Skipper's Smokehouse Talent Agency
Talent Roster

Genre Selected: BLUES

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Local, statewide and national audiences flock to Damon Fowler Group's sizzling live shows, drawn by the trio's 'take-no-prisoners' attitude, powerful energy and dramatic delivery. In addition to his prowess on straight-ahead electric six-string, Fowler has developed a powerful command of the lap-steel, Dobro, and slide guitars, continuing to astound audiences. Because of their versatility, the Damon Fowler Group has been called upon to support such legendary acts as Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Robin Trower, Greg Allman, Jimmy Vaugahn, Junior Brown, Rick Derringer, Little Feat, The Radiators, Chris Duarte and Delbert McClinton. This list of achievements would be expected of a grizzled veteran but Damon Fowler is only 26! The group's first CD, titled Riverview Drive, produced by guitar legend Rick Derringer, was released independently, and at last count had sold close to 17,000 units, with no sign of slowing down. A second collection studio recordings, Roots And Branches and critically-acclaimed Live At Skipper's Smokehouse, soon followed, feeding the appetite of the band's steadily expanding fanbase.

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Atkinson grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians in South Carolina and counts Etta James, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, Otis Redding and Big Mama Thornton among her galvanizing influences. An early bloomer, Atkinson has been singing since age five and began writing soon after her mother gave her first guitar in her early teens. Since relocating to Tampa Bay in 1994, Atkinson has released three CDs of original music to ever-widening acclaim both in the States and in Europe. In addition to her performing schedule, Atkinson is Committee Chairperson for the Suncoast Blues Society's Blues In The Schools program, spreading the history and joy of blues to school-age children. "

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Who is Charlie Vegas? The man himself calls his stuff 'space age retro'. Think early '50s rock meets classic blues, only different. It's swing, rockabilly, jump and some R&B all melded together Charlie-style. Backed up by the hot New Blues Combo, Charlie Vegas' cool sounds will blow you away. Some folks think of The King when he shows up in his funky black outfit. Others say he's a LOT of Kings, from B.B. to Freddie. Charlie and the New Blues Combo re-interpret big blues classics from giants like Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker. His personal 'Joisey' style tosses in hints of old blue eyes, little sinister Sinatra-isms. Speaking of 'Joisey,' one panting fan swears when she watches Charlie, she thinks of The Boss. One night with Charlie may not be enough, but it's a chance to soak up some retro roadhouse cool, authentic down and dirty hip-swingin' blues.

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Julie Black a.k.a. "Angel for Blues" is one of the most exciting new Singer/ Songwriters in music today! Black’s rich & soulful voice conjures up raw emotions; commanding your attention with deep & powerful tones one minute, then seducing you with velvety steam-soaked sounds the next. Her original music, dynamic vocals & diverse band of talented musicians deliver live performances that are creative, passionate & powerful! Black’s music exhibits a love for Blues while adding in flavors of other genres. Her debut album Call Me Angel for Blues has garnered great reviews, received world-wide airplay and has landed on several music charts including those on XM Satellite Radio! Julie Black & her band have shared the bill with many wonderful artists including; Buddy Guy, Coco Montoya, Larry Garner, Eric Sardinas, Chris Thomas King, Eric Lindell, Sue Foley & Tinsley Ellis. They have amazed audiences at events ranging from major music festivals to art shows, juke joints to performance halls. One thing’s for sure…this is music you can feel!

Walker Smith Group

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Walker Smith is a singer- songwriter, guitar player whose sound covers traditional to contemporary blues with a sprinkling of rural roots,folk and rock. Walker has a reputation as a dynamic front man. This is one act you won't want to miss.

Blue Dice

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Long regarded as Tampa Bay's premier original white soul band, this eight-piece horn-sportin' combo weds a diverse blend of blues, jazz, big band, soul and rhythm 'n' blues with a get down and get with it attitude, turning every show into a party to remember.

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This Florida mainstay presents a live show that's cookin' - literally! A scorching (pun intentional) blues slide guitarist, Bill "Sauce Boss" Wharton plays the blues while brewing a pot of gumbo which the audience partakes of at show's end. At last count, the Sauce Boss has served more than 100,000 bowls of the hot "n" spicy concoction during the course of his career. He's also been involved in Planet Gumbo, a charity organization that helps feed the homeless. With seven nationally released CDs and a multimedia cookbook DVD, Wharton has amassed a large and loyal following which has grown by leaps and bounds since Jimmy Buffett namechecked Wharton in "Will Play For Gumbo" and included two Wharton tracks on a Buffett-endorsed compilation CD.

