From Stevie Ray's Blues Bar in Louisville, Kentucky to the Empty Glass in Charleston, West Virginia, my faithful Dodge Sprinter van carried the KRB onward, dutifully rolling down the interstate with 300,500 miles showing on the odometer. Little did we know that trouble was silently brewing under the hood. On Sunday, June 9th, we got on the road and started to wind our way through the mountains of West Virginia towards Pennsylvania, headed to our next destination to play our show at the Billtown Blues Fest in Hughes. Suddenly the van lost power and she took her last breath, displaying her agonizing death with foul, billowy black smoke and gushing burnt oil from the engine bay. I limped the van along to a near by rest stop, and there we sat. Now what. The KRB stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead van completely loaded down with our heavy gear, and a Blues Fest that was waiting for us. Crap.



The van was towed to the nearest U-Haul facility and a truck was rented to get the band and gear home. I made the anxiety-producing decision to cancel our show at the Billtown Blues Fest. Not doing the show was a major financial loss, but had to be done given the extreme circumstances at the time. I was playing a stressful game of Tetris in my head: how best to get the band home, how to ensure the safety of our gear, how to make this ordeal as cost-effective as possible, how was I going to get my dead van home to Cincinnati, how was I going to get the band to our next show in Fort Wayne, Indiana with no vehicle for our gear,etc. I must say that in all the years and hundreds of shows I've done with KRB, I have only cancelled a show three times-- all three times due to extreme weather conditions, so my decision to cancel our show was not done haphazardly.

We finally made it back to Cincinnati in the U-Haul, and the following day after a million calls, I arranged to have the van towed to the nearest Dodge service center in West Virginia where the mechanics did an initial assessment: yep, the engine was blown. Ouch! And did I just hear right? A new engine would be $15,000??? Yes, folks, it's true, that's $15k, not a typo. Apparently these Dodge Sprinters have a diesel Mercedes engine, which is quite costly. It took me a while to process the cost of getting the van back on the road. Touring is costly and hard enough emotionally and physically without the universe throwing this wrench into my budget--- this truly was my worst nightmare come true. After hours of trying to decide if should I go forth with the new engine or trash the van and buy a used Sprinter (our next show was only 5 days away!), I determined the engine replacement was the best way to go based on my diligent maintenance records and what services I had done to the van in previous years. I am very fortunate that the Marvin at the Dodge dealership here in Cincinnati gave me a loaner minivan to use while the van was being repaired so that I could ensure that I not have to cancel our upcoming shows for lack of a vehicle. As it turned out, Freekbass graciously drove his personal car, and together with the loaner minivan the KRB was able to make it to our two shows last weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Gahanna, Ohio. Thank you Freekbass!

As of today, the van is purring with a brand new engine and is now sitting in my driveway ready to roll -- grand total for U-haul rental, towing expense, and all repairs was $16,743.00.  The Eagle has landed!

Check out the latest photos from our shows on Facebook.  We thank Sonya for coming out to our recent shows and snapping some photos.  We really appreciate it! Be sure make plans now, as the Kelly Richey Band performs this Saturday evening at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio.   We are SUPER excited for this show as will be opening for the amazing Walter Trout!!!

Saturday, June 22 - Fraze Pavilion Blues Festival - 7:00 pm
Fraze Pavilion Blues Festival, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd, Dayton, OH
Venue: (937) 296-3300
http://www.fraze.com







Photos by Sonya Ziegler

Thursday, June 13 - BBQ Ribfest - 9:00 pm
333 S Clinton St, Fort Wayne, IN
www.bbqribfest.com

Friday, June 14 - Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival - 7:45 pm
Mill and Granville Streets and Creekside Park, Gahanna, OH
Venue: (877)743-3139
http://www.creeksidebluesandjazz.com

Saturday, June 15 - A.B.A.T.E. of PA State Party - 8pm
Egals Nest Farm, Hazen, PA
http://www.abatepa.org/Events/State_Party.html

Sunday, June 16 - Pies & Pints - 10:00 pm
219 W Maple Ave, Fayetteville, WV
Venue: (304) 574-2200
http://www.piesandpints.net

Here's the latest CD Review for "Sweet Spirit" in Vintage Guitar Magazine!!!

