David Whiteis
Chicago Reader
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Past articles by David:
Melvia “Chick” Rodgers-Williams brings her big voice to the 15th annual Chi-town Blues Festival
Melvia "Chick" Rodgers-Williams brings her blues music to Hammond on Saturday 9/18 as part of the Chi-town Blues Festival. → Read More
Source One Band honor their late guitarist Sir Walter Scott with a bustling soul-blues party
For years, until the pandemic shut everything down, the weekly shows hosted at the Odyssey East by bassist Joe Pratt and his Source One Band... → Read More
The Reader’s guide to the 2019 Chicago Blues Festival
The fest diversifies its lineup for its third year in Millennium Park, with suave and sexy R&B star Latimore, deep-soul legend Don Bryant, genre-defying singer Bettye LaVette, and many more. → Read More
Thinking outside the park (and beyond the weekend)
The Blues Festival spurs dozens of special events around town, including shows by Jamiah Rogers, Lurrie Bell, and Lynne Jordan—plus three historic photo exhibits. → Read More
O.B. Buchana sings about sin with the voice of a saint
This soul-blues superstar brings a distinctive grit to his tales of all-night escapades. → Read More
Karen Wolfe sings tough but supple southern soul-blues
This Memphis vocalist has adopted the persona of a vintage blueswoman—feisty, independent, and ready to call out no-good men. → Read More
Billy Boy Arnold helped the blues give birth to rock ’n’ roll
He might be best known as Bo Diddley’s 1950s harmonica player, but he’s 25 years into a comeback of his own. → Read More
Soul balladeer Lee Fields strikes the perfect balance on It Rains Love
The recording career of Lee Fields extends at least as far back as 1969, but he was considered little more than a footnote in R&B... → Read More
R&B singer Syleena Johnson channels her rootsier side at Chi-Town Blues Fest
Syleena Johnson became a force in mainstream R&B in the early 2000s, landing several chart hits and working alongside such figures as Busta Rhymes, Kanye... → Read More
Shemekia Copeland takes on a wealth of social issues on the hard-driving America’s Child
When 19-year-old Shemekia Copeland exploded onto the blues scene in 1998 with Turn the Heat Up (Alligator), the reaction was immediate: adjectives like "sizzling," "storming,"... → Read More
Sir Charles Jones revitalizes the classic soul ballad for today’s world
Vocalist Sir Charles Jones is one of the leading lights in contemporary southern soul-blues. He comports himself well in the dance-floor workouts and celebrations of down-home cultural identity that are typical of the genre (2008’s “I Came to Party” and 2012’s “Good Old Country Boy” are good examples), but his true metier is the pleading, lovelorn ballad. → Read More
Boogie-woogie torchbearer Erwin Helfer upholds the dignity, joy, and humor of an antique style
The 82-year-old pianist may be Chicago’s last living link to a tradition that arose more than a century ago. → Read More
Southern soul-blues queen Ms. Jody always respects herself in the morning
She can get pretty raunchy, but never at the expense of her self-worth or good sense. → Read More
Eddy Clearwater remains one of Chicago’s most energetic and celebratory bluesmen
Eddy Clearwater, also known as “the Chief,” was a pioneer in the fusion of blues and rock ’n’ roll. Born Edward Harrington in Macon, Mississippi, in 1935, he moved to Chicago in 1950. → Read More
Nellie “Tiger” Travis and Pokey Bear head to Chi-Town Blues Festival
Chicagoan Nellie “Tiger” Travis’s 2013 song “Mr. Sexy Man” has become a modern-day soul-blues classic with its earworm guitar pattern, propulsive beat, and vernacular chorus... → Read More
At 77 years old, soul-blues veteran Latimore is still his sultry self
On Benny Latimore’s latest album, A Taste of Me: Great American Songs (Essential Media), the soul-blues veteran wraps his smoldering baritone around standards from the... → Read More
Folk polymath Rhiannon Giddens honors the musical cultures of the oppressed
The cofounder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops sings fables of struggle from a diversity of peoples and eras. → Read More
Guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks balances his legacy with his drive to innovate
His father, the late Lonnie Brooks, appears on the new Times Have Changed—alongside Memphis rapper Al Kapone. → Read More
Harmonica master Billy Branch celebrates 40 years leading the Sons of Blues
So many current stars have cut their teeth in Branch’s band that they could fill their own blues festival. → Read More
The best of the weekend’s blues outside Millennium Park
Your extracurricular options include Eddie Shaw, Peaches Staten, L’Roy, and Eddy “the Chief” Clearwater. → Read More