MARLBORO-Thrush Hill Stage, 314 Upper Houghton Rd., hosts the Erin Harpe Country Blues Duo on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m.
Harpe has been playing country blues since she was a little girl, getting her chops from her dad, roots-blues musician, and Stella guitar player Neil Harpe.
The award-winning musician and leader of the band Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers has played stages large and small throughout the U.S., U.K., and Europe, and has opened for musicians such as ZZ Top, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Buddy Guy, and James Cotton.
Living Blues magazine describes Harpe as being able to "sing the tattoos right off your arm," saying that she "belts out the songs as if to call up the spirts of the blues women of the bygone era."
Her album - Meet Me in the Middle (self-produced by Harpe, along with bassist Jim Countryman, her husband) - won Album of the Year in 2021 at the New England Music Awards.
Harpe's performances center around her finger-style and boogie blues guitar playing as well as her vocals. The band's sound harkens back to the time of juke joints - updated with more modern influences like funk, soul, rock, and reggae. Her music has drawn comparisons to Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, and Maria Muldaur.
Opening for the duo is singer-songwriter Jesse Lepkoff, focusing on 1920s- and 1930s-style blues fingerpicking. He was the winner of the Vermont 2023 Blues Challenge contest. Lepkoff has traveled the world with his music and recently had an extended release produced in Curitiba, Brazil.
Tickets can be bought in advance at thrushhillstage.com or at the event. No animals, please.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.