The Kelly Richey Band -- video footage from this morning's "Great Day Live" TV appearance om WHAS Louisville, KY --

After years on road, blues guitarist cleans up her act
by Monica Orosz
Daily Mail staff

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Guitarist and singer Kelly Richey is done with road, or at least with the way she used to do the road.

In her younger days and actually, until about 2010, Richey was a true road warrior. One year she logged 275 gigs.

She's a worker, but the road life took its toll.

"I came off the road in 2010 and I quit drinking 100 percent," she said. "I got my weight down."

She started exercising, eating right and restoring balance in her life, figuring if she wanted to continue as a musician, she had to make changes.

"I want to live to be 100," she said. "I'm in better shape than I was in high school."

Watch video of the Kelly Richey Blues Band here.

"I never enjoyed the road, which is unfortunate," Richey said, given the profession she has pursued since she was a teen growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"I'm an only child. I like my space and traveling I find to be difficult on a number of levels. But I love to play and to meet new people, so it's something that's very necessary."

Charleston can count itself lucky, then, that The Empty Glass is one of Richey's stops this year. She plays there Saturday night.

"I try to do no more than 100 shows a year now," said Richey, now 50. "I'm not opposed to doing more, but that's the sweet spot."

After all, Richey's show is no soft-spoken folk fest.

This is all-in music that requires stamina. Richey has been described as "Stevie Ray Vaughan trapped in a woman's body with Janis Joplin screaming to get out," and she has the guns to prove it.

Richey is touring on her newest release, called "Sweet Spirit," a name that belies the hard-rock riffs and gritty voice she brings to the songs.

The project came about in an interesting way. Richey, a lifelong writer who has written as many poems as she has songs, last summer released her first poetry book. The assistant who helped to put together the project went through eight boxes of poetry to cull them and noticed milk crates filled with cassette tapes.

"She said, 'What's that?' And I said they were songs I'd written since the mid-'80s," Richey recalled. "And she said, 'Well, I'll go through those, too.' "

To Richey's surprise, the tapes contained 74 hours of material, including bits of songs Richey had never finished, perhaps because her lifestyle prevented it.

"One thing about getting healthy and sober is you are so much more grounded and focused. I never realized that," Richey said.

Her assistant focused on the strongest songs, the ones she thought Richey should finish, songs of survival, songs about life and love and failed relationships.

Richey said they work both on a record level and during her live show, which she said is quite different in its energy.

"You should really see me play live," she said.

Richey's new lifestyle allows time to just enjoy being home, and it gives her time to give back a bit. She is a certified life coach, using skills she learned during her journey to sobriety to help others find the life they want. She often tells clients, "If I can get it together against the odds, so can you."

"I can honestly say I will never drink again. I will never smoke a cigarette again. This is poison," she said.

She also teaches guitar, something she's done almost since she picked up a guitar at 15.

"I had a passion for helping people learn," she said. That is interesting because she struggled in school.

"I wasn't a traditional student. I had dyslexia and they didn't know what to do about that - I had to learn to function outside the box. It served me well for being an entrepreneur."

Richey said her adoptive mother, a classically trained pianist, put her in front of a piano as a toddler.

"As soon as I could touch the keys, I could play by ear. But I couldn't function with sheet music."

And so began frustration that teachers - whether her mom or in school - had with Richey.

"I was accused of being dumb. Then I had an IQ test and I was accused of being lazy. By the time I was a teen, I was mad - and determined," she said. Music became her outlet.

"The ironic thing is my mother was a schoolteacher, so it's not like I was neglected," she added.

After all those years on the road, Richey appreciates home life more than ever.

