Austin Blues Masters Series: James & Texas Eastside Kings (2009)
~ Special Performance featuring Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard ~
DiverseArts Blues Family Tree Project and KAZI-FM Present...
What: Austin Blues Masters Series at the Victory Grill: James and the Texas Eastside Kings Special Performance featuring Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard
Where: Historic Victory Grill, 1104 E. 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702
When: Thursday May 28, 2009; Doors Open at 8 p.m.
Contact: Harold McMillan (512) 477.9438
Victory Grill (512) 472.3700
James and the Texas Eastside Kings Special Performance at the Historic Victory Grill featuring Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard
In the 1950s, the members of James and the Texas Eastside Kings helped East Austin become the Blues Capital of Texas, astonishing audiences with their soulful songs. In their early years, they played backup in house bands for T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Guitar Slim, and many other Blues stars.
Decades later, these great talents and seasoned Blues musicians are still gracing Austin with their musical presence. Their performance at the historic Victory Grill, as a part of the Austin Blues Masters Series, celebrates the rich Blues culture they help to shape in East Austin.
James and the Texas East Side Kings include James Kuykendall on bass guitar, Donald “Duck” Jennings on trumpet, Henry “Bluesboy” Hubbard on guitar, Mr. Moto on guitar, and other special guests. Their music is raw and honest but musically sophisticated, containing all the heart and soul of the African American experience and the Blues tradition.
Guitarist and vocalist, Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard, an inductee in the Texas Music Hall of Fame, was a central player in the growth of East Austin's Blues culture. Upon arrival to Austin after World War II, Hubbard worked at the Bergstrom Airforce Base during the day. At night, he jammed with his band, the Jets, at East Austin hotspots like the Victory Grill and Charlie's Playhouse. And when those venues closed for the night, Hubbard and the Jets played into the dawn for fans at Gilden's Chicken Shack.
In the 1960s, Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard coached and influenced musicians new to the East Side, helping to create an even more vibrant Blues scene in the area. Henry "Blues Boy" Hubbard, along with all of the members of the Texas Eastside Kings, is clearly a Blues Master and an East Austin legacy.
DiverseArts Blues Family Tree Project (BFT) welcomes you to the second installment of the Austin Blues Masters Series @ the Victory Grill with a performance by Austin Blues legends, James and the Texas Eastside Kings on May 28th at 8 p.m.
**Photograph of Donald "Duck" Jennings by Brian Birzer
Print quality images available upon request
To schedule an interview, contact Harold McMillan (hmcmillan@diversearts.org)
The Austin Blues Masters Series @ The Historic Victory Grill
During DiverseArts Spring/Summer 2009 Season we are intent on producing high quality cultural programs that provide glimpses into why Central East Austin—the East End—is a designated Cultural Heritage District.
The Austin Blues Masters Series will present a performances, stage talks, and screenings that pay tribute to the East Side’s historic identity as Austin’s original home of the Blues, and to the community of musicians whose careers directly connect them to the roots of Austin’s blues tradition. The series, scheduled for the second and fourth Thursdays in May, and the first and third Thursdays in June will feature members of Austin’s Blues Family Tree whose career spans and advanced musicianship truly qualify them as Blues Masters. In most cases these musicians represent the historic East Side roots of the tradition, but not exclusively. The series will also showcase significant members of the connecting generation of players whose work has helped define the contemporary sound, look, and feel of present-day blues in Austin. And, with each installment of the Series, the Victory Grill remains a key player, major factor, and significant monument in our efforts to preserve the tradition and provide quality cultural programming content in Austin’s newly designated African American Cultural Heritage District.
