HowellDevine Tickets

Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop. Bonnie Raitt, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band have all raved about HowellDevine. In the three years that the Bay Area-based country/Delta blues trio has been together, they have played with and impressed some of the most recognized names in blues and roots music, and signed with perhaps the most legendary roots record label in the world, Arhoolie Records. As owner Chris Strachwitz famously says "this ain't no mouse music!" And what is equally pleasing is that younger audiences are following the band. HowellDevine's late 2014 Arhoolie album, Modern Sounds of Ancient Juju has grabbed national roots radio attention, charting in the Top 25 for 3 consecutive months. It follows their 2013 Arhoolie debut, Jumps, Boogies & Wobbles. HowellDevine's sexy, shack-shackin’ music is attracting audiences that are sometimes close to four generations younger than the core songs of the band's repertoire: Robert Johnson, Frank Stokes, Mississippi Fred McDowell, RL Burnside, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters' classic works from the 1940s to the 1950s. It's how the band propulsively delivers on these songs that is making the case across generations. On the new CD, five new originals blend seamlessly with "She Brought Life Back to the Dead" (Sonny Boy Williamson), "Shake 'Em On Down," (Bukka White) and "Can't Be Satisfied" (Muddy Waters). Triple threat talent Joshua Howell (slide guitars, harmonica, voice), percussion savant Pete Devine (drums, washboard) and contrabassist Joe Kyle Jr. deftly mix sinuous Delta/Hill Country Blues with wildly syncopated rhythms to create a rollickin' present-day sound from the past.