"I don't leave my house unless I have a gig," she said. "It's almost embarrassing. But I have great coffee. I've got a hot tub. I've got a gym in my basement. I can video Skype out of my home studio. I teach an online guitar course. I'm really a homebody."

Friday, June 7 - Stevie Ray's Blues Bar - 9:00 pm
230 East Main Street, Louisville, KY
Venue:(502) 582-9945
http://www.stevieraysbluesbar.com/

Saturday, June 8 - The Empty Glass - 10:00 pm
410 Elizabeth Street, Charleston, WV
Venue: (304) 345-3914

Sunday, June 9 - 24th Annual Billtown Blues Festival - 5:30 pm
Lycoming County Fairgrounds, Hughesville, PA
http://www.billtownblues.org/

Kelly Richey has been teaching guitar instruction for over 30 years now and has taught well over 1,000 students to date. Kelly is deeply passionate about teaching, and brings her wealth of knowledge to every student she has, whether a beginner or advanced musician. Thanks to technology, Richey has expanded her teaching base with online video lessons via Skype, which means that Kelly can teach anyone where ever they may live on planet earth. We are pleased to announce that access to guitar instruction from Kelly just got even easier, as she is now a Trufire Guitar Instructor! She is thrilled to be part of the Trufire team, and is very excited to teach from their hugely successful platform. The Trufire teaching program offers many benefits including: students can take a lesson any time, at their own convenience without having to schedule a specific time; students can progress at their own pace, and send Kelly videos of their playing (or of any problem they may be having) and get direct input from Kelly via video response and email messaging. Trufire students have access to all of Kelly's personal instruction videos as soon as they sign up, and her catalog is constantly expanding!

Trufire is the leader of the pack in online guitar instruction. Check out Kelly's classroom, "Blues On Steroids" today, and see if it might be a good fit for you!
 


Check out Kelly Richey's TrueFire Classroom Now: Click Here

The Kelly Richey Band is home from Florida and we had a great time! We would like to welcome all of our new fans to the KellyRichey.com/Blog!!! Unlike our tour last month in Canada, this tour we had no snow -- just sand and plenty of sunshine! We are home now for a few days and then we kick off a strong line of summer shows packed full of festivals, from Florida to MN. This coming week the band hits the road for two shows in MN, and then a string of dates in KY, WV and PA. We look forward to seeing our fans and we can't wait to rock the house, so be sure to make your plans now and tell your friends!

Friday, May 31 - Forada Liquor Bar & Grill - 8:00 pm
1531 4th St. SE, Forada‎, MN
Venue: (320) 762-0428
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Forada-Liquor-Bar-Grill/333199536233

Saturday, June 1 - Smokin in Steele Blues Festival - 5:00 pm
1525 S. Cedar Ave, Owatonna, MN
Steele County Fairgrounds
http://www.smokininsteele.com/

Friday, June 7 - Stevie Ray's Blues Bar - 10:00 pm
230 East Main Street, Louisville, KY
Venue:(502) 582-9945
http://www.stevieraysbluesbar.com

Saturday, June 8 - The Empty Glass - 10:00 pm
410 Elizabeth Street, Charleston, WV
Venue: (304) 345-3914
http://www.emptyglass.com/

Sunday, June 9 - 24th Annual Billtown Blues Festival - 5:30 pm
Lycoming County Fairgrounds, Hughesville, PA
http://www.billtownblues.org/

Here are a few KRB pics from our Florida tour!!

KRB in Key Largo, FL

Jyn Yates, Kelly Richey, Freekbass

KRB in Key Largo, FL

Freekbass, Jyn Yates, Kelly Richey

KRB at Bradfordville Blues Club

Freekbass, Jyn Yates, Kelly Richey

KRB at the Blue Crab Festival

Freekbass, Jyn Yates, Kelly Richey

For a complete list of KRB Tour Dates: Click Here

Pop File Weekend Roundup: Kelly Richey rocks
by Leslie Gray Streeter

Music, music, music: We caught Kelly Richey’s show at Bamboo Room on Friday, one of my favorite places ever to catch live music, because the vibe is so authentic.It’s dark, with old playbills on the wall and the exhaustive drink list organized by liquor (it’s insane!) And the groove from the stage matched the surroundings. Richey, a kick-butt Cincinnati-area guitarist, is as authentic as they come – with a raspy, expressive voice and the most divine expression when she’s in the middle of a particularly righteous lick.

