March 2024

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
From the San Luis Obispo Blues Society
A nonprofit 501©3 volunteer group
Bringing the blues to the Central Coast for over 30 years

SAN LUIS OBISPO BLUES SOCIETY

The San Luis Obispo Blues Society presents Sugaray Rayford on Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 pm at the SLO County Vets Hall (801 Grand Avenue, SLO). Blues Asylum will be opening the show. Advance 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. For more information, check out our website at www.sloblues.org.

The SLO Blues Society runs on volunteers to produce and staff our concerts. At the shows, volunteers set up, sell tickets and drinks, or put the furniture away after the show. Volunteers get free admission to the show and a drink ticket. If you have extra time and energy to contribute, please contact our volunteer coordinator at 805-541-7930.

SUGARAY RAYFORD

Texas born Caron “Sugaray” Rayford began his musical career at the age of seven singing and playing drums in church; and this gospel influence can be heard and felt in his music. His Texas childhood was marked by poverty and loss, and the soulful gravel in his voice provides hints of these experiences. When Sugaray belts out a song, you not only hear it, you feel it. The excitement in the room is palpable when he takes the stage. He is a superb vocalist and entertainer, with a dynamic voice that is large, just like the man. His music is an old school blues and soul vocal style, with echoes of Muddy Waters or Otis Redding.

In the late 1990s, Sugaray left Texas, moved to San Diego, and realized the blues was where his heart and soul belonged. He became the lead vocalist for R&B band Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz, which earned second place in the 2006 at the International Blues Challenge (IBC). He moved to Los Angeles and released his first solo CD Blind Alley in 2010. By the next year, he was the lead vocalist for the Mannish Boys. His performance on their Double Dynamite CD won Best Traditional Blues Album in 2013 at the Blues Music Awards. His second solo CD Dangerous (2013) reached #2 on the Living Blues chart. This was followed by Southside (2015) which led to four separate Blues Music Awards nominations. In 2012 he made his stage debut starring in the Tony award winning play “Ain’t Nuthin’ But The Blues” at the Portland Center Stage. He also starred in the play “Low Down Dirty Blues” that ran in Milwaukee and Cincinnati in 2015. Rayford’s album Somebody Save Me (2019) was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category. In 2020, Rayford was presented with two Blues Music Awards for B.B King Entertainer of the Year and Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year. His latest release, In Too Deep (2022), won the Blues Music Awards Best Soul Blues Album of the Year.

Sugaray Rayford performs with a big seven member blues band which includes saxophone and trumpet musicians. It takes a big band with plenty of horns provide the power to match Sugar’s voice. At his core, Sugaray Rayford is a galvanizing uniter. His live shows are a party that people leave feeling a sense of joy and togetherness.

BLUES ASYLUM

Blues Asylum is a rhythm & blues band from Los Osos, Ca. that was formed in the summer of 2017. The band features Richard Manuputy on guitar and vocals, Demi Solorio on drums, David Wolff on harp and vocals, Grammy winner Michael Melchione on lead guitar and vocals, and Ed Stokely on bass. Blues Asylum hosts the Blues Agenda Blues Jams at the Merrimaker in Baywood on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Whether you just listen or dance to this unique cast of Central Coast characters, you'll come away from a Blues Asylum show brimming with new energy.