Harpdog Brown will make a stop in Golden as a part of the Summer Kicks series to close out July.
Hailing from Edmonton, the blues musician says he’s excited to be on the road and performing again after the pandemic derailed the music touring industry for the last year and a half.
“I got into this business 40 years ago with the primary motivation to travel, the second motive was that my public enemy number one is boredom,” said Brown.
“I’ve missed that life I chose to live. I missed the smiles, I missed the miles.”
Brown has been a staple of the Canadian blues industry since he first entered the scene in 1982.
Since then, he’s been honoured by the Maple Blues Award in 2014, 2015 and 2016 as harmonica player of the year.
Playing the Chicago Blue style, he has a full band behind him to fill out his sound.
He says he’s looking forward to his performance in Golden, as it’s a departure from the usual bars and pubs he plays. The opportunity to play for a wider crowd of families, and hopefully introduce blues music to a younger generation, intrigues him.
“It’s essential to play to all ages, and present your message of love and joy,” said Brown.
“Hopefully, we can infect somebody young enough to want to keep this art form alive, because otherwise it’ll die with us. I saw James Cotton when I was 17 years old. Without that I might have been an accountant.”
He sees the impact that a younger generation can have, noting his own guitarist, Charlie Jacobson, who is 28 years old and plays great guitar in the style that he loves.
Also joining Brown on stage will be Graham Guest on piano and Scott Grant on drums.
One of the things Brown has enjoyed the most about be able to perform music live again has been to see the crowd enjoy the music, to get up and dance, and to see the smiles on their faces.
“You’ll never see me performing with my eyes closed, see the smiles, and sell my music and message to the crowd,” said Brown.
“I’m here to perform, I present my service as a healthy distraction to other people’s lives. And I also realized that my healthy distraction to other people’s lives, is also another distraction to my own.”
Harpdog Brown will hit the stage at Keith King Memorial Park on Wednesday, July 28, from 7 to 9 p.m.