Actually, some of the best moments were wordless, when Richey and her band, bassist Freekbass (Best. Name. Ever.) and hard-driving drummer Jyn Yates, were involved in a deep jam. Their instrumentals were. I liked that she’d played for about a half hour before pausing to say “I’m Kelly!” Yeah, we know. But it was sweet of her to introduce herself. That laid-back manner she had translates into an intense playing style. The songs Friday spanned her career, including albums “Sister’s Gotta Problem” (Best. Title. Ever.) and the new “Sweet Spirit.” I am not generally a fan of jam bands, in the Phish sense, because I don’t love noodling. But I love a good blues jam that lasts 10 minutes, where the music and the blessed artists creating it connect in this moment you just don’t want to end. Kelly Richey is a master of those moments. Can’t wait to see her again.

KELLY RICHEY BAND SHOW REVIEW
by Scott Hopkins

Last January, I attempted to review the Kelly Richey Band, but I struggled for words. The one that seemed most fitting was “astonishing.” I was totally blown away.
After last night’s performance (May 25th, Ace’s Lounge, Bradenton), I am again short on adjectives, metaphors and similes. To quote George Clinton, “It was deep. Deeper than deep.” However good I perceived the January show, this was on a whole new level. The January show was one of the first for the newly formed trio; drummer Jyn Yates had just come into the fold. Richey, Freekbass and Yates had reached a whole new level, but perhaps it was Yates who brought everything together. In January, she was working into the band; after 100+ shows on their massive tour, Yates is now fully incorporated into the deep, deep grooves.

I said before and will say it again: Kelly Richey as a guitar slinger can stand on stage with anybody, anywhere, anytime. She was positively stunning, even more impressive than the January show. Her tour posters promise “incendiary blues and monster grooves,” and Kelly delivers the goods. She and another flame-thrower, Sean Kellerman, are on top of my list of guitarists who deserve much wider recognition.

And then there is Freekbass. If you had never seen him, you might at first hear him playing some traditional blues grooves to support Kelly’s pyrotechnics and think, OK, he’s not bad. But then, seemly out of nowhere, he slaps you silly. His solos were stunning. Freekbass can also stand on stage with anybody, anywhere, anytime.

Most importantly, this has become a vital unit, a true power trio with everyone contributing to a sum even greater than its parts. Check out her website [kellyrichey.com] and check them out live. You will be “richly” rewarded.

The Kelly Richey Band hits the road again -- this time we're headed away from the snow and to the warm sunny beaches of Florida!!!

Friday, May 17 - Bradfordville Blues - 9:00 pm
Bradfordville Blues, 7152 Moses Lane, Tallahassee, FL
Venue: (850) 906-0766

Saturday, May 18 - Captain Jax - 8:00 pm
Captain Jax, 658 N 2nd St, Fort Pierce, FL
Venue: 772-242-1713

Sunday, May 19 - Downtown Blues - 6:00 pm
Downtown Blues, 714 St. Johns Ave., Palatka, FL
Venue: (386) 325-5454

Wednesday, May 22 - Watercolor Inn & Resort - 6:00 pm
Watercolor Inn & Resort, 34 Golden Rod Cir, Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Venue: 850-747-0903

Thursday, May 23 - Cafe Largo - 8:00 pm
Cafe Largo, 99530 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL
Venue: (305) 451-4885

Friday, May 24 - Bamboo Room - 9:00 pm
Bamboo Room, 25 South J Street, Lake Worth, FL
Venue: (561) 585-2583

Saturday, May 25 - Ace's Lounge - 9:00 pm
Ace's Lounge, 4343 Palma Sola Boulevard, Bradenton, FL
Venue: (941) 795-3886

Sunday, May 26 - Blue Crab Festival - 6:00 pm
Blue Crab Festival, 326 St. Johns Ave, Palatka, FL
Venue: 386-325-4406

The Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH
By Chuck Yarborough

Growing up with dyslexia and ADHD in an era before anyone heard of the words "learning disability" or attention deficit disorder, Kelly Richey seemed set up for failure, right?

