his fourth and most
ambitious CD and has begun to write
soundtrack music for films. HONEYDRIPPER is
his first appearance in a movie.
http://www.garyclarkjr.com/
www.myspace.com/garyclarkjr
Eddie Shaw (TIME TRENIER) has played his
tenor sax with many of the legends of the
blues, including Hound Dog Taylor, Freddie
King, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters and a long run
with Howlin Wolf. He continued with many of
the members of that band to form the Wolf
Gang. His son Eddie ‘Vaan’ Shaw is a
guitarist, while his son Stan Shaw has
become a highly-regarded film actor. While
Eddie’s appearance in HONEYDRIPPER is his
first film work, he has long been known for
his dramatic, powerful playing style.
http://www.midcoast.com/~bluesman/eddie_shaw.html
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