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A proud son of the South, blues guitarist Charlie Morris has been writing songs and playing various instruments since the tender age of six. After many years of paying dues on the Florida circuit in everything from dance bands in nightclubs to solos on cruise ships, Morris put together a blues band in 1990 and since then, a four-piece original blues band has been his focus. A 1992 trip to Switzerland made Morris into a lifelong Europhile, resulting in Morris and his band playing in many areas of Switzerland as well as in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Germany and Norway. Two CDs of original material, Bluer Than Thou (1998) and Still Got 'Em (2000) showcase Morris' stellar musicianship and superior songwriting. After almost 20 years of performing in the Southeast US, Morris has not played only Florida's best blues clubs but also some of her famous luxury hotels, venturing out-of-state for engagements in Alabama, New Orleans and Tennessee.

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Specializing in smokin' high-energy blues and rhythm 'n' blues, The Dukes quickly get the crowd snappin' their fingers, tappin' their toes and dancin' their troubles away. The Dukes are tough-sounding roadhouse-ready quintet featuring the vocals, sax and harmonica of Tampa Bay stalwart Bobby Rose, long regarded as one of the Gulf Coast's finest performers. The Duke's playlist covers a huge amount of sonic territory - everything from Bruce Springsteen's Jersey Shore anthems to Robben Ford's jazz-blues to Al Green's sweet Memphis soul gets the special Dukes of Jukes treatment.

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Capturing the style of the artist in any type of music he attacks, master guitarist Jimmy Griswold conjures a wide palette of tones ranging from the warmth of T-Bone Walker and BB King to the over-the-top scream of Roy Buchanan, Jeff Beck & Stevie Ray Vaugahn. Since relocating to the Tampa Bay area from Connecticut, Griswold toured with the original Drifters, gigged in Europe with Bay Area blues great Rock Bottom and has been a sideman for The On Que Players and many other Bay Area favorites. In addition to a solid schedule of club dates, Griswold has shared bills with the likes of Ronnie Earl, George Thorogood, NRBQ, Dave Mason, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, serving to expose his evocative guitar mastery to a wider audience.

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Exhilarating. Energetic. Exciting. Freeing. Fun. Inspiring. Spirited. Soulful. Thrilling. These are only some of the words fans have used in trying to describe The Lee Boys' unique sound. The Lee Boys take on the Sacred Steel tradition is rooted in gospel but is infused with rhythm 'n' blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country, and world music genres in a powerful mix. This is not "sitting and listening" music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered essential parts of their tradition. The Lee Boys will funkify your soul and help you see the musical light. What is Sacred Steel? you ask. In the late 1930's, a new musical instrument was introduced to the worship experience of the House of God church in Jacksonville, Florida. The Pentecostal congregation embraced the soulful sound of the electric lap-steel guitar, as played by Willie Eason and his brother Troman. Over time, this unique sound became the hallmark of the church; the pedal steel guitar was later added into the mix in the '70s. The Lee Boys are part of the fourth generation of this tradition, taking this sanctified sound to the masses.

Nervous Turkey

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Raucous and rowdy, this 3-piece act lays down some of the grittiest and dirty blues/funk around, an essential show for fans of Tom Waits, Black Keys and Mofro. Fronted by larger than life Mouth Harp Destroyer Ernie Locke Nervous Turkey brings copious amounts of intensity with every performance

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A mainstay on the Tampa Bay music scene for over a decade, Molten Mike is something of a musical chameleon, displaying mastery of genres as varied as bottleneck country blues, modern electric blues, rock, Latin and contemporary smooth jazz. An in-demand performer, Molten Mike has opened for famous entertainers including Blood Sweat and Tears, B.B. King and The Moody Blues and performed at venues such as Raymond James Stadium, House of Blues (Orlando, FL and Myrtle Beach, SC) and the Florida State Fair. Available as a solo performer or with a band, Molten Mike is the perfect choice of entertainer for any event calling for high energy, hot picking and good times.

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A master storyteller with a keen eye for detail and bone-dry wit, Roy Book Binder is also a stunning guitarist, specializing in the Piedmont style of acoustic blues originally championed by Mississippi John Hurt and Rev. Blind Gary Davis. During a stint as Davis' chauffeur in the mid ‘60s, Book Binder was able to learn the finer points of Piedmont blues directly from the source, lending Book Binder's originals a hue of authenticity that's simply impossible to fake. Roy Book Binder is the real deal, with a slew of nationally released CDs, instructional books, videos and DVDs to his credit.

