For more than four decades, Tom Lavin & the Legendary Powder Blues have been Canada’s leading blues band.
For the first time ever, they’ll play Ladner’s Genesis Theatre next weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Lavin told the Optimist about the 7:30 p.m. show on Saturday, Oct. 5. “I hear it is a great theatre with great sound. We love coming to new venues and playing in front of new audiences.”
This year marks the band’s 41st anniversary. Its more than dozen CD titles and DVDs continue to sell world-wide, making Tom Lavin & the Legendary Powder Blues one of Canada’s longest-standing musical ambassadors.
“I’m fortunate to being one of those musicians who has always kept up with it and always wanted to be involved with it [playing and touring] even with other interests and raising a family,” he said. “The one thing with the blues and jazz is a lot of it is improvisation, so as the years have gone by we have all grown as musicians and that improvisation has allowed us to stay fresh. The music is like a conversation and a conversation of our lives. As those lives have changed, so has the music.”
The band’s hit songs include Doin’ It Right On the Wrong Side of Town and Boppin With the Blues, and career highlights include winning a Juno, headlining the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival and touring with legends like John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, James Brown and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Born in Chicago where he worked with local bands and blues legends, Lavin moved to Vancouver and began gigging in the downtown nightclub scene. This led to work as studio musician, song writer, band leader, record producer and film composer.
Powder Blues’ debut album, Uncut, was ignored by major labels which said there was no market for the blues. Undiscouraged, the band sold it off stage and sent it to radio stations whose switchboards lit up with calls asking, “Who’s that?”
After selling 30,000 copies in a few weeks, the same record labels competed to distribute the album. To date Powder Blues have sold more than a million records worldwide.
“I really enjoy getting together with these guys that I have played with all these years,” Lavin said. “I have a great deal of thanks that we have been supported all these years by our fans, so I really want to please everyone when we play. Expect to hear all the hits, but in addition to that we try and stretch out and play a few things that you would not normally hear on a Powder Blues record. This way it keeps it fresh for us and fresh for the audience too.”
Tickets for the show can be purchased online or by phone at 604-940-5550.