Wrong. The blues guitar slinger returns to the Winchester Saturday with her power trio band, featuring Jyn Yates on drums and Freekbass on, well, bass. She's been tagged a "female Stevie Ray Vaughan" for her fiery guitar solos, and compared to another passionate musician – Janis Joplin – on vocals.

Fact of the matter is, though, that the ax wasn't Richey's first choice. Now 50, Richey grew up playing piano but decided she wanted to try drums. That experiment didn't take long. After just a couple of months of banging away in her room, her father offered to buy her any instrument – emphasis on "any" – if she'd give up the skins.

Hel-LO electric guitar.

"It was powerful, and I loved it," said Richey, who was 15 when she got the ax. "It really changed my life in a short period of time. First, I had a guitar, and then the gods made love and turned me on to Led Zeppelin.

"I didn't think about it being hard and sexist at the time," said Richey, who acknowledged that she's come up against a few walls over her gender. "I was in for a lot of lessons. I had learning disabilities – I'm terribly dyslexic – but having a guitar was my ticket outside of the box."

For Richey, who began her career as a guitarist with the band Stealing Horses in 1986, the light-bulb moment came courtesy of recent Rock Hall inductee Albert King, at one of his gigs in Nashville, where she was living at the time.

"I was just young enough and stupid enough to ask if I could sit in," Richey said in a call to her home in Cincinnati. "He set me up onstage and kept me up there.

"It was like, 'Holy crap!' I started diving into all this old blues and I realized after touring with that band that it was a passion of mine to be a guitar slinger," she said.

And not just any guitar slinger. She realized that the sound she heard in her head could only come from leading her own band.

"I played with other people, but I was an only child, one who doesn't work or play so well with the other kids," she said, jokingly. "It was obvious to me that I need to put my own band together to fulfill my dreams as an artist."

Then there's her decision to put out her own albums rather than go through a major label. Her newest – "Sweet Spirit" – is out now, but the Winchester gig will serve as sort of a CD-release party.

"With Stealing Horses, I saw a really bad record deal," she said, "so I started doing my own records. I've done 'Sweet Spirit,' which is my 14th record. I didn't need a 14th CD as much as I needed the right CD.

"So I put some time into what I was going to do and who I was going to do it with," Richey said. "I was listening to R.L. Burnside, Jack White, the Black Keys, and I wrote this record with just a set of drum loops and my guitar."

The music came from three milk crates full of cassette tapes, and the lyrics from eight boxes of poems she'd written over the years. In all, "Sweet Spirit" was culled from more than 74 hours' worth of raw material, she said.

Doesn't sound like it'd be a match for a band that features a heavy-footed, driving drummer like Yates and a renowned funk bassist like Freekbass, but it truly works.

"When I look across that stage and I see Freekbass, well, he's a force of nature," said Richey. "Jyn, she's powerful. She's got a foot on her and she's got a smile from ear to ear."

And now, so does her boss.



