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Honey sweet historic blues

Plays Whistler this Saturday

Honey sweet historic blues

The music of Delta Blues legend David Honeyboy Edwards harkens back to the early 1900s, when he learned to play on dusty street corners in small southern towns and good-time houses of New Orleans.

Following in the footsteps of blues star Big Joe Williams, the Mississippi boy hopped the freight trains of blues lore, traveling the Pea Vine, the Southern and the Yellow Dog.

Honeyboy Edwards, now a Blues Hall of Fame inductee and the world’s finest slide guitarist, will bring the bygone era to life Saturday, Dec. 17 at Dusty’s.

"Honeyboy Edwards is among the last authentic performers in the blues idiom that developed in central Mississippi during the second and third decades of the 20 th century," wrote Robert Palmer, author of Deep Blues and former New York Times music critic. "Through him, an entire body of great American music lives on."

In the mid-1930s, Honeyboy Edwards played with Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Tommy McClellan and Big Walter Horton. He moved north from shows in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas to south side taverns in Chicago in the 1950s and finally made his way onto vinyl in the 1960s on independent labels such as Milestone, Adelphi and Blue Horizon. He also made guest appearances on two albums from the original Fleetwood Mac.

Over the last four decades, the now 89-year-old music veteran has continued to record and perform, making history both through his music and as a living legacy himself.

Frequently sought out by filmmakers, historians and writers, Honeyboy Edwards has contributed to countless films and books documenting the blues, including his own book, The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards.

Tickets for the Delta blues show are $15. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Swing into rockabilly blues

Get into the swing with Kelly Fawcett and Keith Picot Monday, Dec. 19 at the Boot Pub.

High energy, quick wit, tight harmonies and an eclectic blend of swing, blues and rockabilly with a New Orleans twist come together on Picot’s bass fiddle, Fawcett’s guitar and their guest drummer’s beats.

The trio has toured with Canada’s hottest blues and rockabilly acts, including Willie McCaulder, The Pete Turland Band, Tim Williams, the late Rick Jeffery, Jim Byrnes and Dutch Mason.

Both Fawcett and Picot have fronted their own bands, including The Keith Picot Express, The Kelly Fawcett Band, Mystery Train, What It Is, and Custom T and the Lightening Bug.

With their music influenced by artists such as Ray Charles, Lee Dorsey, Nat King Cole, Johnny Cash and Louis Armstrong, listeners can expect to settle into a night of hearty blues and homegrown tales at the locals’ living room Monday night.

Maxx Fish opening

The underground nightclub adjacent to the Amsterdam, which once catered to the just-turned-legal crowd, is donning a more trendy, chic garb with hopes of attracting a more sophisticated, lounge-going clientele.

For the first time in years, Maxx Fish has undergone a drastic makeover, shifting from a standard nightclub to a soiree hangout with leather banquette seating and a dining area offering a tapas menu early in the evening.

"We completely gutted the place," said general manager Peter Roberts. "It has a more loungy feel. That is the direction Whistler is moving in. People are looking for more versatility with a lounge to start out the evening and as things get busier and the lights dim and it becomes a full-on nightclub."

Because of construction challenges, the kitchen will not be open until mid-January. However, officials are moving ahead with the club’s official grand opening Tuesday, Dec. 20.