The Knoxville Museum of Art's Alive After Five series of live music performances will premier its 16th year outdoors in the Museum's North Garden on Friday, October 10, from 5:30-8:30 pm with performances by Big Bill Morganfield and special guests The Detroit Daddies.
Morganfield's story is a great one. As the son of McKinley Morganfield (better known as Muddy Waters), one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, he has met the burdensome challenge of the expectations placed upon him and gone further. He has proven to be a Bluesman of sparkling originality and stellar stage presence. Morganfield owns the stage he performs on as if it was a birthright and grabs and keeps the audience's attention from the first note. Morganfield says of his father, "My dad had a reputation for being a very dignified person, a very proud man. He gave us kids all a certain inner strength to go out and do whatever we needed to do."
Morganfield won the W. C. Handy Blues Award (the Grammys of the blues music genre) for Best New Artist after the release of his debut CD, Rising Son (1999) on the Blind Pig label. He has since released two other acclaimed CDs, Ramblin' Mind (2001) and Blues in the Blood (2003), which have further solidified his stature as one of the preeminent new blues artists. A new CD is expected to be released by the end of this year.
The Detroit Daddies are Michael Crawley (harmonica, vocals) and Detroit Dave Meer (guitar, vocals), both of whom are Detroit natives and long-time residents of Knoxville. They have performed together in other bands for many years, first with Crawdaddy, and currently with The MacDaddies. They began playing as a duo in recent years for more intimate venues, but these veteran musicians possess the verve to entertain a large outdoor audience.
The North Garden is a grassy, sloping lawn located between the museum and its parking lot. There will be cash bars, and food will be available from Afro-Caribbean Catering and Dave's Dog House. Everyone is encouraged to bring blankets or folding chairs. Coolers and pets are not permitted. In case of rain, the event will be held inside the museum's Great Hall.
The remainder of the fall series of Alive After Five will be presented inside the Great Hall.
2008 Fall Series of Alive After Five:
October 10 - Big Bill Morganfield with special guests The Detroit Daddies
October 17 - The Branded Sons
October 24 - Boys' Night Out
October 31 - Cheryl Rene's Blues Band
November 7 - Tony O Blues Band
November 14 - Will Boyd Project featuring Kelle Jolly
November 21 - The Bearded
Admission to the special outdoor Alive After Five on October 10 is $10 for non-members, and $6 for museum members and students with ID. Children ages 17 and under are admitted free. Tickets will be on sale in the museum at the ticket desk on the day of the event. Alive After Five is sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union, Knoxville News Sentinel, Cherokee Distributing Company, WVLT-TV8, and WDVX 89.9FM. For more information about the Alive After Five series, please contact Michael Gill at (865) 934-2039.