Photo by Sonya Ziegler

Oh, The Places We've Gone! Since our last newsletter the KRB has traveled the length of Montana on a two-lane road, five miles of which was unpaved. The poor van took a beating and we were all worn out from slamming on the brakes every 10 minutes to avoid hitting all the wildlife that was crossing the road late at night. Finally, we crossed the border into Alberta, Canada and played to a packed house in Calgary at the Blues Can. Then we spent a week in Edmonton taking Blues on Whyte by storm, and ended our tour in Saskatoon to yet another full house of excited, rowdy blues fans. Three weeks and over 5,000 miles later, we are home safe and sound! This tour was intense— the weather was NOT cooperative, and we got off to a rocky start by being stranded in Bismarck, North Dakota in a blizzard. The whole town shut down—even Starbucks **gasp** was closed. Our show had to be rescheduled, and we had no choice but to roll with it. After our rescheduled show in Bismarck on April 18th, we headed out of town to our next destination, Calgary. We crossed the border and made it to Calgary, and spent the last leg of our tour there… plenty of time to go to the gym, sight see, and shop. We had a final show in Saskatoon, then we turned the van south for our entry into the good ole’ USA. Home never looked so good! We would like to thank all those who helped us along the way-- we REALLY appreciate the kindness!! See you down the road!


Kelly Richey


Freekbass


Jyn Yates

Photos by Darlene Ziegler

Experience The Kelly Richey Band LIVE!!!

Friday, May 10 - Midway Tavern - 9:00 pm
810 West 4th Street, Mishawaka, IN
Venue: 574-255-0458
http://www.themidwaytavern.com/

Saturday, May 11 - Winchester Music Hall - 9:00 pm
12112 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, OH
Venue: (216) 226-5681
http://www.thewinchester.net

Get your tickets now and reserve your seats today!!!

New interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- it was a tremendous honor to be asked to do this interview!!!

ROCK HALL INDUCTIONS
Albert King: A blues guitar great who left a monumental imprint on rock 'n' roll (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2013)



Here's all you need to know about Albert King: When he played with Stevie Ray Vaughan on the television series "In Session," Vaughan spent most of his time watching King. The guitar great will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Thursday in a ceremony in Los Angeles.

"Stevie could play circles around anybody. He just could, that's who he was. But he knew that what Albert had in one note could take him down, just 'Pow!' " said Cincinnati blues guitarist Kelly Richey. Richey, who's been called the "female Stevie Ray Vaughan," got the chance to sit in with King at a Nashville gig just a few years before his death in 1992.

"It was '88. I was living in Nashville and playing with this band, Stealing Horses. I was bartending at a place called the Cuckoo Club where Albert was playing a show. I was just young enough and just dumb enough to ask if I could sit in."

At the time, Richey was just a kid, prodigiously talented and hellbent on being a hotshot guitarist, but ultimately still an unknown.

"He said, 'You bring your guitar and you can sit in.' He played two sold-out shows that night. I showed up at intermission with my guitar and amp and said 'Mr. King, I'm here.' He had a sheriff's badge on his guitar strap and a pistol in his lap. He says 'Let me see what you got in there.' It was an old '65 Strat. Apparently that was a plus.

"He stood up and looked down at me and said, 'Don't you make me 'shamed.' That was my first big reality check. Here was this huge man, massive, bigger than my father: 'Don't you make me 'shamed.'

"He kept me up there all night and gave me a lead on every song."

As a recording artist, King -- known as the "The Velvet Bulldozer" and one of the unrelated "Three Kings of Blues Guitar" along with Freddie King and fellow Indianola, Miss., native B.B. King -- started on Parrot Records in the early 1950s. He finally broke through with "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" in 1961.

But it's Albert King's Stax Records years, starting in 1966 with the single "Crosscut Saw" and continuing through the albums "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Live Wire/Blues Power," that cemented his legacy -- both for their mastery and for the influence that they would have on his contemporaries, including Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and later on Stevie Ray Vaughan.

"The word attitude doesn't really serve a great enough purpose. Albert King embodied the blues," Richey said. "Every note he played sang. He was one with his guitar and his vocal instrument. As a guitarist and vocalist, he was in command."

In fact, such was King's command that he got Vaughan to sing, she said.

"Albert made Stevie Ray get in front of a mike," Richey said. "Without him, that might not have happened."

King pushed her and others to focus on the vocals, not just being a hotshot guitarist, she said.

"Stevie Ray and Jimi, you never would have known them if they'd just been singers. But you wouldn't know them as well if they'd just been guitarists, either."

Richey said King didn't see it as a choice.

"To him, it's just what you're supposed to do. Guitar's part of the equation. But singing is, too. You have to learn to sing to make your guitar sing as well. And oh, good Lord, could he sing. He could sing with mouth open or fingers flying."

As influential as King was, his playing style itself is nearly inimitable. Left-handed and well north of 6 feet tall, he played a right-handed Flying V flipped over, but not restrung.

"You can't sit down and play a Flying V," Richey said. "You've got to stand up. They weigh a ton.

"He was left-handed like Hendrix but he didn't restring like Jimi. So the way in which he played was different -- the bends were different, there's less real estate, the way he made chords was different," she said. "So much of what he did was strange, backwards, and not old-school backwards, but literally upside-down and backwards."

While the runs, fills and chording may be difficult to replicate, Richey sees King's legacy, passing from generation to generation of blues guitarists, as something less tangible, but far more important, than any technical aspect will ever be.

"Every note Stevie Ray played, he poured everything into it. That came from Albert. And that's the kind of player I am.

"The blues may not be complicated, but it isn't easy. Lifting boulders isn't complicated, it's hard work. The blues is the same way."

Perhaps it's with a respect for that work in mind that King warned Richey not to trifle with the blues.

"Albert said to me, 'If you pick up a guitar, it's a like a pistol," Richey remembered. " 'You best mean to use it.' "

Since our last newsletter, the Kelly Richey Band has traveled to play shows in the town of Ames, IA, Fargo, North Dakota and Altona, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. After three truly amazing shows our smart phones began exploding with weather alerts --- a massive winter storm was headed straight towards Bismarck/Mandan, ND, which just happened to be the destination of our next show! Not good. I spoke with the promoter of our show in Manitoba and asked if we could cancel our hotel rooms so we could leave directly after our show and drive through the night to beat the storm and avoid getting stranded before they began closing down the interstate. The promoter was so kind, and after our show everyone helped to get us on our way as quickly as possible. We REALLY appreciated all of the help. The band was on fire but, unfortunately, no level of heat was going to beat the storm we were facing…

Jyn drove as Freekbass helped to navigate through the blizzard. We arrived in Bismarck just as the storm was pounding the city hard, just one hour before they closed Starbucks and three hours before they shut down the entire town and Interstate 94 from North Dakota to Montana. So, we have been stranded ever since. The only thing open to eat is Pizza Hut, and since Starbucks was closed we have been forced to live on hotel coffee-- but at least we were safe. As it turned out, Bismarck ended up breaking an all-time record for snow falling in one day with total of 18.5 inches. Just our luck!

It was obvious that our show would be canceled, however we were able to re-schedule our Sunday show in Mandan, North Dakota to this Thursday night, April 18th at 8pm. It's hard to believe that I turned on my air conditioner in Cincinnati for the first time this year just the day before we left for this tour. Oh The Places We Go... We've decided that we need our own reality TV show. Surely every Starbucks, Super 8 motels, and all of our Blues venues would benefit from such programing.

Here are a few video clips from the storm:





Check out out Storm Chaser Tour Dates and please help spread the word!!!

NOTE: Our show originally scheduled for this past Sunday in Bismarck / Mandan at O.N.E. has beem rescheduled for this Thursday at 8pm!!!

Thursday, April 18 - O.N.E. - 8:00 pm
210 West Main Avenue, Mandan, ND
Venue: (701) 391-0799
http://www.steamerpromotions.com/

Fri & Sat, April 19 & 20 - Blues Can - 9:00 pm
1429 9 Avenue Southeast, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Venue: (403) 262-2666
http://www.thebluescan.com

Monday - Saturday, April 22 - 27 - Blues on Whyte - 9:00 pm
10329 82 Avenue Northwest, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Venue: (780) 439-3981
http://www.bluesonwhyte.ca

Sunday, April 28 - Vangelis Tavern - 5:00 pm
801 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Venue: 306-652-5173
https://www.facebook.com/VangelisTavernSaskatoon





Photo by Merle Peters Photography