Live Bands
Thursday, May 21: Robert Lighthouse
Robert Lighthouse, a native of Sweden, first came to the United States at the age of 18, determined to learn more about the music he loves – Mississippi Delta Blues. For eight years he traveled around the country visiting blues Meccas like Chicago’s famed Maxwell Street and New Orleans, the cradle of the blues. He settled in Washington, DC in 1988 and established a cult following as a street musician. He toured Belgium and Holland with the Charlie Sayles Band and then landed his own steady gig at City Blues Cafe in D.C.
Robert’s simultaneous work on guitar and harmonica on has received rave reviews in major blues publications throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. It’s been said he “…plays delta blues like the great masters.”
Friday, May 22: Clarence ‘The Blues Man’ Turner
An infectious, rhythmic, gritty, and soulful feeling sparked a fire into Clarence Turner while listening to his father’s collection of LP’s, which included the incomparable Muddy Waters and the legendary Howlin’ Wolf. Every wailing stroke of the guitar spoke to Clarence, and at the age of eight he began a lifelong love affair with the blues. It was no question the guitar chose Clarence. Throughout his teenage years, he played his guitar delivering the blues and receiving love from audiences both local and abroad.
The blues cannot be truly mastered unless one has experienced life and experienced it hard. Following suit, Clarence disappeared from the music scene in his early twenties. During this time, Clarence experienced the heart and origin of the blues, a strong dose of reality, pure love, painful hardship, and amazing good times. Clarence realized that what he felt in his gut and soul, could only be expressed thru his first love of his guitar. As such, he returned to wail the blues as only he can.
Clarence was born into blues and you will agree that he has been appropriately sanctioned; Clarence “The Bluesman” Turner.
Listen to “Fame & Fortune.”
Saturday, May 23: Nella B. and the Noise
Headlining this year is Nella B., and the ‘B’ is 4 ‘BLUES’!! Donnella Rucker, aka Nella B., made a name for herself by winning the DC Blues Society’s 2025 Battle of the Bands! She is a native of Washington, DC who resides in Prince Georges County, MD. She is a true blues singer and entertainer, so expect to DANCE, SING, LAUGH and join in on the FUN!! Her band the Noise is the heart and soul of the music. These talented and professional musicians are: Anthony ‘BASSMAN’ Rucker (Nella’s husband and Musical Director), Paul Pinkham on guitar, David Roy on guitar, Jay Walden the Beat Keeper on drums, and newest member Liz Lohr on keys!!
Nella B. and the Noise play several styles including Jump Blues, Swing Blues, Go-Go Blues, and Mississippi Delta Blues, just to name a few. Expect to hear classics made famous by Etta James, Koko Taylor, Joe Bonamassa, Ma Rainey, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Clapton, and more!!! There will be something for EVERYBODY to dance to.
Sunday, May 24: Stormi & the Blue Skies
Leading the blues jam at our Sunday afternoon picnic, May 24!
A band made up of musicians from the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation, a volunteer-run foundation in Hyattsville, Maryland dedicated to preserving the memory of Washington, D.C. blues artist and barbershop owner Archie Edwards and continuing his mission to keep acoustic Piedmont Blues music alive through Saturday blues jams, education, community, live performances & workshops.
DJs – All Day Every Day
We’ve got an amazing lineup of DJs for the weekend! Some of them are returning to us after an extended hiatus and we couldn’t be happier to be hearing from all of them throughout the weekend.
Omar Myers
Omar has been collecting music for blues, swing, and soul since he was a lil dude. It wasn’t until after he started lindy hop did he decide to start getting people to dance. He began DJing in 2010. Since then, he has left-clicked tunes all over the world including for events such as Snowball, Lindy Focus, and Blues Muse. He is based in DC and regularly DJs at blues, lindy hop, and balboa events.
Kenneth Shipp
Kenneth Shipp hails from St. Louis, MO as an instructor who grew up dancing hip-hop and DJing breaking comps before jumping into blues. He has spent the past few years passionately studying the family of blues idioms, incorporating his nerdy personality along the way. Kenneth’s life experiences inform his dancing and teaching style so that students walk away with a better historical and contextual understanding. With every class and practice, he’ll encourage you to approach social dancing with coolness, relaxation, or in other words “Chill The F$%& Out.” When he’s not dancing, you can likely find him ranting about the latest blockbuster movie, game, or nerd convention, or desperately trying to dismantle toxic institutions.
Stephen Watkins aka “Dr. Feelgood”
The legend that is Dr. Feelgood is returning to Red Hot! Steven originally hails from NYC but now calls Oakland home. He started dancing in 1998, and began his blues DJing career at his other adoptive home – St. Louis’ Cheap Thrills 2004. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2005, your Dr. Feelgood has been thrilled to be spreading his love for the blues with a warm mixture of smooth, gritty, sultry, in-your-bones, hot skirt music.
Julie Brown
From acoustic to electric, horns to harmonica, New York to West Coast, Julie digs all the blueses. After breaking onto the national scene by winning the 2009 East-Meets-West Blues DJ contest, she has gone on to DJ around the country at bluesSHOUT, Blues Muse, Mile High Blues, Bambloozled, and more. She also DJs regularly in Boston, where she lives, dances, works, and thankfully sleeps.
Cortnie Cook
Cortnie thoroughly loves getting dancers out on the floor with a library full of tunes that’ll inspire the comfiest close embrace, get your feet movin’, and fill your soul. Some of Cort’s favorite artists include Professor Longhair, Young Rell, Tuba Skinny, Odetta, Jimmy Reed, and Etta James, just to name a few or six. Cortnie’s DJ’ed in a few places, such as regional favorites like Blues at the Bean and North Star Blues. Beyond the Midwest, which houses her local scenes of Chicago and Grand Rapids, Cortnie has spun at Steel City Blues, Blues Muse, Montreal Bagel and Blues, and many others. The only other thing she loves as much as playing those sweet tunes for you is getting to dance with y’all, so please ask!
Tina Davis
Bio coming soon!
Jerry Warrick
Bio coming soon!