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Born blind at birth and orphaned in 1933, Blind Willie learned to sing by oral tradition, immersed in the traditional Black Gospel indigenous to the backwoods of North Florida. This one-time classmate of Ray Charles exemplifies the blurring of lines between gospel and the blues - James will sing a soul-stirring "Motherless Child" and then go into suitable-for-late-night version of Hank Ballard's "The Twist," rife with all the innuendo the writer intended. In 1999, Blind Willie James was awarded the last Florida Folk Festival Heritage Award of the 20th Century and by written proclamation was registered by Florida's Bureau of Historic Preservation. Allen Moffat has been James’ sidekick, producer, musical partner and ride to gigs for nearly 18 years. Together, the two put on a juke joint-approved party, inspiring all to lose their blues, leave their seats, jump up and do "The Blind Willie," James' signature dance.

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Possessed of a fiery guitar style, smooth vocals and confident stage presence, Bird Dog Bobby began playing in 1967, traveled extensively throughout the US during the '70s and '80s, eventually relocating to Florida from Kansas City in 1989. The Honey Hounds coalesced in 1992 and in short order had risen to the top tiers of the Tampa Bay blues scene, opening shows for luminaries such as Koko Taylor, John Mayall, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Delbert McClinton, Gatemouth Brown, Ronnie Earl and Albert Collins. Deservedly awarded Best R&B Act In Tampa Bay for two years consecutively by the area's major weekly music magazine, Bird Dog Bobby & The Honeyhounds are sure to be the hit of your next event.

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Attacking his guitar - usually a Fender Stratocaster of enviable vintage - with a ferocity reminiscent of Johnny Winter and Freddie King, augmented by a tough vocal delivery that belies his 29 years, Sean Chambers has racked up a resume as extensive as musicians many years his senior. Chambers has toured Europe, Japan, Canada and the States with his blues-rock trio (now a quartet with keyboards), and has caught the attention of almost every guitar magazine in the process. Shortly after his first tour of the UK in 2000, Chambers was hailed by Europe's leading guitar magazine, Guitarist, as one of the top 50 blues guitarists of the last century, ranking with the likes of BB King, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters. Chambers first hit the music scene in Florida in the early '90s, quickly establishing a large and loyal following. Over the years, Chambers has shared the bills with BB King, Greg Allman, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, James Cotton and Walter Trout and has toured extensively as bandleader and guitar player for blues originator Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf). "I've learned so much from Hubert it's been kind of like my college education," Chambers says. Chambers' band not only back up Sumlin, performing most of the Howlin' Wolf hits along with a lot of Hubert's own work, but they usually open up the show with a blistering 45 to 60 minute set, featuring songs from Strong Temptation (1998), Chambers' debut, as well as selections from Humble Spirits, released in March of 2004. "

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In the hands of guitar guru Tommy McCoy, deft jazz-informed archtop pirouettes alternate with hot 'n' spicy Texas-style Fender-bending, all delivered in a tone best described as "succulent," flavored with an attack and attitude that's pure down 'n' dirty greasy. A veteran of the Florida music scene, playing first with the Screaming Bluejays in Orlando and then with the Telephone Kings in St.Pete, McCoy is also one of the select few musicians who were fortunate enough to know and play with the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. A 1981 meeting in Cocoa Beach brought the two together where they discovered they had a lot in common: they were born within a month of each other, they both had older brothers who played and needless to say, they both were passionate in their love of the blues. At the time, McCoy owned a small chain of used record stores, made some blues compilation tapes for Vaughan, cementing a friendship that lasted for years, cut short by Vaughan's tragic death in 1990. McCoy was able to pay tribute to his fallen friend and fellow axeslinger when he recruited Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton, Vaughan's bassist and drummer, to perform on Love 'n' Money , McCoy's solo debut, released in 1996.

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This dynamic duo has been playing their musical style since 1983, mixing a dollop of jazz, a dash of rock, and even the occasional whiff of folk into their well-crafted tunes. Piano and guitar are the twosome's weapons of choice with an occasional Dobro and harmonica to expand the sound of a repertoire that ranges from Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie to Mose Allison and Elmore James.

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