January 13, 2024

The San Luis Obispo Blues Society presents the Chicago Blues Revue featuring Oscar Wilson and Billy Flynn on Saturday, January 13 at 7:00 pm at the Odd Fellows Hall (520 Dana Street, SLO).  The Cinders will be opening the show. Advanced online tickets are $32 at My805Tix (plus their fees). Tickets sold at the door on the night of the show are $40. Doors open at 6:30 pm, music starts at 7:00. 21 and over please.

The Blues Society runs on volunteers to produce and staff our concerts. At the shows, volunteers set up, sell tickets and drinks, and/or put the furniture away after the show. Volunteers get free admission to the show. Visit sloblues.org/supporters

CHICAGO BLUES REVUE featuring OSCAR WILSON and BILLY FLYNN

The Chicago Blues Revue includes Oscar Wilson on vocals, blues guitar great Billy Flynn, Carl “Sonny” Leland on piano, and Wes Starr on drums. Oscar Wilson is widely considered one of Chicago’s top traditional blues vocalists. He was born in Chicago into a musical family (his father was a jazz, blues and gospel musician and composer). He taught himself guitar, piano, drums and harmonica. Instead of having formal training as a musician, Wilson is mostly self-taught, resulting in his own personal style and technique. He tours worldwide and has recorded with The Cash Box Kings and guitar ace Joel Paterson.

A fixture on the Chicago blues scene since his teens, Grammy winning guitarist Billy Flynn is one of the most talented and understated guitarists in the Windy City. He is an international star and the go-to guy for anyone wanting to round out an all-star band or add polish to a recording session. A former member of The Legendary Blues Band and Chicago-based Mississippi Heat, he has recently been touring with The Kim Wilson Band, Mark Hummel’s All-Star Band, and The Cash Box Kings.

Oscar Wilson is the lead vocalist and songwriter and Billy Flynn the lead guitar player for The Cash Box Kings. The Cash Box Kings are bona fide blues royalty. Mixing tough Chicago and Delta blues, and jumping proto-rock ‘n’ roll, they approach every song they play with contemporary authority and old school authenticity. AllMusic says The Cash Box Kings offer up “an enthusiastic celebration of Chicago blues in all of its electric forms...funny and smart...slow grooves and hyper-charged shuffles. The Cash Box Kings don’t merely pay homage to the past, they bring tradition into the present [and deliver] a rollicking good time.”

THE CINDERS

The Cinders is an electric blues band featuring Dorian Michael on guitar and Brett Hoover on vocals. The music has Chicago 1960 as its starting place but doesn’t make any attempt to sound like it. The music gets played in an organic contemporary fashion that acknowledges the fact that middle aged guys in the 21st century are influenced by a lot of phases of 20th century blues and rock ‘n’ roll. And it all gets blended together and played with a great amount of spontaneity. It is a real blues band, no lack of intensity here.