Friday night, I saw a fabulous blues musician who I’d never seen perform – Delbert McClinton.

Delbert McClinton

What a performer! It was obvious to me that he’s a seasoned musician who enjoys what he does. He appeared to love playing at Bull Run, which is an intimate venue. The stage is a mere inches off the floor and the tables start close to the stage which makes it easy for the artists to engage the audience.The band took the stage quite casually, taking their instruments and launching into the first number.

This is my only shot of the entire band, although you can just barely see the horns

Once they started playing, they didn’t stop for two and a half hours! Delbert’s brand of the blues is mostly swamp/Texas blues, but they played songs from other styles as well.

Ronnie Earl, the fabulous blues guitarist who I’ve had the pleasure of seeing sit in with artists such as Irma Thomas and Jimmie Vaughan as well as with Roomful of Blues and Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, was in the audience and played a few numbers with Delbert.

Delbert and Ronnie Earl

The last album Delbert released is ‘Blind, Crippled & Crazy’ with Glen Clark, and it’s a collaboration of duets by long-time friends. They recorded a couple of albums in the 70s and reconnected recently to record the new album. They are wonderful complements to each other.

Delbert and Glen Clark

The band is extremely tight. I was thrilled to see Bruce Katz, a fantastic blues pianist who I saw only once twenty years ago. He’s a great addition to Delbert’s band – Delbert mentioned that he added Bruce to his band a couple of years ago, wondering why they hadn’t met before then.

Bruce Katz

In the middle of the set, Delbert left the stage so that Bruce Katz, Dana Robbins (tenor sax), and Bobby Britt (guitar) could perform songs they’d each written. Very classy…

Dana Robbins

Bobby Britt

I wish I could name specific songs they performed. Suffice it to say that every number was excellent and I should buy his entire catalog! You should as well… Delbert has a music cruise (Sandy Beaches Cruise) which sounds seriously interesting.

If you’re interested in serious blues music, you should see Delbert perform.