Eddie Turner Brings The Blues To Gypsy Highway In Davenport
With his most recent album Change in Me described by Rootstime as “an enticing journey of jazz, blues, and rock” resulting in a “melting pot of sounds,” blues-guitar legend Eddie Turner headlines a special February 27 concert event at Davenport‘s Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill, with Blues Blast magazine saying that the artist “shines like a diamond” and Guitar Player magazine lauding Turner’s “otherworldly, atmospheric guitar style.”
Born and raised in Chicago, the artist nicknamed “Devil Boy” is a former member of the Otis Taylor Band who began to play the guitar when he was 12. He attended the University of Colorado in the early 1970s, and while there played in the region’s first punk/R&B band The Immortal Nightflames, which included Grammy Award nominee Tracy Nelson from Mother Earth. Subsequently, Turner joined the group Zephyr as a guitarist in the ‘70s, but after the death of the singer Candy Givens, he abandoned music for many years to work in real estate in Denver. In 1980, however, Turner agreed to join the Ron Miles electric band, and 15 years later, he joined Otis Taylor’s ensemble, with whom he recorded five albums.
Performing with Taylor, Turner developed an enormous following as a touring performer through Europe and North America, with his exhilarating blend of psychedelic-rock and Delta-blues stylings later showcased on a trio of solo CDs: 2005’s Rise (a Blues Music Award nominee for Best New Artist Debut), 2006’s The Turner Diaries, and 2010’s Miracles & Demons. While blues fans have greeted his many annual headlining and festival appearances with rapturous appreciation, their enthusiasm is matched in the raves that Turner has amassed from music critics. Blues Revue‘s Michael Cote wrote, “Eddie Turner’s brand of blues evokes an otherworldly feel; a dreamscape of fire and passion, pleasure and pain.” Barrel House Blues, meanwhile, called Miracles & Demons “an astonishing CD” with Turner playing “a lot like Jimi Hendrix once did, only with a more musical and controlled style,” and the recording earned its artist a Blues Blast Magazine Award nomination for Best Contemporary Album
Since then, Turner’s credits include 2016’s Naked in Your Face, a live album recorded at Calgary’s Blues Can, and his latest offering Change in Me, which includes covers of songs by Lou Reed and Taj Mahal. The critically acclaimed release was praised by RootsTime for Turner’s “expressive voice,” as well as by Jazz Weekly, who raved, “Turner mixes Jimi Hendrix-like guitar work with Staple Singers-styled soul on this rich blues-soaked release.”
Eddie Turner performs his Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill engagement on February 27, admission to the 3 p.m. concert is $5, and more information is available by calling (563)232-8890 and visiting TheGypsyHighway.com.
