Blues guitarist and singer Dorian Michael from California will perform at The Gog in North Battleford on Sept. 8. (Submitted photo/Dorian Michael))

By Angela Brown

Celebrating the arts

Delta blues guitarist and singer from California coming to The Gog

Aug 15, 2019 | 12:02 PM

Veteran Delta Blues guitarist and singer Dorian Michael from California will perform a house concert at The Gog in North Battleford for an upcoming show.

Michael is currently on tour and said since he will be in Saskatoon around the same time he wanted to play a North Battleford show also.

He performs a wide variety of music, from what he describes as lyrical instrumental numbers to more earthy traditional blues music.

Michael has been performing as a guitarist for more than 50 years. He said when he first started listening to traditional blues he “fell in love with that music” right from the start.

“The guitar playing was cool but it was the way Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Bill Broonzy and Josh White would sing – the depth of emotion and maturity in their singing really moved me as a kid,” he said.

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Michael will perform using a finger-style guitar technique and playing “a big bunch of blues” for the show from a variety of artists.

He said the Blues always intrigues him because of its unique, passionate sound. He also became interested in the history of the music that emerged as a response to deep-seated racial oppression in the early-to-mid 1900s in the American south.

“When you were black in the ‘30s, ’40s, ‘50s and ‘60s and living in the south, your life was difficult,” Michael said. “Men and women still sang songs and made music that had great strength, feeling and positivity. Even though it was the blues, the blues they sang to feel better. There was an aura around it that said nobody here is defeated. They may be singing about their trials, but they are not defeated. They are still singing. That interested me as I started to find out about the lives of these people.”

The Gog owner Kelly Waters said it will be exciting to have Michael perform in North Battleford.

“The community is super lucky to get an accomplished artist like him [Michael] in town,” Waters said. “The folks have been begging for some good blues around here; well here you go.”

The show will take place on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. The concert space is located at 105 St. near 13 Ave. Tickets are $20 at the door. Funds received benefit the artist.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow